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About Cottage Grove sentinel. (Cottage Grove, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 8, 2018)
Sports & recreation Cottage Grove Sentinel Wednesday, August 8, 2018 South Lane County Sports and Recreation Ladd, Farrell, Wickman play in All- Star game Section B Contact Sports, 942-3325 or e-mail zsilva@cgsentinel.com Coming soon: football season Local football stars participate in annual charity game By Zach Silva zsilva@cgsentinel.com Cottage Grove’s Cooper Ladd and Nate Farrell and Yoncalla’s Ted Wickman went on the road last week to be a part of the 66th Annual East West Shrine All-Star football game. The game, that features top players from the 1A through 4A classifications, helps raise money for the Shriners Hos- pitals for Children around the country, including one in Portland that the players vis- ited. “We’re doing something for these children and we knew that we’re making a difference and also getting to enjoy the game of football while we’re at it. It’s an environment that you can’t really replicate,” said Ladd. Ladd, who was first team offense and defense in 4A this past fall, and Farrell, first team offense, were staples of the Cottage Grove championship winning team this past year and were members of the East team. Wickman, who was named an alternate for the game, was on the West team. In the week leading up to the game, the teams gathered in La Grande where they pre- pared for Saturday. “It was hot and we prac- ticed two times a day but it was so fun to be there with all these great athletes. And you’d look around and everybody was the best on their team so there were no weak spots,” said Ladd. “And I’m not say- ing [Cottage Grove] had any weak spots, clearly we were the champions, but it was just kind of cool to be in that at- mosphere.” While Ladd and Farrell were 4A champions, it was a different experience for Wick- man coming from 1A. “Never played in front of that many fans for a football game so that was pretty spe- cial. Just wanted to do my own thing and wanted to represent Douglas County and Yoncalla and the community that sup- ported me,” he said. On the day of the game, the players were part of a parade and a barbeque that featured family, friends and past par- ticipants. But then it was game time. “Guys definitely were get- ting prepared pregame. It’s nice because a lot of those guys are going to play college football and that was a differ- ent experience for a lot of peo- ple. And it takes a lot of hard work and you can’t just like mess around and get there,” said Wickman. “Watching them prepare for a football game was something that I honestly take some tips away from. There wasn’t a lot of conversation, the guys are just focused and getting ready, it’s a battle.” Wickman, who was at wide receiver instead of his usual spot at quarterback, and the West team were up 8-6 before the East team was able to turn it on late and run away with a 20-8 victory. “I was at inside linebacker Nate was playing tackle… and oh my goodness was it fun. They had me blitzing all over and I was filling holes and it was so great to be back in the pads and making hits,” said Ladd. PHOTO BY ZACH SILVA/CG SENTINEL A group of linemen are taken through drills by assistant coach, and high school principal, Mike Ingman on Monday as part of Cottage Grove High School’s football camp. Students ranging from sixth grade to senior year attended camp this week in the morning while grades kindergarten through fifth met in the evenings. Fall sports teams at the high school level have their first practices of the season next Monday. For more pictures, see B12. 40th annual Stearman fly-in draws a crowd Over 25 planes and 200 spectators made their way to Cottage Grove on Saturday By Zach Silva zsilva@cgsentinel.com PHOTO C/0 CASSANDRA BARRONG A pair of onlookers get a closer look at one of the planes on display at the Oregon Aviation Historical Society on Saturday. Forler walks away victorious at Cottage Grove Speedway By Ben Deatherage CG Speedway Cottage Grove Speedway hosted the second night of the Summer Thunder Tour’s only trip to the state of Or- egon on Saturday, August 4th. Twenty-three Sprint Car teams inhabited the pit area representing the states of Oregon, Washington and Idaho as well as the Canadian provinces of British Columbia and Alberta. It marked the thirteenth race of 2018 for the series and the final 360 race of the entire season at CGS. In the main event Eric Fisher, of Burlington, Wash- Athlete of the Week After a choppy flight, Keith Kossuth was happy to have landed his biplane in Hood Riv- er, Oregon. Having recently just wrapped up the North America Barnstorming Tour that saw five states in as many days, Kossuth had his eyes set for heading back home to Chino, California. But his trip took a detour that in- stead brought him to Cottage Grove for Oregon Aviation His- torical Society’s (OAHS) 40th Annual Jim Wright Memorial Stearman Fly-In. “Someone had mentioned, ‘Oh yeah, there’s a fly-in at Cot- tage Grove.’ I wasn’t planning on going there, I wasn’t even sure where it was but it just hap- pened to be on the direct line of the route,” said Kossuth. “That’s how the trip usually is when I get in that thing. You just go and don’t really plan it. You can loosely plan it because it’s not going to work anyway. And then you just end up where you end up.” After running into an old friend, Kossuth made his way to the Aviation Center where four Stearmans were on display in addition to over 20 additional planes that had made the trip. More pilots were planning on attending but had to cancel their flights due to area fires. Regard- less, over 200 people came to the event to see the planes that were on display. “Most of the pilots that showed up have been coming for over 20 years. That’s how well-known Cottage Grove is. And it’s not even the museum, it’s just that our town is so wel- coming of these World War II biplanes, the pilots themselves,” said OAHS executive director Cassandra Barrong. “We’re cen- ington, took control of the top spot early. Fisher retained the position while operating on the bottom of the race track for quite some time before being overtaken on lap six. The driver to make the pass would be Boise, Idaho’s Logan Forler. Forler stayed up top on the racing surface and cruised to a comfortable lead. The only thing that slowed him down were two stoppages in which each following re- start he reconstructed his dominant interval from the rest of the field. Forler scored the victory, his second at CGS and third of his career with the STSS, marking it the first time he has won with the series in 2018 becom- ing the eighth different winner on the current campaign. Jason Solwold, of Burlington, Washington, was the run- ner-up in the Mike Anderson and Monica Baca owned entry followed by Eric Fisher, in third. Colton Heath, from Marysville, Washington and running for owners Kelly Welch and Alan Larson, came across the wire in fourth over fifth finishing Cam Smith, of Mill Creek, This week’s athlete of the week is John Taylor of Roseburg. Using an 8-iron, Taylor recorded a hole- in-one on the 14th hole at Middlefield Golf Course on July 31. It was his first ace in 40 years of golfing. trally located. They can go and get a margarita, stay at the hotel, come for dinner, fly out the next day. So Cottage Grove is a great spot.” This celebration first started in 1978 when Jerry Marshall, who ran the mechanic shop and the glider operation in Cottage Grove, brought in his friends who had Stearman biplanes for a barbeque. The group ran it back the next year, and the year after and before they knew it had established a tradition. “40 years later, the Stear- man are still coming to Cottage Grove. So the Stearman biplanes are of course the main show but everyone on the field, that had time to, brought up their air- planes, so the fleet was out. The Great Lakes was out, the Aeron- cas were out. So it was just this great vintage airplane show.” This year’s celebration also marked the 15th anniversary since the death of Jim Wright, FLY-IN see B2 Washington. Quilcene, Washington’s J.J. Hickle would set fast time of the night for Langley, British Columbia car owners Doug and Kathy Rutz. Collecting wins in heat race com- petition were Salem chauffeur Kyle Miller, Seth Nunes of Medford, and Penngrove, California teenager Mi- chael Kofoid in the other Doug and Kathy Rutz fielded entry. In other news, with Saturday being the final 360 event at Cottage Grove Speedway in 2018 Jason Solwold would win the track championship. It is the first time in the history of CGS Sprint Car racing that a champion is from another state. The Summer Thunder Sprint Series will take the rest of the month of August off before returning to compe- tition during Labor Day Weekend. The series will visit Grays Harbor Raceway, in Elma, Washington, on Sun- day, September 2nd. For more information log on to www.summerthundersprintseries.com. A hole at Middlefield Golf Course.
