Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Cottage Grove sentinel. (Cottage Grove, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (July 15, 2015)
B S PORTS Section B Wednesday, July 15, 2015 South Lane County Sports and Recreation Contact Sports, 942-3325 or e-mail sports@cgsentinel.com Community spirit takes center stage at 67th annual rodeo Two-day attendance of 3,000+ is a recent high for the rodeo BY MATT HOLLANDER The Cottage Grove Sentinel S cott Fergason was pretty sore when he lined up to run the Cow Hyde Race for the second time on Sat- urday night at the 67th annual Cottage Grove Rodeo. Having tied with another team with the fastest run of the evening, Ferguson and partner Lisa Laroe had to win a race-off to claim the $1,600 cash prize. “I’ve been going to the Cottage Grove Rodeo for my entire life, and I’ve never seen a tie in Cow Hyde Race,” said Fer- gason, 43. “I’m certainly paying for it today.” But instead of putting his winnings toward a well needed massage, Fergu- son donated the $800 to Tim Hedrick and Colin Baker — two Cottage Grove residents who are battling through life- threatening conditions. “I was hoping people would match my contribution and help raise money for a very good cause,” said Fergason. This past May, Baker was diagnosed with Willson’s disease, a rare genetic disorder which often leads to liver fail- ure. The disease, however, has not Please see Rodeo Page 2B photo by Matt Hollander Lisa Laroe pulls partner Scott Fergason across the fi nish line to win the Cow Hyde Race Saturday at the Cottage Grove Rodeo. A Golden Rerun Running down potential Former 5K race to be held Friday night After two years at LCC, CGHS grad Kristine Dunn will continue her track career at Southern Oregon BY MATT HOLLANDER The Cottage Grove Sentinel BY MATT HOLLANDER The Cottage Grove Sentinel A fter a six-year hiatus, the Gold Rush 5K will once again roll through the streets of Cottage Grove. The 3.1 mile race will be held July 17 at 9 p.m. The course starts and fi nishes near the Brew- station at 5th Street and Washington in down- town Cottage Grove. The course loops through Main Street and then River Road, along the Wil- lamette Coast Fork River. Registration is $30 (or $20 without a t-shirt) and includes a drink ticket for the Brewstation. Jon Stinnett led the inaugural effort in 2008, which coincided with the staging of the U.S. Olympic Trials in Eugene. Stinnett called the fi rst year a major success with 80-90 entrants, but numbers declined in the following year. “I had the notion of, ‘Hey, we should really have a race while all of these fi tness minded people are in town for the trials,’” explained Stinnett. “That fi rst year we had Dyrol Burle- son as our starter. It’s always a plus to have an Olympian involved. But the second year was not as great, and then I just got busy with other things.” Stinnett is once again involved with organiz- ing the Gold Rush, along with Jim and Joyce Settelmeyer and other members of the Cottage Grove jogging club, which meets on Friday nights. For some time, local running enthusiasts have been attempting to fi ll the void left by the Bohe- mia Half Marathon. Last year, for example, Jim Settelmeyer organized an informal half-mara- thon relay at the high school. Stinnett hopes that this reboot of the Gold Rush will be lasting. “The Half Marathon was both huge and legendary. A variety of other races have been staged in its absence, and I’m not exactly sure why none of them have taken hold, but I know it's time for one to do so,” he said. In addition to the Gold Rush on Friday night, the Gold Dash, a 500-meter race for kids, will be held on Saturday morning at 9:30 a.m. There is no registration required for the Gold Dash, which starts at 14th and Main streets and runs along part of the Grand Miner’s Day Parade route. Additional information for the Gold Rush, in- cluding registration, can be found at goldrushcg. com. Online registration closes July 16. K ristine Dunn graduated from Cottage Grove High School in 2013 as the school’s all-time leader in the 400 meters, but it was her potential to move up to the middle distances that had college coaches so excited for her future. In two years at Lane Community College, Dunn struggled to stay healthy while adding mileage to her training regiment. Her fastest time in the 800 meters — a 2:15.89 this past spring— was just a split second faster than her high-school best. With two years of eligibility remaining, Dunn still has time to fulfi ll her immense promise. But while she will be attempting to do so in a new setting — at Southern Oregon University — the strategy will feel a lot closer to home. Dunn began running track as a sixth grader at Lincoln Middle School, but she did not race a 400 until her fresh- man year at Cottage Grove. As with many fi rst-timers, her debut in the one-lapper was memorably painful. “It was a pretty horrible time, probably something in the 70s. It defi nitely wasn’t something I thought I wanted to keep doing, but by the end of the season I was getting the hang of it,” she said. Dunn ultimately set a PR of 61.61 in a third-place fi nish at the Sky-Em district meet, and a trip to the state meet as a member of the 4x100 meter relay team left her hungry for more. Heading into the championship weeks of her sopho- more season, Dunn had yet to break the 60-second bar- rier. However, she had a stunning breakthrough at the district meet. She dipped under 60 seconds in the pre- lims (59.97) and ran 57.78 in the fi nals to win her fi rst league title and set a new school record. The following week at the state meet, Dunn was the number-one ranked entrant. “It was kind of scary, but it was also fun because I didn’t have anything to live up to,” she recalled. “Coach Bruce (Vogel) told me that I had to run my own race. We had a pretty good idea of how fi t I was, so the plan was to go out hard and hold on as best as I could.” fi le photo Kristine Dunn, the 400 meter-school record holder at Cottage Grove, was considered a promising middle-distance recruit. But injuries have delayed her progress. Please see Dunn, Page 2B Williamson wins extreme late model event at CG Speedway BY BEN DEATHERAGE T he Northwest Extreme Late Model Series (NELMS) took to the Cottage Grove Speed- way on Friday, July 10. A total of 23 entrants rep- resenting the states of Oregon and Washington were on hand. There was very exciting with action all over the race track. Britton Donahoo from Salem was really fast in the opening stages. He stayed in front until lap 11 when Jesse Williamson of Eugene made the pass to the front. Williamson cruised right along and managed to develop a massive lead over the rest of the pack. It was his fi rst NELMS win of 2015 and the sec- ond of his career. It was second his victory in a Late Model competition at CGS this year. Preston Luckman of Coos Bay was second, and Vancouver, Wash.’s Jerry Schram was a close third. The rest of the top fi ve consisted of Collen Winebarger out of Corbett in fourth and Donahoo placed fi fth. Winebarger was fast time of the night, and Cot- tage Grove’s Curtis Towns won the trophy dash. Heat races winners were Kye Frick of Sweet Home, Towns and Williamson. Ron Brewster from Redmond won the consolation feature. Towns wins night one of Mark Howard Me- morial Friday was the opening night of the 2015 Mark Howard Memorial Cottage Grove Speedway Modifi ed Nationals. The race is named in honor of the late Mark Howard, who was a champion on the track and a mentor to countless drivers off the track. A total of 30 IMCA Modifi eds were in the pit area from the states of Oregon and Wash- ington. Jeremy Richey from Phoenix was in control of the top spot for a good part of the main event. He briefl y lost the lead only for the caution to come out just in time for him to get it back. On lap 14, Richey had contact with another car, which brought him to a halt. That gave an opening for Medford’s Tom Berry, Jr. to take the lead. Please see Speedway, Page 3B Athlete of the Week: Jesse Williamson Join us for BOHEMIA MINING DAYS MINER’S NIGHT July 18th Clark Printing Extreme Sprints, IMCA Modiϐieds, IMCA SportMods, Quality RV Repair Hornets
