Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Cottage Grove sentinel. (Cottage Grove, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (July 17, 2019)
Cottage Grove Sentinel Sports & Recreation SOUTH LANE COUNTY SPORTS AND RECREATION Speedway sees diff erent winners all weekend • WEDNESDAY | JULY 17, 2019 • B1 CONTACT SPORTS EDITOR ZACH SILVA AT 942-3325 OR ZSILVA@CGSENTINEL.COM CG Rodeo ropes in a crowd Full weekend of races sees host of fresh faces fi nishing fi rst By Ben Deatherage Cottage Grove Speedway All roads of Speed- week Northwest con- verged once again to Cottage Grove Speedway on Saturday for one fi nal time. Th e historic quar- ter-mile clay oval hosted the fi ft h and culminating round of the 2019 calen- dar for the series. It is the third race to take place at the CGS during the week. Twenty-six cars were in attendance with teams traveling from all over Oregon, Washing- ton, California, Idaho and Oklahoma as well as British Columbia in Canada. Th e main event was a thriller as Colby Cope- land was without a doubt a man on a mission. De- spite heavy lapped traffi c and several stoppages, the Rocklin, California chauff eur, driving for car owners Jim & An- nette Van Lare, scorched the fi eld for much of the race. Unfortunate- ly, coming to accept the white fl ag his right rear tire started to lose a sig- nifi cant amount of tire pressure. Th at would re- sult in the fl atting of the rubbery object and los- ing a great deal of speed. Like the proverbial hungry pack of wolves chasing down their prey, a number of challeng- ers came calling to take over the lead. Somehow Mitchell Faccinto won the dogfi ght on the fi - nal circuit and went on to win his third race of Speedweek Northwest 2019. Th e Hanford, Cal- ifornia gasser had never won at Cottage Grove prior to the night and also recorded his fourth career series win. In vic- tory lane, it was offi cially announced that Faccin- to, and his car owner Stan Greenberg, were the 2019 series champi- ons. Th at made Mitchell the 15th diff erent cham- pion in twenty-two years and the eighth diff erent title winner from the state of California. Seth Bergman, origi- nally from Washington but now calling Owasso, Oklahoma home, end- ed his evening second while Paradise, Cali- fornia driver Kyle Hirst was third. Th e balance of the top fi ve consisted of Colton Heath, from Marysville, Washington driving for car owners Kelly Welch and Alan Larson, in fourth and fi ft h fi nishing Justin Sanders of Aromas, Cal- ifornia. Dirt Monthly Magazine/Hoseheads columnist Gary Costa put up $100 to the driver that passed the most cars in the main. John Clark, from Windsor, Califor- nia, managed to pick up the Hard Charger Award by passing twelve cars aft er starting in 20th and fi nishing the evening in the eighth-place posi- tion. Burlington, Washing- ton’s Greg Hamilton did phenomenal in time tri- SPEEDWAY see B3 Kyle Bounds hangs on for a fi rst place fi nish in bareback riding on Friday night. Bounds also won the event last year. Cottage Grove Rodeo celebrates 71st year with two-day event By Zach Silva zsilva@cgsentinel.com It was Christmas in July last weekend at the Cottage Grove Ro- deo. “Well, the fi rst part of July, they call it Cowboy Christmas,” said the weekend’s bareback riding champi- on Kyle Bounds. It was a weekend full of events for Bounds and the other riders last Friday and Sat- urday at the 71st annual Cottage Grove Rodeo. For Bounds, and those putting on the rodeo, this year was a return to having fun at the rodeo. “Th e last couple years I just went too hard and kind of turned it more into a job than having fun with it. But shoot, I’ve just been staying close to home and it’s actually been pretty fun, I’ve won quite a bit this year,” said the Cottage Grove na- tive, who was also victorious at ro- deos in Salem and Philomath over the weekend. While Bounds enjoyed his time back in Cottage Grove, event or- ganizers were thrilled about how many people came out to the riding club. “Th is was the fi rst year that I’ve seen the stands packed in years,” said Cottage Grove Riding Club president Jim Tucker. As of this printing, the offi cial ticket sales fi g- ures had not yet been tallied. For Tucker, the majority of the work has come in the weeks and months leading up to the event. Th ere was repairing bullpens that were damaged by last winter’s storm, putting new posts in and making sure grass was mowed. A successful race against the clock to get the venue prepared, once things got going on Friday night, Tucker remained busy with parking, taking money and being the recipient of any calls if some- thing went wrong. Th e one event he did get to watch happened to be Bounds in bareback riding. Ultimately for Tucker, the week- end was a successful learning expe- rience. “It went really well overall. By Saturday we fi gured out the things we didn’t think of Friday night,” the fi rst-year president said. While Tucker, helped by Shan- non Sias and the board with the be- hind the scenes work, Clint Wells was there making sure the rodeo ran right along. And for Wells, the weekend started with the sheer amount of people that showed up. “It’s been the best turnout in terms of ticket sales, people staying and having fun aft erwards, having some beverages, it’s been the best turnout in years. Years and years,” said Wells. “Ticket sales were great, lots of people came, lots of people had fun. Th e rodeo went great, people came up to me from every- where and said, ‘Wow, this is get- ting great.’” For Wells, who grew up in Cot- tage Grove and is back in the area now with his family, the goal is to return the rodeo to what he sees as its heyday about 20 years ago. Wells has been part of the plan from the Cottage Grove Rodeo to help up the level of its product. Wells pro- vides years of experience with ro- deos around the state, has served on the local rodeo board and has been a National Pro Rodeo Associ- PHOTO BY ZACH SILVA/CG SENTINEL ation judge. But despite where he has been, Wells has a soft spot for his home- town rodeo. “It’s the fi rst rodeo I went to as a kid and it’s my hometown with my friends and family surrounding this whole entire place. And we want to make it so that our kids will love it and be passionate about it like we were and we want it to keep going on,” said Wells. “We love the rodeo and we look forward to the date and everybody coming together and fi nding unity in all of that. Th at’s what we really want.” For rodeo results, see B2. Recent Cottage Grove graduate Chance Ralston competes in the junior bulls event at the Cottage Grove Rodeo. PHOTO BY ZACH SILVA/CG SENTINEL CGHS names new football coach Chad Smith will lead the Lions in the upcoming season By Zach Silva zsilva@cgsentinel.com Last year Chad Smith was head football coach at Siu- slaw High School. PHOTO BY NED HICKSON/SIUSLAW NEWS. Athletes of the Week With about fi ve weeks until the fi rst offi cial prac- tice of the year, the Cottage Grove High School football team now has a head coach. Last Friday, Chad Smith, 32, received the call from CGHS principal Kevin Herington off ering him the position of both head coach and PE teacher at the high school. “Th ey’ve had success, which is obviously great, Th is week’s athletes of the week are all those who competed at the Cottage Grove Rodeo. For more pictures of the weekend’s action, turn to B2 and B10. (but) they are great kids here as well. Not just as athletes, but the kids are respectful,” said Smith in a phone interview on Th urs- day. “Th is is probably one of the better schools I’ve been at athletically as a head coach.” Th is will be Smith’s fourth diff erent varsity head coaching position in Oregon since 2014. In 2014 Smith was the head coach at La Grande where the team went (5-4). Aft er being an assistant coach at Seaside in 2015, he was named head coach in 2016 and the team went 3-5. In 2017 he served as an athletic director/ PE coach at a Seattle-area middle school before last season heading to Siuslaw where the Vikings fi nished the season 0-8. Smith was also the PE coach and girls basketball coach at Siuslaw last year. “It’s an excellent oppor- tunity for me teaching-wise and coaching-wise,” said Smith. “Th is is where I want to be, it’s an exciting opportunity for me.” New CGHS athletic di- rector Matt Myers was pleased with Smith’s knowl- edge of Oregon high school FOOTBALL see B3 A rider in the bareback riding event tries using no hands before falling off . PHOT0 BY ZACH SILVA/ CG SENTINEL
