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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (April 7, 2017)
8A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, APRIL 7, 2017 SEASIDE SEAGULLS • SPRING SPORTS 2017 Gulls hoping to compete in tough Cowapa By GARY HENLEY The Daily Astorian Photos by Gary Henley/The Daily Astorian Seaside’s Rafi Sibony, center, and Hunter Thompson, right, are both trying to chase down big seasons for the Gulls’ track team. Seaside tracksters have state championship fever By GARY HENLEY The Daily Astorian With a roster full of state champions (some in track, some in basketball), the Sea- side track team is ready to run in 2017. And jump, and throw, and hurdle, etc. With a few athletes fresh off a victorious state title in boys basketball, the Gulls have that winning attitude. Chase Januik, Jack- son Januik, Rafi Sibony and Hunter Thompson are bask- ing in the glow of their state championship win on the hardcourt — and all four will be running for individ- ual medals this spring on the track. For a few Gulls, they have already tasted success at the state track level. Senior Jackson Januik will be gunning for his third straight individual state cham- pionship in the 800 meters — an event that belongs to the Gulls over the last four years (with state titles by Brett Wil- lyard in 2013, and Januik in ’15 and ’16). Elsewhere, the foursome of Januik, Thompson, Will Garvin and Juneau Meyer all return after combining for a seventh-place finish in the 1,600-meter relay in last year’s state meet. Garvin is the defending district champion in the 110- meter hurdles and 300-meter hurdles; and Thompson was a state qualifier in the 1,500 meters. Meyer is always a con- SEASIDE TRACK Adamari Anguiano Chris Avery Alexander Barnett Elizabeth Barnes Chloe Bartel Derrick Bennett Cori Biamont Jake Black Hannah Bolanos Alex Campuzano Levi Card Mathew Carpenter Cadyn Carr Taylor Carson Andrea Castro Parker Conrad Maren Contier Wesley Corliss Angela Flores-Reyes Will Garvin Chance Giguire Kalie Harper Angel Hernandez Sam Henderson Gretchen Hoekstre Anna Huddleston Kara Ipson Chase Januik Jackson Januik Josie Jones James Kennedy Garrett Kiser Audrey Kunde Christian Landaker Donald LaTourette Kirstin Lent Joanna Luengas Edith Mendez-Garcia Juneau Meyer Simon Miller Luke Nelson Luis Olivo Tyler Ordway Giovanni Ortega Lola Paser Zeynep Payzanoglu Ethan Phillips Mark Phipps Jennifer Ramirez Ana Rojas Bradley Rzewnicki Isabella Samuelson Stella Samuelson Rafi Sibony Dalton Smith Josie Smith Holly Snook Summer Spell Hunter Thompson Lily Thompson Alex Tuebner Trinity Turner Hikari Wajima Katie Zagata The 0-15 records are a thing of the past for Seaside softball. The Lady Gulls can now officially consider themselves as a “player” in the Cowapa League. They’re still working on climbing over .500 in the league standings, but with a three-year starter at pitcher, some experienced returners and a large freshmen class … Seaside softball could become a regular challenger in the Cowapa. The Gulls will do it this year with a new coach, as Korie Blacker takes over for Jon Hotchkiss, with Lorna Brandt serving as the junior varsity coach. Blacker, who is from Vir- ginia but has been in the area for six years, is Sea- side’s third head coach in four years. “I had an opportunity to return to coaching, so I’m excited about it,” said Blacker, who also went to high school on the East Coast. “I taught school in Virginia for five years and coached there.” She finished her master’s in counseling, and moved to the North Coast. Blacker will have a young varsity team at Sea- side in 2017. In addition, “it’s my first year, so I don’t know too much about our league. I’ll be learning as we go.” THE COWAPA She will quickly find out that the Cowapa League is one of the toughest confer- ences at the 4A level. The top two spots are generally reserved for Banks and Scappoose. Asto- SEASIDE SOFTBALL Coach: Korie Blacker, 1st year 2016: 9-15 (4-11 league) Key Losses: Paige Ideue, Brittany West, Whitney Wester- holm Key Returners: Jetta Ideue, Jr. ria, Seaside, Tillamook and Valley Catholic are on their own, and will have to fight it out for third and fourth, which should include RPI rankings that will be good enough for spots in the state playoffs. The Gulls will know right away where they stand, as they open the league sea- son at home vs. Banks April 11. THE LADY GULLS Returner Mica Paranal (second or third base) is one of two seniors on the ros- ter, along with Lucy Bod- ner, who is listed on the preseason roster as a possi- ble starter at first, second or third. The key returner is still just a junior, as Jetta Ideue is back for her third season as the Seaside starter in the circle. Other juniors who saw time with the varsity last season are Alyssa Goin (cen- ter field), GeriAnn Klaffke (shortstop/third base), Sequoia Shand (1B/2B/SS) and Viola Soprano (OF/P). Pitcher/outfielder Celeste Kerr is an incoming junior. The rest are sophomores (Jessica Angulo-Joli, Bri- anna Hill, Vanessa Hughes, Jenna Logan, Kimberly Mella) and freshmen (Sierra Bailey, Ruby Davis, Candis Kerr, Emma Meyer, Sidney Owsley, Hailey Smith and Anastasia Tarvin). LEFT: Elizabeth Barnes specializes in the middle distances for the Seaside girls’ track team. MIDDLE: Juneau Meyer will be one of the top sprinters in the Cowapa League in 2017. RIGHT: Bradley Rzewnicki is looking to follow up a great cross-country season with a big spring on the track. More photos online at DailyAstorian.com/sports tender in the sprints, while Chase Januik and Bradley Rzewnicki should be running with the lead pack in their respective events. Phoenix Johnson is a senior transfer from Clatskanie, who ran everything from the 100 to the 1,500 meters last year with the Tigers, in addition to competing in the high jump, long jump and triple jump. The Seaside girls will have their own list of challengers at both the league and state levels. Elizabeth Barnes is a tal- ented sprinter and jumper who can score big points; Gretchen Hoekstre has lots of potential in the throws; and Josie Smith and Katie Zagata hope to have big seasons in the middle distances. Gary Henley/The Daily Astorian Jetta Ideue has turned her attention to softball, her third sport at Seaside. New coach for Lady Gulls’ golf By GARY HENLEY The Daily Astorian Gary Henley/The Daily Astorian Caroline Kotson is back for another season of golf for the Lady Gulls. The Seaside girls golf pro- gram is under new manage- ment, as Mike Verhulst takes over as head coach for the Lady Gulls. And the good news for Ver- hulst — the Gulls have a good mix of returners and new golf- ers. A good turnout is half the battle in 4A girls golf, as Sea- side finished the district tour- nament with just four golfers, the minimum number to qual- ify in team-scoring. Of the 12 schools that took part in last year’s district championships, only seven had complete teams. Seaside finished sixth among the scoring teams, and the Gulls have three of their four golfers returning. Caroline Kotson and Diana Tinoco are seniors, while Maddy Brown is back for her sophomore season. In addition to the return- ers, Seaside has four freshmen in the lineup: Xcaret Bello, Tianna Chen, Emma Harvey and Caitlin Hillman. “Caroline, Diana and Maddy were varsity members last year,” Verhulst said. “I’m very excited to have a full squad and a few JV players this year. It is great to see inter- est building with the younger ladies.” Top Brands. Factory-Direct Prices Free Coupon Book at The Wine & Beer Haus. 12 TH AVE. & HWY. 101 SEASIDE, OR www.seasideoutlets.com OPEN MON-SAT 10-8 & SUN 10-6 visit Our Newest Store: Bath & body works! Kotson “looks to be one of the strongest golfers in the league,” he said. “I look for- ward to seeing how the season goes for the girls.” Kotson was Seaside’s top golfer in both the Cowapa League meet and the district championships. The District 1/4A cham- pion in 2016 was Crook County, which went on to a second-place team finish at state. Go, Gulls!