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About Cottage Grove sentinel. (Cottage Grove, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 30, 2015)
2B COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL December 30, 2015 Stories of the Year CONTINUED FROM PG 1B at the buzzer. The Tigers best- ed the Lions in overtime, win- ning 41-39. The Lions went 14-11, and what made the loss more painful is that they swept Junction City in both games during the regular season; both wins were by over 10 points each. TCU and in a sport like horse- back riding is no easy task. Mootz had to create her own video reels and send them out to schools and hope she got rec- ognized. She received one other offer from Delaware but jumped at the opportunity to play for TCU, as there are only 18 divi- sion one equestrian teams in the country. 8. Mootz signs 9. Golf takes league title to TCU In November, senior Josie Mootz signed her letter of intent to attend Texas Christian Uni- versity on a scholarship for the equestrian team. Although she is known for her skills on the soccer fi eld, Mootz wows audi- ences and judges alike with her skills on a horse. Mootz said she has been riding horses all her life. Her mother described her starting out as a “champion stick-horse rider in our living room.” At the age of eight, she won the title of regional walk trot champion in Nampa, Idaho on her quar- ter horse named Amber. Mootz eventually ended her quarter horse career with “numerous buckles, all around awards and two saddles.” After quarter horses, Mootz began showing paint horses, for which she also has received nu- merous accolades. Since winning the walk trot regional in Idaho, Mootz was taken under the wing of Tammy Mills, an equestrian trainer who, along with her husband, Rob Mills, was considered like “sec- ond family” to Mootz. “They have spent long hours together on the road, waiting for classes to start when it's freezing out, and even getting up before light to feed and get horses ready,” Mootz’s mother explained in a speech. Mootz has since been around the country to places like Ohio and even competed in competi- tions at Texas A&M University. However, obtaining a student- athlete offer from a school like The Lions’ golf team won its third-straight league title this year. Cottage Grove shot 717 over the two-day 4A Special District Tournament 2 against Junction City and Stayton. The Tigers held a brief lead over Cottage Grove on day two. But as they have done many times before, the Lions played their best when it mattered most. Cottage Grove shot 352 on the second day of the tournament to pull away from all challeng- ers. Senior Johnny Conrad shot 78 and 79 to win the individual title, and Cameron Sandoval shot 87 and 84 to fi nish tied for second place. Cottage Grove then took sixth place at the Class 4A boys’ golf state championships held May 18 and 19 at Quail Valley Golf Course in Banks. The Lions were in seventh place after a 375 opening round, but they shot 356 on the second day to move past district foe Stayton for sixth place. Seaside won the tournament with a score of 623. Valley Catholic was sec- ond with 643. 10. Track and Field does well Conner Borigo was already assured of taking home a medal from the state track and fi eld championships. But there was still one competitor she wanted to surpass: herself. The Cottage Grove senior fi n- ished with her best throw of the day — 36-6.25 — but came up eight inches short of a new life time best. Sophomore Hudson Wey- bright made her second straight 800-meter fi nal for the Lions, where she fi nished seventh in 2:25.51. Five of the six runners who fi nished ahead of Wey- bright are seniors. In the team race, Astoria held off Newport 76 to 69 despite a heroic effort by Rachel Vinjam- uri, who won the 100 (12.02), 200 (24.57) and 400 (56.88) for the Cubs. The Lions scored seven points to fi nish tied for 25th. Connor Howard made it to the fi nals in the 200 and 400-meter races, but a recurring hip prob- lem got in the way. He fi nished in fi fth place in the 400-meter race. Michael Tharpe also made it to the fi nals for the 110-meter hurdles and even had a personal best of 15.22 seconds. In the team race, Henley scored 75.5 points to outpace North Bend (64.5), Philomath (52) and Elmira (41.83). Zach Beltz, who was named athlete of the meet, won the 100, placed second in the long jump and took fourth in the 200 for the Falcons. The Lions scored 11 points to fi nish in a tie for 20th. While Cottage Grove has pre- viously sent more athletes to the state meet and brought home more medals, coach Ricky Knutson said that this year’s group was high in quality. “It will be very hard to re- place Conner and Courtney,” he said. “I thought it was valuable for the guys just to get here, and hopefully they’ll get to come back next year and take another step forward.” Josie Mootz had a memorable day when she signed her letter of intent to TCU on Nov. 16. tion found its way to yours truly. ever lived before. That small being shoved out into the real It’s a long story how I wound up city-state island of a country be- world. It took me until late July working in the small Oregon came my home for the next 11 to fi nd the opening at the Senti- town, and it’s treated me well or so years, where I grew up on nel, and Jon gave me the oppor- a Southeast Asian diet and was tunity to work as a sports editor since I’ve started. I was born in Washington forced to learn Mandarin. After and learn how a real newspaper D.C., where I lived for two years high school, my father brought is run. Though I consider my- before being shipped off to Aus- me to visit the University of self less experienced than Matt tralia with my family. I lived in Oregon, where I immediately or Jerry Thompson and realized Perth for about four and a half fell in love with the beauty of I’m a slow learner, I’m begin- years before I moved to Danville this state (although the winter ning to get a hang of the media just east of San Francisco. Two weather came to be a bit of a industry and appreciate the sup- months after my eighth birthday, shock). I fi nished school with a port and constructive criticism my family was moved yet again, bachelor’s degree in journalism from the community. Here’s to only this time to Singapore, a this past June and found myself making improvements in 2016. far more exotic place than I’ve in the post-grad shock of now Bonus: New Sports Editor After reviewing the work my predecessor did for the 2014 sto- ries of the year, I found it inter- esting that the Sentinel had yet again found a new sports editor. Matt Hollander stepped down after being unable to keep up with a second job and the posi- The businesses on this page are: Cottage Grove Lions SUPER FANS They proudly support our local athletes and students Please show your appreciation by patronizing their businesses. WE SUPPORT OUR LIONS!! South Lane Ann White Certifi ed Financial Planner Investment Advisor Representative 1807 E. 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