B
S PORTS
Section B
Lions win
one, lose
two
Wednesday, May 2, 2018
South Lane County Sports and Recreation
Contact Sports, 942-3325 or e-mail zsilva@cgsentinel.com
Running for a cause – and ice cream
Win against Elmira
followed by losses
to Junction City as
playoff race heats up
By Zach Silva
zsilva@cgsentinel.com
It was another up and
down week for the Cottage
Grove baseball team.
After winning at home
last Tuesday against Elmira,
the Lions dropped a pair of
games to Junction City on
the road. With the wins, the
Tigers are now a game up on
second place Sweet Home
and two games ahead of
fourth place Cottage Grove.
On Tuesday April 24, in
the fi nal home game of the
season, the Lions welcomed
in the winless-in-league play
Falcons in what felt like
a must-win game to keep
pace with the rest of the
league. Using small-ball to
the best of their ability, Cot-
tage Grove was able to grind
away a 4-2 victory.
“I guess, a win is a win.
Sometimes you can win ugly
and I guess that’s good,” said
head coach Dan Geiszler.
“Good thing we got some
bunts down and they made a
few mistakes because if that
wasn’t the case we would
have been in trouble. We just
didn’t swing the bats very
well at all.”
The Lions recorded two
hits on the day.
In the top of the fi rst, the
Falcons got things going
right away as they got run-
ners on base early and came
away with a pair of runs in
the inning. Cottage Grove
provided an answer when
Wyatt Sayles hit a grounder
to shortstop that was over-
thrown to fi rst scoring Pay-
ton Frieze.
After a shaky fi rst inning
on the mound, Sayles locked
down Elmira in the second
inning, as he recorded two
strike outs, and for the rest
of the game. Sayles fi nished
with fi ve strike outs on the
day.
Cottage Grove's batting
woes continued in the third
inning after Emry Foster and
Frieze got on base to start the
inning. A double steal put
runners on second and third
but three straight strikeouts
ended the inning early for the
home team.
“I think there is some-
times, when you’re dealing
with high school kids espe-
cially, the aspect of, ‘Well
they’re not very good so of
course I’m going to hit it’
and ‘oh crap, I didn’t.’ Ver-
sus when you know you’re
playing good pitchers, you
really focus more on your,
you’re into it a little more,”
said Geiszler.
In the fourth inning, Cot-
tage Grove was buoyed by
bunts to take the lead back.
With a pair of runners on
base, Matt Zumwalt put
down a bunt that led to an
overthrow that tied the game
at two runs apiece. After a
Lions strikeout, Foster then
laid down a bunt that result-
ed in both an out but and a
run that put the team up for
the fi rst time in the game.
“We battled, that’s all I
can say. I’m proud of them
for battling and getting some
quality bunts down and just
putting pressure on them.
And we made them make the
mistake,” said Geiszler.
It was another Zumwalt
bunt leading to an over-
thrown ball, this time in the
sixth inning, that scored Ja-
cob Dunn for the fi nal run of
BASEBALL continued on B2
PHOTOS BY ZACH SILVA/CG SENTINEL
Friday at Cottage Grove High School, runners from Lincoln Middle School and around the area participated in The Great Ice Cream Bowl. The run/walk features three courses for participants to
run with the promise of an ice cream sundae at the fi nish. The free event is associated with Peggy’s Primary Connection – a group that provides assistance with early education, insurance and
childcare.
Left: Racers excitedly sprint out to a fast start on Friday. Top right: A young runner fi nishes off the race. Bottom right: Participants are rewarded with ice cream sundaes after their run.
Yoss steps down as girls' basketball coach
After three years as head
coach at CGHS, Kevin
Yoss resigns
By Zach Silva
zsilva@cgsentinel.com
The Cottage Grove High School
girls’ basketball coach, Kevin Yoss, re-
signed from his coaching position last
Wednesday.
“This can be a diffi cult job in that
you are required to do a lot more than
basketball. If it was only basketball and
that was all I had to deal with, I would
be back,” said Yoss.
“I would say the big things are fund-
raising and time away from your fami-
ly. And I will end it there for right now.”
Yoss has coached in Cottage Grove
at varying levels for 25 years and has
been involved with coaching basketball
at CGHS for the past 18 years including
stints as the coach of the freshman and
JV boys’ teams.
“We want to thank him for his service
to Cottage Grove High School. Not just
the girls team but for more than 15 years
besides that,” said athletic director Gary
Roberts. “He took over a young pro-
gram and certainly did a good job to get
us better. He is a hard-working guy and
he put a lot of effort into our program.”
The past three seasons Yoss has
coached the varsity girls and compiled
a record of 32-39 and in the 2016-17
season, was named Sky-Em coach of
the year. Last season, the team tied for
fi rst in league and fi nished ranked 16th
in state.
“In his time leading the girls pro-
gram, Coach Yoss’ teams steadily im-
proved each year. His teams went from
4-6 his fi rst year to tying for the league
title and only losing one league game
this past season,” read part of the school
district’s statement that announced his
resignation.
While it will be an adjustment to not
be around basketball as he has been for
Mastering the marathon
By Zach Silva
zsilva@cgsentinel.com
The 2018 Boston Marathon was a
day of terrible weather.
Temperatures hovered in the up-
per 30s and lower 40s, gusts of wind
reached up to 40 mph and there was a
constant onslaught of rain. A perfect
day to run 26.2 miles.
With partially melted snow, mud
pits and puddles all coalescing, Cot-
tage Grove’s Miriam Udosenata head-
ed to the start line.
***
The term Boston Marathon, once –
relatively recently – meant nothing to
Udosenata.
The race that has come to represent
the pinnacle of the sport in the Unit-
ed States (though there are races with
faster qualifying times and more run-
ners) was an unknown to Udosenata
who was brand new to running. After
running her fi rst marathon in 2009
and nearly qualifying for the presti-
gious Patriots’ Day run that has been
taking place since 1897, Udosenata
started to learn about this race.
“I was like, ‘what’s Boston?’ I had
no idea. I totally ran by myself, totally
self-coached. So then I was like, ‘oh,
I guess I could go to Boston because
that sounds like kind of a big deal, I
guess,’” she said last week after com-
pleting her second Boston run.
Miriam Udosenata is all smiles during the
rainy Boston Marathon last month.
Athlete of
the Week
In the time since learning about
this historic race, Udosenata has com-
pletely fallen in love with the sport.
From running 12 offi cial marathons,
three 50 K ultra-marathons (31 miles)
and being a pacer at the Eugene mara-
thon last weekend, running is not just
something she does but has been wo-
ven into who she is.
***
As the rain continued to fall in
Boston, Udosenata was prepared for
whatever the day was going to bring.
“I was by myself at this point and I
just kind of said, ‘Well, this is going
to be an adventure today.’ And you
know, I’m listening to people say ‘I’m
throwing my goal out the window’…
‘There goes my race plan.’ And I’m
like, no,” she said. “I think I’m still
going to try my race plan and just see
kind of how long I can hold on to that
race plan.”
Heading out in the second wave of
runners, Udosenata was just looking
to fi nd her rhythm – a task that can
be hard when there are nearly 30,000
runners around you.
The start wasn’t perfect. In an ef-
fort to stay warm, she raced the fi rst
two miles in her husband’s oversized
sweatshirt and just .67 miles into the
race, her trusty watch that had guided
her throughout her training bumped
into her training partner. The lap
function had been hit which meant for
the remainder of the race her watch
beeped every time she completed .67
miles. In addition to incessant beeps,
the weather still hadn’t changed.
“There were standing water pud-
dles on the road and it was just tor-
rential rain in your face. And then you
would say to yourself, it really can’t
rain any harder at this point and then
the sky would just open up and like
somebody dumped a bucket on all of
us,” she said. “I mean, it was
MARATHON continued on B2
This week’s athlete of the week
is Cottage Grove’s Jacob Woods.
Woods was dominant at the Stayton
Twilight Meet last Friday taking
fi rst in the 200 while fi nishing
second in the 100 and long
jump. To read more about his
performance and how the team did,
turn to B2.
the last quarter century, Yoss thinks he
will be ready for it.
“Well, I think I will enjoy the time
off. I don’t think I will have any prob-
lems with that...There’s enough stress
in life that I can deal with a little less
from for now,” he said.
“It’s been great. I really enjoyed it.
I’ve enjoyed especially the interaction
with the kids. That’s the part I’m going
to miss the most is the interaction with
the kids. Not the wins and losses, it’s
the kids and seeing them every day and
the growth you see from the beginning
to the end is what I enjoy.”
Aqua Lions
prepare for
swim-a-thon
By Zach Silva
zsilva@cgsentinel.com
For the fi rst time in years, the Cottage Aqua
Lions swim club is holding a swim-a-thon.
The event – that has the swimmers raise
money on a per lap basis – is back throughout
the day on Saturday at the Warren H. Daugh-
tery Aquatic Center. The group is looking to
raise money for the club, the renovation and
to offset costs for pool fees for next year when
the pool is closed.
During the yearlong closure, the group will
be traveling to swim at pools across the area
such as Amazon Pool or River Road Pool in
Eugene or the pool in Drain. The details have
not yet been fi nalized for where the teams will
practice but head swim coach Tyson Pilling
noted that the school teams have been told the
district will be taking care of transportation
costs.
There are three age groups for the swim-
a-thon with kids who are younger than high
school age swimming from 7 a.m. to 8:40 a.m.,
high school students swimming from 8:45 a.m.
to 11 a.m. and alumni and community mem-
bers swimming from 11 a.m. to 1:15 p.m.
The swim-a-thon will have over 70 partici-
pants with the goal of raising at least $5,000.
If individuals are interested in donating
money or being a part of the event, they can
call the aquatic center at (541)-942-5533.
Cottage
Grove's Jacob
Woods com-
petes in the
100 earlier this
season.
PHOTO BY ZACH SILVA/
CG SENTINEL