2— SANDY (O r«.) POST Thurs., Jan. 1 .W 1 (S«c.3)
1980: Women make their
mark in the sports world
1980 w ill go down in history as the
year women took over on the local
sports scene. The “ weaker sex”
became the strong.
The sports programs for girls at
Sandy High School not only gained
strength, they leapfrogged past the
boys into statewide prominence. As
usual, there were some key individuals
who made headlines during the year
and helped their respective teams to
success.
F or the second straight year, the
Sandy girls volleyball team made the
final four a t state, winning the con
solation trophy. Senior Cherie E lliott
was named to the all-tournament team.
A week earlier, the Pioneer girls cross
country team romped to sixth at state,
by far the best in the school’s history.
Just when summer was about to
make its presence known in the North
west, the Sandy girls track team was
making its presence known at the state
meet. Michele Cleland and Christie
Ellio tt combined for W points to give
the Pioneers ninth among the state’s
teams.
Individuals stood out for Sandy in
the w inter sports. Gayle Roth took
fourth in the state in the 50-yard
freestyle swimming competition and
Tim Freem an finished second in the
157-pound class at the state wrestling
tournament. The wrestlers were among
the top boys programs at the high
school.
Here is a month by month account of
1980 and the individuals who stood out.
JA N U A R Y
The year got off to a slow start,
thanks to Christmas vacation and a
crippling snowstorm which halted
athletic activities for nearly a week.
The layoff gave local teams a chance
to recover from their various maladies.
The SUHS wrestling team had injuries
and the boys and girls basketball teams
used the tim e off to prepare for league.
The Sandy boys moved (b riefly) into
second place in the Tim ber Valley
League with wins over Silverton and
Sweet Home. But the big upset in
January came from the Pioneer girls,
who shocked Oregon City 4943. Sandy
had been 0-10 at the time and Oregon
City was undefeated and ranked fourth
in the state.
Christie E llio tt also made an im
pressive track debut, winning the 500-
m eter race at the Oregon Indoor Track
meet at M em orial Coliseum.
FEBRUARY
A P R IL
February m arked the return of the
wrestling team to power after injuries
had slowed the team early in the
season. Sandy won tournaments at
Reynolds and Sprague to gear up for
district. But the Pioneers ran into tough
competition and managed just a fourth
place finish. M ike M artin, 157, and
Chris Jones, 136, won individual titles
for Sandy.,
G ayle Roth helped the Sandy girls to
second in the district swimming meet,
then went on to place fourth in the state
in the 50-freestyle and sixth in the 100-
freestyle.
Meanwhile, the Sandy boys were
eliminated from the T V L basketball
playoff picture by Canby. The Cougars
took a 67-53 win over Sandy and went on
to the league playoffs. The Pioneers,
preseason darkhorse
picks,
were
through for the season.
The girls team ended the season by
beating Silverton, its fourth win of the
season, a school record.
Michele Cleland, the best female
athlete in Sandy High history, ended a
lot of speculation when she signed a
letter of intent to Oregon State
University to compete in track and
field.
Straw berry Fields won the Sandy
Recreation Division city basketball
title with a 69-64 win over The Loggers.
Cleland and Christie E llio tt continued
their strong performances, winning
several individual titles at invitational
meets throughout the state.
The team from 1971-72 won the first
Sandy High Alumni basketball tour
nament. Several teams competed in the
event, destined to become an annual
occurrence.
M ARCH
Sue Wilson, center for the Sandy girls
basketball team, was named to the
State-M etro A lkStar game.
Sandy took 12th in the state wrestling
tournament. T im Freem an was second
in the 157-pound division, just ahead of
M ike M artin, who took fourth at that
same weight.
The Sandy ski team won the M t. Hood
Championships to gear up for what was
supposed to be its third straight state
title. But the Pioneers ran into
problems in southern Oregon and came
home in fourth place. F alls and injuries
ruined any hope of a third title.
F o r the first tim e, a softball team was
started at Sandy High. G ary Curtis was
named head coach and he had a few
rough moments in the early going with
an inexperienced team.
Chris Roth met the national standard
in the 200-meter butterfly, but fell just
short of his attempt to meet the
Olympic qualifying time. The form er
Sandy High swim m er had a best of
1:50.6.
A bumper smelt crop came into the
Sandy riv e r in M arch and things slowed
to a standstill while everyone rushed to
get their nets out. Smelt were thick
enough to walk across and everyone
who tried came away with more than
enough to fill a freezer
z . M
3?;
MAY
Greg O’M eara was named head
football coach at Sandy High, replacing
Lynn H arris who resigned. O’Meara
had been junior varsity coach.
The budget of the M t. Hood National
Forest was trim m ed, decreasing the
amount of services available, but the
action had little overall effect on
recreationalists.
The SUHS boys tennis team took last
at district while the girls took fourth.
Janet Bonner fell one match shy of a
state tournament berth.
Connie Case took a pair of national
titles for the Mt. Hood Community
College track team. She won the 3,000
and 5,000 meter races, then inked a
letter of intent to Oregon State.
Cleland was named to the 1980 Prep
All-Am erican G irls Sports Team.
The Sandy girls took first place in the
T V L district track meet; the boys were
seventh. Individual titles were won by
Cleland, Cherie and Christie E llio tt and
Gayle Roth. Paul Daugherty won the
triple Jump for the boys.
JU NE
Sandy took ninth place in the girls
competition at the state track meet.
Cleland was second in the shot put and
discus; Christie E llio tt was fifth in the
200 meters and sixth in the 100.
The
Oregon
School
Activities
Association voted to reduce the number
of high school athletic contests in every
sport except football.
(Continued on Page 3)
-.<*•
The year 1980 was, indeed, a year dominated by female
athletes. And young ones at th a t Freshman Jacqui
Pullen (top left) amazed crowds with her balance and
flexibility at Sandy High gymnastics meets. Her
specialty was the balance beam. Kecia H arris (above)
helped the Pioneer girls swimming team to a second
place finish at district. There were some good per
formances by male athletes as well. Chris Jones
(below) took the district wrestling title at 136 pounds as
a sophomore last February and has already defeated
the defending state champion this fall. Just prior to his
freshman year, M ike Sheppard (far left) took second
place in a regional bicycling championship — just
three weeks after he began to ride competitively. He
qualified for nationals. When coach John White (right)
wasn’t leading his Sandy cross country team to a
district title, he could be found in a variety of places,
even atop a four-legged friend in a game of donkey
basketball.
photos by Mark Floyd