Sports & recreation
Cottage Grove Sentinel
Wednesday, March 20, 2019
South Lane County Sports and Recreation
Section B
Contact Sports, 942-3325 or e-mail zsilva@cgsentinel.com
Keep on Lions break the ice to start the season
doubting
the Ducks
An examination
of the Oregon
men’s improbable
run to the NCAA
Tournament
By Zach Silva
zsilva@cgsentinel.com
A
fter watching the
University of Oregon
men’s basketball team defeat
Washington last Saturday
night in a game that sent the
Ducks to the NCAA Tour-
nament, I sat down to try
and put my excitement into
words. We had done it, we
had won four games in four
nights and defeated an al-
legedly good (but probably
bad) Washington team. It was
pure bliss.
Upon reviewing what I
wrote that evening, I found
that this is how I started: Ha-
hahahahahahahaha oh my.
It, uh, wasn’t my best open-
ing sentence but maybe it is
the best way to capture the
true emotions of the mo-
ment. How else do you prop-
erly convey just how absurd
it is that this Oregon team is
now going to the big dance?
n the show "Modern
Family" the character
Phil Dunphy gives one of
my all-time favorite lines
when he says, “Key to a good
birthday? Low expectations.”
While Mr. Dunphy – who
is played by Oregon fan Ty
Burrell – is just talking about
birthdays, it sure seems
like he is also talking about
sports. Expectations are the
lens that all seasons, whether
successful or not, are viewed
through. So if you expect
your team to do well and they
do, your expectations are met
and everyone is happy. But
that is often not the case and
most certainly not the case
with this particular Oregon
team.
The expectations at the
start of the season for the
Ducks were sky high. They
were ranked 14th in the
country and it was assumed
that Bol Bol was going to
lead the team to the prom-
ised land. But from the time
of that preseason ranking in
November all the way to the
second blown lead against
UCLA in February, the sea-
son was on a downward spi-
ral.
Bol was hurt, the team was
6-8 in the Pac-12, no lead was
safe and, ultimately, the team
just wasn’t very fun to watch.
It became a chore to watch
them as they continued to
find new ways to lose. Every-
thing was bad and the season
was in free fall. The expecta-
tions for the team going for-
ward were at an all-time low.
At that point, the Ducks
had four games left in the
regular season and it was
easy to convince any Oregon
fan that they could lose out.
Anything was on the table.
And just when you count
out a Dana Altman-coached
team, they find a way to win.
Convincing sweeps of both
the Arizona and Washington
schools heading into the Pac-
12 tournament created more
confusion about this team.
Were they no longer……bad?
Heading into the tourna-
ment, I had a conversation
with low-key Oregon sports
historian slash my best friend
as we determined that the
Ducks were equally likely to
lose in the first round as they
were to win the entire tour-
nament. This was the enigma
I
DUCKS
see B2
Cottage Grove senior Erick Giffen attempts to clear five-foot-10 in the high jump at Pleasant Hill last Wednesday.
Cottage Grove has top
finishers in first meet of
the season
By Zach Silva
zsilva@cgsentinel.com
Now that the snow has melt-
ed, it was time for the ice to
break.
And last Wednesday the Cot-
tage Grove track and field team
warmed right up as they com-
peted in the first meet of the
season at the Pleasant Hill Ice
Breaker. Competing against 16
teams from the 1A classification
to 4A, the Lions were looking to
shake out the cobwebs as they
enter the season.
“I thought they came out
strong and did amazing for only
having a few practices due to the
snow,” said first-year Cottage
Grove head coach Gyna Walton.
“I just pretty much told them to
do the best they could being that
we have only had a few practic-
es.”
While the team results were
not calculated, the Lions had
top finishers throughout the
meet. On the boys side, it was
junior Jimmy Talley leading the
way for the Lions finishing first
in the 800 (2:08.87), along with
second place finishes in both the
1500 (4:20.29) and as a member
of the 4 x 400 relay team. Tall-
ey, who took second at state last
season in the 3,000, came into
the day focused on getting back
to top form.
“Well, I know there isn’t go-
ing to be much competition –
I guess there was more than I
thought,” Talley said on think-
ing about his second place finish
in the 1500 in which he was a
second behind first place. “But
anyways, it was just kind of us-
ing it as a workout day. Usually
I don’t run two running events
and I’m running three running
events total so it’s kind of just for
a workout.”
In the high jump, Cottage
Grove senior Erick Giffen
cleared 5-foot-10 and took third
place in the competition. Giffen
is the back-to-back champion in
the Sky-Em high jump. He fin-
ished fourth in state as a soph-
omore and after an injury last
season finished 12th.
“At this point, I’m just trying
to build my confidence. At the
end of last year, my confidence
went a little bit down, obviously.
I’m just trying to stay positive
with all my teammates and my-
self,” said Giffen. “Make sure I’m
working hard inside of practice
and outside of practice. And
hopefully get some (personal re-
cords) this year.”
The other top finisher for the
Cottage Grove boys was junior
Mitchell Krokus in the triple
jump with a jump of 40-feet-
07.50-inches. Krokus, who
PHOTOS BY ZACH SILVA/CG SENTINEL
Cottage Grove junior Jimmy Talley kicks his way into first place
in the 800.
started triple jump in the mid-
dle of last season, won the Sky-
Em title last year and took 11th
at state.
For the girls, the team saw the
most success in the high jump.
Sophomore Avery Hutchins
took fifth at four-foot-eight
while sophomore Matty Ladd
and freshman Gracie Arnold
finished first and second respec-
LIONS
see B3
Warriors glide into opening day victory
Derrick returns,
Warriors start season
with home victory over
Glide
By Zach Silva
zsilva@cgsentinel.com
PHOTO BY ZACH SILVA/CG SENTINEL
North Douglas junior Nicki Derrick was back in the pitching
circle after missing her sophomore season due to injury. In her
first game back, Derrick made her presence felt as she struck out
11 batters and gave up just two hits on the day.
Athlete of
the Week
It was an exciting sight for the
North Douglas softball team: ju-
nior Nicki Derrick in the pitch-
er’s circle. After leading the team
to the state title in her freshman
season, an ACL injury sidelined
Derrick for her sophomore year.
But last Saturday, she was back
in action for the first time as
the Warriors started the season
at home with a 6-3 victory over
Glide.
“It was really nice. Honestly,
doesn’t feel like I skipped a year.
Sometimes I forget I skipped a
whole year of softball,” said Der-
rick after recording 11 strike-
outs and giving up two hits.
Facing Glide, North Doug-
This week’s athlete of the
week is Cottage Grove
sophomore Matty Ladd.
At Wednesday’s track meet
Ladd took first in high jump,
second in triple jump, was on
the fourth place 4 x 100 team
and took eighth in the 100.
las was diving straight into the
season against a top-team. Last
year at the 3A level, the Wildcats
finished in sixth place and made
it to the state quarterfinals. Now
down to 2A, Glide was ranked
11th in the preseason coaches’
poll and received two first place
votes. In the same poll, the War-
riors are ranked as the number
four team in the state at the
1A/2A level.
But it was the Wildcats strik-
ing first in the second inning.
With the bases loaded and no
outs, Derrick struck out a pair
of batters before a flurry of
North Douglas mistakes. A bat-
ter was walked followed by an
overthrow and a dropped third
strike that all resulted in three
runs for Glide.
“We struggled with defense a
little bit. We’ve been on our field
since Monday. I think we’ve only
had two real fielding days so it
was kind of as expected,” said
Derrick. “I think we’re going to
get to work and get it figured
out. Our bats are kind of what
saved us a little bit. Our mo-
mentum really shifted once we
got our bats going and then it
just transferred to defense.”
For North Douglas head
coach Jesse Rice, he was more
blunt about the team’s early
lapses. “We gave them those
three runs, that was mental er-
rors,” said Rice. “(But) this team
didn’t lower their heads, didn’t
get down, they just said, ‘Ok,
no problem.’ They kept playing
their game and we ended up
winning. It’s quite a group of
kids.”
Not only did the Warriors not
give up any more runs on the
game, but in the third inning
their bats came alive. The team
saw three doubles in a row from
freshman Halli Vaughn, junior
WARRIORS
see B2
Matty Ladd
looks to clear
four-foot-10
at last
Wednesday’s
meet.
PHOTO BY ZACH SILVA/
CG SENTINEL