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About Cottage Grove sentinel. (Cottage Grove, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (July 26, 2017)
B S PORTS Section B Triathlon at CG Lake Wednesday, July 26, 2017 South Lane County Sports and Recreation Contact Sports, 942-3325 or e-mail sports@cgsentinel.com New Boys Basketball Coach at CGHS PHOTO BY JACKSON PERKINS Swimmers prepare to start the triathlon at Cottage Grove Lake. By Jackson Perkins Last Saturday the 7th Annu- al Rolf Prima Tri at the Grove triathlon occurred at Cottage Grove Lake. Over 400 partic- ipants came from all around the country, and even as far as Italy to take part in the event. This triathlon had multiple dif- ferent versions of the course. These course variations are Sprint Triathlon, Olympic Tri- athlon, Sprint Aquabike, Olym- pic Aquabike, Sprint Duathlon, and Olympic Duathlon. All the individuals who partook in the event varied in preparedness, age, and experience, but that didn’t stop any of the compet- itors from leaving it all on the course. Some individuals train for a long time to complete a tri- athlon, but for some such as Konrad Raum it simply means showing up. After seeing his aunt and uncle take part in the triathlon two years ago Raum decided to sign up for the short- er Sprint course last year. Raum didn’t feel preparing was nec- essary for last year’s triathlon, and even though he was com- peting in the longer and more strenuous Olympic course this year his workout regimen didn’t change. “I decided to just give it my best shot,” said Raum Being a triathlete is not just for the youth as proven by many of the competitors from the pre- vious weekend’s triathlon, in- cluding Christine Heritage and her twin sister, Catherine Foote, both age 66. Heritage ran the Sprint course, whereas her sis- ter took on the Olympic course, and both of them got second place in their age division for their events. Every year Her- itage and Foote both compete in multiple triathlons, including the Rolf Prima Tri at the Grove. “This is the best triathlon. It’s a beautiful lake, the people are great, and the course is just awe- some,” said Heritage These two sisters are both experienced triathletes, but not as experienced as two of the competitors. Guy Crawford and Kate Bevilaqua are both pro tri- athletes as well as newlyweds. The event staff of the triathlon did their best to slow down these two pros with specialized challenges throughout the race. As the race took place activities such as pictionary and charades were squeezed in during their transitions from swimming, bik- ing, and running. These activi- ties helped to keep them with the main group throughout the course of the race. The Tri at the Grove wel- comed a wide number of indi- viduals and was seen as an over- all success by event organizers “The triathlon community is so supportive in general so when we have a race in a town like Cottage Grove with a strong backbone of support it’s just really great for the race,” said Race Director Blair Bronson. PHOTO BY CHARLES PULLIAM New Cottage Grove coach Nick Finley while he was head coach at Ninilchik School in Alaska. By Zach Silva zsilva@cgsentinel.com Cottage Grove High School will have a new boys basketball coach next season. The Lions are bringing in Nick Finley who in the last two seasons coached Ninilchik School in Ninilchik, Alaska to back-to-back state championships at the 1A level. “It was clear to us that this was the guy that could lead our kids,” said Cottage Grove High School Ath- letic Director Gary Roberts. “The things he talked about in terms of a basketball were great but the other things he talked about in terms of expectations of kids and academics and behavioral expectations for the kids off the court in the classroom and in the commu- nity. Those are the important things that are going to help kids become successful young adults.” Finley graduated from Creswell High School in 2004 where he was on the state championship team. After high school he then played basketball at Cheme- kta Community College and then at Eastern Oregon University. After graduating from Eastern Oregon in 2010 he moved to Alaska where he began as an assis- tant coach and then in 2011 became the head coach for Ninilchik. “It’s going to be exciting to be back home,” said Finley. “I’m just dying to meet all the guys and get to know the community. I’m also just super excited for the opportunity to go back to the area where I grew up and coach at a program like Cottage Grove.” At Ninilchik High School, the school had just 42 stu- dents last year and 16 boys. Eight of those boys were on Finley’s basketball team. Outside of Ninilchik’s star Austin White who is 6-7 and was named state player of the year by Gatorade, Finley praised his team not for being natural basketball players but for their hard work. “All you need to do at a small school at this level is have kids that are committed and a coach that is com- mitted and if they put in that extra work they will be successful. That’s the bottom line,” said Finley. From players stopping their star player White to take pictures with him because he was so tall to fl ying to villages in the middle of nowhere to play a game late at night, Finley noted that while excited to be in Oregon, he is going to miss coaching in Alaska and the basketball culture in the state. One memory from his time at Ninilchik is early on in his career when the team played in a tournament in a remote village. They were staying the night at a school and their last game, which had been packed with fans, had just fi nished. “I look out the window and I see all these snow ma- chines, you guys call them snowmobiles down there, just zipping,” said Finley. “Just hundreds of them into the woods and they are driving back to their villag- es… driving 50 miles and it is 12 o’clock at night. It’s incredible.” Finley will be replacing Donn Pollard who started his coaching career at Cottage Grove in 1981. Pollard coached from 1981-2000, stopped when he became principal, was assistant for his son, Bart, and then head coach since 2011. PHOTO BY CHARLES PULLIAM Finley high-fi ving one of his players during last season's playoffs. Athlete of the Week Guy Crawford, who lives in Idaho and Australia, won the professional division of the Rolf Prima Tri at the Grove is this week's athlete of the week. To add time between each stage of the triathlon, Crawford and his wife Kate Bevilaqua who is also a professional triathlate, were given tasks to slow them down. One of those (pictured right) was riding a miniature bike around cones. Join Us JULY 28TH FAST FRIDAY EVENT CLASSES IMCA SportMods, OPEN COMP HORNETS JULY 29TH COUPLES NIGHT - 2 FOR 1 GENERAL ADMISSION Event Classes: Todd’s Auto Body Sprints, IMCA SportMods, Street Stocks, OPEN COMP HORNETS