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About Cottage Grove sentinel. (Cottage Grove, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (July 27, 2016)
B S PORTS Wednesday, July 27, 2016 Section B South Lane County Sports and Recreation Contact Sports, 942-3325 or e-mail sports@cgsentinel.com Big turnout and perfect conditions for Rolf Prima Tri Athlete of the Week BY SAM WRIGHT The Cottage Grove Sentinel Saturday, July 23 marked the sixth annual Rolf Prima Triath- lon in Cottage Grove, where hundreds of athletes from all over the country came to race near (and in) Cottage Grove Lake. Nearly 25 percent of the near 350 participants were fi rst- timers at the event, and many were attempting a triathlon for the fi rst time ever. Cool weather made for perfect racing condi- tions until the sun came out in the later part of the morning. At 8 a.m. the athletes gathered in the water by the Lakeside Park boat ramp and were sent off in waves. The race was split up into two courses: the sprint course and the Olympic course. The sprint course consisted of 750 meters of swimming, 12 miles of cy- cling and 3.1 miles of running. The event also offered a duath- lon for those who wanted to. The Olympic course refl ected Olympic distances which double that of the sprint course. There are 1500 meters of swimming, Crawford wins third CG Triathlon Photo by Sam Wright Mark Gregory transitions from bike to foot in the transition area. 24.8 miles (40 kilometers) of made up the regulars, with Evan 1:01:20 and ran the 6.2 miles in cycling and 6.2 miles (10 kilo- Pardi placing fi rst. Pardi’s over- 35 minutes and 34 seconds. meters) of running. all time was two hours and 1.5 On the women’s side, there The Olympic course was di- seconds. The 23-year old swam vided into professionals and the 1500 meters in just under 22 Please see TRIATHLON, Page 3B regulars. Nearly 90 participants minutes, biked the 24.8 miles in Guy Crawford didn't beat his old record but still smashed the competition to win his third Rolf Prima Triathlon. The champion snuck by volunteers as he approached the fi nish line, catching the announcer off guard. Lions tested against Sheldon Photo by Sam Wright The Lions got a chance to compete against 6A competition with Sheldon High School. Gary Roberts said. The scrim- “We’re really just trying to BY SAM WRIGHT mage wasn’t in pads, and both see who will put in the work and The Cottage Grove Sentinel teams only worked on passing play hard,” Roberts said. The The Lions football team has and coverage. For a while, it Lions will be returning with the been putting in a lot of work seemed like Sheldon’s receivers same offensive system as last over the summer to prepare for were able to outmaneuver Cot- year, but there’s a twist. Roberts has added a new its season coming in the fall. tage Grove’s defensive backs, Most recently, the Lions hosted and their defense was making it member to the Lions coach- a seven-on-seven scrimmage hard for Blake Sentman and co. ing staff. The new offensive to move the ball down the fi eld. coordinator this year will be against 6A Sheldon. However, the Lions began Marty Johnson, who previously Against a school with such depth, it was understandable that to click, forcing turnovers and coached for Sheldon, a powerful Cottage Grove would occasion- completing passes, including team that went 7-1 last year, los- ally struggle on both sides of a beautiful 30-yard bomb by ing to Jesuit in the playoffs. Johnson is a welcome addi- the ball. One of Sheldon’s most Sentman for a touchdown. Roberts seems to already be tion with many of the return- notable players was Taylor Alie, who holds the Ducks’ record for familiar with the skill set of his ing players and should be able longest rushing touchdown by a team with many returning play- to give the Lions’ offense a bit ers, so he was looking for who more potency. quarterback. “They produce a lot of divi- can put in the extra effort on the sion-one talent,” head coach fi eld. They call it pickle ball When driving or walking by Coiner Park on Main Street, what looks like a minia- ture form of tennis can be seen played by a group of locals. Ken Welker has recently organized games of pickle ball, a racquet sport fi rst invented in the Pacifi c Northwest in Washington. Welker’s group is still small, so they haven’t been able to establish a league yet, but they can be seen smacking a Wiffl e ball over a small net with wooden paddles on most mornings. Representative Joel Pritchard invented the game when he couldn't fi nd a shuttlecock to play badminton with. Pritchard's wife thought of the Pickle Boat in rowing where oarsmen were cho- sen from the leftovers from other boats. CG Speedway hosts Mark Howard Memorial Modifi ed Nationals BY BEN DEATHERAGE For the Sentinel Friday, July 22 was the fi rst night of the 2016 Mark Howard Memorial Cottage Grove Speed- way Modifi ed Nationals. Thir- ty-seven IMCA Modifi eds from the states of Oregon, Washing- ton, and California made up the fi eld. Also, Late Models, with the visiting Northwest Extreme Late Model Series, and Street Stocks were on the card as the support class. A big pile up on the opening start of the IMCA Modifi ed fea- ture occurred in turn one delay- ing the fi rst lap to be recorded in the books. Once the fi rst circuit was registered complete, Corbett’s Collen Winebarger blazed the trail. It was a short- lived lead, however, as Mark Carrell passed him on lap two. The two drivers went back and forth a number of times before the Redmond veteran Carrell se- cured the position on lap eight. Collen Winebarger did not give up on his pursuit of the lead. Winebarger reeled in Car- rell and made a late race pass on lap 28. It was the seventh and fi nal change of the position for the rest of the main event. For Collen, it marked the third time he has won at CGS in 2016. Carrell was a close second, followed by Eugene’s Jesse Wil- liamson in third. Fourth place went to Brian Poppa of White City, while fi nishing fi fth was Craig Hanson from Albany. With so many cars mak- ing the journey, the qualifying fi eld was split into two groups. Lebanon chauffeur Kyle Yeack and Winebarger were the fast- est in their respected groups. Heat races were won by Yre- ka, California’s Kyle Casson, Winebarger, Justin Dittman of Lebanon and Redmond native Ethan Landers. Two consola- tion features were also run with Albany’s Craig Hanson and Jas- per driver Eric Ashley the win- ners. Winebarger won the Dot’s Trophy Shop Trophy Dash and Nick Trenchard of Klamath Falls made a late race move to win the Race of Champions. In the Late Model main event, it was Steve Moore show- ing the way early. The Scio driver possessed the top spot until lap three. Making the pass was Jerry Schram of Vancouver, Washington and he managed to hold down the position for quite some time. However, Ron Brewster was able to take the top spot shortly after a restart on lap 15. Brewster, out of Redmond, retained the lead the rest of the distance to win his second race of the season at CGS. Schram fi nished second, fol- lowed by Creswell’s Paul Culp in third. The rest of the top fi ve was made up of Steve Moore, in fourth, and Eugene driver David Schmidt in fi fth. Please see SPEEDWAY, Page 2B 541-942-7561 www.cottagegrovespeedway.com Courtesy photo Mark Carrell walked away with a victory and $2,600 at the Mark Howard Memorial Nationals. Join us July 30th for FROGGY 44 HORNET TRIBUTE TO MEL Late Models, Clark Printing Extreme Sprints, IMCA SportMods, Quality RV Repair Hornets