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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 14, 2021)
SN Siuslaw News Sports & Lifestyle THESIUSLAWNEWS.COM | SATURDAY EDITION | AUGUST 14, 2021 | $1.00 Siuslaw National Forest initiates campfire ban With fire danger continuing to increase, Siuslaw National Forest officials are enacting a ban on all campfires across the national forest, including in all campgrounds and sand camps, as of Friday, Aug. 13. This ban serves to reduce the risk of hu- man-caused wildfires, which are the vast majority of fires in the Coast Range and coast, at a time when natural fuels are very dry and resources to fight new fires are stretched thin. “It has been an extremely dry and busy fire year already in Oregon,” said Kevin Larkin, acting forest supervisor. “With so many fires burning in oth- er parts of the region, resourc- es to quickly address new fires are becoming difficult to find. With fire danger across the Siu- slaw right now starting to look like it did last Labor Day, when the catastrophic Echo Mountain fire took off in Lincoln County, we’re asking for everyone’s help to prevent new fires from getting started.” Lanterns and cooking stoves that use liquid or bottled gas fuel can still be used during the Big shoes to fill SPORTS CALENDAR With more than 55 years as an athlete, coach, parent and spec- tator, Lloyd Little shares what he’s learned about sports from his multiple points of view. They Change the Rules — Part II Tide Tables Low Tide High Tide Siuslaw’s boys and girls cross country teams, led by Coach Chris Johnson (far right), hope to repeat their April 2021 wins at state this fall. Siuslaw’s cross country team works to return to state By Zeahna Young Siuslaw News August 14 5:38 a.m. / 5.0 11:39 a.m. / 1.0 6:01 p.m. / 6.4 August 15 12:55 a.m. / 0.5 6:52 a.m. / 4.5 12:29 p.m. / 1.6 6:51 p.m. / 6.5 August 16 2:06 a.m. / 0.3 8:18 a.m. / 4.3 1:30 p.m. / 2.2 7:50 p.m. / 6.5 August 17 3:19 a.m. / -0.1 9:48 a.m. / 4.4 2:46 p.m. / 2.6 8:55 p.m. / 6.6 August 18 4:27 a.m. / -0.4 11:05 a.m. / 4.7 4:04 p.m. / 2.6 10:01 p.m. / 6.7 After winning both state titles for the 4A division in cross country this past April, Athletic Director and Coach Chris Johnson hopes to con- tinue his teams’ success this season. “I’d be lying if I didn’t tell you that our goal is to go back to the state championship and win both again,” Johnson said. “Obviously, we have a couple of key losses. We lost Brea Blankenship and Gra- cie Freudenthal on the girls’ side, and we lost Jaxson Jen- sen and Ryan Jennings on the boys’ side. Ryan couldn’t run at state [last April] because he was injured, but he still had a big impact on our team, so those are all big shoes to fill.” Fortunately for Johnson, last year’s teams both had a number of relatively young runners who will bring that experience to the fold this year. “Generally, with the second year in a training cycle from freshman year to sophomore year, kids generally make pretty big gains,” he said. “Our younger kids were pret- ty competitive last year.” The boys’ team has several strong and, as a result of last year, seasoned athletes re- turning this season. “Dylan Jensen and Brayden Linton had great state meets for us, and Talan Ross is coming on, and they’re all go- ing to be sophomores,” said Johnson. “Jacob Blankenship, who’s a junior, was hurt a lit- tle bit last year, and he’s look- ing healthy now. Then we have Chad and Kyle Hughes and Sam Ulrich, and they are all kids that could be in the top 10.” Hughes and Ulrich finished eighth and ninth respectively last April at State. “So, we know nothing’s ever easy, and there are pro- grams around the state who I’m sure are hungry, and the last thing they want to see is us to win again,” Johnson said. “But we’re going to put our best foot forward to try to make that happen.” Siuslaw’s girls’ team is also looking promising despite graduating two key members this summer. “On the girls’ side, Addison and Macy McNeill are twin sisters who are super talented See PREVIEW page B2 5:27 a.m. / -0.8 12:04 p.m. / 5.0 SHS announces new coaches 5:14 p.m. / 2.4 11:03 p.m. / 6.9 Football, cross country get help from familiar figures August 19 August 20 6:20 a.m. / -1.0 12:52 p.m. / 5.4 6:13 p.m. / 2.1 August 21 12:00 a.m. / 7.0 7:07 a.m. / -1.2 1:33 p.m. / 5.7 7:05 p.m. / 1.7 August 22 12:51 a.m. / 7.0 7:49 a.m. / -1.1 2:11 p.m. / 5.9 7:52 p.m. / 1.4 August 23 1:39 a.m. / 6.9 8:29 a.m. / -0.9 2:47 p.m. / 6.0 8:38 p.m. / 1.1 August 24 2:24 a.m. / 6.6 9:05 a.m. / -0.6 3:20 p.m. / 6.1 9:21 p.m. / 1.0 August 25 3:08 a.m. / 6.2 9:40 a.m. / -0.1 3:53 p.m. / 6.1 10:05 p.m. / 0.9 August 26 3:53 a.m. / 5.7 10:14 a.m. / 0.5 4:26 p.m. / 6.0 10:50 p.m. / 0.9 August 27 4:40 a.m. / 5.2 10:48 a.m. / 1.1 4:59 p.m. / 5.9 11:38 p.m. / 0.9 Time Out By Lloyd Little Retired teacher, coach and game official To add your activity’s summer sports schedule, email Sports Reporter Zeahna Young at zyoung@ thesiuslawnews.com Entrance Siuslaw River campfire ban; open flames with no on/off switch, such as tiki torches and candles, are not per- mitted while the ban is in effect. Other restrictions, listed below and put into place last month, are intended to prevent accidental fires; these restrictions continue to be in place along with the new campfire ban. See CAMPFIRE page B3 By Zeahna Young Siuslaw News “Siuslaw High School is excited to announce that we have hired Nick Johnson as an assistant football coach and also hired Amy Flora as an assistant cross country coach,” said Athletic Director (AD) and Coach Chris John- son. First, Nick Johnson will be coming on staff to help head coach Sam Johnson with the football program. According to Chris, “Nick has been with the program for the past few years as a vol- unteer. He is also a Siuslaw High School assistant basket- ball coach. Nick played high school and college football.” Flora, who will be Siuslaw’s new Elementary School Prin- cipal this year, also happens to be Chris’s wife. After years of commuting between Flor- ence and the Coquille School District where she was previ- ously working, Flora will be able to fully immerse herself in the Florence community with this new administrative position. In turn, she will add a great deal of experience to the cross country team’s coaching staff. “Flora has been a cross country and track and field coach in some capacity for over 20 years,” Chris said. “She was a five-time state champion in high school, a state record holder in the 800 and 1500 when she graduat- ed from Myrtle Point in 1993 and she was also a two-time Junior Olympic National Champion in the 1500 while in high school. After high school, she went on to run at the University of Washing- ton.” Flora is new on staff this year to the Siuslaw School District; however, she is a native to Oregon and has had Siuslaw on her radar for some time as both an athlete and a coach. “I consider myself some- what local, just because I grew up on the south coast,” said Flora. When she was in high school, she used to compete against Siuslaw High School. Afterwards, “I started my teaching and coaching ca- reer down in the Port Or- ford-Langlois School Dis- trict and I taught down there for several years,” she said. “Then, I went to Bandon and was teaching and coaching there as well.” Flora’s experiences as a volunteer and coach after high school eventually led her to her meeting Chris. “I met Chris when he first came to Siuslaw as a coach, just through working at the Steens Mountain Running Camp,” said Flora. “I was a camper at that when I was in high school, and then I went back as a coach, and in col- lege I was a counselor there. So, our paths crossed in the coaching world a long time ago.” Flora coached multiple sports at Bandon over the years, including middle school basketball and fast- pitch softball at Bandon High School. “Cross country and track were my main things,” she added. “Once I decided to become an administrator, I spent one year as the Dean of Students and the AD at Ban- don High School as well.” At the time, Flora was commuting between Flor- ence and Bandon, which took away the time that would have been required to be a full-time coach. “I didn’t coach when I was the AD there, official- ly, but my kids were com- ing up through sports and I volunteered as a parent,” she said. “Once I became an ad- ministrator, my capacity as a coach always went to volun- teer, just because I’ve com- muted a lot.” See COACH page B2 The people who invent a sports game are very creative. They de- vise the game to be interesting, fun and competitive. They have tried to envision a game that may last a long time. Today, we see sports played for over decades that evolved to meet the new athletes’ abilities. New events were added to the Olym- pics. New sports and games are be- ing created each day. As technolo- gy has increased productivity, the time available for leisure activities has also increased. The increase of these competitive sports and games can be seen on sports-only television channels. When my baseball playing days began, there was no designated hit- ter rule. This rule has altered the strategies of baseball managers. In fact, baseball has changed very little through time. The play- ers have become bigger, faster and stronger, but the dimensions of their field remain the same. Only the outfield is different, as cities built their parks with available space. One thing needs to be done in Major League Baseball — all teams need to play by the same rules. The baseball purist might argue the re- cords of teams with designated hit- ters are offensively more productive, See RULES page B3 Local salmon, trout program recognized by ODFW On Aug. 9, the Florence STEP (Salmon Trout Enhancement Pro- gram) group found out it had been selected as the 2020 Dave Liscia Award Recipient from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW). The Annual Pride/Dave Liscia Awards are normally presented during the August ODFW Com- mission meeting. This year, they will be presented at the Sept. 17 commission meeting, which will be held as a virtual meeting, using Zoom as the platform. ODFW Director Curt Melcher will share a few key points about each recipient during the presenta- tions. According to the ODFW Direc- tor’s Office, the reason Florence STEP was nominated for the Dave Liscia Award was because: • The magnitude of the work they do and their contributions to the department. • The number of volunteers and number of hours contributed. • The wide range of activities they participate in; collect/spawn broodstock, organize work parties, lead multiple angler education events and much more. • They represent ODFW very well in their numerous interactions with the public. See STEP page B3