PAGE A8, KEIZERTIMES, MAY 15, 2015
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KEIZERTIMES.COM
MHS teacher turning
pro in body-sculpting
By ERIC A. HOWALD
Of the Keizertimes
Five years ago, Anna Ko-
fron’s son’s fi rst reaction when
his mother told him she was
thinking about competing in
physique competitions was one
of disbelief.
“But, Mom,” he said. “You’re
so shy.”
That moment sealed the
deal for Kofron. It’s a good
thing, too. Last month, Kofron
won the master’s and overall
physique title at the Washing-
ton State Natural Emerald City
Pro Am.
“I wanted to win the mas-
ter’s class, and when they called
my name it felt really good.
Winning the overall was in-
credible,” Kofron, 51, said.
The win also means she’s
qualifi ed to compete among
the professional ranks of body
builders and fi gure contestants.
Kofron is a teacher in the de-
velopmental learning center at
McNary High School and lives
in Salem.
Make no mistake, Kofron is
still shy. She speaks in a voice
only a few decibels above a
whisper, but once she begins
her passion for the sport carries
her through.
“I love lifting. I never
thought about it before, but
when I saw my body change I
really got into it,” she said.
Kofron was urged to give
fi gure competitions a shot at
the urging of personal trainer
Corey Ahrens, but a meeting
with suit designer Angel Sauc-
ier helped.
“After talking with my son,
the next time (Corey) ap-
proached me he invited me to
the posing practice the next
day,” Kofron said. Up to that
point, Kofron had batted away
Ahrens attempts to get her in-
volved in the sport. “It’s because
of (Corey and Angel) that I
look at bodybuilding as an art.”
Unlike traditional body-
building where competitors
vie to lift the most weight in
moments of explosive power,
fi gure competitions focus more
on body-sculpting. Preparation
KEIZERTIMES/Eric A. Howald
Above: Nadia Witt hits a triple in the game with Forest Grove High School Friday, May 8. Below:
Megan Ulrey makes a throw to fi rst for an out.
Lady Celts on six-game streak
Submitted
McNary High School teacher Anna Kofron recently won the
State Natural Emerald City Pro Am, qualifying her to compete
at the pro level in body-building competitions.
for competition involves more
repetition than heavy weights.
In her fi rst competition, she
placed second and has been
racking up fi rst- and second-
place accolades each year since
she began. She competes about
twice a year.
“It’s lots of discipline and
focus and not skipping meals. I
don’t eat a lot differently, but I
had to start eating more. When
you want to build, the body
needs something to build with,”
she said. Kofron said she’s grate-
ful for co-workers who put up
with her “crazy” eating sched-
ule.
Kofron frequents the natu-
ral physique circuit meaning
tests for use of controlled and
enhancing substances. She had
to pass a polygraph test to com-
pete in the Emerald City Pro
Am.
While the training has paid
off in terms of fi tness, Kofron
is more grateful for the other
ways it has improved her life.
“I’ve learned about myself,
about my body and it’s helped
me overcome my shyness. I’ve
built confi dence and learned
age doesn’t matter. I can place
fi rst or last, but as long as I am
happy with my body, that’s what
matters,” she said.
She plans on competing in
one or two more competitions
between now and next August
when she’ll tackle her biggest
challenge yet: the 2016 WNBF
Pro World Championship in
Atlantic City.
By ERIC A. HOWALD
Of the Keizertimes
The McNary High School
girls varsity softball team is on a
six-game win streak after beat-
ing two opponents by a total of
45-1 last week.
The Lady Celts took down
McKay High School’s Royal
Scots 35-1 in a game Tuesday,
May 5.
“In that game we were
working on slapping and just
getting the ball in play. We defi -
nitely had their infi eld moving,”
said Celt senior Kiana Villarreal.
“Our hitting has gotten a lot
better, and we’re hitting for our
team and not just ourselves.”
The offensive onslaught
continued in a 10-0 win over
Forest Grove High School Fri-
day, May 8.
“Our energy built off their
errors and our base running
was really good. All of our hits
were in clutch,” said sophomore
Hannah Carr.
Villarreal said the team made
it a goal to be the fi rst one on
the board, and the Celts did just
that with one run in the second
before scoring nine in the third.
Freshman Nadia Witt hit
a triple with bases loaded, but
twisted an ankle rounding sec-
ond. It was her only hit of the
game in three at-bats, but she
also scored a run for McNary.
Kinsey McNaught, Madisen
Oliver and Villarreal both went
2-for-3 at the dish. Villarreal
and Ito both had doubles.
Megan Ulrey pitched a
complete game, allowing only
two hits and one walk with two
strikeouts.
Due in no small part to re-
cent games, McNary now leads
the entire 6A OSAA classifi ca-
tion in offense with 237 runs.
Their closest competition for
the lead is West Salem with 203.
As league play wraps up,
the stakes for the Celtics were
high this week. The team was
slated to play South Salem
High School Thursday, May 14,
and the GVC-leading Sprague
High School Olympians Friday,
May 15. A game with McMin-
nville High School preceded
the two Wednesday, May 13.
Both South and Sprague
beat the Celts in the fi rst
round-robin of the conference,
but the games were close and
Carr felt the team has come to-
gether more since that time.
“We don’t give up anymore
like we did sometimes earlier in
the season, our communication
in the dugout and on the fi eld is
better, and we’re just a stronger
team overall now,” Carr said.
Doubles team takes top
Big
games
have
GVC
seed in tennis tourney
By ERIC A. HOWALD
Of the Keizertimes
McNary High School’s
best chances in the Greater
Valley Conference district
meet are riding on two of the
girls’ doubles teams.
Senior Sandy Childress and
her freshman sister, Hannah,
will enter the tournament as
the fi rst seeded team. Mc-
Nary’s No. 2 doubles, Ariana
Neads and Sami Trowbridge,
go to the tournament seeded
fi fth.
“We don’t have any seeded
players in singles,” said Der-
ick Handley, McNary assistant
coach. “Despite that, I think
we’ve got some good draws
that, if things go our way, we
might have some surprises.”
The tournament began
with pigtail rounds Thursday,
May 14 and continues Friday
and Saturday at Salem Tennis
and Swim Center.
Handley was also hope-
ful for the doubles team of
Rachel Morrow and Ami
Chikatsu. While the pair have
only been playing together
the past couple of weeks, he
said the improvement with
each match has been impres-
sive.
Neads, who went to the
state tournament with Trow-
bridge last year, said the dis-
trict competition is going to
be even tougher this time
around.
“Going into it, we just
want some good competition.
The competition last year isn’t
as high as it is this year and
we’ll have to push hard,” she
said.
She hopes lessons gleaned
from the trip to the state
tournament last year will pay
off in the district meet.
“Placement is a big thing
for us. We played timid and
didn’t make the shots that
we usually make. We need
to do better in that this time
around,” Neads said.
In the Lady Celts’ most
recent matches, the team lost
to McMinnville High School
6-2 Thursday, May 7. Sandy
Childress and Cambria Rush-
ton got a win with set scores
of 7-5 and 6-4. Morrow and
Chikatsu won in sets of 6-4
and 6-2.
Two days prior, the team
swept North Salem High
School 6-0.
In singles, Sandy Childress
won in sets of 6-0 and 6-1;
Hannah Childress won in sets
of 6-1 and 6-0; Krissy Kelty
won in three sets, 1-6, 6-4
and 7-5; Katherine Patterson
won in sets of 7-6(8-6) and
6-2. In doubles, Trowbridge
and Neads took a win in sets
of 6-0 and 6-1; Morrow and
Chikatsu won in consecutive
6-0 sets; Taslima Sidhu and
Hannah Kannier won in 6-2
and 6-1 sets; and Blanca Te-
peque and Tayler Rains won
in three sets, 3-6, 6-4 and 6-4.
In boys tennis, the Celtics
were blanked by McMinnville
8-0, but Roman Kuklicka
picked up a win in the North
Salem match with consecu-
tive sets of 6-0. The Vikings
took the overall win 7-1.
baseball title on line
By ERIC A. HOWALD
Of the Keizertimes
If McNary High School’s
varsity baseball team truly
wants the Greater Valley Con-
ference title, the team had to
hit on all cylinders in games
with South Salem and Mc-
Minnville high schools past
press time.
The Grizzlies caught up
with the Celtics after making
up a game cancelled due to
weather and the two teams are
tied for for fi rst place. South
dealt McNary an 11-3 loss in
the teams’ fi rst meeting of the
season.
“To beat McMinnville on
their fi eld, we’ll have to play
our best game of the season.
They have one of the best
pitchers in the league with
David Brosius. He’s tough on
the hill and he’s a 6-foot-4
southpaw,” said Larry Keeker,
McNary head coach. “They’re
not going to give us anything.
KEIZERTIMES/Eric A. Howald
McNary’s Matt Aguilar makes a bee-line for fi rst base in the
game with McKay High School.
They gave up a lead last time
around and they’ll be moti-
vated.”
The Celtics locked horns
with Forest Grove High
School Vikings Friday, May 8.
The Celts took a 1-0 win.
The only run scored was
on a double to center fi eld by
Connor Goff that scored Matt
Aguilar. Aguilar had a double
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