2B
COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL June 17, 2015
A QUA L IONS
Continued from 1B
Also competing in the girls
11-12 division, Mikayla Baird
including the 50 breaststroke
(51.69), the 50 butterfl y (44.48),
100 breaststroke (1:53.07), 100
freestyle (1:22.53).
In the boys 13-14 division,
Ian Dukes cut .4 seconds off of
his 50 freestyle, fi nishing 18th
in 30.55. Dukes also fi nished
H OLLANDER
sixth in the 200 breaststroke and
10th in the 100 breaststroke.
Tori Raade fi nished a full sec-
ond ahed of her seed time in the
girls 15-16 50 meter freestyle
(35.50).
In the boys 15-15 division,
Josh Irealand improved from
35.56 to 30.78 in the 50 free-
style.
The Mike Morris Invitational
is collaboratively hosted by the
River Road, Willamalane swim
clubs, Emerald Aquatics and the
Aqua Lions.
Up Next: As a fundraiser,
the Aqua Lions will be running
the TNT Fireworks stand in the
Walmart parking lot from June
26 through July 4.
The club will next compete
at the Roseburg Summer Open,
July 17-19 at Umpqua Commu-
nity College.
the fall sports season begins.
Continued from 1B
I was told before taking this job that a sports
journalist isn’t supposed to be a fan in the press
box. And while that’s mostly true — objectivity
is critical —it’s just better when Cottage Grove
wins, and so I root for that.
The Lions struggled this year across most
sports, and asking teenagers why they failed on
the fi eld is one of my least favorite things to do.
And, talking to them about their successes is re-
ally exciting.
3. The stories never run out
Here, standing at the edge of summer, I’m col-
lecting story ideas like a camel would pack water
before crossing the Sahara Desert. Having started
at this same time last year with no teams to cover,
it wasn’t uncommon to head into the weekend
with no idea as to what centerpiece story would
be. Thankfully, I was always bailed out by a Good
Samaritan who pointed me in the direction of
some Grover who was doing something incred-
ible.
But the longer I’m here, the more I see to write
about. Without too much digging, I’ve lined out
enough events, features and profi les to carry until
4. Mistakes matter
This one may seem obvious. If nothing else, a
journalist should be accurate, right? I made a lot
of mistakes early on, in part because I was unfa-
miliar with pretty much everyone and everything
in Cottage Grove, but also because I didn’t know
the questions to ask that would give me the facts
I needed. So, when it came time to write the sto-
ries, I wrote things I thought I knew, but didn’t
know for sure. And when you assume, you make
an ‘ass’ of ‘u’ and ‘me.’
5. Community news matters
When I tell people outside of this community
that I write for the Sentinel, one of the most com-
mon responses I get is: “I didn’t know Cottage
Grove had its own paper.”
I suppose that if you live in a larger market
where the Register-Guard or the Oregonian is the
source of news, it can be hard to imagine why a
town the size of Cottage Grove would have its
own newspaper. And come late July, when I’m
hunting for stories, I may not have a ready answer.
But then I come into the offi ce, where I can leaf
through over 100 years of Cottage Grove history.
F OOTBALL
Continued from 1B
photo by Matt Hollander
Asher (left) and Zezia Belisle practice sparring at Lauraine's ATA Martial Arts. They
both won four medals at the Northwest District Championships on May 30.
Local Taekwondo athletes excel
at regional championships
Five students from Erin Lauraine’s ATA Martial
Arts competed at the American Taekwondo Asso-
ciation Northwest District Championships, held
May 30 at Rainier High School in Des Moines,
Wash. The competition was a regional qualifi er
for the World Championships, which will take
place next month in Little Rock, Ark.
Kezia Belisle, 16, won four gold medals as
a fi rst-degree black belt, including traditional
forms, traditional weapons, combat weapon spar-
ring and sparring. Belisle, who took home a silver
medal in sparring from the world championships
a year ago, said she is not planning to compete at
this year’s world championships. Instead, she said
she will use the summer to focus on advancing in
belts. There are nine degrees of black belt.
Sister, Asher Belisle, 14, also won four medals
as a fi rst degree black, including a gold medal for
traditional weapons, a silver medal in tradition-
al forms, and bronze medals in combat weapon
sparring and sparring. Belisle won her gold medal
for the Chinese broad sword — the fourth weapon
she has learned.
“Weapons are my favorite because I have a lot
of control with them,” she said. “It feels like they
are an extension of my self.”
Jannon Rogers, 55, won a gold medal in tradi-
tional weapons and a silver medal in traditional
forms. Instructor Erin Lauraine said that Rogers
plans to compete at the world championships.
Gonzalo Cardenas, 10, won gold medals as a
fi rst degree black belt in extreme forms and spar-
ring.
Alexander Reimann, 14, won four medals as a
recommended black belt, including a gold medal
for creative weapons, a silver medal in traditional
forms, and bronze medals for sparring and com-
bat weapon sparring.
said of his outlook on Satur-
day’s tournament. “I feel like
we got the learning out of the
way last year. I’m really excited
to see how far we’ve come since
last year, and it's only just the
beginning of the season.”
Cottage Grove began its day
against 6A schools Willamette
and McNary, followed by
Springfi eld, Creswell, Junction
City and Pleasant Hill.
Sentman threw two intercep-
tions against McNary but really
settled into a rhythm as the day
went on. Against Creswell he
went 8-for-12 with three touch-
downs.
“I was more confi dent (as the
day went along). I felt more re-
laxed. It was easier to read (the
defense) and know that I was
going to make the right deci-
sions,” said Sentman.
Fellow junior quarterback
Kory Parent had a somewhat
opposite day of Sentman. Parent
tossed two touchdowns against
McNary, but against Springfi eld
and Willamette he went 13-of-
38 for 136 yards, one touch-
down and two interceptions.
However, both passers feasted
on Junction City. They went 13-
of-17 while fi nding the end zone
on all six of their possessions.
“Kory and Blake both had
some good and some bad; some
positives and negatives,” said
Cottage Grove head coach Gary
Roberts. “I’m hoping (that one
will emerge as our starter), but
time will tell.”
No matter who ends up start-
ing for the Lions this fall, he
would appear to have a deeper
stable of receivers than last year,
including senior Payton Presley,
who caught three passes for
108 yards and two touchdowns
against Junction City, and fi rst
year player Tristan Fuller, who
caught fi ve passes of 70 yards
and two touchdowns against
Springfi eld.
“I thought Tristan did a good
job for a guy who’s never played
before,” said Roberts. “He’s
learning and he’s got some good
physical skills, but he needs to
spend some more time with the
mental stuff and hopefully 7-on-
7s and camps will help speed up
that process.”
Cottage Grove’s defense hit a
bit of a lull against Creswell, as
the Bulldogs found the end zone
three times. But the Lions re-
sponded by allowing just a sin-
gle score against Junction City,
while holding the quarterbacks
10-of-26 passing, for 86 yards
and four interceptions.
“We want to get better, and
we have a group of great young
men that want to improve their
skills,” said Ingman. “ We have
lot of kids back, and we’re in a
very different position than we
were this time last year.”
Up next: The Lions will be-
gin their offseason weights and
conditioning program on Mon-
day, and in July they will head
to Seaside, Ore. for the Camp
Rilea Team Football Camp.