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.”
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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!