Cottage Grove Sentinel
Sports & Recreation
SOUTH LANE COUNTY SPORTS AND RECREATION
Local
martial
artists find
success
Ten students from
Rogers Family ATA
Martial Arts in Cot-
tage Grove and Rose-
burg qualifi ed to com-
pete in the American
Taekwondo
Associ-
ation (ATA) Pacifi c
Northwest
District
Championship on Sat-
urday, June 8, 2019. In
order to qualify, they
had to be in the top ten
in the state of Oregon
in their events. Four
of them won events,
becoming
district
champions. Th is qual-
ifi ed the Black Belts to
compete for the title of
World Champion at
ATA Headquarters in
Little Rock, Arkansas,
in July.
Th e students, with
their events and plac-
ing are:
• Angelique
Per-
rone, 3rd Degree Black
Belt, who qualifi ed in
forms, weapons, spar-
ring, combat weapons,
creative forms, and
team sparring, and
took 3rd place in both
forms and weapons.
• Audrey Salter, Lev-
el 1 recommended
Black Belt, who qual-
ifi ed in forms, combat
weapons, and spar-
ring, and took 2nd
place in both sparring
and combat weapons.
• Cedar Earlywine,
green belt, who quali-
fi ed in forms and spar-
ring.
• Emily Collier, 1st
Degree Black Belt, who
qualifi ed in Forms and
Weapons, and took 3rd
place in forms and 2nd
place in weapons.
• Erin Lauraine, 5th
Degree Black Belt, and
owner of the former
Lauraine’s ATA, which
has become Rogers
Family ATA, who
qualifi ed in Forms,
Weapons,
Sparring,
and Combat Weapons,
and took 2nd in Forms
and Weapons, and 3rd
in Sparring and Com-
bat Weapons.
• Joseph Fusco, 1st
Degree Black Belt,
who
qualifi ed
in
forms, weapons, spar-
ring, combat weapons,
and team sparring, and
took District Champi-
on in combat weapons
and team sparring, and
took 2nd in sparring
and 3rd in weapons.
• Marley
Piscopo,
1st Degree Black Belt,
who qualifi ed in com-
bat weapons.
• Mia Piscopo, 1st
Degree Black Belt,
who qualifi ed in spar-
ring and combat weap-
ons, and took District
Champion in combat
weapons and took 3rd
in sparring.
• Micah Fusco, Level
2 recommended Black
Belt, who qualifi ed in
weapons and combat
weapons, and took
District Champion in
combat weapons.
• Th ompson Rogers,
3rd Degree Black Belt
and Head Instructor
at Rogers Family ATA,
qualifi ed in forms,
weapons, and spar-
ring, and took District
Champion in forms,
and 2nd in weapons.
SUBMITTED REPORT
•
•
WEDNESDAY | JUNE 19, 2019
B1
CONTACT SPORTS EDITOR ZACH SILVA AT
942-3325 OR ZSILVA@CGSENTINEL.COM
Cruising down the Row River Trail
A small group of cyclists head down the Row River Trail on Saturday morning for the annual Mayor’s Bike Ride. The six-mile ride started at the
Row River Trailhead and turned around at the Mosby Creek Trailhead (but not before riders enjoyed a brief snack). The leisurely ride is done to
encourage families and all individuals be outside and to use the Row River Trail. PHOTOS BY ZACH SILVA/CG SENTINEL
Equestrian season comes to a close Ladd takes
began before the eight-
month high school eques-
trian season offi cially got
underway last November.
For the Cottage Grove ath-
letes, this has been a long
time coming.
“Th is is my lifestyle. It’s
kind of like breathing for
some people,” said Foun-
tain, a senior that is com-
peting with torn cartilage
in her hip and bulged discs
in her back. “Th at’s kind of
a necessary function. So I
mean, this is my necessary
function.”
or each of the Cot-
tage Grove athletes
it all started with a love of
horses.
Fountain was 10 when
her sister got a horse which
peaked her interest, Wood
was six when her dad got
her two mustangs, Ladd’s
family had them when she
was little and Latham fi rst
started riding at the age of
two.
Something about those
early interactions created
a lasting bond with hors-
es that has turned this
passion into a way of life.
Th is commitment to their
horses and equestrian as
F
Cottage Grove’s penning team of (from left) Kira Fountain, Allison Ladd and Madi-
son Latham. PHOTO C/O KELLI LATHAM
A successful season
for the CGHS team
that began practice in
November
By Zach Silva
zsilva@cgsentinel.com
I
t takes a lot of work
to get to the Pacifi c
Northwest
Invitational
Championship.
“Dedication,” suggest-
ed Cottage Grove High
School equestrian co-advi-
sor Shannon Sias. “I think
dedication would be the
right word.”
It takes a lot of dedica-
tion to get to the Pacifi c
Northwest
Invitational
Championship.
And with lots of work,
dedication and a combi-
nation of the two, four
members of the Cottage
Grove High School eques-
trian team – Kira Foun-
tain, Sammy Wood, Mad-
ison Latham and Allison
Ladd – competed at last
weekend’s regional meet in
Redmond that brings to-
gether the top high school
equestrian teams from Or-
egon and Washington.
While the qualifi cation
for regionals took place at
last month’s state meet, the
preparation to compete at
this high level began long
before that. And it also
CGHS
see B2
second at
regionals
By Zach Silva
zsilva@cgsentinel.com
Competing against the
top high school equestri-
an teams in Oregon and
Washington, the Cottage
Grove High School team
walked away with one sec-
ond place and two seventh
place fi nishes at last week-
end’s regional meet.
On Friday at the Pacif-
ic Northwest Invitational
Championship in Red-
mond, junior Allison Ladd
claimed second place in
steer daubing. Ladd fi n-
ished with a total time
of 3.373 behind William
Chalk of St. Helens (Wash-
ington) won in a time of
3.191. Ladd was one of two
competitors from Oregon
competing in the event.
Saturday’s events started
with Team Penning where
the group of Ladd, Madi-
son Latham and Kira Foun-
tain took seventh. Later
in the day Ladd, Latham,
Sammy Wood and Casssie
Fergason were seventh in
Freestyle Fours.
Future unclear for Cottage Grove football
Lions enter summer
with a lack of coaches
By Zach Silva
zsilva@cgsentinel.com
Changes are coming to the Cot-
tage Grove High School football
program. But, as of this printing, it
is unclear what those changes will
be.
As fi rst reported by Th e Regis-
ter-Guard in the June 16 paper,
CGHS head football coach Jordan
Johnson will be leaving the Li-
ons and is going to Sheldon High
School, his alma mater, where he
will be an assistant coach. Th e Sen-
tinel has independently confi rmed
Johnson’s new role with multiple
sources.
Johnson, an assistant coach at
CGHS for the past three seasons
and defensive coordinator for the
last two years, was hired to be head
coach of the Lions in February and
is leaving months before the team’s
fi rst game.
“I think it will be a fun challenge
for me and give me an opportunity
to see how I do in that role opposed
to just being a defensive coordina-
tor,” Johnson told Th e Sentinel in
February.
Johnson came into the role as
head coach aft er Gary Roberts an-
nounced that he would be leaving
the program and the school at the
end of the year. Roberts, who also
served in the role as athletic direc-
Athletes of
the Week
tor/assistant principal, became the
winningest coach in school history
as he coached the team for 11 sea-
sons and brought home the fi rst
state football title.
Johnson and Roberts did not re-
spond to multiple requests to com-
ment.
With the departures of Roberts
and Johnson, the football coaching
staff will look much diff erent than
the familiar faces who have been
on the sideline. Before Roberts’ de-
cision assistant coach Chris Joyce
decided he would not be coaching
and earlier this month assistant
Dan Geiszler announced he will be
moving to Texas.
South Lane School District as-
sistant superintendent Kyler Tuck-
Th is week’s athlete of
the week is Cottage
Grove junior Allison
Ladd. At last weekend’s
regional equestrian
meet in Redmond,
Ladd took second in
steer daubing.
er announced his resignation last
week. Tucker was also an assistant
coach for the Lions. Tucker has not
responded to comment regarding
his return to the team. Johnson’s
dad, Marty Johnson, was also an as-
sistant coach on the team.
Ultimately, what this means is
that heading into the summer, and
with the team’s jamboree on August
30 just over two months away, the
team is without a coach. Th e South
Lane School District posted the
head coach position on the district
website on June 5.
Additionally, on Monday night
the SLSD school board confi rmed
the new hire of Matt Meyer as the
new CGHS athletic director/assis-
tant principal.
Cottage
Grove’s Allison
Ladd.
PHOTO C/O CG OHSET