SHS PREVIEW
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, MARCH 31, 2015
13A
Seaside’s senior class ready for big year
By GARY HENLEY
The Daily Astorian
It’s the “last lap” around the track,
so to speak, for a very talented senior
class of athletes at Seaside.
The Gulls enter the 2015 track
season with a good mix of youth and
experience, as the “new era” athletes
prepare to replace the old guard.
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yet.
Several senior athletes have high
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careers in Eugene, May 22 and 23.
“Danielle, Kelly, Allison, Char-
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is very strong,” said Seaside coach
Jeff Kilday, referring to Danielle and
Kelly Willyard, Allison Kilday and
Charlotte Blakesley.
Those athletes were already
winning events in the early season
meets.
“Behind that, we have Josie
Smith, Lizzy Barnes, and junior
Bridgette Malone was third in the
hurdles last year,” coach Kilday
said. “We should have good relays,
and we’ll compete. The girls have
a very strong senior class, with a
couple real good juniors and a
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team.”
Overall, he said, “our numbers
are down a little. Not very many
freshmen this year. We have 63 al-
together, a little bit lower than we
normally have, but I think they’re all
great athletes.”
For the Seaside boys, “We lost a
couple great distance runners, but we
have a sophomore and junior class
that’s working its way up,” Kilday
said. “They’re a lot stronger. The
boys should compete this year; with
JOSHUA BESSEX — The Daily Astorian
Seaside’s Allison Kilday clears a hurdle during the 100-meter hurdles event at the Seaside track meet March 19. Kilday placed first among girls
in the event.
the girls it’s about numbers.”
Valley Catholic has joined the
Cowapa League, and the Valiant
boys “will make a huge difference,”
Kilday said. “They have a great team
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year.”
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will be scoring lots of points in the
big meets.
“We have some new blood in
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4x4 team will be good,” Kilday said.
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will also be there. From the 400 on,
we look very strong.”
New coaches take over Seaside softball
By GARY HENLEY
The Daily Astorian
The ups and downs of Sea-
side softball. Unfortunately
for the Gulls, it’s been mostly
down for the last decade.
After 0-15 league seasons
in 2007, 2009 and 2012, Sea-
side softball appeared to be
on its way back up following
a 4-11 record in 2013.
But last year, it was back
to 0-15.
The Lady Gulls have
changed coaches, as Jon
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holm take over.
Even with a couple of
freshmen pitchers, the new-
look Lady Gulls believe they
can compete in the new-look
Cowapa.
“I think we’ll be compet-
itive this year,” Westerholm
said. “In the past, it just
seemed like they were one
player short, or one position
short. We have 11 or 12 girls
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push each other to get better.
THE LADY GULLS
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ing out who will play where,
but the Gulls should have a
good starting nine when the
lineup is complete.
The list already includes
four all-league returners: Se-
nior catcher Allison Bussert;
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tany West and sophomore
Emma Dutcher.
And the Gulls have tal-
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elsewhere, including senior
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and Shelby Miller; and junior
shortstop Whitney Wester-
holm.
The sophomores include
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and Sydney Villegas, with
freshmen pitchers Jetta Ideue
and Sequoia Shand, along
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JOSHUA BESSEX — The Daily Astorian
Seaside’s Jetta Ideue, No. 3, pitches against Ilwaco during their softball game at Broadway Field March 24.
SEASIDE SOFTBALL
Coaches: Jon Hotchkiss, Bill Westerholm, 1st year
2014: 5-20 (0-15 Cowapa)
All-League Losses: None
All-League Returners: Allison Bussert, Sr., Emma
Dutcher, So., Paige Ideue, Jr., Brittany West, Jr.
lot of time on the mound,”
coach Westerholm said.
“She’s played a lot with this
group, and she throws the
ball well. The main thing
will be to throw strikes and
let your fielders do the work.
And Bussert can be one of
the better catchers in the
league.”
THE COWAPA
When your league record
over the last eight years is
just eight wins and 111 loss-
es, the concern isn’t with the
top teams in the league.
“We’ll just worry about
ourselves,”
said
coach
Westerholm. “Banks is going
to be strong because they’ve
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got pitching, and they had a
lot of youth players last year
who saw time. Yamhill’s out
of the league, so that helps;
the Scappoose softball pro-
gram has been strong for the
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they’ve got good pitching.”
With that being said,
Westerholm said, “I think
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spot.”
It’s a change in the league
lineup should provide some
immediate relief for the
Gulls, as Valley Catholic
joins the Cowapa.
Before they went on
their 15-game losing streak
in league play last year, the
Gulls beat Valley Catholic
7-6 April 12, for their last
win of the 2014 season.
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