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KEIZERTIMES.COM
Hayward Bound W
LIFE
OF
iley
Celtics fi nalize
football schedule
Downer
qualifi es
for state in
pole vault
By DEREK WILEY
Of the Keizertimes
SALEM—Senior
Paige
Downer punched McNary’s
fi rst ticket to the state track
meet on Tuesday, fi nishing
second in the pole vault in
day one of the Greater Valley
Conference Track and Field
Championships at West Salem
High School.
“I’ve wanted to go there
for so long,” said Downer of
the state meet held each May
at Hayward Field in Eugene.
“Hearing of all the people
that went there, it just made
me so excited and I fi nally get
to do that and it’s pretty cool.”
Downer entered the dis-
trict meet tied with the best
vault in the GVC this season
at 10 feet, 6 inches with Mila
Lumae of Forest Grove, and
just ahead of the reigning dis-
trict champion—West Salem
senior Alyssa Premo at 10-3.
But Downer didn’t get off
to a dazzling start, missing her
fi rst attempt at 9 feet.
“I was a little stressed,”
Downer said. “I compare my-
self to the other competitors,
which is bad. After the fi rst
attempt at nine, I missed that
and both the people (Lumae
and Premo) I was competing
with cleared it the fi rst time
so I was a little stressed but I
needed to calm myself down
mentally and know that it was
Ok, vault and do what I’ve
been doing and take it step
by step.”
After clearing 9 feet on her
second attempt, the next steps
included 9-6 and then 10-0.
With only three girls left in
the event after McNary fresh-
man Ashlin Samples went
out at 9-6 to fi nish fourth,
Downer cleared 10-3 on her
fi rst attempt while both Pre-
mo and Lumae missed.
That’s when the thought
that Downer could go to state
really set in.
“I was freaking out be-
cause I knew attempt wise
they were beating me at the
other heights,” Downer said.
“Once I got 10-3 the fi rst
time and they both missed
it, I can’t even explain what I
was feeling. I was just so ex-
cited.”
KEIZERTIMES/Derek Wiley
ABOVE: McNary senior Paige Downer fi nished second at the Greater Valley Conference Championships in the pole vault on
Tuesday night at West Salem to qualify for the state meet at Hayward Field May 18-19. BELOW: Tim Kiser placed fourth in discus.
While Premo cleared 10-3
on her second attempt, Lu-
mae missed on her second
and then her third, qualifying
Downer for state.
An ecstatic Downer gave
McNary vault coach Dustin
Walker a high fi ve and ran to
hug teammate Brandi Grun-
berg.
“They were talking about
how proud they are of me,”
Downer said.
“They are my best sup-
porters. I’m so thankful for
them.”
With the district title on
the line, Downer cleared 10-6
on her third attempt. Premo
fi nished at 10-9 to repeat as
the champion.
“I wanted to prove that I
can do that again (10-6) and
that I can compete at state
and I can compete with those
girls and hopefully get on the
podium,” said Downer, who
has never been to Hayward
Field, not even as a spectator.
Please see TRACK, Page B6
McNary golfers to tee up at state
By DEREK WILEY
Of the Keizertimes
McNary senior Hannah Elliott saved
the best two rounds of golf of her young
life for when she needed them the most.
Elliott backed up a personal best 88 in
the fi rst round of the GVC Champion-
ships at Trysting Tree with an 87 in the
second to fi nish third overall and qualify
for her fi rst state tournament.
“It was the one thing that I wanted
to do because I haven’t gotten there yet,”
said Elliott, who was tied with Anna Sch-
weitzer of West Albany after the fi rst day
before beating her by three strokes on the
second. “I just played smarter than she
did in a couple of shots. We were pretty
evenly matched. It just came down to a
couple of shots that I just ended up doing
better than her.”
Confi dent from the fi rst day, Elliott
played her best nine ever, shooting 41 on
the front.
“I knew I could do it. It was just keep-
ing it together on the back nine,” Elliott
said. “After the fi rst day I had a lot of con-
fi dence going into the second day and I
think confi dence really helps. You do
good on one hole and it kind of pushes
you to keep going.”
The rounds were her fi rst two in the
80s. Elliott shot 91 at the district tourna-
ment as a sophomore but spent much of
the past two seasons struggling to break
100.
“It was a complete 180 from last year,”
Elliott said. “I’ve been wanting to be here
(80s) for a while and I just couldn’t get
here all season until districts. It was the
perfect time to get there.”
Elliot will return to Trysting Tree Golf
Club on May 14-15 for the state tourna-
ment.
“I love Trysting Tree,” Elliott said. “Be-
cause it’s a wide open course, even if you
hit it a little bit right, it’s easier to hit it
back into the fairway and then get it up.
I just love playing the course. It’s really
nice there and knowing I can shoot low
there will be exciting to see how I can
do at state.”
Joining Elliott at the state tournament
will be McNary teammate Juralee Stover,
who shot a 94 on Monday, May 7 at re-
gionals. In a three-way tie for fi fth after
18 holes at Tokatee Golf Club, Stover
made a 10 foot put for par on the fi rst
playoff hole to earn the fi nal state spot.
“I was surprised that I actually made
that put because during that whole day
I wasn’t putting very good at all,” Stover
said. “It will be a good experience to go
(to state), especially when I wasn’t ex-
pecting it.”
McNary junior Matt Langenwalter
and sophomore Joel Dutcher will play in
their second 6A boys golf state tourna-
ment.
Please see GOLF, Page B6
Submitted
McNary golfers Joel Dutcher
and Matt Langenwalter
fi nished second and third at
the district tournament to
qualify for state.
After multiple appeals, one
from Salem-Keizer and two by
Cascade, McNary fi nalized its
2018 football schedule, its fi rst
in the new Mountain Valley
Conference, and it won’t be a
cakewalk.
All nine opponents reached
the playoffs last year.
Four made it to at least the
quarterfi nals and two played for
state championships.
On paper, the Celtics fi rst
game, at home against North
Medford on August 31, should
be the easiest.
The Black Tornadoes fi n-
ished 3-7 last season with one
of those losses coming to Mc-
Nary, 40-20. But North Med-
ford beat the Celtics the year
before and played in as tough a
league as any with South Med-
ford and Sheldon.
McNary will spend most of
September on the road.
In a rematch of the second
round of the state playoffs, the
Celtics will play at West Linn
on Sept. 7 and then travel to
face another Three Rivers
Conference squad in Tualatin
on Sept. 14.
West Linn lost in the state
quarterfi nals last year but
played in the previous two state
championship games, win-
ning the title in 2016. Tualatin
has made the playoffs for three
consecutive years but hasn’t ad-
vanced past the second round.
The road stretch continues
into week four when McNary
travels to Tumwater, Wash. on
Sept. 21.
The T-Birds went 11-3 last
season, losing in the 2A state
fi nals for the fourth time in the
past six years.
The Celtics then welcome
defending state runner up
South Medford to Keizer on
Sept. 28. The Panthers lost the
2017 6A state championship to
Clackamas by one point, 31-30.
McNary will play just four
league games, beginning with
Sprague at home on Oct. 4.
After road games at Bend
(Oct. 12) and West Salem (Oc.
19), the Celtics will close the
regular season at home against
South Salem on Oct. 26.
Bend went 5-5 last season
and fi nished fourth in 5A’s
Special District 1.
Most coaches want to play
teams that will get them ready
for the playoffs, counting on
the fact that their squad won’t
play anyone tougher than what
they saw in the regular season.
With this schedule, the Celt-
ics should defi nitely get that.