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SATURDAY EDITION | APRIL 10, 2021 | $1.00
OSAA finalizes spring sports season Culminating Week events
The Oregon School Activities Association decided schools will coordinate final week regional contests
The OSAA Executive Board
met in a work session last week
to finalize decisions on Season
3 Culminating Week events.
"The board recognizes and
appreciates all the hard work
member schools and officials
are doing on a daily basis to
make activities happen for the
students in our state," said Peter
Weber, OSAA Executive
Director.
"The condensed,
overlapping seasons, along with
the variations in educational
models, has tested the collective
resolve of member schools this
year but the commitment to
provide opportunities for stu-
“The board believes that providing local discretion
for Culminating Week events allows schools to make
the best decisions for their school and community.”
— Peter Weber, OSAA Executive Director
dents is to be commended."
After lengthy conversation,
discussion of feedback from
schools and consideration of
several different options, the
OSAA Executive Board made
the decision to return the sixth
and final week of Season 3
(spring) to the schools to coor-
dinate and execute local/
regional Culminating Week
events at their discretion, simi-
lar to Season 2 (fall).
"The board believes that pro-
viding local discretion for
Culminating Week events
allows schools to make the best
decisions for their school and
community," Weber said.
During the meeting the
board discussed the current
realities impacting schools and
activities during the pandemic.
While some schools have been
in session for all or most of the
year, the majority of schools
have recently or will soon begin
in-person or hybrid schedules.
Just as educational models
vary throughout the state, the
same is true for high school
activities.
Some schools and districts
have set limitations on travel
and transportation in playing a
very localized schedule while
See
OSAA 3B
Sports Calendar
Diamonds in the rough
April 10
• SHS Cross County
State meet at Marist
— Girls 11:15 am
— Boys noon
After more than a year away from the softball diamond, Siuslaw gets back to basics
Spring Openers:
April 13
• SHS Baseball
at C. Grove 5 pm
• SHS Softball at
C. Grove 5 pm
April 16
• SHS Baseball
hosts Elmira/T-Lake
3 pm and 5 pm
• SHS Softball
hosts Elmira
3 pm and 5 pm
April 20
• SHS Track & Field
hosts Sky-Em JV
3:30 p.m.
NED HICKSON/SIUSLAW NEWS
Siuslaw softball coach Sean O'Mara works with Lady Vikings team members on base-running drills during practice on Thusday
as Siuslaw prepares for its first game this Tuesday on the road at Cottage Grove.
By Zeahna Young
Siuslaw News
Tide Tables
Entrance Siuslaw River
High Tide
Low Tide
April 10
12:00am / 6.9
12:07pm / 6.6
6:11am / 1.1
6:19pm / 0.8
L
ike all sports this school
year, softball is feeling the
effects of the pandemic.
However, unlike many other
sports, softball didn’t have any
competitions take place last
school year — so softball players
have the disadvantage of having
lost an entire season of game
play.
Siuslaw head coach Sean
O’Mara discussed the ramifica-
tions of this time lost.
“It's going to be a learning
curve,” said O’Mara. “The loss of
last year for the whole season for
not just high school sports, but
for youth sports programs also,
feeder programs and whatnot,
we're definitely seeing that out
on the field right now. “
According to O’Mara, losing a
season has affected players “in
terms of knowledge of the game,
situational awareness, general
skill, development, what they
know, what they don't know.”
Despite time off causing all
spring athletes to be behind on
the developmental scope,
O’Mara is making the most of
the situation and gaining head-
way with his team already.
“We're making progress every
day,” he said. “That's what we're
out there to do, but we don't
have much time to get ready to
rock and roll, that's for sure.”
With just one week of practic-
es before competitions start,
there is a lot to work on before
the first game day. This season,
O’Mara is fielding quite a few
freshmen — and only three
seniors will be on the team.
However, the coach says under-
standing the team’s dynamic is
less about grade level than over-
all experience.
The team returns only two
varsity starters, neither of whom
have played since 2019 when
they started in their first varsity
games. And while the team
includes other seniors, they
would have played their first
varsity games last year as juniors
but didn't get that opportunity.
That means this year’s line-up
See
SIUSLAW 2B
April 11
12:28am / 7.1
12:48pm / 6.6
6:47am / 0.6
6:51pm / 1.1
By Zeahna Young
Siuslaw News
April 12
12:55am / 7.2
1:28pm / 6.5
7:22am / 0.3
7:22pm / 1.4
April 13
1:21am 7.3
2:07pm / 6.3
7:56am / 0.1
7:51pm / 1.9
April 14
1:47am / 7.2
2:46pm / 6.1
8:30am / 0.0
8:21pm / 2.4
April 15
2:13am / 7.1
3:28am / 5.9
9:05am / 0.0
8:52pm / 2.8
April 16
2:41am / 6.9
4:15pm / 5.6
Lady Sailors celebrate season of growth
9:43am / 0.2
9:25pm / 3.3
www.dfw.state.or.us/RR
Eddyville d Mapleton:
25-17, 25-19, 25-7
“We only have six players
right now, so nobody ever got
a break,” Mapleton volleyball
coach Molly Dooley recalled
about her Lady Sailors in their
final volleyball game of the
season.
Mapleton played Eddyville
Charter at home on Tuesday
(April 6), down three players
from their usual lineup. Be-
tween rolled ankles, concus-
sions and illnesses, the team
has faced a great deal of adver-
sity this season aside from the
already difficult ramifications
of COVID-19.
Despite those challenges,
Mapleton’s volleyball team has
shown great heart and spirit
throughout the shortened sea-
son, fighting until the literal
end of every game including
their last match-up.
“I think the second set was
ODFW REGIONAL
FISHING REPORT
NED HICKSON/SIUSLAW NEWS
The Lady Sailors volleyball team will graduate three seniors
this year, with a freshman-dominated team likely next fall.
probably one of the best sets
that we've played all year,” said
Dooley. “They were working
together as a team, we were
getting kills and aces, and
they kind of just really stuck
with [the other team]. We only
have six players right now, and
we were going against a team
of 18 — so, nobody ever got a
break.”
Even though none of the
girls had a moment to rest,
they never backed down, play-
ing with even more intensity
than they had in any previous
game.
“They were being aggressive
with the ball, which was get-
ting us more hits,” said Dooley,
See
MAPLETON 3B
MID-COAST LAKES:
Mid-coast lakes are full
of trout and the fishing has
been good. Many of the
lakes have been stocked
twice now and several oth-
ers received stockings in
mid-March. Here is a list of
the lakes that have been
stocked so far this year:
Thissel Pond, Cleawox,
Munsel, Mercer, Alder,
Dune, Buck, Lost, Carter,
Devils, Woahink, Elbow,
Siltcoos, Eckman, and Big
Creek Reservoirs #1 and #2.
All of these lakes are sched-
uled to receive more trout
stockings in April as well.
SIUSLAW RIVER:
Winter steelhead
Winter steelhead fishing
continues to be slow on the
Siuslaw and is slowing
down for the season which
closed March 31. Trout
See
FISHING 3B