B
S PORTS
Section B
'Comeback
queens' off to
Forest Grove
Wednesday, November 1, 2017
South Lane County Sports and Recreation
Contact Sports, 942-3325 or e-mail zsilva@cgsentinel.com
State bound: Lions take second in Sky-Em
Cottage Grove volleyball
survives two close
matches to advance to
quarterfi nals
By Zach Silva
After being just points away
from the end of their season
twice in two matches last week,
the Cottage Grove volleyball
team rallied and are headed to
the state quarterfi nals in Forest
Grove that begin on Friday.
“We are kind of comeback
queens and we like to say that
we like the extra conditioning,”
said Cottage Grove captain Cas-
sidy Herbert after Tuesday’s
win. “We get in our own heads
and we kind of don’t come out
with the energy we need. And
each of us has to pick up a piece
and put it back together and
eventually – usually – it comes
back together.”
It started Tuesday at home
with Cottage Grove hosting
North Marion in a play-in game.
It was all Huskies in the ear-
ly going as North Marion took
the fi rst two sets 25-21 and 25-
18 and were one set away from
ending Cottage Grove’s season.
As they danced to the music
between sets, it was clear that
North Marion was comfortable
and confi dent. But then the Li-
ons came to life.
“I
think
their
energy
changed,” said Cottage Grove
head coach Kendra Anderson.
“Just the energy on the fl oor and
on the bench, just was upped to
that next level that we need to be
at to execute.”
A pair of early 6-0 runs by
Cottage Grove put them up 18-
8. The Huskies fought back to
get the set as close as 22-16 but
the Lions prevailed to win 25-
17. In the fourth set the Lions
cruised to a comfortable 16-8
lead that was met by a North
Marion 8-2 run to close the gap
at 18-16. The Huskies got the
score to 21-20 but the Lions
gutted out a 25-22 win to force a
fi fth and fi nal set.
“It was a feeling of we’re go-
ing to win this game. I had that
assurance because I have that
confi dence in my team,” said
Herbert who fi nished the game
with a team high 19 kills. In
back and forth fi fth set that had
a tie score seven different times,
it was Cottage Grove that was
able to hang on to win 15-12 and
advance to the fi rst round in the
playoffs.
In the fi rst round, the Lions
would be meeting Marshfi eld
who they had played twice this
year and won once and lost
once.
“I think we will be ready to
play Marshfi eld – a rivalry,”
said Anderson. “We played
them twice this season so we
know what to expect. This is
for our goal of making it to the
elite eight so I think that will be
a good motivator.”
On the road the Lions again
faced adversity. The Pirates
overwhelmed Cottage Grove in
the fi rst set as they won 25-10.
After splitting the next two sets,
the Lions were a set away from
the end of their season for the
second time in a week.
The fourth set was dead even
at 20-20 until Cottage Grove’s
Reilly Kelty took over the game
as she got four kills in a row and
the Lions took the set 25-20.
The intensity did not waver in
the fi fth set as it was neck and
neck the entire way until tied
at 13 the Lions scored back to
back points to take the set and
move on to the quarterfi nals.
The Lions will play Hidden
Valley on Friday at 10:00 a.m.
at Forest Grove High School.
The two teams met at the be-
ginning of the season and the
Mustangs won 3-1. Hidden Val-
ley was undefeated in league
play and won 18 matches in
straight sets this season.
Cottage Grove's Konrad Raum (right) and Paesen Timm (left) race up a hill at Lane Community College during the district meet last Thursday.
Cottage Grove boys'
cross-country take
second place at districts
By Zach Silva
zsilva@cgsentinel.com
On Thursday afternoon at Lane Com-
munity College, the Cottage Grove
boys’ cross country team squeaked out
a second-place fi nish at the Sky-Em dis-
trict meet to qualify for the state cross
country meet this weekend.
The Lions fi nished in second place
with 53 points just edging out Elmira
who fi nished in third with 55 points.
Sisters won the meet with 40 points.
The Falcons and Lions were back and
forth all race. After one mile, Elmira
had all fi ve of their top runners in the
top 15 and were, for the moment, ahead
of Cottage Grove in points. As the race
continued, the Lions picked off some
runners and ended up fi nishing with
four runners in the top 10 to secure a
second-place fi nish and qualify for the
state meet. Cottage Grove’s Konrad
Raum was the fi rst fi nisher for the team
in fourth place.
“I did better than I thought I would
to be honest. Placement wise I fi gured
around here but time wise, I was think-
ing about 17:20,” said Raum who fi n-
ished with a time of 16:43 and attributed
The
journey to
QB1
By Gabe Glenn
CGHS Student
Cottage Grove's Dylan
Graves put in work on and
off the fi eld to take over as
starting quarterback
the fast time that tied his personal best
to the quick pace of the lead runners.
“I was planning on pacing myself for
a 5:30 for my fi rst mile and I went 5:11
and I was like, I kind of feel good so I
kept going at it,” he said.
In a close race where every point mat-
tered, there was no bigger moment than
the battle behind Raum for fi fth place
between Cottage Grove’s Jimmy Talley
and Elmira’s Paul Ossowski.
Virtually tied as the runners entered
the track for the fi nal 300 meters of
the race, it was Ossowski who took
the slight edge with 50 meters to go.
But it was Talley’s surge in the fi nal 10
meters that edged out Ossowski at the
line by six tenths of a second to claim
fi fth place and secure the last automatic
qualifying position for the state meet.
“We were battling the entire race,”
said Talley on the near photo fi nish. “I
had never made it to state by myself be-
fore, I’d only made it to state because of
my team.”
Following Talley, was Cottage
Grove’s Jesse Ellingworth in ninth and
Paesen Timm in 10th place. At this
point, the Lions were the only team with
four runners in and with points coming
from the fi rst fi ve runners, it became a
waiting game.
PHOTO BY ZACH SILVA/COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL
Sisters claimed their title as their
fourth and fi fth runners fi nished 13th
and 15th respectively and the battle for
second intensifi ed.
Elmira, who’s fi rst fi nisher was Os-
sowski, then had fi nishers in 7th, 11th,
14th and 17th. With their top fi ve in be-
fore Cottage Grove’s it meant that the
Lions fi fth runner would need to fi nish
in 26th or better for Cottage Grove to
beat Elmira. And in 25th place, Cottage
Grove’s Konnor Owens fi nished in a
time of 18:48 that punched their ticket
to the state meet.
While the intensity swelled at the
fi nish line, Cottage Grove coach Jim
Settelmeyer remained calm and seem-
ingly uninterested in where the team
fi nished as long as they performed as
best they could.
As coaches of the other teams hur-
riedly jotted down times and place-
ments to see where their teams fi nished,
Settelmeyer took pictures and cheered
on his team. He noted that he found out
the scores “when the scores were out. I
don’t track numbers. I know [the team]
is doing what they can do. These guys
are big meet runners. They’ve been get-
ting PRs at the state and district meet.
[The courses] aren’t that fast of courses
so how can you be sad about that.”
The team will race at the state meet
on Saturday Nov. 4 at 11:50 a.m.
PHOTO BY ZACH SILVA/COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL
Cottage Grove's Jimmy Talley out kicks an Elmira runner to take fi fth place.
From being ineligible his sophomore year, to starting at
the quarterback position on the varsity football team his
junior year, Dylan Graves has gone through all emotions
possible.
During his freshman year, Graves played wide receiver
on the junior varsity (JV) team at Cottage Grove High
School.
“I was expecting big things from myself at receiver my
sophomore year, especially after getting those reps on
varsity,” said Graves. This wasn’t the case when his soph-
omore year came around though. Graves struggled with
academics during his freshman year and his grades made
him ineligible for all games during the season, but he still
got to practice with the team.
“When I found out I wouldn’t be able to step on the
fi eld in a single game, it tore me up. I felt like I was kicked
in the face. The amount of emotions I had when the fi rst
game came along, it really stabbed me in the heart. I had
that feeling week after week just knowing I couldn’t dress
up and go in even when we had injured players,” said
Graves.
PHOTO BY ZACH SILVA/COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL
Continued on page B4
Athlete of
the Week
Dylan Graves drops back to pass earlier this year.
This week's athlete of the
week is Cottage Grove's
Cassidy Herbert who
helped the Lions get two
big wins to get the team to
the state quarterfi nals.
PHOTO BY CGHS PHOTOGRAPHY CLASS
CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK
zsilva@cgsentinel.com