PAGE A10, KEIZERTIMES, APRIL 21, 2017
KEIZERTIMES.COM
Van Voorhis gets full ride to DePaul
By DEREK WILEY
Of the Keizertimes
With top three times in
the 100, 200 and 400 meter
races, Brendan Van Voorhis
was already all over the Mc-
Nary track and fi eld record
book.
Last week he continued
to make his mark, becoming
the fi rst Celtic runner to sign
with a Division-I program in
15 years.
Van Voorhis signed with
DePaul University on Friday,
April 14 in the McNary li-
brary.
“My coaches always talk
about the kid that holds the
record,” Van Voorhis said. “It
would be cool if I could take
that spot of the person they
talk so highly of.”
He chose DePaul, a pri-
vate school in Chicago, over
similar opportunities at the
University of San Francisco,
Boston University and the
United States Military Acad-
emy in West Point.
Van Voorhis visited all four
schools and while San Fran-
cisco was equally enticing,
DePaul ultimately gave him
an offer he couldn’t refuse—
a full scholarship: 70 percent
athletic and 30 percent aca-
demic.
“I pretty much liked them
equally and San Francisco is
closer. DePaul gave me more
money,” Van Voorhis said. “I
like the feel of Chicago. De-
Paul is right by Lake Michi-
gan so it’s super nice houses.
I liked the kids. My host was
really cool. The whole atmo-
sphere was nice and it really
made me want to be a part of
their program.”
Van Voorhis began mak-
ing his mark on the McNary
program as a freshmen. Run-
ning with Brett Hildrebrand,
Anthony Nguyen and Kyle
Torres, the 4x400 relay team
fi nished second at the state
meet in 2014.
The following year, Van
Voorhis, Torres, Austin Brown
and Riley Moore placed third
in the state in the 4x100. Van
Voorhis, Brown, Nguyen and
Levi Timmons then took
third in the 4x400 in 2016.
“I’ve been lucky with the
kids that I’ve had on the track
team with me since I’ve been
a freshman,” Van Voorhis said.
“I’ve had good infl uences. It’s
been a good time here at Mc-
Nary and the track program
here.”
Individually, Van Voorhis
has placed sixth in the 400
at the state meet the past two
KEIZERTIMES/Derek Wiley
McNary senior Brendan Van Voorhis signed a national letter of intent in the McNary library on Friday, April 14 to run track at De-
Paul University in Chicago.
seasons.
“He’s so talented so it
makes it (my job) easy,” Mc-
Nary head track and fi eld
coach Franklin Gauntz said.
“He’s willing to try new
things. He’s really coach-
able. He’s just a great kid and
a wonderful talent. He just
wants to be the best and you
can’t ask for anything more.”
Please see DEPAUL, Page 11
Up in the air
McNary girls fi nish
1-2 in long jump
By DEREK WILEY
Of the Keizertimes
A friendly rivalry between
two young gymnasts has
moved to track and fi eld and
McNary High School is reap-
ing the benefi ts.
When senior Alyssa Loo-
ney watched her teammate
Courtney Giessinger long
jump 17-00.05 at Oregon
City on Saturday, April 15,
she was not going to be out-
done.
Looney went 17-02.75 to
get within a quarter of an
inch of the school record and
win the Willamette Falls Invi-
tational.
Ankle injuries kept Loo-
ney from jumping last sea-
son so it had been nearly two
years since she went more
than even 16 feet.
Her previous PR was 17-
00.05 and her best this season
was 15-07.5.
“It was a lot of motivation
because my teammate (Giess-
inger) started jumping,” Loo-
ney said. “We’ve had friendly
competition our entire lives
and it really motivates both
of us. She’s one of my really
good friends. I think it helps.
I just smiled and laughed.
My only goal was to get 16
and when I jumped 17 I just
couldn’t stop smiling.”
Giessinger, also a senior, is
new to long jumping and has
gotten better with each meet
but her PR was 15-02.25,
set on Wednesday, April 12 at
West Albany.
“I don’t really know how I
did it,” Giessinger said. “The
coaches were telling me how
to fi nish my jumps because I
wasn’t doing that at fi rst so
that helped a lot. I was really
shocked because my last jump
at the last meet was 15 so to
go to 17 was a lot. It was a big
jump.”
Giessinger is also enjoying
both competing against and
learning from Looney, who
KEIZERTIMES/Derek Wiley
McNary seniors Courtney Giessinger and Alyssa Looney went 17-00.05 and 17-02.75 to fi nish second and fi rst in the high jump at
the Willamette Falls Invitational on Saturday, April 15 in Oregon City.
started long jumping at the
end of her freshman year.
“We used to go back and
forth in gymnastics together,
fi rst and second, so us doing
it together brought back the
good old days.”
McNary head track and
fi eld coach Franklin Gauntz
noted the program hasn’t had
two girls go over 17 feet in
the long jump in his tenure.
“Two girls going over 17
feet in the long jump is awe-
some,” he said.
Please see RIVALRY, Page 11
Lady Celts score record 20 goals
By DEREK WILEY
Of the Keizertimes
McNary’s girls lacrosse
team’s second ever varsity win
was one for the history books
as the Lady Celts defeated
West Albany 20-10 on Thurs-
day, April 13.
The 20 goals are a record
for the program.
“It was all mental,” Mc-
Nary head coach Becca
LaFramboise said. “We have
the skill. Finally with the West
Albany game, we were able to
keep our energy up. We were
able to keep our minds in the
correct place to be able to use
our skills in the way that we
needed to.”
The Lady Celts were also
able to control possession as
Carly Levario was moved to
the draw and fi nished with
seven goals in the victory.
“We had worked a lot at
getting possession off of the
draw,” LaFramboise said.
“We were able to tweak
how we did the draw to help
get possession and once we
were able to get possession
we were able to score because
the problem has never been
not being able to score, the
problem has always been get-
ting possession of the ball and
keeping possession of the ball.
Once we get down there, we
can get it in.”
Marissa Dougal started the
scoring with her fi rst ever
goal less than a minute into
the game.
Levario then gave McNary
a quick 2-0 lead less than four
minutes into play.
Jessica Grimmer had fi ve
goals in the win. Katelyn Mar-
tinez and Ashley Setzer each
added three goals. Savannah
Bailey also scored for the Lady
Celts.
“That was the other great
thing to see is we did have a
wide variety,” LaFramboise
said.
“It wasn’t all from the same
three people. We had a good
variety, which is amazing to
have because the defense is
kept on their toes.”
McNary improved to 2-5
with the win, which LaFram-
boise hopes leads to more vic-
tories.
“I think it well help with
our mental game,” she said.
“That was the biggest hold-
back of their game because we
have the skill. We just need to
be confi dent in them. I think
defi nitely with this win and
they see how well we played
together and as a team and
that so many people scored a
goal, I think that it will defi -
nitely help the girls realize
that they do have the capabil-
ity to win.”
McNary’s next home game
is Tue, April 25 at 6:30 p.m.
versus Crescent Valley.
LaFramboise noted it will
be a good test for the Lady
Celts who have already fallen
to Crescent Valley twice this
season.
KEIZERTIMES/Derek Wiley
Carly Levario scored seven goals in McNary’s 20-10 win against
West Albany on Thursday, April 13.