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About Cottage Grove sentinel. (Cottage Grove, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 28, 2016)
B S PORTS Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2016 Section B South Lane County Sports and Recreation Contact Sports, 942-3325 or e-mail sports@cgsentinel.com Despite two losses on the season, CG volleyball remains a strong opponent for many BY SAM WRIGHT The Cottage Grove Sentinel After the fi rst three games of the season, Cottage Grove was ranked at number one in the state for class 4A OSAA rank- ings. It was expected that—even if they kept winning—the posi- tion would fl uctuate, as so many other teams were also perform- ing strongly. The Lions suffered their fi rst loss in mid-September against Creswell and saw another slight drop in the state rankings, but they still remained in the top 10. Cottage Grove’s second loss came from Sutherlin, which sits in eighth place overall. The loss was concerning in terms of how far the Lions would drop in the rankings, but Cottage Grove quickly bounced back against Junction City, Thursday, routing the Tigers 3-0 after a tough fi rst set. The fi rst set did not come easy, and it seemed that the Li- ons were in for a fi ght. Cottage Grove and Junction City were neck-and-neck for the entire set, and it became a real nail-biter when the Tigers went up 24-21. However, a felicitous timeout by head coach Jason Corwin al- lowed Cottage Grove to regroup, and they went on a fi ve-point streak to take the set 26-24. The athleticism of sophomore Cas- sidy Herbert, combined with the height of freshman Reilly Kelty, were both accountable for a bundle of aggressive spikes and rejections at the net. The fi rst set then sent Cot- tage Grove into the next set with a head full of steam. Cottage Grove opened with a 10-point lead, dominating the second set and then similarly took the third set with ease. Cottage Grove’s now 6-2 re- cord (pending the result of the Sweet Home game) puts the team at 11th place in the OSAA rankings. Sweet Home (6-4) is right behind at 12th. After Sweet Home, the Lions play the top Sky-Em team, Sisters. The Out- laws are currently ranked third in the state with a 13-2 record. Should Cottage Grove come away with two wins this week, the Lions will defi nitely be pro- pelled back into the top 10. A win against the Huskies and a loss against the highly ranked Outlaws will most likely keep Cottage Grove where it is. Though Cottage Grove is a much better team than last year, it still may face a tougher season than last year because the Sky- Em is an extremely strong con- ference this year. Four out of its six teams are in the top 12 this year, presenting a lot of future challenges for the rest of the Li- ons’ season. Photo by Sam Wright Sophomore Cassidy Herbert leaps for a kill in Cottage Grove's 3-0 victory over Junc- tion City. A look at football halfway through the season Harriers take second with help of Raum So far, only two teams have scored on Cot- tage Grove, which now sits at 4-0 hafl way through the season, but how will the Lions fair over the next four games? BY SAM WRIGHT The Cottage Grove Sentinel Girls' take fourth at CG's fi nal home meet BY SAM WRIGHT The Cottage Grove Sentinel Hundreds of runners gathered at Schwarz Park campground near Dorena Lake on Thursday afternoon to compete in the an- nual Harrier’s Challenge. The run started off with boys’ then girls’ varsity runners, then a ju- nior varsity race that was also open to any participant includ- ing parents, teachers or even just fans. The runners went through a heavily wooded course through- out Shwarz Park that featured a few obstacles that could hinder the pace of the athletes. Cottage Grove made do with its familiarity of the course, and the boys’ team took a solid sec- ond place behind Jefferson High School. Sophomores Konrad Raum and Paesen Timm took eighth and ninth place, respectively, with times of 17:56 and 18:04. Jesse Ellingsworth was close behind in 11th place, fi nishing in 18:22. The other Lions on the boys’ squad that competed were Jimmy Talley (Fr.), Max Photo by Sam Wright Sophomore Konrad Raum has become a leader for the boys' varsity cross country team. Raum fi nished in eighth place out of over 90 varsi- ty contestants at Schwarz Park on Thursday with a time of 17:56, pro- pelling his team to second place at the Harrier's Challenge. Athlete of the Week Please see HARRIERS, Page 3B Konrad Raum is CG's best harrier Well, we started off very right in that it was predicted Cottage Grove would start off the season going 3-0 with an upset over the defending runner-ups, Scap- poose. But then, this past Friday has proven the Sentinel’s pre- dictions very, very wrong. In the article published just before the jamboree, it was predicted that Sweet Home, who beat Cottage Grove by a touchdown last year, would do the same and escape with another victory over the Li- ons. Head Coach Gary Roberts and his team, led by Kory Par- ent and Blake Sentman, slapped that prediction in the face with a 42-0 rout of the Huskies. After the fi rst three weeks of the sea- son, it was a bit easier to see that the Lions would probably beat the Huskies. It seems Cottage Grove has answers for a lot of adversity. Though they lack depth and an overall sizeable roster, the star seniors don’t need to carry the team on their own since a lot of younger athletes have stepped up and made great performanc- es. Due to such developments, the original predictions must change. Sutherlin sits at 0-4 and should be easy pickings for Cot- tage Grove. And Junction City may be tough (fi ghting a close game against Elmira) but still should succumb to the Lions’ tenacity. It was also originally pre- dicted that Sweet Home would be Cottage Grove’s only loss. With the dominant performance against Elmira on the road last year, the article also predicted Cottage Grove could easily take care of business again, but now the Falcons also sit at 4-0 and are ranked two spots above the Lions. Elmira appears to be Cot- tage Grove’s toughest opponent on the schedule, but even the upcoming game against Sisters can be dangerous. The Outlaws sit at 3-1 and are only ranked 22nd, but their one loss has perhaps made the OSAA rank them a little harsh- ly. Sisters lost 12-10 against Cascade, the defending state champions. They then domi- nated Crook County, 35-7 and demolished Sutherlin, 44-0. The team is also much larger, meaning they have more depth (a concern Roberts consistently addresses) and is also returning 11 seniors compared to Cottage Grove’s six. The only two games to truly worry about should be this week’s matchup against Sisters and then the last game of the regular season against Elmira. But so far, only two teams have scored against Cottage Grove, and they have outscored oppo- nents 188-28. The numbers so far seem to be on the side the Lions. But anything can happen when it comes to high school football. Adjustments and additions made for second half of the season With star senior Kia Hemenway still out with a torn muscle, girls' soccer has made some adjustments and even recently added a new player BY SAM WRIGHT The Cottage Grove Sentinel The girls’ soccer program has had a tough year thus far, but the goal of the team is to keep a positive attitude. Last week the Lions struggled when they tied 0-0 against Sutherlin and took a tough 1-4 loss against Junction City. The Lions have been miss- ing their star senior, Kia He- menway, who tore one of her quadriceps during the 0-4 loss against Philomath. Hemenway was the Sky-Em player of the year in 2015 and one of Cottage Grove’s biggest assets. Head Coach Samantha Shine says that Hemenway is expected to be out for another three weeks, meaning she may only get to play in the last few games of the season. The frustrating aspect for the Lions against Sutherlin was that they couldn’t fi nish. Cot- tage Grove dominated the en- tire game with tons of offensive pressure, but the team couldn’t fi nd the back of the net. Hudson Weybright also missed a penalty kick. “She was really down about that, but we don’t like to put any hard feelings on her,” Shine said of Weybright. In terms of being unable to fi nish by scoring goals, Shine made an adjustment and brought mid-fi elder Halle Petersen to a center attacking position in hopes of making it easier for the Lions to score. The loss to Junction City was a tough loss, but the Lions are not deterred. The Tigers have a very strong team this year and are ranked seventh in the OSAA rankings. Shine has also recently added a new member to the team. Tai- lor Mehan has gone from man- aging the team to actually play- ing on it. Though she has never actually played varsity soccer before, Shine is confi dent in her ability to assist her team. “We’re still refi ning her tech- nical skills, but she’s a really fast learner and did really well when trying out,” Shine said of Mehan. As with the rest of fall sports, the regular season for soccer is halfway over. Shine says that she didn’t have many expecta- tions coming into the season as she came from out of state, but she also knew that she would have big shoes to fi ll by taking the place of Vern Stewart. “I didn’t really know what to expect in terms of how well we would do, but the team’s talent defi nitely exceeded my expecta- tions,” she said. “With as many seniors as they lost from last year, this is kind of a fresh start for the team.” As Cottage Grove enters the second half of the season, Shine aims to keep things positive. “I’ve bonded a lot with the team, and they’ve bonded with each other as well,” she said. The head coach plans to keep doing what the team has been doing in practice and attempt to rediscover the taste for scoring. Photo by Sam Wright Sophomore and mid-fi elder Sophia Reid helps push the ball toward Junction City's goal during Thursday's game against the Tigers.
