B
S PORTS
Section B
Wednesday, APRIL 5, 2015
South Lane County Sports and Recreation
Contact Sports, 942-3325 or e-mail sports@cgsentinel.com
COACH KYLE TEMPLE HEADED TO UCC
Temple will say goodbye to CGHS after nearly four years
By Caitlyn May
cmay@cgsentinel.com
When Kyle Temple arrived
at Cottage Grove High School,
it was the fi rst time in over
three decades the school had
seen a new wrestling coach. At
the time, Bill Thompson told
The Sentinel, “Kyle’s a young
go-getter who has basically the
same philosophy and work ethic
that I have tried to instill in our
kids, our community and school.
"I think he fi ts the bill to do a
great job for our community and
kids.”
Now, after nearly three years, the high school will say goodbye
to Mr. Temple. "The Umpqua Community College Department of
Athletics is excited to announce the appointment of Kyle Temple as
their new Head Coach for Men’s Wrestling," a press release from
Umpqua announced on Monday, April 3.
Temple grew up in Sweet Home, Oregon before eventually land-
ing a position at Stayton and Sprague high schools and becoming
coach of three different Top 10 programs. According to the release,
while working at both Stayton and Cottage Grove, Temple began
to get involved with the Oregon Wrestling Association. He held
positions on the Cadet, Junior, and Women’s council, while also
taking the reigns as the lead coach and organizer for Western Junior
Dual trip to Pocatello, ID. This trip grew under Temple from 15
participants to its’ current yearly average of 52 kids from all across
Oregon. In 2016, Coach Temple was voted as the Western Region
Junior Person of the year by representatives from the 11 western
states. Also in 2016, Temple took over as the Oregon Wrestling As-
sociation Junior Level Director where he has worked to increase
opportunities and participation for high school aged wrestlers
across the state at regional and national level tournaments. During
this past seasons’ Greco-Roman National Championships, Oregon
fi nished 3rd in the nation and produced two national champions.
Temple attended Southern Oregon University where he competed
for the Raiders from 2003 through 2008. He was a national qualifi er
his senior season and also competed in the FILA Jr. National free-
style and Greco-Roman tournaments where he was a match out of
earning All-American honors. Temple earned a Bachelor's in Histo-
ry from Southern Oregon University in 2008, and holds his Masters
in Teaching from Western Oregon University.
Umpqua’s Director of Athletics Craig Jackson, had this to say
about the naming of Coach Temple as the Men’s Wresting Coach,
“We are very excited to have someone with Kyle’s experience to
head up RiverHawk wrestling. We feel that his enthusiasm and con-
tacts throughout Oregon and the western United States make him an
outstanding fi t for what we are trying to accomplish with our new
program. He is very well thought of by his peers and will work to
show athletes that UCC is an outstanding destination for collegiate
wrestlers.”
Athletic director for the high school Gary Roberts said of the
change, "We're going to at some point shortly post for the job. We
don't have any internal right now that has shown interest yet and
we'll go from there."
Speaking on the loss of Temple to the program, Roberts said,
"We're going to miss Kyle and we're wishing him well. It's an op-
portunity that's tough to pass up, to coach at the college level that
he's dreamed of and didn't think he'd get the opportunity to do be-
cause those positions are just hard to come across. Not to mention,
he'll have the chance to start a program. It's really good for him and
we wish him well and hopefully we fi nd someone who can come in
and pick up where he left off and continue to get this thing going in
the right direction."
Lion's Pride Pageant
STUDENTS PREP FOR THE ANNUAL
EVENT WITH NIGHT AT EL TAPITIO
Pictured above from left to right: Contestants Tanner Howe, Hunter Gipson, Blake Sentman, Kory Parent, Brent Ollivant, TJ Bellamy, Zane Levings, coordina-
tors Savannah Crump, Carly Sand, Cassidy Lusson, Keara Murphy, contestants Hannah Albrecht, Lauren Fields and Elizabeth Poe.
It will be a busy week for contestants of the
annual Lion's Pride Pageant. On Thursday,
April 6, El Tapitio will be hosting an event that
will see 20 percent of every bill go towards the
pageant to those customers who bring in the accompanying fl ier
found at local businesses and in this edition of The Sentinel.
The night before, on April 5, the students will go head-to-head
with staff on the basketball court during a silent cake auction. All
proceeds from that event will also go towards the pageant.
According to the high school, "The purpose of the Lion's Pride
Pageant is to raise money for the Children's Miracle Network. This
organization provides money for Springfi eld RiverBend Sacred
Heart Hospital's neonatal and pediatric units. These units of the hos-
pital help not only premature babies, but also any child throughout
their teenage years who requires hospitalization."
The statement went on to note that several Cottage Grove High
By Caitlyn May
cmay@cgsentinel.com
School students have benefi tted from the Children's Miracle Net-
work's relationship with the pageant throughout the years.
Moreover, the high school will a receive 10 percent return on
whatever funds it raises through the event. The goal this year is to
raise $22,000 which would top last year's total of $17,500.
The pageant contestants have been on the go since February with
several events already completed including a kick-off dinner, Val-
entine's night babysitting and a dodgeball tournament.
A signifi cant change to the program this year is the addition of fe-
male students. In its long history, the Lion's Pride, formally known
as the Lion's King Pageant, has had only male students participate.
According to the high school, "These girls are pioneers in our new
perspective of the pageant and I am thrilled to bring them into our
fold. This year, Hannah Albrecht, Lauren Fields and Elizabeth will
usher in future female students as part of the Lion's Pride program.
El Tapitio will be accepting fl iers tomorrow, April 6.
A goodbye to our
seniors
A series of profi les on seniors who have
spent their high school years as Lion athletes
After school years
full of football games,
basketball practices
and off-season lifting,
Cottage Grove high
school senior Kory
Parent is taking this
Spring to prepare for
his future.
Though his post-
high school options
abound, among the
most prestigious of
Parent’s offers is
one from the United
States Naval Acad-
emy. The academy
boasted just a nine
percent acceptance
rate in 2015, and this year, Parent made the cut.
“I knew I wanted to get a bachelor’s and then try to become a
Navy SEAL, but I didn’t think I was going to get accepted into
the Naval Academy,” Parent said. “The competition was really
high this year.”
But a 4.0 weighted GPA, stellar athletic record, including
Sky-Em 2016 Boys Basketball Player of the Year and fi rst team
All-State selections in both basketball and football, among other
accolades, landed Parent among the few who earn a spot at the
academy each year.
Parent has not yet accepted the offer and said he is keeping
his options open, however, juggling the decision to stay in state
or make the trip to Annapolis, Maryland where the academy is
located.
As a lifelong athlete, the 5 foot 8 inch senior has also land-
ed offers from a series of smaller schools around the state with
offers to continue his athletic career. Schools including George
Fox University and Willamette University have sought Parent
out with offers to play football at their schools.
Though the U.S. Naval Academy acceptance came as some-
what of a shock to Parent himself, those who have known him
as an athlete or student during his time in Cottage Grove weren’t
nearly as surprised.
One such fi gure who has seen Parent progress as an ath-
lete and leader is Assistant Superintendent for the South Lane
School District and Cottage Grove High School Football assis-
tant coach Kyle Tucker. Tucker coached Parent on the defen-
sive side of the ball for the past three years and was witness to
his work ethic on and off the fi eld, citing Parent’s extra time in
the weight room, watching fi lm and his fi rst-in-last-out practice
schedule as markers for his offer from the academy.
“Just the ability for a kid that age to put in the amount of time
that he puts in is amazing,” Tucker said of Parent. “You don’t
see that very often.”
That “extra practice makes perfect” mentality is one that Par-
ent brought not only to football, as Tucker described, but also to
the basketball court. Parent said it is one that he developed at an
early age, especially when it came to basketball.
“I just was never one of the kids that would be laying on the
couch, watching TV all day,” Parent said. “I would be the one
that would be thinking, ‘If I’m watching TV, then why couldn’t
I just go out and shoot shots?’”
That work especially paid off his junior and senior years, after
the early morning shooting sessions in addition to regular prac-
tices gave him an extra competitive edge. His work refl ected in
the Lion’s basketball record, bouncing from 5-20 overall Par-
ent’s sophomore year to 20-5 his junior season.
But Parent said it was more than just his own work that led the
Lions to a stellar two year streak; a core of strong senior starters
was also integral to his basketball and football team’s success.
“They were key players, and I think our leadership was the
best it’s been in football,” Parent said.
During the 2016 and 2017 seasons, Lions’ football went 8-0 in
league play, while basketball took a 9-2 league record.
Now, with his high school athletics career behind him, Parent
is sorting his options, preparing for the next step. But his legacy
as a trendsetter and captain both on the court and on the fi eld is
one he leaves behind for the Lions’ next round of student-ath-
letes.
“The culture of those young kids... having good leaders like
Kory, helps our younger guys become good leaders,” Tucker
said. “Then you get those young leaders who step up and keep
that tradition moving forward.”
Athletes of the Week
Sam Settelmeyer and Kenzie Parsons beat out 28 other runners during the
Fool's Rush 5K. The race started and fi nished downtown with the middle
of the course traversing Mt. David. According to organizers, "There was no
fooling around as they had a good climb in the middle of the 5K course.
Fun was had by all at this community event."
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