B
S PORTS
Wednesday, November 2, 2016
Section B
South Lane County Sports and Recreation
Contact Sports, 942-3325 or e-mail sports@cgsentinel.com
Cottage Grove volleyball out of
playoffs but team is on the rise
The Lions fi nished a successful season with a tough loss against
Hidden Valley on Saturday
BY SAM WRIGHT
The Cottage Grove Sentinel
After the football and boys’
cross-country teams won the
Sky-Em League, the next best
performance has been a come-
back season for the Cottage
Grove volleyball team. Last
year, the team went 9-13 overall
and 6-4 in the Sky Em. The Li-
ons were 4-6 through their fi rst
10 games, and fi rst-year head
coach Jason Corwin was just
getting to know the team. This
year, the Lions have fi nished
12-5 overall (7-3 in the Sky-Em
,taking second place), started
off with four wins in a row, and
were 7-3 in the fi rst 10 games
and only dropped two more
losses after that.
Their season earned them a
play-in match against Corbett
at home. The Lions gained mo-
mentum early with several aces
by senior Carly Sand. From
there, Cottage Grove managed
to control the tempo of the game
and swept Corbett, 3-0.
The win earned the Lions a
playoff spot against Hidden Val-
ley. A win for Cottage Grove
would send them to the state
tournament in Forest Grove.
However, the momentum didn’t
carry over from the previous
game and the Lions’ winning
season came to a halt after fall-
ing 3-0 to Hidden Valley.
With the departure of last
year’s seniors like Abigail Ladd
and Allyssa Ganchegui, there
came questions surrounding
whether Corwin had the roster
to replace talented leaders. This
year, the large shoes were fi lled
by not only juniors and seniors,
but by some underclassmen as
well.
Sand, for one, was a senior
setter that was the backbone
of the Lions’ attack, delivering
controlled balls to hitters up-
front such as Sydney Boxberger.
As a junior, she has shown with
her athleticism and height that
she can quickly turn sets into
kills.
Two of the most impressive
players to breakout this season
are underclassmen. Sophomore
Please see VOLLEYBALL, Page 3B
Photo by Sam Wright
Senior Carly Sand sets the ball for a teammate during last week's win against Corbett.
The team moved on to play Hidden Valley for a spot in the state tournament, but fell
short in a 3-0 loss on Saturday.
Boy harriers win districts
Athletes of the Week
Jesse Ellingworth propels his team to an
extremely close victory with a second-place
fi nish at the Sky-Em district meet
The Lions went to the Sky
Em district meet and surpassed
expectations. The varsity boys’
team pushed hard and won a
very tight race where just 11
points separated fi rst and fourth
place. Junior fi rst-year runner,
Jesse Ellingworth had a break-
through run with a 46-second
PR to place second, pulling his
team to the win. Konrad Raum
(fi fth) and Paesen Timm (sixth)
accompanied Jesse on the po-
dium with their fi nishes. Great
efforts were also turned in by
teammates Jimmy Talley, Eric
Cortes, Max Gause and Jus-
tin Francis.The varsity women
placed in fi fth paced by fresh-
man Sabrina James’s 10th place
fi nish. The JV women pushed
through to win their competition
paced by Emma Sexton, Kaitlyn
Brooks, Tatiana Baird and Les-
lie Chacon-Romero all plac-
ing in the top 10. The JV men
placed third as Konnor Owens
placed second with his PR ef-
fort (19:53). This effort ended
up earning Owens a spot on the
State Varsity team after the dis-
covery late Friday that Senior
Max Gause would be forced to
withdraw due to confl icts with
the SAT test he needs for his
college application and scholar-
ship work.
The wet day on a course with
a couple of climbs allowed the
Cottage Grove harriers to use
their advantage of training on
hills to surprise the rest of the
district and surpass their pre-
meet expectations powered
by 18 personal records. Head
Coach Jim Settelmeyer says
that the training for the state
meet began in earnest on Friday,
when 16 teammates showed up
to bolster the state qualifi ers
with their positive energy, help-
ing keep the atmosphere fun,
supportive and friendly.
The seven varsity men have a
week to work beside their team-
mates and see if they can create
the same kind of energy when
they compete with the rest of the
best in the state on the big stage
Nov. 5 at 11:50 a.m. at LCC.
Courtesy photo
A special congratulations goes to the boys' varsity team led by junior Jesse Ellingworth, whose second-place fi n-
ish helped give Cottage Grove a fi rst place fi nish overall. Konrad Raum and Paesen Timm fi nished in fi fth and sixth
place respectively. Even freshman Jimmy Talley fi nished 16th out of 40 participants. The girls' team ended in fi fth
but saw a strong performance by freshman Sabrina James, who fi nished the course in 22:21.9.
Lions' football to
face North Valley in
fi rst playoff game Hidden Valley honors late Holley Gould
Cottage Grove enters the OSAA 4A
playoffs ranked sixth and will look to topple
the North Valley Knights to make it to the
quarter fi nals
BY SAM WRIGHT
The Cottage Grove Sentinel
It was a quiet Friday night
at Cottage Grove High School
this past week. The undefeated
Lions received a bye week due
to their perfect season and Sky-
Em Title. But the team wouldn’t
know who its opponent would
be until the weekend’s play-in
matches were complete.
Last year, Cottage Grove’s 4-
4 record brought them to a close
play-in match against Baker,
where the Lions lost, 28-34. This
year, the Lions earned a week
of rest, though the ambition of
the team had Head Coach Gary
Roberts and his team take the
bye week as a chance to have
more time to prepare.
After the Lions took down
Elmira, Roberts told his team to
celebrate their 8-0 fi nish on the
season over the weekend, but
come Monday, the team would
consider itself 0-0 again.
This past weekend gave Cot-
tage Grove the answer that the
team and fans have been look-
ing for. The Lions will play host
to the 11th-ranked North Valley
Knights on Nov. 4 at 7 p.m.
The Knights made it to the
playoffs after a close 29-25 vic-
tory over North Marion, a team
that just fi nished 4-4 (their game
against Philomath on Oct. 7 was
cancelled).
A lot can happen in high
school football, making predic-
tions more diffi cult by looking
at who has beaten who, but it
can be a good starting point.
North Valley went undefeated
all the way until their last game
of the regular season, where
they took a 40-0 loss by sec-
ond-ranked Mazama, a team
that didn’t allow a single point
scored against them in its last
four games. North Valley’s one
loss shouldn’t boost the confi -
dence of the Lions, but it does
give insight into their defense.
To allow a team to rack up 40
points is tough, and that team
(Mazama) took a loss to Cas-
cade early in the season. Maza-
ma’s defense has only allowed
60 points all season, four points
less than Cottage Grove’s stout
defense.
However, North Valley de-
feated seventh-ranked South
Umpqua on the road, meaning
they have the ability to pull off
an upset.
But the odds seem to be in
favor of Cottage Grove. The Li-
ons are carrying the momentum
of an undefeated season with
dominating numbers (outscor-
ing opponents 359-64). The
Lions will also have the home
fi eld advantage. Though Maza-
ma is ranked higher and perhaps
played in a tougher conference,
it’s not outrageous to think the
Lions could do what Mazama
did to North Valley. Cottage
Grove’s dominance throughout
the entire season is a statement
that the team can play with any-
one in class 4A.
Please see FOOTBALL, Page 3B
Photo courtesy of Marla Lewis
Pictured : Back - Standing: Jamie Parsons, Allene
Parsons, Mary Jean Thomas, Carol Craig, Dahlia Mor-
ris, Don Gould, Sue Johnson. Front: Laurie Pratt, Marla
Lewis and Diane Patenode.
Not Pictured: Romeni Bechtold, Joelie Saunders, Cindy
Arney, Ida Martin, Jeanne Hinojosa, Alair McCarty, Sally
Langham and Judy Cawley.
On Wednesday, Oct. 26, several people attended a dedi-
cation in honor of Holley Gould. Gould was a member
of the Ladies Golf Club at Hidden Valley Golf Course.
Gould passed away in late September this year.
A few ladies from the club got together to have a stone
etched in honor and remembrance of the passionate
golfer. The stone was placed at the base of the old oak
tree in the middle of the fairway on hole four. Gould
always had the goal of making it to that oak tree by the
second shot, and many times she did just that: “there in
two.”
Etched on the stone with Holley’s name were the words:
“Here in 2,” her birth date, and her death date.
The ladies golf club extends a special thank you to Dan
and Molly Nord for allowing the stone to be placed on
the course.