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.
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