B
S PORTS
Section B
South Lane County Sports and Recreation
Wednesday, April 6, 2016
Contact Sports, 942-3325 or e-mail sports@cgsentinel.com
Strong fi nishes despite heavy competition at Marist Classic
Although the boys and girls teams placed
seventh and eighth respectively, Cottage
Grove still saw some top-place fi nishers
BY SAM WRIGHT
The Cottage Grove Sentinel
The annual Marist Classic
was not much of a Marist track
meet as the Eugene high school
had maintenance problems with
its track. In turn, Willamette
High School played host to a
total of nine teams, many of
which were 5A and 6A schools.
The boys from Cottage Grove
placed seventh out of nine and
the girls fi nished eighth. But the
fi nal results are not dishearten-
ing given that schools such as
Willamette compete amongst
the highest class of competition
in the state.
“The team results don’t really
tell the whole story, because we
just don’t have the depth that
these 5A and 6A schools have,”
head coach Ricky Knutson said.
But Knutson said the benefi ts of
these meets is that the kids “will
be battle tested by the time the
4A meets come around.”
Cottage Grove didn’t have any
athlete place fi rst, but several
had second-place fi nishes, and
various others fi nished among
the top 10 in their events.
The throwing events started
several hours before the track
events, and the Lions showed a
wide variety of strength. Juniors
Paige Welch and Kaitlyn Brooks
were just a few feet shy of plac-
ing in the fi nals for the shot put.
They placed 13th and 14th re-
spectfully out of 22 participants
in the preliminary round.
For the boys, Brad Geiszler
placed ninth overall in the fi -
nals, throwing a distance of 38
feet, 10 inches. In the prelims,
sophomore Hunter Hall fi nished
just outside of that with 38 feet,
9.75 inches.
In the discus throw, Cottage
Grove’s Delia Nichols-Fergu-
son made it to the fi nals and fi n-
ished eighth with a throw of 77
feet, eight inches. On the boys’
side, Seth Green fi nished fi fth
with 118 feet, eight inches. The
javelin throw saw Melissa Pow-
ers and Kaitlyn Brooks fi nished
seventh and eighth, respectively.
Hunter Hall fi nished in sixth for
the javelin.
Please see TRACK, Page 3B
Photo by Sam Wright
Tucker Porter takes fl ight in his fi rst long jump attempt on Saturday.
Seven to be inducted into CGHS
Hall of Fame Saturday evening
On Saturday evening April 9,
Cottage Grove High School will
play host to the ninth annual
Cottage Grove High School
Athletic Hall of Fame induc-
tion ceremony. It will be held in
the high school’s cafeteria. The
event is open to the public with
a social hour beginning at 5:30
p.m., dinner at 6:30 p.m. and the
ceremony beginning at 7 p.m.
Dinner tickets can be purchased
for $20 by calling the Cottage
Grove High School offi ce.
For 2016, the high school will
have seven inductees. The fi rst
is the entire 1979 football team,
along with community contrib-
utor Jerry Braunberger, coach
Curtist French and four athletes:
Shauna Pupke Lewis, Lynn Wil-
tse, David Dawson and Jason
Saunders.
The 1979 football team fi n-
ished its season with a 10-2 re-
cord, the best in CGHS history
against the state’s “big school”
competition. The Lions, coached
by Bill Siler, went 8-1 in league
play and then beat Canby and
previously undefeated Grant in
the playoffs. The Lions lost to
Corvallis, which ended up fi n-
ishing as the state champion.
Curtis French coached the Li-
ons in football, basketball and
track from 1936 through 1944.
With football, French led the
Lions to fi ve league champion-
ships and fi nished his career as
a Lion coach with the best foot-
ball record in CGHS history (46
wins, 17 losses and six ties).
Jerry Braunberger served
CGHS athletics for 25 years as
the athletic trainer (10 years),
athletic director (13 years),
South Lane Recreation Coor-
dinator (15 years) and also was
instrumental in developing the
Bohemia ball fi elds and the ac-
quisition of the property that has
now become the site of the pres-
ent high school.
Shauna Pupke attended CGHS
from 1970 to 1974. She was a
multi-sport athlete and compet-
ed in cross country, track, bas-
ketball and swimming. At one
time she held three track records
for the 440-yard dash, 880-yard
dash and the mile. Pupke com-
peted in six state meets and won
11 letters as a Lion.
Lynn Wiltse attended Cottage
Grove high school from 1972 to
1975 and was a two-time All-
American swimmer for the Li-
ons. Her specialty was the 100-
yard backstroke. Wiltse was a
two-time district champion and
earned second and third place
medals in two different state
meets against the highest clas-
sifi cation competition.
David Dawson was an elite
wrestler in Cottage Grove, at-
tending the school from 1981 to
1985. Dawson earned a second
place state medal at 98 pounds
in 1983 and a fourth place medal
at state in 1982. He was a two-
time district champion and also
competed in football, baseball
and golf.
Last but not least, Jason
Saunders was a multi-sport ath-
lete from 1986 to 1989. He is
one of the few Cottage Grove
High School athletes to earn
fi rst team Midwestern League
(highest class of competition)
in both football and basketball.
As a tight end, Saunders led the
league in receptions in 1987,
and at the post position he led
the Lions to a winning record in
basketball. He also earned hon-
orable mention honors as a fi rst
baseman in baseball. Saunders
lettered in all three sports dur-
ing all three of his high school
years.
Athlete of
the Week
Michael Tharpe nears personal best in
110-meter hurdles
Free admission to
fi rst 60 people
BY BEN DEATHERAGE
For the Sentinel
The senior fi nished in second place at the
Marist classic with a time of 15.36, 0.16 sec-
onds away from his personal best.
Base running proves major key in Lions' success
Three wins in a row
gives Cottage Grove
momentum going in
to league play
BY SAM WRIGHT
The Cottage Grove Sentinel
After only one win and three
tough losses during the Volcano
tournament last week, the Lions
seem to be back on track, tak-
ing out any frustration on their
past three opponents. Coming
off of a 10-0 loss against Sum-
mit, Cottage Grove didn’t want
Pleasant Hill to get the better
of them, and the Lions handed
them a solid 7-3 loss in Cottage
Grove on Tuesday, March 29.
However, the Pleasant Hill
game wasn’t a sure thing from
the beginning. After each team
scored one run in the fi rst inning,
the Lions barely took the lead
2-1 in the bottom of the fourth
and even then, Cottage Grove
was still struggling to get on
base. Pleasant Hill responded,
shutting down the Lions offense
in the fi fth inning and scoring
one run in both the fi fth and the
sixth innings to take a hopeful
3-2 lead over the Lions nearing
the end of the game.
But the bottom of the sixth
inning saved Cottage Grove, as
they started a rally. With hits
from batters such as Brett Ol-
livant and Payton Presley, the
Lions racked up fi ve runs before
the Billies were able to send
Speedway
season
opener
this
Saturday
Photo by Sam Wright
Ryan East slides into third after taking advantage of a bad pitch and stealing the base.
themselves back to the dugout. loss against Summit. But the to the plate.”
The bottom of the sixth in- batting is expected to improve
And while the Lions work on
ning put the game out of reach as the season progresses, as their batting, they have other
for Pleasant Hill and the Lions Head Coach Dan Geiszler says strategic weapons in place to
walked away with a solid win, that the coaches try to work on score runs.
though it came harder than the confi dence when players step up
Two days after the Pleas-
score may suggest.
to the plate.
ant Hill victory, Cottage Grove
The team overall fi nished the
“If one or two previous at-bats hosted Stayton and shut down
game with a .214 batting aver- don’t go well, the players can the Eagles with ease in an 8-0
age. The only lower batting get a little rattled,” he said. “We win. The batting average was
averages came from a 7-4 loss just have to make sure they’re much better than the previous
against Roosevelt and a 10-0 confi dent each time they step up game, but the real key to win-
ning against Stayton was base
running, something that is a
huge part of the Lions’ game.
Cottage Grove was able to steal
home plate at least three times
during the game and feasted on
the errors made by the worried
and rushed Eagles.
Please see BASEBALL, Page 2B
Saturday, April 9 will kick
off the 2016 season for Cottage
Grove Speedway. This year
marks the 60th year of action
at the historic quarter-mile clay
oval, and a special promotion
will be offered for fans. The
fi rst 60 people to show up when
the front gates open at 4 p.m.
will get into the race for free.
Classes in action include 360
Sprints, Late Models, IMCA
Modifi eds, Street Stocks and the
Quality RV Hornets.
“It is so awesome that Cottage
Grove Speedway can say they’ve
had racing here for the last 60
years,” commented CGS Pro-
moter Heather Boyce. “We’re
expecting a very good car count
with cars coming from all over
the area and out of state.
For the 360 Sprints, several of
the top drivers from the state of
Washington will be making the
journey south. But that doesn’t
mean anyone should count out
some of the stout local talent
that will look to open their cam-
paign up with a victory after the
fi rst round. An additional $100
bonus to the winner is up for
grabs courtesy of Steve Zeek.
Season Passes are still on sale
and are available until the end
of April. The Season Pass gets
holders into every single race
on the 2016 schedule as well as
specifi c reserved seating if fans
have a certain place they would
prefer to sit. Those interested in
purchasing just a reserved seat
(which currently go for $40) or
would like to purchase a season
pass should contact Heather
Boyce at (541)-729-8666 for
more information.
Tickets are Adults $13, Ju-
niors/Seniors/Military
$10,
Youth (ages six to 12) $5, Fam-
ily Pass $30.00 and Children
5 or under are free. Pit Passes
will be offered for $30 each.
The Pit Gates will be open-
ing an hour later then normal, 1
p.m. on Saturday, to give teams
enough time to fi ll in their pa-
perwork. For those who would
like to get paperwork fi lled out
before arriving to the track,
forms can be found on the track
website. Front Gates will open
at their regular 4 p.m. time and
racing is scheduled to start at
6:30.