Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (April 6, 2017)
10A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, APRIL 6, 2017 ASTORIA FISHERMEN • SPRING SPORTS 2017 Astoria girls gunning for a three-peat at state By GARY HENLEY The Daily Astorian he historic run by the Asto- ria girls track program … T isn’t over yet. In fact, if it was a race, the Lady Fishermen would only be about halfway through with this run. They’ve got a loooong ways to go. Astoria won the 4A state title last year by a record 37.5 points over the second-place finisher. It may be a little closer this spring, but the team that won it last year (and the year before), is still the heavy favorite to win their third straight. And if you’re looking down the road, the Astoria Lady Fishermen could be the first to win four state championships in a row at the 4A level since Oregon went to a six-class system. Henley won three straight 4A titles from 2007-09, while Summit High School of Bend has won the last 10 team cham- pionships at the 5A level. Either way, Astoria’s cur- rent dynasty in girls’ track will be one of the best ever, when it’s all said and done. Currently, the Lady Fish are in the process of replacing big points lost off last year’s team with more young, up and com- ing talent. So far, so good. “It’s hard to replace kids who set school records, but it’s the name of the game,” said Astoria coach Garrett Parks. “They move on or graduate, and we have to find that next person, put them in, and keep movin’.” The Lady Fishermen lost big points with the graduation of Halie Korff (now at West- ern Oregon), while Skadi Freyr and Kaylee Mitchell are now enrolled at different schools. Astoria has simply reloaded to replace all three. Lose your two best throwers? Bring in sophomore Kes Sandstrom from Scappoose and fresh- man Kajsa Jackson. Mitchell no longer there? Bring in Sam Hemsley, a sophomore four- sport athlete who can do a little bit of everything. The Lady Fish still appear to have the top athletes, across the board. Senior Natalie Cum- mings (full-ride scholarship to Portland State) and sopho- more Gracie Cummings could score a sweep in the sprints at the state meet, with sopho- more Andrea Harris (hurdles) and freshmen Elizabeth Bar- nett adding more points on the track and in the jumps; Jack- son, Sandstrom and junior Tay- lor Cosner will continue Asto- ria’s winning tradition in the throws; Shrida Sharma returns Gary Henley/The Daily Astorian Freshman Julia Norris has her sights set on a strong season for the Astoria softball team. Astoria softball team ready to challenge again By GARY HENLEY The Daily Astorian Gary Henley/The Daily Astorian With two state team championships already to their credit, Astoria junior Darian Hage- man and the Lady Fishermen track team are headed for more success in 2017. in the pole vault; and of course the best athlete in the state is last year’s Athlete of the Meet at state, Darian Hageman. The junior can do it all, and usually wins. Hageman is the defending state champion in the long jump, high jump and triple jump, winning all three events last year as a sophomore. Add up all the potential points and places, and Astoria could actually end up surpass- ing last year’s 4A state meet record of 109.5 points. “We return a handful of our top scorers and the leaders of the group, and went out and found some new kids, as well, who can fill some gaps for us, and continue to make us com- petitive, not only in league, but in the next level at state,” Parks said. “We’re optimistic. We have (Hemsley) doing some jumps, she’s done the javelin (at the Seaside Ice-Breaker meet), she’s been working on the track, and we’re also sharing her with golf,” he said. “She’s just an incredible kid.” Meanwhile, throws coach Bob Ellsberg keeps churn- ing out state placers, year after year. “He always finds some- body out there, and finds their full potential,” Parks said. “We have a couple girls — Kajsa Jackson is coming in as a fresh- man, and Kes (Sandstrom) is a girl we got from Scappoose who’s starting to flourish and do well. They’re looking really strong.” Fishermen boys And with a good mix of young talent and top returners for the Astoria boys, the Fish- ermen could potentially score a sweep in this year’s Cowapa League Championships. “We have a handful of very talented boys coming back,” said Parks, who helped the Sea- side boys win a state champion- ship in 2001 as a sprinter with the Gulls. “We have a little bit more experience, which is nice. We’ve got a few younger kids in the mix, and with our return- ing kids, we have (throwers) Tim (Barnett) and Nain (Gar- cia Rojas) are looking really strong; Jacob (Olson) in the sprints, Lucas (Caruana) is our distance kid … with that kind of a foundation and some of our new kids, I think we’ll be more competitive on the boys’ side.” Caruana finished third last year in the state 800 meters, won by Seaside’s Jackson Januik. Barnett could also end up medaling in Eugene. The keys? Parks knows the routine. “Step 1, keep everybody healthy. Step 2, we have to get through the league,” he said. “Then we’ll see where things go from there. The nice thing with all that competition is that it makes us all better.” With just one meet under their belt heading into Satur- day’s Daily Astorian Invita- tional, he said, “it’s looking pretty good. We’re progress- ing along really well. There’s been significantly more rain this year, so it’s been chal- lenging from that standpoint. But we had a lot of kids doing what they needed to do in the off-season to come in ready to go. It’s sports in the Pacific Northwest.” More golfers equal more hopes for Astoria golf By GARY HENLEY The Daily Astorian Last year’s top golfer has graduated, but the numbers are up — way up — for Astoria girls golf. And numbers are every- thing in golf, where it takes four to qualify for team scor- ing in tournaments and invites. “The good part is hav- ing eight golfers,” said Asto- ria coach Chris Hunt, who had just five golfers total on last year’s roster. “They all get to play at the invitationals, and it will be nice having the depth in the scoring.” The Cowapa League and district will still present the usual challenges. Crook County was the Spe- cial District Regional cham- pion, followed by Scappoose, Valley Catholic and Oregon Episcopal. Astoria was fifth in team scoring in last year’s tourna- ment, after a third-place finish in the Cowapa League meet. League-wise, “I would expect the top two to be Val- ley Catholic and Scappoose,” Hunt said. “Scappoose had the top individual (Morgan Hall), and she returns. Then you just have to wait and see with everybody else once you get to Regionals.” Last year’s regional Med- alist, Jane Schlenorf of OES, ! O G EN M R E I F SH KLEMP FAMILY DENTISTRY Dr. Dennis Klemp, DMD, FAGD 1006 West Marine Dr. Astoria, OR (503) 468-0116 klempfamilydentistry.com Gary Henley/The Daily Astorian Sam Hemsley will be a two- sport athlete this spring for Astoria, on the golf course and the track. has graduated. Astoria’s top golfer last season, Chloee Hunt, has moved on to college volleyball and basketball, leaving four returners: senior Kristin Tra- vers, junior Sadie Wooldridge, and sophomores Sam Hemsley and Jenny Travers. The Lady Fish have four first-year golfers: seniors Sar- iah Dieffenbach and Anna Gimre; and juniors Sarah Ler- tora and Jasmine Mabry. “The Travers girls go out and play quite a bit, and Sam and Sadie are both experienced returners,” coach Hunt said. “With the new girls, we’re just going to ease them into it and see what kind of progress they make. They’re eager to learn.” GIVE ‘EM YOUR BEST TEAMS! APPLIANCE AND HOME FURNISHINGS 529 SE MARLIN, WARRENTON 503-861-0929 HOURS OPEN: MON-FRI 8-6 • SATURDAY 9-5 • SUNDAY 10-4 We Service What We Sell The Astoria softball team came up agonizingly short of the state playoffs last season. Trailing 4-3 in a los- er-out, winner-to-state playoff game against Hidden Valley, the Fishermen had the bases loaded with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning. Unfortunately for the Lady Fish, they couldn’t push across the tying run, and their season ended that day at CMH Field. It also ended the prep careers for a talented senior class, which included Mykka Abrahams, Libby DiBar- tolomeo, Taylor Mickle and Kelsey Wullger. The good news for Asto- ria softball fans — the Lady Fish are back with an equally talented lineup to take another shot at those elusive state playoffs. “I’m hoping to be over .500 this year, get a play- off game, and see where we can go from there,” said Kent Israel Jr., in his second year as head coach. THE COWAPA Like many other sports, the Cowapa is home to the defend- ing state softball champions. Banks defeated McLough- lin in last year’s 4A final. And the only reason it wasn’t an all-Cowapa League champi- onship was that Banks and Scappoose were in the same half of the bracket (the Braves defeated the Indians in the semifinals). Banks and Scappoose will be strong again, while the Lady Fish could be the favor- ites for that No. 3 spot to state. “Obviously Banks, the returning state champs, is going to be good,” Israel said. “And so will Scappoose. “We know what Banks has coming back, and Scappoose has so many girls out for soft- ball, they’re going to be good again,” he said. “The rest of us will be fighting. Seaside has Jetta (Ideue) coming back, and she’s a good pitcher, and I think they have some younger kids coming in who can play.” THE LADY FISH Another small, but talented ASTORIA SOFTBALL Coach: Kent Israel Jr., 2nd year 2016: 16-11 (9-6 league) Playoffs: Lost Regional Play- in to Hidden Valley, 4-3. All-League Losses: Mykka Abrahams, Libby DiBar- tolomeo, Taylor Mickle, Kelsey Wullger All-League Returners: Rylee DeMander, Sr.; Caitlyn Hougham, Sr. senior class for Astoria, as Abi Danen, Rylee DeMander and Caitlyn Hougham gear up for their final seasons. During the course of the preseason, Israel was still fig- uring out the rest of the lineup. The conclusion: “We’re going to start some fresh- men,” he said. For Astoria, the future belongs to the Frosh. The list includes pitcher Julia Norris, who has already seen action in the circle; Brooklynn Hank- witz, Astoria’s starter at first base; Kayla Helligso and Hai- ley O’Brien. In addition, freshman Emma Graham was out with a concussion “so she hasn’t seen the field yet, but she will be there when she gets cleared,” he said. There’s two juniors on the roster — outfielder Hai- ley Ranta and pitcher McK- ailyn Rogers; and two soph- omores, Jenna Barendse and Lexx Lyngstad. Whatever the final lineup looks like, Israel said, “we only have two players in the same position as last year,” with Hougham at catcher, and Rogers at pitcher or center field. “Other than that, we’re putting seven different players in seven different spots.” Danen will move to third base, with DeMander going from second base to shortstop. For most of the nonleague season, it was Norris and Rog- ers sharing the pitching duties. “Right now, we’ll rotate Julia and McKailyn in cen- ter,” he said, “which is what I did last year with Libby and McKailyn. Julia can also play anywhere on the field. That whole (freshmen) group has been together a long time, and they’ve played a bunch of tournament ball.” The Daily Astorian/File Photo Astoria’s McKailyn Rogers will pitch or play center field. DEL’S O.K. Go Fishermen! Hours: Mon-Fri 8-6 • Sat- 8-4 503-325-2861 35359 BUS 101 • ASTORIA