Sports & recreation
Cottage Grove Sentinel
Wednesday, July 18, 2018
South Lane County Sports and Recreation
James Ellis
prepares for
journey
Section B
Contact Sports, 942-3325 or e-mail zsilva@cgsentinel.com
CG Rodeo rides into 70th year
Elkton’s new athletic
director/principal
has a busy year
ahead
By Zach Silva
zsilva@cgsentinel.com
There will be moments next
basketball season when Elk-
ton’s first-year principal and
athletic director, James Ellis,
will not be cheering for the
Elks. Instead, he will be cheer-
ing for his alma mater: Days
Creek.
For the past 28 years, Ellis
has been the head boys bas-
ketball coach at Days Creek
and with his son entering his
senior year this year, that role
will not be changing in the
upcoming season. Ellis is de-
termined to make working in
roles at both Elkton and Days
Creek work out.
“It’s going to bring up sce-
narios that I can’t even imag-
ine. There’s going to be a lot
of surprises and I’m sure
midway through I’m going to
say things like, ‘Oh, I never
thought of that’ or ‘Whoa, I
never saw that coming.’
“So it is going to be an inter-
esting relationship,” said Ellis.
As he was getting his ad-
ministrative credentials last
year, Ellis, who officially start-
ed at Elkton on July 1, was
approached by Elkton to see
if he was interested in being
principal.
“At first I downplayed it:
‘The timing is wrong,' ‘Not
interested,' ‘I’m a year out,’ ‘If
you guys don’t have anyone in
a year then give me a call.’ That
type of thing. So they went
ahead and pursued me and
said, ‘No, throw your name
in the hat now,’ and that led
to a couple of interviews and
a sit-down discussion on what
they wanted me to do in order
to get me there this year,” said
Ellis.
A principal was needed
in Elkton to free up time for
Andy Boe — the Elkton su-
perintendent who also serves
as the principal for both
the high school and middle
school. With Ellis now on
board, he will not be free of
his principal duties at the high
school.
The vacancy of athletic di-
rector opened up after Elk-
ton’s Rob Parker retired from
teaching and his position as
athletic director. Parker will
continue to be the girls’ bas-
ketball coach. Ellis, who has
been the athletic director at
Days Creek for the past three
years, decided to add that to
his plate.
“It’s kind of a natural fit, re-
ally, the AD high school prin-
cipal piece, I think,” said Boe.
“Because he’s so involved with
kids up there and with the cal-
endar and with all the things
that are going on … It’s good
to have someone who has
been in our league and knows
small schools, has all those
connections already and that
way he can slide into that AD
position and that’s a big ben-
efit.”
For Ellis, who lives 83.7
miles from Elkton High
School, this will mean a lot of
time driving which will only
get more complicated during
the basketball season when he
will have a full slate of practic-
es and games for Days Creek.
“The board has very gra-
ciously offered a lot of flexi-
bility. And they are allowing
me on game days and differ-
ent practice days to leave the
school at Elkton early. And
what I will I do is contractual-
ELKTON
see B2
PHOTOS BY ZACH SILVA/CG SENTINEL
A participant competes in the barrel racing on Friday night at the Cottage Grove Rodeo. The rodeo, in its 70th year, welcomed participants from around the area in the
annual two-day event. For more pictures, see B2.
Eastburn gets to
know community
Despite loss, a
Croatian celebration
Steve Eastburn demonstrates a dribbling drill during basketball camp last
week.
First year CGHS basketball
coach excited for upcoming
season
By Zach Silva
zsilva@cgsentinel.com
The Steve Eastburn coaching era has
begun.
While he has not yet coached the bas-
ketball team in season, the newly ap-
pointed CGHS girls’ basketball coach
continued the time-honored tradition of
girls’ basketball camp that is led by cur-
rent players and aimed at girls between
fourth and eighth grade.
“In my perspective camp has been
about you know, introducing a few bas-
ketball skills for the kids but also just
getting to know all of them and having
them get to know us as a coaching staff,”
said Eastburn. “So once again, like I
talked about it's just building relation-
ships with everybody.”
Eastburn was hired to the position
in May after Kevin Yoss stepped down
as head coach in April after coaching
18 years in both the girls and boys pro-
Family and friends at the Sušec's elebrate Croatia's first goal in the World Cup
final on Sunday. Croatia lost to France 4-2.
grams. Eastburn most recently coached
at Crow after being an assistant at Marist
High School and head coach at South
Eugene.
On Thursday morning, the final day
of the camp, things started on a high
note with the song “Reflection” from
the Disney movie Mulan playing over
the loudspeakers as campers gathered
to start the day. Camp then broke into
drills, games and at one point, a brief
lesson in morals and being selfless on
and off the court.
One drill in particular focused on
praising the individual that made the
pass that led to a basket. Eastburn want-
ed them to recognize the player doling
out the assist so that during games “your
grandma knows who passed it.”
“It’s definitely a different atmosphere
but it’s fun and new and exciting,” said
incoming-junior Ema Gardner. “And
(Eastburn) has great energy and he ex-
pects a lot out of us. And it’s fun.”
In addition to camp, the high school
team has stayed busy this summer par-
Athletes of
the Week
EASTWOOD
see B2
Local family celebrates
Croatia’s success at the World
Cup
By Zach Silva
zsilva@cgsentinel.com
O
ver the last month I, like much
of the rest of the world, was in-
troduced to and fell in love with
Kylian Mbappe. The 19-year-old French
forward solidified his name in soccer
history Sunday as he scored a goal and
helped hoist the World Cup trophy.
With no horse in the race (and the teams
I liked inevitably losing once I started
cheering for them) I enjoyed watching
France throughout the tournament.
But on Sunday morning, I trad-
ed those positive French-feelings for
a heavy dose of Croatia support as I
walked into the Sušec’s home in Cottage
Grove. The six Sušec’s include Josip, Hei-
di and their kids Nikola (16), Bene (15),
Martina (12) and Tatjana (8). And from
top to bottom, they love their Croatian
soccer.
Josip, who was born and raised in
This week’s athletes of
the week are the 30+
participants of last
week's CGHS girls’
basketball camp. For
more pictures from a
variety of drills and
games, turn to B12.
what is now Croatia, passed the love of
the national team on to the rest of his
family. In 1998, three years after the
conclusion of the Croatian War of Inde-
pendence, the national team lost in the
semifinals of the World Cup to eventual
champion France. In the game, France’s
defender Liliam Thuram marked his
place in history as he scored a pair of
goals: the only goals he ever scored for
the national side, a fact that still haunts
Josip.
“It took seven days to get over that
loss,” he said. Croatia went on to finish
third place in that year’s World Cup.
Coming into this year’s World Cup,
Josip had no expectations for this team
(“I picked them to win it all,” said Hei-
di from across the room). He knew they
had a talented team but also, as had
been shown in qualifying, a penchant of
making things harder than they needed
to be. After winning all their games in a
loaded Group D, the road for the team
was anything but smooth in the knock-
out stages. They trailed in each of their
CROATIA
see B2
A camper
receives a
pass from
incoming
senior Sam
May during
the three-
man weave
drill.