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B S PORTS Wednesday, June 29, 2016 Section B South Lane County Sports and Recreation Contact Sports, 942-3325 or e-mail sports@cgsentinel.com Football camp showcases promising young players as summer weight training begins Scrimmages against other schools give head coach Gary Roberts some insight on who will be stepping up with the departure of 13 seniors BY SAM WRIGHT The Cottage Grove Sentinel The Lions’ football team has been working hard in recent weeks during its spring training as they gear up for its summer weight-training program. With the absence of star athletes such as Kory Parent or Blake Sent- man, head coach Gary Roberts has seen other athletes step up in recent scrimmages. On June 18, the team had sev- eral scrimmages against teams such as Creswell, Junction City, Siuslaw and even Willamette, a team that competes on a 6A lev- el. At the 4A competition level, Lions fans would expect their team to struggle against such competition; however, Roberts says that the team performed well despite several starters be- ing banged up. “We really rotated everyone and tried to get kids a lot of reps,” Roberts said. While the team doesn’t lose focus on suc- cess as a whole, it was a time for individual players to show coaches and teammates their in- dividual potential and playmak- ing abilities. Players such as Hayden Glenn had top-level performances at wide receiver and defensive back, along with Evan Britton. Glenn will be a junior come fall season and Britton will be a se- nior, replacing the highly valued Michael Tharpe, who graduated a few weeks ago. While it seems incoming se- nior Sentman should hold his position at starting quarterback, Roberts has found a prospect to step into Sentman’s position in case of injury or in future sea- sons. Juice Claufl in, an incom- ing junior, had strong reps in the scrimmages and impressed Roberts. Roberts says it’s a bit too ear- ly to gauge how the team will perform come the 2016 season, but that doesn’t mean the team isn’t being evaluated. “If I had to answer now, I’d say we’re above where we were last year,” he said. Which is a solid sign of upward mobility. After reaching the state cham- pionship in 2013, the team fell into a slump in the 2014 season and then rebounded to a solid 4- 5 last season. With the loss of seniors such as Tharpe, Brynden Howell, Reily Boyce and Payton Presley, it will be up to Parent, Sentman and Co. to fi ll the shoes of over a dozen graduated seniors. But with the departure of many seniors comes the entrance of new seniors. The Lions' junior class held a lot of weapons, not just Parent and Sentman. Run- ning back Zane Levings was a workhorse in the 2015 season and proved useful on the inside running attack, which in turn would open up the passing game for Sentman and Parent to capi- talize on. With Levings coming back for his fi nal year, the senior should be stronger and faster, which is why the team will be- gin its weight training program this week. The training will consist of both indoor and out- door training, battling the heat as summer temperatures climb higher. Courtesy photo Kory Parent and Zane Levings will be two offensive players expected to make an im- pact on the team, but recent scrimmages have shown that other younger players are able to help fi ll the hole left by over a dozen seniors departing from last year's team. Swimmers qualify for Roseburg invitational as CG swimming kicks off in July BY SAM WRIGHT The Cottage Grove Sentinel Cottage Grove swimming will be kicking off several summer events this July. For starters, a casual elementary triathlon will be hosted at the Warren H. Daugherty pool on July 9. Chil- dren 12 and under will swim laps in the pool, cycle around the parking lot and run sprints. The distance of each event var- ies depending on age group. “It’s a really fun event for the kids,” Tyson Pilling, coach of the CGHS swim team and manager of the pool, said. After the friendly competition for the kids, however, swimmers from Cottage Grove will head south to race in a more competitive environment. Several high school swim- mers have qualifi ed to compete in a high-level swim meet in Winebarger and Maricle score Fast Friday wins Maricle's miracle win from behind earns him Athlete of the Week BY BEN DEATHERAGE For the Sentinel Cottage Grove Speedway hosted its second $5 Fast Fri- day of the 2016 season on Fri- day, June 24. Despite only two classes on the card, it would be a decent car count with nearly 30 IMCA Modifi eds showing up. The other division in competi- tion was the Quality RV Repair Hornets. Brian Thompson of Sweet Home led the way early in the IMCA Modifi ed feature. Thompson blazed the trail in the fi rst handful of laps but was never able to get out to a large lead due to several cautions in the fi rst six laps. Shortly after the sixth lap restart, Corbett’s Collen Winebarger overtook Thompson. Winebarger briefl y lost the lead on lap 23, only for the yel- low to come back out before the lap was completed. Winebarger stayed in front after the fi nal restart and held on to win his second race at Cottage Grove in 2016. Jacksonville’s Mark Wauge was a close second place, fol- lowed by Curtis Towns from Cottage Grove in third. Cot- tage Grove’s Braedon Hand got fourth and Eric Ashley of Jasper completed the top fi ve. Mark Wauge was fast time of the night and won the Dot’s Tro- phy Shop Trophy Dash. Heat race winners were Springfi eld’s Steven Sturdevant, Collen Winebarger and Albany native Craig Hanson. The Quality RV Repair Hor- nets put on an entertaining main event. Marcel Forte paced the fi eld for the majority of the dis- tance. The Junction City driver built a decent size lead until a caution on lap 16 bunched the fi eld up. On the ensuing restart, Joe Maricle, from Veneta, was able to track down Forte for the lead and made the pass on lap 18. Maricle would hold on at the line to win his fourth race of the season. Something to note is that earlier in the race, Mar- icle had to start dead last after getting involved in an incident on lap one. Westfi r chauffeur Josh Corley claimed second with K.C. Scott of Springfi eld placing in third. The balance of the top fi ve would consist of Marcel Forte in fourth and Brad Moffett from Veneta. Joe Maricle set fast time of the night and won the Dot’s Trophy Shop Trophy Dash. Maricle and Josh Corley were the heat win- ners. It would also be a clean sweep of the evening’s events for Maricle. mid-July. The Roseburg Invi- tational will feature club and high school teams, along with younger age groups racing as well. Compared to the average high school meet, the invitation- al will be a much larger event, with more competitors and rac- es throughout the day. “A normal high school meet is around 21 events, but this one will have around 70. The com- petition will be much higher for some of the swimmers,” Pilling said. From the Aqua Lions, Ian Dukes and Tori Raade will be competing and looking to lower a lot of their times on different races. Dukes, a freshman in the 2015-2016 season, qualifi ed for the state tournament, and Raade, also a state qualifi er, will look to improve on already strong per- formances in her races. “I think we’ll really see some time drops,” Pilling said. The Athlete of the Week: Joe Maricle coach is also eager to see how an incoming freshman will per- form. Nadia Witt will follow her brother John and sister Rose into swimming and has a promising future with the Aqua Lions. The July 15 meet will be the fi rst test this summer for Cottage Grove swimmers, as Cottage Grove didn’t participate in a meet at North Eugene over the week- end. Courtesy photo 541-942-7561 A Feature: 1. 6A-Kyle Miller; 2. 23-Rob Lindsey; 3. 85-Ricky Ashley; 4. 50-Brad Rhodes; 5. 57X-Dusty Redmond; 6. 21-Mike Griffi th; 7. 4D-Cooper Desbiens; 8. 24-Theo Mc- Carty; 9. 8H-Lance Hallmark; 10. 8X-Otto Jorgenson; 11. 2J-Jonathan Jorgenson; 12. 38DD-Randy Dunlap; 13. 15R- Jake Gilman; 14. 57-Lindsay Barney; 15. 52-Tim Alberding; 16. 11X-Chris Batalgia; 17. 54- Johnny Butler Dash: 1. 23-Rob Lindsey; 2. 52-Tim Alberding; 3. 4D- Cooper Desbiens; 4. 6A-Kyle Miller Lions snag two wins at North Douglas, look to North Eugene tourney The younger players of the Lions' baseball squad walked away with a winning record, the older varsity players now look to a North Eugene tournament that will feature 5A and 6A competition BY SAM WRIGHT The Cottage Grove Sentinel After an incident on lap one, Joe Maricle came back from dead last to win the Hornets race on Friday. CGS Wingless Series scores Over the weekend, Cottage Grove traveled to Drain to face two teams in a tournament at North Douglas High School. The tournament didn’t feature the varsity squad, but saw some younger prospects perform at a decent level of competition. The Lions lost a close 4-3 game against North Douglas but bounced back with two wins in a row against Glendale. An incoming freshman, Ezra Senters, led the defense against Glendale, holding them to only three runs while the Lions' of- fense racked up fi ve and ran away with a 5-3 victory. The second game against Glendale was similar in scoring differen- tials but featured a bit more of- fensive potency than the previ- ous game. Jaden Lidick totaled three hits to help his team tally up 15 total runs over the tourna- ment. “I think Ezra pitched well through fi ve innings,” head coach Dan Geiszler said, not- ing the consistency in Senters’ pitching. The younger players came out 2-1 from the tourna- ment, but still have a ways to go to be on the varsity team, a team that is now working on replac- ing some of the most talented players to take the fi eld in a Li- ons uniform in years. After a game against Junction City on Tuesday, the Lions now have a tournament in North Eu- gene this weekend. The tourna- ment will feature mostly 5A and 6A schools where the Sky-Em champs will have their work cut out for them. “We’ll have to wait and fi nd out how we match up,” Geiszler said, noting that the competition will be thick, and it will be a diffi cult game without All Stars Payton Presley, Hunter Harris and Lucas Ward. But competi- tion like this will be a good time to see which players will rise to the occasion without the star players. “Talent-wise, fi lling the shoes of Hunter and Payton is tough,” Geiszler said. The coach’s words don’t play down his cur- rent players as much as they praise the recently departed se- niors. However, it’s not just tal- ent to watch out for, it’s who can Join us Saturday, July 2nd for: T-SHIRT NIGHT - $5.00 ADMISSION WITH CGS SHIRT Clark Printing Extreme Sprints, IMCA Modii eds, Street Stocks, Quality RV Repair Hornets Monday, July 4th for: WESTERN SPRINT TOUR SPEEDWEEK - FIREWORK SHOW www.cottagegrovespeedway.com 360 Sprints: Western Sprint Tour IMCA Modii eds, Street Stocks