PAGE A14, KEIZERTIMES, JUNE 14, 2019
KEIZERTIMES.COM
Celts get six all-conference nods
BY MATT RAWLINGS
Of the Keizertimes
The McNary baseball
squad had six players receive
all-Mountain Valley Confer-
ence recognition for their
outstanding play over the
course of the season.
Ty Covalt- (senior) catch-
er: First-team all-league.
Covalt was McNary’s only
fi rst-team performer — it’s
the second straight season
he has earned those honors.
He led the Celtics in hitting,
batting .400 with a .516 on-
base percentage, 27 RBIs and
21 runs scored. Covalt also
proved to be an outstanding
defender behind the dish and
caught 15 runners stealing.
What his coach (Larry
Keeker) said:
“He was consistent all
season long. He did a really
good job in a leadership role
as our catcher and he was
excellent in his management
of our pitching staff … From
an offensive standpoint, he
was a big RBI guy for us and
was very consistent in pro-
ducing runs from the middle
of our order.”
David Allen- (senior)
pitcher: Second-team all-
league.
Allen was the unques-
tioned ace on the mound
for McNary this season. He
led the Celtics in innings
pitched (50.2) and had two
wins and one save. He struck
out 28 and was McNary’s
go-to-guy in tough games
and situations. At the plate,
he batted .214, was second
on the team in runs scored
(20) and led the Celtics in
stolen bases (7).
What his coach says:
“David was our number
one pitcher and we used him
that way. He had some really
gutsy outings that he really
had to battle through. The
team knew that he was the
guy that we were going to
throw in an important game.
He had some struggles with
his command, but he still had
a great year for us.”
Robert Benson- (senior)
outfi elder: Second-team all-
league.
One of the best athletes
on this McNary team. He
was second on the team in
hitting with a .378 batting
average and was tied for the
team lead in base hits (28).
He had fi ve stolen bases, 13
RBIs and scored 18 runs.
What his coach says:
“Robert’s competitiveness
has made a huge difference
for him, from both an offen-
sive and defensive standpoint.
He had a lot of productive
at-bats this season and pro-
vided a lot of aggressiveness
on the base paths. His work
File
Please see CELTS, Page A10
McNary catcher Ty Covalt was the lone fi rst-team all-conference selection for the Celtics this season. The catcher batted .400 this
season with 27 RBIs and 21 runs scored.
Former McNary track star excels at DePaul
BY MATT RAWLINGS
Of the Keizertimes
It was a big deal when
Brendan Van Voorhis signed
to run track at DePaul Uni-
versity in the spring of 2017,
making him the fi rst McNary
athlete to sign with a Division
I program in over 10 years.
But it doesn’t compare to
the success he had this spring
during his sophomore year of
college.
Van Voorhis was named
the Most Outstanding Track
Performer at the Big East
Conference Outdoor Cham-
pionships on May 11 after
taking second the in the 400
meters and winning the 200
meters. He was also a part of
the 4x100 and 4x400 relay
teams that took fi rst place at
the event.
“The coolest feeling is be-
ing successful at a meet and
having your teammates be-
ing successful as well. Being
all-Big East in all four of my
events was really exciting, but
it was more exciting to see
that the guys I trained with
throughout the year were
having the same successes as
myself,” Van Voorhis said.
Van Voorhis started show-
ing his potential when he
was a freshman at McNary
in 2014, running the fi rst leg
on the 4x400 relay team that
took second in state. The fol-
lowing season, Van Voorhis
helped the 4x100 team to a
third place fi nish.
Van Voorhis made nine ad-
ditional appearances in the
state meet over the course of
his prep career in the 100m.
200m and 400m.
“Brendan is a really talent-
ed kid that always was a hard
worker,” McNary head track
and fi eld coach Frank Gauntz
said. “He’s a guy that always
wants to be the best in every-
thing that he does and he is
very competitive in nature,
which was awesome to have
in our track program.”
File
Brendan Van Voorhis pictured signing his letter of intent to attend DePaul University back in 2017. Van Voorhis was named the Most Outstanding Track Performer
at the Big East Conference Outdoor Championships on May 11.
Colleges across the coun-
try began to take notice of
Van Voorhis’s potential. But
after receiving offers from
the University of San Fran-
cisco, Boston University and
the United States Military
Academy, he fi nally settled on
continuing his education and
athletic career at DePaul.
“I chose DePaul main-
ly because of the team here,
and the guys I met on my
visit. They really seemed like
a family and I liked the team
chemistry,” Van Voorhis said.
Van Voorhis also acknowl-
edged how important Gauntz
was in helping him get recog-
nized by national schools.
“Coach Gauntz and I have
a great relationship. Through-
out all of high school, he was
extremely supportive, and
when it came to recruiting
for track he was more than
helpful with letters of rec-
ommendation and was really
excited when I signed to De-
Paul University,” Van Voorhis
said.
After graduating from Mc-
Nary, Van Voorhis headed to
DePaul to get ready for his
freshman season. During the
early stages of his preparation
for the season, he learned
fi rst-hand how different it
is to compete at the college
level.
“The biggest difference is
the training. Here at college
the training is much harder
than it was in high school,”
Van Voorhis said.
But it didn’t take very long
for Van Voorhis to get accus-
tomed to what it took to be
an elite college athlete.
Van Voorhis made an im-
mediate impact during the
2017-18
indoor
season,
where he took sixth in the
200m (22.08) and fourth in
the 400m (48.69). He would
follow it up with a stellar per-
formance during the outdoor
season where he made the fi -
nals in the 400m.
But in the following out-
door season, Van Voorhis
wound up being the MVP for
the DePaul men’s track team.
His win in the 200m came
in 21.98 seconds and his fi nal
400m run at the conference
meet was a personal best that
got him into second place
(47.88).
With relay victories in the
4x100 and 4x400, Van Voorhis
was one of only two DePaul
male athletes to reach the po-
dium in four different events.
“It’s awesome to see him
have so much success,” Gauntz
said. “It really speaks to the
type of kid he is. I wouldn’t
expect anything less.”
As Van Voorhis wraps up
his sophomore year in school,
he hopes to increase his suc-
cess as he prepares for next
season.
“My goals for next year
are obviously to repeat in
the events that I won, and to
qualify for the regional meet,
and the national meet after
that,” Van Voorhis said.