PAGE A12, KEIZERTIMES, NOVEMBER 20, 2015
KEIZERTIMES.COM
Signing on the line
Four McNary High School seniors inked
letters of intent to play college sports in the last week
By ERIC A. HOWALD
Of the Keizertimes
Mike McDowell only saw
Cammie Decker hit one ball
before she joined the McNary
High School girls varsity golf
team.
“She hit a dart straight
down the middle for about 230
yards and that was all it took.
I knew I was in good hands
for the next four years,” said
McDowell, Celtic head coach.
Decker, a senior, will
be taking her skills north
to
Portland’s
Concordia
University next fall. She signed
a letter of intent to play for the
school at a ceremony Tuesday,
Nov. 17.
McDowell said Decker
started
with
the
right
foundation.
“Cammie is the fi rst one
at practice and last to leave
every day, and puts that kind
of example forward for the
other girls. She’ll also step right
up and help the other girls
whenever she can help them
identify a problem,” he said.
Over the years, she’s added
to her repertoire a steely resolve
to excel at a game known for
its ups and downs. She doesn’t
get angry over the bad balls and
feels no need to celebrate the
great ones, McDowell said.
“Cammie hits a plateau and
stays there. I’ve only met two
or three other high school
students that can play the way
she does in that regard,” said
McDowell.
Decker said she loves the
team and individual aspects
of golf, and found the school
environment at Concordia fi t
well with her priorities.
“I
liked
the
whole
environment – how it is a
smaller school – and the team
atmosphere they have up
there,” she said.
She is still deciding on a
major at the school, but she’s
currently maintaining a 3.95
grade point average.
She’s already anticipating
facing the next level of
competition in the sport.
“Everybody is all-around
competitive, and it’s not just a
matter of one person we’ll have
to watch out for,” she said.
McDowell doesn’t think
she’ll have to worry much
about fi tting in.
“This is a sport that takes a
lot of years to learn and she’s
good enough already to move
up to the next level,” he said.
Decker
swings for
Concordia
Cammie Decker
Oliver to Cavaliers
Madisen Oliver
By ERIC A. HOWALD
Of the Keizertimes
Kevin Wise noticed Madisen
Oliver struggle as she made her
debut on the McNary High
School varsity softball as a
freshman, but he never had any
doubts.
“One of the things we always
talked about with Maddie is
that she was going to do great
things with her attitude and
work ethic,” said Wise.
One can guess that the
coaches at Portland’s Concordia
University must have noticed
the same things. Oliver signed
a letter of intent to play softball
for the Cavaliers Friday, Nov.
13, at McNary.
In her three years in the
Celtic program, Oliver has
played all over the diamond –
outfi eld, infi eld and pitching –
but her presence at the plate is
a cut above.
Last year, her batting average
was .432 with 11 doubles, three
triples and two home runs, a far
cry from her .200 average her
freshman year.
“That’s the kind of kid she
is,” Wise said. “She takes the
good and the bad and just keeps
doing her thing. You know she
is going to do whatever she can
to help her teammates.”
Oliver said she was invited
to a Concordia softball camp
while making an appearance
at a Portland State University
camp last summer.
“I went and the coach was
just great, and I really liked
that the school has a strong
education program because
I want to be a teacher,” said
Oliver.
Oliver is maintaining a 3.7
grade point average while
taking honors and advanced
courses in her senior year.
She is eyeing a spot at
second base with the Cavaliers
and said she’ll be putting most
of her effort in her senior year
preparing for an infi eld role.
“I’ll be working a lot on
speed and lateral movement,”
Oliver said.
She thanked her coaches,
teammates, grandparents and
parents during the ceremony,
saying how much it meant
to have them all there at her
games.
“I’ve
dreamed
about
(playing in college) since I was
little and it’s nice to see all the
hard work pay off,” Oliver said.
Wise said it was with both
pride and remorse he’d watch
Oliver move on to her future
endeavors.
“I’m still excited for her
senior season, but it’s sad to lose
such a great kid,” Wise said.
Hingston headed to Seattle Pacifi c
By ERIC A. HOWALD
Of the Keizertimes
There came a point last
season when Derick Handley,
head coach of the girls varsity
basketball team, gave then-ju-
nior Madi Hingston an ultima-
tum.
“Madi is great at sharing
the ball with her teammates –
that’s kind of the way she op-
erates – but her unwillingness
to shoot held us back at times,”
said Handley. “We fi nally told
her shoot the ball or you’re not
going to play any more.”
Hingston started shooting,
and shooting, and shooting. She
shot her way to a new single-
season McNary record for
three-point goals.
“ We fi nally told
her shoot the ball
or you’re not going
to play any more.”
— Derick Handley,
McNary Girls Varsity
Basketball Coach
“The old record was 37
and Madi had more than 60,”
Handley said.
Those skills have earned her
a spot on the roster at Seattle
Pacifi c University. Hingston
signed a letter of intent to play
for the Division II Falcons at a
ceremony Tuesday, Nov. 17, at
McNary.
“There was a lot that went
into picking them,” said Hings-
ton. “There’s a good balance
between basketball and edu-
cation at the school. It will be
a smaller class size and have a
more community feel. They’ve
also always been pretty strong
basketball-wise.”
In addition to her record-
setting three-point season,
Hingston averaged 13 points
per game, four rebounds per
game and was the team’s assist
leader, all as a junior.
As much as Handley was re-
lieved to see Hingston step up
and shoot, he said her approach
to the game is equally appreci-
ated.
“Madi’s personality is get-
Kaelie
Flores
Flores picks Wildcats
ting everybody involved early
on even though she can be the
game leader, she has a great un-
derstanding of the game in that
way,” Handley said.
Hingston plans to study
business at the school with an
emphasis on sports marketing.
She’ll be one of only two
freshmen joining the Seattle Pa-
cifi c roster, but said she’s look-
ing forward to a new school,
new teammates and everything
that comes with college.
“I feel like it will be totally
different and a new challenge,
and I’m excited for all of it,” she
said. “This season, I just want
to work on my leadership and
being more aggressive. There’s
always room for improvement.”
By ERIC A. HOWALD
Of the Keizertimes
When it came to picking
a school to continue her bas-
ketball career, McNary High
School senior Kaelie Flores
went with the one that stuck
by her.
“Central Washington Uni-
versity has been looking at me
since I was in eighth grade, and
they’ve stuck by me the entire
time I’ve been developing as a
player,” Flores said. “I like how
supportive they’ve been of me
and of their student athletes.”
Flores signed a letter of in-
tent to play for the Division II
Wildcats during a ceremony
held Tuesday, Nov. 17, at Mc-
Nary.
She made a second visit to
the school last weekend and
coaches at the school were al-
Madi Hingston
ready prepping her for the role
she’ll play on the team.
“They’re thinking a small
forward, but they were already
walking me through their sys-
tem and sat me down with
video to show me the types
of players I would be defend-
ing against. It was pretty cool,”
Flores said.
Flores’s senior season is just
starting, but she was a steady
contributor as a junior – aver-
aging 13 points per game and
fi ve rebounds.
Derick Handley, head coach
of the McNary girls basketball
program, said the biggest recent
change in Flores’s game is be-
ing more aggressive offensively.
“That’s come about be-
cause she’s realized she can be
the scorer and the team leader
and that got her the looks she
needed to draw attention,”
Handley said.
While she is an asset on the
court, Handley said she is just
as instrumental off of it.
“She’s the goofy leader that
can bridge the gap between the
coaches and the players when
things are kind of intense. She
understands the team attitude
and picks up on the right thing
to say to loosen the team up,”
he said.
Flores plans on pursuing a
major in a medical fi eld, but
hasn’t cemented her choice as
yet. In the short term, she said,
her focus will be on improving
her game.
“I defi nitely need to get in
college shape for basketball,
work on my shot and work
on my moves in my position,”
Flores said.