AHS PREVIEWS
10A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 31, 2016
Astoria running in the ‘district of champions’
By GARY HENLEY
The Daily Astorian
THE RUNNERS
It was hard to say how the
Astoria cross country team did
in 2015, judging just by the
results.
Yes, the Fishermen boys
finished fifth out of six teams
in the Cowapa League cham-
pionship meet. Then again, the
top three teams in the league
(Seaside, Tillamook, Valley
Catholic) also happened to be
the top three teams in the entire
state at the 4A level.
The Astoria Lady Fisher-
men have an equally tough
time on the girls’ side.
Tough league or not, most of
the runners are back for more, as
Andrew Fick returns for another
season as the Astoria cross coun-
try coach, with one meet already
under their belt.
The Fishermen hosted their
annual “Alumni Run” Aug.
25 at Cullaby Lake, complete
with post-race potluck. At least
they’re having fun.
“The Alumni Run was
great,” Fick said. “We were a
small group, but everyone ran
hard and had fun. It was great
to have coach (Carl) Dominey
Girls
McKenzie Burnett, Jr.
McKenna Long, Fr.
Libbie Nash, Jr.
Taylor Palmrose, So.
Kathy Perez, Jr.
Boys
William Berezay, So.
Lucas Caruana, Sr.
Andrei (Dex) Gregory, So.
Parker Ivanoff, So.
Calvin Kaul, So.
Kevin Kumar, Fr.
Anthony Miller, Sr.
David Sharp, Jr.
Elias Simmons, So.
and (John) Goodenberger
(who also ran) there, and it was
fun as always to have everyone
together for the family potluck
afterward.
“I’m looking forward to
having the rest of our AHS run-
ners with us as we get closer to
the start of school, but we’re
already working hard and hav-
ing fun.”
Not surprisingly, the first-
place runner in the Alumni
Run also happens to be Asto-
ria’s top prospect this season,
senior Lucas Caruana.
Last school year, Caruana
began with a 10th-place fin-
ish in the district cross coun-
try meet, and closed it out by
finishing third in the 800-meter
final at the state track meet.
Besides Caruana, other
returning runners for the
Astoria boys include senior
Anthony Miller, and sopho-
mores Andrei “Dex” Greg-
ory, Parker Ivanoff and Calvin
Kaul.
The top runner for the
Astoria girls — junior Kaylee
Mitchell — has moved on,
as the three-sport athlete has
taken her talents to the Salem
area.
That leaves three returners
for the Astoria girls — juniors
McKenzie Burnett, Libbie
Nash and Kathy Perez.
Burnett ran a personal best
20 minutes, 17 seconds in the
5,000-meter Alumni Run, after
placing 16th in last year’s dis-
trict meet in 22:42.
Nash and Perez also ran
personal best times in their
first official run of the season.
Completing the varsity five
this year will be sophomore
Taylor Palmrose and freshman
McKenna Long.
Astoria spikers enter
new era at the net
By GARY HENLEY
The Daily Astorian
Their best player from last
season is now playing at the
collegiate level. They’ve got a
new coach on the sidelines, and
they’re coming off one of their
worst league seasons in recent
memory.
For Jessie Todd, it’s not
exactly the ideal way to begin
a new coaching regime … but
that’s the hand she’s been dealt,
as the Astoria volleyball pro-
gram enters a new season and a
new era.
Todd coached at Class 3A
Sheridan last season, leading the
Spartans to a 10-4 record in the
West Valley League. Sheridan
went 0-2 in the state tournament,
with losses to eventual state run-
ner-up Creswell, and a consola-
tion loss to Coquille.
She takes over for Angee
Hunt, who coached Astoria for
nine years overall, while daugh-
ter Chloee Hunt is competing
for Evergreen College, follow-
ing her all-league season with
the Lady Fishermen.
The Daily Astorian/File Photos
Astoria’s Aurora Grafton sets the ball at the front of the
net for a teammate as Valley Catholic’s Regan Dean looks
to defend the shot in a 2014 game.
ASTORIA
VOLLEYBALL
Coach: Jessie Todd, 1st
year
2015: 1-9 Cowapa
All-League Loss: Chloee
Hunt
All-League Returners:
Aurora Grafton, Sr.; Madi
Landwehr, Jr.
The Cowapa
For yet another year in yet
another sport, the Cowapa
League is the home of a 2015
defending state champion.
Banks won the 4A state title
last year, with a three-game
sweep over Sisters in the final.
Tillamook and Valley Cath-
olic were also part of the final
eight at the state tournament,
and ended up facing each other
in the consolation final, the Val-
iants winning in three games.
Todd is new to the Cowapa,
but she knows the league has a
reputation.
“What I know about the
league is that Banks won (state)
last year, Valley Catholic was
fourth and Tillamook sixth,” she
said. “It is a very tough league.
We are getting prepared for
that.”
The Lady Fish
Chloee Hunt was Astoria’s
strong presence at the net last
year, and while she’s gone, all is
not lost.
The Lady Fishermen still
have a pair of all-league return-
Astoria’s Madi Landwehr,
No. 2, sets the ball during
the volleyball game at Sea-
side last year.
ers in senior Aurora Grafton and
junior Madi Landwehr, while
Astoria will have two 5-foot-10
players at the net — senior Jac-
queline Jarrett and sophomore
Kes Sandstrom, a transfer from
Scappoose.
And the Fishermen have
two more athletes who play
bigger than their listed height,
5-7 junior middle blocker Dar-
ian Hageman (the state high
jump champion) and 5-5 soph-
omore outside hitter Samantha
Hemsley.
Rounding out the varsity
roster will be juniors Chelsea
Christensen and Kira Worwood;
sophomore defensive special-
ist Aly Cotte; and freshmen set-
ter Julia Norris and libero Hai-
ley O’Brien.
Despite the coaching change,
Todd said, “the girls have been
real receptive, and it’s been a
very positive experience so far.
“We’ve got some size, which
is great, and we’re improving
defensively. It’s still early. We
have a couple weeks before we
start league play, so I can kind
of play around with things, see
what’s going to work, and go
from there. We’re relatively
young,” with only two seniors.
Todd adds, “I am going
to run a 6-2, with Aurora and
Madi. They’re both talented
setters, and they’ve been really
good leaders for the team.
“Darian can jump — her and
Jacqueline will both be great
middles. We’ve been working
a lot on them connecting with
the setters and quicker hits, and
they’ve done a real good job of
picking up on it.”
Daily Astorian/File Photo
Astoria’s Lucas Caruana is one of the top returning cross country runners in the Cowapa
League in 2016.
Astoria girls soccer hopes
for quick turnaround
By GARY HENLEY
The Daily Astorian
Luck just hasn’t been with
the Astoria girls soccer pro-
gram in recent years.
Despite improvements on
the field, the numbers — just
two wins in each of the last two
seasons — remain the same. In
fact, if it wasn’t for Tillamook,
the Lady Fishermen wouldn’t
have any wins at all.
Astoria’s two wins last
year came over the 0-14
Cheesemakers, and the two
victories in 2014 also came
over Tillamook.
With a new coach and four
all-league players returning,
the Astoria girls are hoping
to break through some barri-
ers in 2016.
Tim Fastabend is the new
coach, replacing Sarah von
Colditz, who stepped down
after two seasons.
And the new coach likes
what he sees.
“We’ve got a large senior
group and a fairly large junior
group,” Fastabend said.
“They’re optimistic, enthu-
siastic, and there’s a lot of
returning lettermen who have
played varsity their entire
careers. I’m positive.”
The Cowapa
It remains to be seen if
Scappoose and Valley Catho-
lic can overcome big hits in the
graduation department. Given
their history, the answer is yes.
The defending state cham-
pion Indians lost 10 players,
including five all-league play-
ers and Cowapa Player of the
Year Lucy Davidson.
“Scappoose and Val-
ley Catholic are there, and
Banks looked real athletic at
the (preseason) tournament,”
Fastabend said. “They’ll be a
lot stronger than people think.
And whenever Astoria plays
Seaside, it’s like a state play-
off game.
“After those first two
spots, it will be a pretty good
fight for position.”
The Lady Fish “have been
working really hard in prac-
tice, so if we can continue
that and go into October play-
ing well, there’s a chance to
finish strong.”
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ASTORIA GIRLS SOCCER
Coach: Tim Fastabend, 1st year
2015: 2-12 (2-8 Cowapa)
All-League Loss: Megan Bergeron
All-League Returners: Claire Albright, Jr.; Daniela Garcia,
Sr.; Lexis Law, Jr.; Jenna Rudolph, Sr.
The Lady Fish
Astoria is certainly in bet-
ter shape than a lot of teams,
returning both talent and
experience. Nine seniors will
provide a solid foundation.
“Numbers-wise, we had to
keep a couple juniors with the
JVs,” Fastabend said. “There’s
just not a lot of room on the var-
sity with that many seniors.”
The long list of experience
includes seniors Ashlee Dal-
ton, Sariah Dieffenbach, Dan-
iela Garcia, Anna Gimre, Vic-
toria Holcom, Jenna Rudolph,
Shrida Sharma, Rachel Sim-
mons and Kristen Travers.
“We have pretty strong
leadership from the seniors,”
Fastabend said. “Shrida,
Jenna, Anna and Daniela are
captains this year.
“It’s going to be about dis-
cipline on the field and how
we’re going to attack, and
hopefully we can put together
a good season,” he said. “It
will take s a little while to
gel as a group. We have one
of the stronger goalkeepers in
the league, that’s for sure.”
That would be junior
Lexis Law, one of four all-
league returners, along with
Garcia, Rudolph and junior
Claire Albright.
Also back for their junior
seasons are Sarah Lertora,
Jasmin Mabry, Hailey Ranta
and Megan Schacher.
Adding depth to the lineup
will be sophomores Andrea
Harris and Samantha Mess-
ing — and Astoria may need
some of that depth, with Hol-
com and Law both suffering
preseason injuries.
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Gary Henley/The Daily Astorian
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