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About Keizertimes. (Salem, Or.) 1979-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 23, 2019)
PAGE A14, KEIZERTIMES, AUGUST 23, 2019 KEIZERTIMES.COM McNary cross country looks to bounce back BY MATT RAWLINGS Of the Keizertimes McNary’s boys’ cross country team didn’t fi n- ish where they wanted to in 2018, placing seventh at the Mountain Valley Conference district meet. But with more than 30 kids out for the team, includ- ing a number of key return- ers, head coach David Hol- comb is feeling encouraged as his squad gets ready for the 2019 season. “I feel really good about the boys team. We have had some really dedicated kids throughout summer work- outs,” Holcomb said. “We’re really excited about the boys taking the next step at the district meet.” “We have some guys that have been around the pro- gram for a few years now and they will be able to lead some of the younger guys by exam- ple.” Two of the Celtics more experienced runners are twin brothers Ethan and Brennan Whalen, who are going to be juniors this season — both athletes ran personal-bests under the 18-minute mark last season. Despite improving their respective times signifi cantly from their freshman seasons, Ethan and Brennan were dis- appointed by their individual performances at the 2018 dis- trict meet and are looking to redeem themselves this sea- son. “They are both real- ly strong runners. They had good seasons, but they didn’t compete the way they want- ed to. They are pretty hard on themselves and have lofty goals. But I think they are using that for fuel this year,” Holcomb said. McNary will also be re- lying on sophomore Caleb McCoy and junior Andrew Goemare at the front end of the varsity lineup. Goemare had a person- al-record time of 18:21.7 late in the season in 2018, while McCoy was a top fi ve fresh- man fi nisher at the district meet last season. Along with reliable return- ers, there are a few newcom- ers that Holcomb expects to have an impact for the Celtics. Sophomore Benjamin Standley was one of top mid- dle-distance runners for the McNary track team during the spring and hopes that his success will transfer to cross country. Freshman Connor Roop will also be joining the Celt- ics team after being a top-15 fi nisher for Whiteaker Middle School at the All-City meet in 2017 and 2018. One thing that will be in McNary’s favor in their preparation for the confer- ence meet is that the compe- tition will be hosted at Bush Park in Salem, — as opposed to last season’s meet, which took place at Central Oregon Community College in Bend. “Last year, we underper- formed a little bit at Bend. I think they were surprised by the course. The game plan just didn’t go how we wanted it to go,” Holcomb said. “They are a lot more familiar with Bush Park. They have been running there since middle school or before, so we feel good about that.” The MVC is one of the top leagues in the state when it comes to cross country, with Bend, Mountain View and Summit expected to be the leaders of the league once again this season. But Hol- comb believes that his crew can match up with all the Sa- lem schools. “We compete in a real- KEIZERTIMES/Matt Rawlings Brennan Whalen shows off a grin during his training on Monday evening. Whalen is expected to be one of the top runners for the McNary cross country team this season. ly tough league. We have some of the top teams in the Northwest. But with what we have got, we feel like we can compete with the other Salem schools pretty nicely,” Holcomb said. Even though his varsity boys lineup is close to com- plete, Holcomb still is en- couraging people to join the team. “We’re always going to have seven to 10 guys com- peting for varsity, but we want to bring more kids into our running community,” Hol- comb said. “We feel that any kid could do cross country, as long as you got running shoes and an attitude to work hard.” However, where McNary really needs more bodies is on the girls side. The McNary girls cross country team was the only squad in the MVC who was unable to record a score at districts last season. Cielo Chavez is the only Celtic returner on the girls side who competed at the district meet last season. “(Chavez) is an incredible worker. She’s someone you want in the classroom be- cause she’s such a hard work- er and in sports, you want her on your team because she has such a positive attitude,” Hol- comb said. “She’s someone that I could see having a lot of success this year.” However, the Celtics girls squad only has seven team members on the roster, so it will be Holcomb’s goal in the coming weeks to try and add additional girls to the team. “We defi nitely need to up our numbers. We want to help girls realize that running is fun and it’s something that they can be successful at,” Holcomb said. Salem-Keizer breaks out of slump against Everett KEIZERTIMES/Matt Rawlings Volcanoes second baseman Jeff Houghtby prepares to fi re to fi rst after fi elding a hard grounder to his left. BY HERB SWETT Of the Keizertimes The Volcanoes bats got hot on Sunday, Aug. 18, whipping their visitors from Everett by a score of 13-4. It did not look promising at fi rst to the home crowd of 2,014, because starting pitch- er Jasier Herrera allowed three fi rst-inning singles that produced two runs. He also gave up another single be- fore getting his fi rst out. The AquaSox’s Kevin Santa led off with a single to left fi eld. Cesar Izturis then singled to center, and a poor outfi eld throw allowed both runners to move up 90 feet. Utah Jones drove both run- ners home with a hit to right center fi eld. Trent Tingelstad’s hit followed, which forced pitching coach Dwight Bernard to make a trip to the mound. Herrera then struck out Connor Hoover, walked Robert Perez, struck out Cade Marlowe and got Brennon Kaleiwahea to fl y out to center to get out of trouble. Herrera held Everett scoreless from the third through the fi fth innings and came out of the game after giving up two runs early in the sixth. He still became the winning pitcher with a 2-1 record. Salem-Keizer’s fi rst ral- ly came in the third inning. Facing Jorge Benitez, who had replaced starter Tim El- liott after two innings, Hunt- er Bishop drew a walk. Mar- co Luciano followed with a single to left, with Bishop reaching second, and a sin- gle to left by Alex Canario scored Bishop. Jairo Pomares was hit by a pitch and Arma- ni Smith hit a bases-loaded triple to center, giving the Volcanoes the 4-2 advantage. The Volcanoes added two more runs in the bottom of the fi fth. Luciano dou- bled down the left fi eld line. Then, Pomares was hit by a pitch for the second time on the evening. Brandon Mar- torano later drove in both runners with a single to left fi eld. Everett’s remaining two runs came in the sixth. Con- nor Hoover singled to center and scored as Robert Perez doubled. Ben Madison re- lieved Herrera and retired the next batter. A pair of wild pitches moved Perez to third and then home. The Volcanoes answered with two runs of their own in the sixth. After Yorlis Ro- driguez singled to left, Brock Minich replaced Benitez on the mound. But he wouldn’t fair much better as Bishop homered off Benitez over the right center fi eld fence. Salem-Keizer added a run in the seventh when Smith singled to right, advanced on a passed ball and scored on a single to left by Rodriguez. Four more Volcano runs came in the eighth with Fred Villarreal on the mound. Bishop tripled to right, Lu- ciano walked, Canario drove in Bishop with a single to left and Luciano scored on a wild pitch. Pomares reached fi rst on an error that let Ca- nario score and Carter Al- drete drove in Pomares with a single to center fi eld. Tyler Schimpf pitched the eighth, setting the AquaSox down in order with two strikeouts. Wednesday, Aug. 14: Eugene 4, Volcanoes 2 Two Emerald runs in the seventh inning extended the Volcanoes’ road losing streak. Salem-Keizer and Eugene were tied at 2-2 when a sin- gle by the Emeralds’ Chase Strumpf scored Fernando Kelli and moved Edmond Americaan to third base. Americaan stole home mo- ments later. After that, the Volcanoes got nowhere offensively. For the game, they had only two hits, a single by Carter Al- drete and a double by Yorlis Rodriguez. Yunior Perez was the win- ning pitcher in relief with a 2-3 record and Joe Nahas got his fi rst save. The losing pitcher, also in relief, was Is- rael Cruz at 2-1. Thursday, Aug. 15: Eugene 5, Volcanoes 3 Salem-Keizer, never recovered from Eugene’s Please see SKV, Page A11
