Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Keizertimes. (Salem, Or.) 1979-current | View Entire Issue (July 14, 2017)
JULY 14, 2017, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE A11 KEIZERTIMES.COM Now and then: Barchus fulfi lls D-I dream By DEREK WILEY Of the Keizertimes A broken hand cost Jordan Barchus a season at Lower Columbia College but it did not derail his dream of playing Division-I baseball. The 2014 McNary gradu- ate has signed a commitment letter with the University of San Francisco. “That’s been my goal growing up, to play Division- I baseball,” Barchus said. “It’s amazing to see how far I have come, just how much better a person and how much better at baseball I’ve gotten. Espe- cially the last three years, I did a lot of growing up and made me ready for Division-I base- ball.” After playing sparingly as a role player his freshman sea- son, Barchus broke his hamate bone swinging a bat early in his second year and red-shirt- ed. Barchus spent last summer playing with the Gresham GreyWolves to prepare for his fi nal season at Lower Colum- bia, a two-year community college in Longview, Wash. “There’s a lot of Division- I baseball guys playing in the summer league so I get to face all of that competition to get me prepared to head to the next level,” Barchus said. Batting cleanup and play- ing third base, Barchus re- turned for the 2017 season Submitted Jordan Barchus spent the last three years at Lower Columbia College in Longview, Wash. after graduating from McNary High School in 2014. and led Lower Columbia with 44 RBIs along with 24 runs, seven doubles, two triples and two home runs while hitting .317. On May 29, the Red Devils won their second Northwest Athletic Conference in three seasons. Barchus was voted to the all-tournament team as well as First Team All-NWAC during the regular season. “It’s a dream come true to be part of a college champion- ship team,” Barchus said. “You see the fruit of your labor from all of the hard work that you put in at the beginning of September, all the way until the end of May. It’s just unbe- lievable to see how much you grow, your team grows and it’s just a lot of fun.” Part of Barchus’ growth was getting bigger, faster and stronger. Barchus weighed 150-155 pounds when he arrived at Lower Columbia three years ago but will leave at 175. “There’s a lot of extra con- ditioning at Lower Columbia that we do that pushes you to become a better baseball player,” Barchus said. “It makes you tougher.” With his future in doubt, Barchus didn’t hear from San Francisco until about a week before the NWAC tourna- ment. “I’m pretty sure I was the last one from my team to sign or commit somewhere so it was a little frustrating for the type of season I was having,” Barchus said. “These are my best friends so I was extremely happy for them but I was just personally frustrated. I just kept playing the game. It was out of my control. I just dealt with the things I could control and play really good baseball. “I was going to keep play- ing, didn’t know if it was go- ing to be Division-I level but I was going to keep playing no matter what.” In mid-June, he received a second offer from High Point University in North Carolina, before deciding to sign with San Francisco the fi rst week of July. “I just felt like I had the best opportunity and the best chance for that team to go to the NCAA playoffs and espe- cially for me to grow as a hu- man being even further,” Bar- chus said. “I felt like it was a really good fi t program wise.” Barchus plans to major in the human physiology fi eld. He wants to be a surgeon or chiropractor. But signing with a Divi- sion-I program also gets Bar- chus closer to another dream. “The childhood dream is to play pro baseball and I’m just a step closer to that real- ity,” he said. “I’ve just got to work harder. Only the 1 per- cent of the 1 percent will get that opportunity to get paid to play baseball. Now, I’ve got to make new goals and that’s defi nitely one of them.” Norstrom, Wilcoxen break Holiday Swim Club records By DEREK WILEY Of the Keizertimes Kyra Norstrom’s path to setting a new Holiday Swim Club record in the pool be- gan at home, competing with her 5-year-old sister, Eirelyn, on who could eat breakfast or get dressed fi rst. “She’s like ‘I’m going to beat you,’” Kyra said. “She’s very competitive for her age.” And the desire to win doesn’t end with her sister. “My mom is super com- petitive and my dad is com- petitive but only in certain sports. I’m only competitive in swimming,” Kyra clarifi ed. That competitiveness paid off Thursday, July 6 at the Northview Terrace pool as the elder Norstrom swam a club record 15.28 seconds to win the 11-12-year-old but- terfl y. Norstrom, 11, joined the Holiday Swim Club last sum- mer after the family moved to Keizer from Eastern Oregon. While it was her fi rst team, Norstrom did take lessons in La Grande. “I was terrifi ed of swim- ming,” Norstrom said. “My teacher couldn’t even get me to jump off the edge because I was too scared.” Norstrom has come a long way since starting with Holi- day, especially her diving. “Last year, I just totally bel- ly fl opped them,” Norstrom said. “Diving was horrible for me. Last year, I was the worst butterfl y ever. I could barely do it so it was really fun to improve my times.” Norstrom also won the 11- 12 girls backstroke at North- view in 36.06, two seconds faster than she swam last sum- mer, and the freestyle in 29.82. Norstrom credited her coaches and of course her competitiveness for the swift improvement. Submitted John Campos celebrates with his daughter Bristol after winning an IMCA Modifi ed race on Me- morial Day weekend in Banks. Campos also won July 8 at Willamette Speedway in Lebanon. KEIZERTIMES/Derek Wiley ABOVE: Kyra Norstrom and Alex Wilcoxen set new Holiday Swim Club records in the butterfl y on Thursday, July 6. BELOW: Eli Stayley won the the 11-12 individual medley for Northview. “Sarah (Eckert) and Cody (Luth) and Kylie (McCarty) pushing me and for me to beat all my friends is really fun,” Norstrom said. Alex Wilcoxen’s success in the pool also comes from her family. Her mother was previ- ously the head coach at Holi- day and her father currently serves as the club’s president. Along with breaking her own record in the 9-10 girls butterfl y in 15.06 seconds, Wilcoxen also won the breast- stroke in 45.65 and the indi- vidual medley in 1:19.62. “It tires me out but it just keeps me going,” Wilcoxen said of the butterfl y. “Just our coaches cheering you on just pushes you on.” A strong start was key. “I did a really straight dive instead of a deep dive,” Wil- coxen said. “I had a really, re- ally good dive. It felt good.” Wilcoxen and Norstrom’s swims helped Holiday defeat Northview 337 to 232. Evylyn Hales had the fast- est times in the 7-8 butterfl y and backstroke. Please see RECORDS, Page 13 Keizer man wins IMCA race By DEREK WILEY Of the Keizertimes John Campos, 41, of Keiz- er, is making a name for him- self in his third year on the International Motor Contest Association (IMCA) Modi- fi ed circuit. Campos won his third race of the season on Saturday, July 8 at Willamette Speedway in Lebanon. Competing in the Clair Cup, Campos started outside on the third row. However, after a caution, Campos took the lead before the 10th of 30 laps and never let it go. “They’d just put a little bit of water down on the track before we got going,” Cam- pos said. “The track was really dusty and had a little bit of a cush- ion around the top edge of it. Basically, I was the fi rst car to get up there and fi nd it and use it to my advantage. I took the lead and nobody could catch me from there.” Campos estimated he maintained about a quarter of a lap lead over the fi eld, which included 14 cars. The clay oval track at Wil- lamette Speedway is a third of a mile. “We just had a good hot rod that night,” Campos said. “We had a good car and we just never really got chal- lenged after I took the lead.” Winning came with a $1,000 prize, which is double of a typical race. And since fi reworks were after the race, Campos said it was a packed house. The win also helped Cam- pos remain on top of the IMCA Modifi ed Oregon point standings. A state cham- pionship would bring even more prize money. Campos, who also works as a shipping manager at Pa- cifi c Building Systems in Woodburn, races about every weekend from April through September and would like to make it his full-time job. He hates the word ‘hobby.’ “It’s more than a hobby just because you spend so much of your life with it,” Campos said. “Obviously, if we could have it as a career and not have to go to work everyday I would. “I’d love to pack it all up and just hit the road and go. One day it would be nice to make the effort and see what you can do. It’s a long shot.” Campos grew up around the sport, watching his dad race at the Roseburg Fair- grounds. Campos has been at it for nearly 20 years. He was in the late model division before switching over to modifi ed three years ago. Campos races for Break the Chain, an organization that helps fi ght addiction and violence. “They’re racing to break the chain,” Campos said. “It’s just a good cause and I want- ed to run it on my car and help spread that word.”
