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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.”