Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Cottage Grove sentinel. (Cottage Grove, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (June 13, 2018)
Sports & recreation Cottage Grove Sentinel Wednesday, June 13, 2018 South Lane County Sports and Recreation Section B Contact Sports, 942-3325 or e-mail zsilva@cgsentinel.com Staying seen: students receive bike lights A local guide to the 2018 World Cup By Zach Silva zsilva@cgsentinel.com And here we are. The 2018 World Cup is just a day away and there sits our beloved American team (for the first time since 1986) on the outside looking in. This year, there is no speculating about our group or waking up early for watch parties to cheer on our boys or getting the nation to fully fall in love with Christian Pulisic. But it is time to trade our grief for excitement as we temporarily table any thoughts of how the U.S. men’s national team will change over the coming years and, instead, pick a new team to emotionally invest in for the next month. Now is the time to enjoy the beautiful game — which has start times of 5 a.m. and sounds like a great way to start the day. If you are the type of person who needs a team to invest in, look no further because here is your handy guide to find who you should cheer for based on local teams that you already know and love. If you are a fan of Elkton … … then you should be cheering for Iceland! Let’s put some perspective on this. The city of Portland has nearly double the popu- lation of the country of Ice- land. The undersized country Iceland is certainly the Elkton of the world stage. Its small size didn’t stop Iceland from stealing the world’s heart at the 2016 Euro Cup and qual- ifying for its first-ever World Cup appearance. Both teams scrap and claw for everything. The only difference is, when it comes to Iceland, there is just a lot more over- head clapping. If you are a fan of Yon- calla… …then you should be cheering for Senegal! You’ve had some success in the past (Senegal made the quarterfinals in 2002!) but it is unclear what the fate of the team really is. How far can they really go? Ranked 28th in the world, they could spoil the group play for Colom- bia or Poland but could also could get bounced before the real tournament begins. If you are a fan of North Douglas… …then you should be cheering for Argentina! Much like the Warriors of North Douglas, Argentina’s team is a mix of a decorated past (World Cup champions in 1978 and 1986!) in addi- tion to a team that is a threat to make a deep tournament run this year. In both instanc- es, opposing teams instantly respect the classic uniforms and know that whoever is wearing them has to be taken seriously. If you are a fan of Cottage Grove… …then you should be cheering for Uruguay! You have had success in the past (national champions in 1930 and 1950, Cottage Grove swim team dominance in the 1980s and other cham- pionships sprinkled in) and have some explosive pieces on your team right now. But at the same time, both teams have those who doubt them and their ability to make a deep run. Some of the WORLD CUP see B2 A pair of eighth graders at Lincoln Middle School are shown how to properly apply bike lights on Friday. After the death of a student, South Lane County Fire and Rescue works to prevent similar incidents By Zach Silva zsilva@cgsentinel.com Along with members throughout the community, the December death of 13-year-old Wesley Meadows deeply impacted South Lane Fire and Rescue firefighter Doug Lyda. Lyda was on the call after Meadows, who was without a helmet and not visible to vehicles on the road, was struck by a car while riding his bike on Highway 99 around 6 p.m. “The injuries were pretty significant and a helmet would not have saved him. The only thing that would have saved him was a light,” said Lyda. “I didn’t get a chance to process it until the next morn- ing … and I realized I was a little bit an- gry. I couldn’t place where that anger was going to go so I decided to be angry about kids not having lights.” With the goal “to put a light on every kid in South (Lane) County” Lyda was off. But he was not alone. Independently of Lyda, Cottage Grove resident and avid cyclist Don Strahan also had begun working on getting lights. “I heard about it a day or two after- wards and … right then, it was we’ve got to do something about this, this shouldn’t be happening,” said Strahan. Strahan and Lyda were put in con- tact and were off to get every kid a bike light. Lyda gathered $4,500 from various community organizations (with pledges adding another $5,000 in funds yet to come) and combined it with Strahan’s knowledge of bikes; they created a per- fect match. Ladd and Glenn headed to George Fox “(Strahan) is pretty much a bulldog when it comes to gathering information,” said Lyda. “He contacted the companies, got samples, went out and shined it at night — how far away could he get until it was no longer effective — took it on a bike ride, bike ride at night, bike ride on bumpy roads. He went over the top.” A model was agreed upon that includ- ed both a light in the front and a tail light that cost a total of $18. The next step was getting the lights to those who need- ed them. SLFR first teamed up with the Gran Fondo bike event and had their first give away. The group also worked with South Lane School District so it could get the lights directly to students. But before it gave them lights, it had to see if students rode bikes. Strahan helped put together a survey that went out to students across the district. By Zach Silva zsilva@cgsentinel.com PHOTO BY ZACH SILVA/CG SENTINEL Athletes of the Week All told, 320 students from first- to eighth-grade participated in a survey dis- cussing their biking habits. 265 students said that they own or have a bicycle to ride and over 70 percent responded that their bike had neither front or rear lights. Additionally, 78 percent said they own a bike helmet. “There seemed to be kind of a big pub- lic safety gap with, we are flushed with helmets but we have nothing with lights or visibility,” said Lyda. Last Friday, lights were given to stu- dents at Lincoln Middle School — where Meadows was once a student — after a demonstration of how to properly put them on a bike. “I think when you have a tragedy like this you can either wallow and be sad or you can do something about it,” said LIGHTS see B3 Knutson steps down as head coach Cottage Grove track coach resign after six seasons at the helm Hayden Glenn (left) and Cooper Ladd (right) become the newest members of the George Fox University football team. guys that want to go play, have the tal- By Zach Silva zsilva@cgsentinel.com ent to go play and I think it’s a neat deal that they have the wherewithal to say we Cottage Grove’s Cooper Ladd and found a program that gives us the best Hayden Glenn are heading to George opportunity to play football and get a Fox University where they will play foot- great education. So, it’s a really cool deal ball next season. In front of coaches and for the athletic department and for our family members, the pair made it official football program.” last Thursday as they signed their letters Ladd and Glenn played integral parts of intent in the CGHS library. on last season’s championships team. “It’s really exciting. It’s great anytime, The pair were both named first team all- we don’t get the opportunity a lot of state in 4A on offense and defense with times to send kids on to play college Ladd at center and linebacker and football somewhere,” said head coach Gary Roberts. “So it’s cool to have two FOOTBALL see B2 PHOTO BY ZACH SILVA/CG SENTINEL Coming off one of the most success- ful runs for the track and field program in school history — including three consecutive boys district titles, three straight co-ed titles and girls team dis- trict championships in 2013 and 2014 — head coach Ricky Knutson announced his resignation last Thursday. The an- nouncement was made via a press re- lease from the South Lane School Dis- trict and came just weeks after the boys track and field team finished sixth at the state meet. Knutson, in an interview with The Sentinel on Monday, noted that his deci- sion had been a few years in the making and coming into the school year, he had told athletic director Gary Roberts that this would be his last season coaching. “It’s been something that’s been in the works. But I think in order for student athletes and programs to be successful — and I don’t mean just winning and losing, I mean just giving the kids the chance to be their best — I think every- body has to be on the same page,” said This week’s athletes of the week are the 11 local Special Olympic Athletes who competed at the Regional Games in Newberg last week. The 11 athletes walked away from the competition with four gold, five silver and four bronze medals in addition to nine ribbons. William Craft led the way by taking first in shot put and the 200. Knutson. “From coaches, other pro- grams, leadership ... I just haven’t been feeling like that’s happening.” Knutson did not identify a specific team by name but noted that there are “programs that have a direct impact on one another that aren’t as in sync as they should be.” “Let’s say we talk hypothetically. If I was coaching a program and for three years in a row the top returning girl didn’t come out for the team; the kids that were most dedicated and passionate about the sport were heading in another direction; and if I had a kid quit the team the week of the state meet — I’d have to stop and say, 'What’s happening in my program?'” said Knutson. “And what kind of culture do I want? And is this the kind of culture that is going to be best serving these kids?” The CGHS cross country team, which is not coached by Knutson, has had top girls not return to the program; the top boys on the team play soccer; the boys team’s third best runner last year — who won districts in 2016 — did not run at the cross-country state meet last season. “There would be riots if it were bas- ketball and football and this kind of stuff was happening,” said Knutson. TRACK see B2 Back left: Bob Alexander, Anthony Newcomb, Ian Miller, William Craft, Michael Crocket, Gene O’Neil David Cook-Neal, Mystika Abbott Front left: Jerry Craft, Kendall Thiel, Chantell Lemon, Molly Conley, Jill Vaverka, Natasha Cosper, Daniel Abbott PHOTO C/O CARMEN DOWELL