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.