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PAGE2A10,2KEIZERTIMES,2DECEMBER223,22016 YEAR FINAL END DAYS EVENT 1,500 $ TOTAL CASH T OTA L C A S H I N C L U D E S : 500 $ 1,000 + $ FINAL DAYS CASH FORD SMARTBONUS ™ CASH ON SPECIALLY TAGGED VEHICLES* PLUS ENJOY A SKYLINE FORD EXCLUSIVE — 2 YEARS FREE OIL CHANGES ON US! † Keizer *Supply of vehicles with Ford Smart Bonus is limited. Not available on Foucs RS, Shelby GT350®, Ford GT, F-150 Raptor, F-650 or 750. See dealer or go to buyfordnow.com to fi nd specialty tagged vehicles. See dealer for complete details. For all offers, take new retail delivery from dealer stock by 1/3/17. †2 year 30K mile Ford Protect Engine Maintenance plan included on any new purchase — †† gas engines only. 7500 mile interval. 3555 River Road N, Keizer (503) 463- 4853 www.skylineforddirect.com KEIZERTIMES.COM Top 10 sports stories of 2016 # 12Lady2Celts2fourth2in2state Playing in the state tournament in Portland, McNary’s girls basketball team defeated South Medford 57-52 in over- time on March 12 to fi nish fourth. “For us seniors, going out like this it’s such a great accomplishment, because there is no other team we’d rather do it with,” Lady Celt Madi Hingston said after the game. “We got here together and we made it all the way to the end.” McNary lost to Jesuit in the quarterfi - nals of the state playoffs but bounced back to defeat Oregon City, the No. 1 team in the coach’s poll and then South Medford, who was the two-seed in the tournament. The Lady Celts 23 wins were the most in the program’s history. Three players, Hingston (Seattle Pa- cifi c), Kaelie Flores (Central Washington) and Renia Strand (Minot State), went on to play in college. File Junior2Walling,2No.281,2and2Jakoby2Doke,2No.212,2celebrate2dur- ing2a233-322win2at2West2Salem2on2Oct.228.2 # 22Celtics2upset2 West2Salem2 File McNary’s2girls2basketball2team2won2a2school-record2232games,2including2a257-522victory2over2South2Medford2in2overtime2to2fi2nish2 fourth2in2the2state2in22016.2 # 32Three2wrestlers2place2at2state After winning the Greater Valley Conference at 138 pounds, McNary sophomore Brayden Ebbs placed fourth at the state tournament in Port- land on Feb. 26 and 27. “I wrestled hard and did most of the things I should have,” Ebbs said. Ebbs wasn’t the only Celtic to have success. Senior Jon Phelps fi nished fi fth at 132 pounds and fresh- man Brooke Burrows took fourth in the girls state tour- nament at 106 pounds. reer, said after the game. “We were ready to take it to West with everything we had. We were not going to lose this game. It’s personal pride for this senior class and every- body. This is something we’ll remember for the rest of our lives.” The Celtics had many ex- citing games in 2016, includ- ing a 46-41 shootout against McKay and a 30-27 victory at McMinnville won a Hail Mary pass in the fi nal 1:25. But ask any McNary football player and they’ll tell you West Salem was their favorite. # 42Duran22nd2 in23002hurdles Ebbs # 52Kuch2breaks2 two2GVC2records2 McNary sophomore Ma- rissa Kuch was named Greater Valley Conference Female Swimmer of the Year after setting new league records in both the 100 and 200 freestyle races. “Honestly, I was just having a good day at districts,” Kuch said. “After I touched the wall West Salem’s football team was 7-0 in the Greater Valley Conference and needed only a win at home over McNary to complete an undefeated season. But the Celtics had an- other idea. With a 53-yard touchdown run by A.J. Johnk, followed by a two-point con- version by Marc Baiza late in the third quarter, McNary upset the Titans 33-32 on Fri- day, Oct. 28. “This has been a long time coming,” senior Kolby Barker, who had yet to defeat West Salem in his high school ca- in the 200, I had to look at the board twice. That was super exciting. I still don’t think I realized what I’d done until I got on the podium and they announced it.” At the state meet, Kuch reached the fi nals in the 100 and placed fi fth. She then took eighth in the 200. McNary senior Dani Duran didn’t clear her fi rst hurdle until midway through her fi nal high school season but she was a quick enough study to set a new school re- cord (44.91) in the 300-me- ter race, win the Greater Val- Phelps Burrows ley Conference title and then place second in the state. Duran was initially disap- pointed with second but it was enough to get the atten- tion of Oregon State Uni- versity head track and fi eld coach Kelly Sullivan, who of- fered a scholarship. ““I’ve always wanted to go to college for sports,” Du- ran said. “That was my goal. OSU has always been my top college I still don’t have the best form when I hurdle but I have the speed in be- tween hurdles and I can get File As2a2sophomore2at2McNary,2Marissa2Kuch2set2GVC2records2in2 over them. Every single race I was always nervous I was go- both2the21002and22002freestyle2last2year.2 File Dani2Duran2placed2second2in2 the2 state2 in2 the2 300-meter2 hurdles2in22016.2 ing to fall on my face and be embarrassed but I never did, thankfully.” # 62McNary2grad2plays2in2Final2Four Deven Hunter, a 2012 graduate of McNary High School, wrapped up her Or- egon State career with a Pac- 12 championship and berth in the Final Four. As a 2-seed in the NCAA Tournament, the Lady Bea- vers blew out St. Bonaven- ture 69-40 to advance to the Sweet 16 for the fi rst time in program history. They then topped DePaul 83-71 to play No. 1 seed Baylor for a shot of the Final Submitted Deven2Hunter2kisses2the2Final2Four2trophy2after2the2Lady2Bea- Four. Hunter pulled down vers2upset2Baylor2in2the2quarterfi2nals2of2the2NCAA2Tournament.2 seven rebounds in a 60-57 win for the historic berth. Up next was undefeated and three-time defending national champion UCO- NN. Like all the other teams that had tried to dethrone the Lady Huskies, OSU fell 80-51 in front of more than 15,000 people in Indianapo- lis and millions more around the world watching on ESPN. In the title game, Syracuse didn’t have any better luck, falling to UCONN 82-51. “Their starting fi ve is amazing,” Hunter said of the champions. “The game didn’t go the way we wanted it to but it was defi nitely a good learn- ing experience and just mak- ing it to the Final Four was an awe moment.” Hunter fi nished her career with 893 rebounds, good for fourth in Oregon State his- tory and tied for 31 st in Pac- 12 history. She played in every game over the course of her four years and started 132 of 135. “It’s crazy what we were able to accomplish over four years,” she said. “It’s still so surreal, even to this day, like it never happen, defi nitely a shock.” Going to the Final Four was a goal Hunter made as a freshman. “We wanted to change the program around,” Hunter said. “Defi nitely that was our goal that we set out coming in as freshmen. We knew we were a special group of peo- ple. We knew we had some- thing special.”
