B
S PORTS
Wednesday, July 13, 2016
Section B
South Lane County Sports and Recreation
Contact Sports, 942-3325 or e-mail sports@cgsentinel.com
Former Olympic Grover refl ects on the
Olympic Trials at Hayward Field
Dyrol Burleson, a former CGHS track star
and Olympian, helps convey the experience
of attending and competing in the biggest
track and fi eld competition in the country
BY SAM WRIGHT
The Cottage Grove Sentinel
The Olympic Trials just
wrapped up in Eugene on Sun-
day, ending what could be the
biggest stage most of the ath-
letes have competed in outside
of the Olympics themselves.
On such an enormous national
platform, Oregon has managed
to stand out, with many UO ath-
letes achieving great success.
Among this titanic event is a
former Lion track star who has
had the opportunity to compete
at the Trials and also watch the
sport develop and grow.
In the 1950s, Cottage Grove
High School’s track and fi eld
program produced one of the
top athletes in the country.
Dyrol Burleson burst onto the
scene under coaches Wally
Ciochetti and the late Sam Bell
and went on to receive the fi rst
full scholarship for track at the
University of Oregon under Bill
Bowerman. The scholarship
motivated Burleson to make a
commitment to never lose a race
during his time at the university,
and he made good on his prom-
ise. To this day, he is the only
athlete from the UO track and
fi eld program to have done so.
At age 14, "Sports Illustrated"
published one of its fi rst issues
with track star Roger Bannister
on the cover. That set Burleson’s
goals of getting on the cover
of the magazine, making the
Olympic team and winning an
Olympic gold medal. Burleson
achieved the fi rst two but fell
short of a gold medal in his two
Olympic appearances. Howev-
er, Burleson is not regretful and
is as enthusiastic as ever when it
comes to track and fi eld.
Now that all of the events have
been completed and the roster
has been set, Burleson has been
able to refl ect on his track expe-
rience, as well as comment on
how the sport has changed since
he competed.
“I really can’t believe how it’s
changed,” he said. “The equip-
ment is better, the facilities are
far superior and the training is
much more intense.” Burleson
added that the sport has changed
so much that it is genuinely dif-
fi cult to compare the present
and the past.
For instance, in 1960 there
was only one 1500-meter race
rather than multiple to ensure
the top athletes were the ones to
go to the Olympics.
“In 1964 they changed it to
three races in case some run-
ner didn’t perform their best,”
he noted. Burleson had expe-
rienced some of the changes
himself, but it didn’t change the
result: he won the 1500-meter
Photo by Sam Wright
Hayward Field hosted over 20,000 spectators over the 10-day trial period.
race in both Trials.
Burleson was supposed to
compete in 1968, when he be-
lieves he was in the best shape
of his life, but he suffered a calf
injury and couldn’t compete in
the Trials.
Unfortunately, due to a health
CG Football Golf
Tournament a great
success
BY SAM WRIGHT
The Cottage Grove Sentinel
The fi rst of several tourna-
ments at Middlefi eld Golf
Course teed off this past Sat-
urday, July 9. The 2016 Cot-
tage Grove Football Fundraiser
Tournament brought out a size-
able crowd of golf and football
enthusiasts.
The tournament helps raise
funds for the football team and
subsidizes some of the efforts
made by football team members
who host fundraisers around the
year.
According to football head
coach and athletic director Gary
Roberts, the annual goal of the
fundraiser is $3,500.
Golfers battled the damp-
ness early Saturday morning
as looming rain clouds threat-
ened to cancel the event, but the
weather held out and the tourna-
ment went on. Thirteen teams
of four registered to play the
18-hole course. Teams featured
all different kinds of Lions sup-
porters, including fans, coaches
and even some CGHS alumni
Please see TOURNAMENT, Page 2B
issue, Burleson was unable to
attend the trials at Hayward fi eld
but still recorded and watched
them every day between July 1
and July 10.
“I am the ultimate track fan,”
he said. Burleson is just as ex-
cited to watch the young athletes
compete as he was when he had
his fi rst chance to compete him-
self in 1960.
“I live vicariously through
these athletes,” Burleson said.
To add to the excitement is
the fact that the University of
Oregon has produced so many
Athletes of the Week
competing athletes, and as a
former Duck himself, Burleson
is ecstatic “beyond belief.”
Please see TRIALS, Page 4B
July 4
sees
excitement
at
Speedway
BY BEN DEATHERAGE
For the Sentinel
Photo courtesy of Gary Roberts
Tony Lefl er tees off as teammates Joe Brunetti and Ray Bloom watch. The team, in-
cluding Darren Giffen (not pictured) took fi rst place in the tournament with a score of
14 under.
New league gives casual soccer fans more options
Along with the familiar SCORES
soccer league, South Valley Athlet-
ics has brought a new, more ca-
sual league to the table. MLS is
a new league formed by commu-
nity members who wish to play a
more casual game of soccer. While
SCORES is still limited contact,
MLS is completely no contact. The
league is designed for players aged
30 and older or for younger players
with no experience.
The format of the games are a
four-on-four fi eld with no goalie
on a fi eld about half the size of a
regular fi eld in square footage.
“People came to us asking to
create a league that wasn’t as com-
petitive as SCORES, so we came
up with this,” SVA director Smiley
Glenn said. “There isn’t much to it,
but it seems to be a good solution
for more casual players.”
The league has yet to reach the
required number to be able to sepa-
rate into permanent teams, so for
now teams are randomly created
each week.
The league meets every Thurs-
day at Currin fi eld and is still open
for late registration. The form can
MLS is a perfect league for novice soccer players and people over 30.
be found on the SVA website.
541-942-7561
Photo by Sam Wright
Cottage Grove Speedway
played host to the second leg of
the 2016 Speedweek Northwest
schedule. It was another Inde-
pendence Day thriller at CGS
with the best car count of the
week as well as a packed grand-
stand to watch the July 4 action.
Thirty-three cars were in atten-
dance representing the states
of Oregon, Washington, Cali-
fornia, and Idaho as well as the
Canadian provinces of Alberta
and British Columbia and even
a driver from the Southland re-
gion of New Zealand.
Roger Crockett got out to the
lead on the opening lap. The
Medford driver started from the
pole and was extremely quick
from the get-go. With a long
green-fl ag run, it brought lapped
traffi c into the mix, but Crockett
was able to handle the slower
cars extremely well.
A lap-13 caution bunched
the fi eld up and another yellow
occurred on the 19th circuit,
which ended up being the fi nal
stoppage of the race. Shortly
after the restart, Crockett had
a little bit of diffi culty making
it around a lapped car, which
brought about an opportunity
for him to be challenged.
Paradise, California’s Kyle
Hirst made it around Crockett
on lap 25 and looked to close out
the race as the leader. Crockett
reeled Hirst back in and at the
Please see Speedway, Page 3B
Join us July 16th for
BMD MINERS NIGHT -
LADIES NIGHT LADIES 18+ FREE - TRIPLE CROWN ROUND 3
www.cottagegrovespeedway.com
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