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