Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Cottage Grove sentinel. (Cottage Grove, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (July 31, 2019)
Cottage Grove Sentinel Sports & Recreation SOUTH LANE COUNTY SPORTS AND RECREATION Joey Tanner Wins 2019 Loggers Cup at CG Speedway • WEDNESDAY | JULY 31, 2019 • B1 CONTACT SPORTS REPORTER NICK SNYDER AT 942-3325 OR NSNYDER@CGSENTINEL.COM Athletes ‘tri’ their best and succeed B Y B EN D EATHERAGE Cottage Grove Speedway Saturday, July 27 was the big date for the 2019 Loggers Cup at Cottage Grove Speedway. The race is one of the biggest in the Pacific Northwest and boasted a car count of twenty-nine drivers from the states of Oregon and Washington. In ad- dition to Late Models in the house were the cars and stars of the Interstate Sprint Car Series. Other divisions in action in- cluded the IMCA Sport Mods, Street Stocks, and Hornets. However, before the races on Saturday, the karts were back in action on Friday, July 26. Em- mett Lowry, of Cottage Grove, won for the first time in the Pee Wee di- vision. In the 5HP Inter- mediates, it was Spring- field’s Mason King back in the winner’s circle scoring his fourth tri- umph in the class. Ian Whisler, from the coast- al city of Otis, bested the 250cc class for the first occasion while his older brother, Eston, won his second Open Kage fea- ture win. The forty-lap Late Model main event start- ed with Sweet Home chauffeur Brian Smith pacing the field. Racing for car owner Jerry Ca- sey, Smith held on to the top spot until lap five. Making a move to first place on the fifth circuit was Joey Tanner of Port- land. Tanner, the 2017 winner of the Loggers Cup event, set a rapid pace and was success- fully able to keep several challengers behind him. Lapped traffic did prove a little bit a factor, but Tanner was able to navigate through it suc- cessfully. With the lon- ger than usual distance, there were a few more cautions than what usu- ally would occur. With six total stoppages it put a lot of pressure on Tan- ner on the restarts, but each time he would mas- ter the field when racing resumed. Joey Tanner was the first to the checkered flag to become the first driver to win the Log- gers Cup twice since the race was reestablished in 2015. It is also Tanner’s second win of the sea- son at CGS. Justin Duty, from Mulino, was a close second followed by Bri- an Smith, in third. The rest of the top five con- sisted of Creswell’s Paul Culp, ending his evening in fourth, while credit- ed with first was Darren Coffell of Bend. The Interstate Sprint Car Series returned to the historic quar- ter-mile clay oval for the first time since June 14. Steven Snawder, of Roseburg, showed the way early and looked to win his second straight feature at CGS this sea- son. Snawder would get passed on lap ten by Har- risburg’s Tyler Thomp- son. But Thompson lost the lead on the next lap to Jacksonville teenager Tanner Holmes. Holmes SPEEDWAY see B3 Triathletes begin the fi rst leg of the Olympic-length triathlon at Saturday’s Rolf Prima Tri at the Grove. PHOTO BY NICK SNYDER/CG SENTINEL Athletes pack Cottage Grove Lake for the annual triathlon B Y N ICK S NYDER nsnyder@cgsentinel.com The natural beauty of Oregon is rarely lost on its residents, partic- ularly during the pristine summer months. As expected in late July, that beauty was on full display Saturday morning at Cottage Grove Lake where around 400 swimmers, cy- clists, runners, kayakers and pad- dleboarders from around the coun- try took part in the ninth annual Rolf Prima Tri at the Grove. With cool waters and typical- ly warm July air, the near-perfect conditions took center stage as par- ticipants of all ages and experience levels headed out on the course. “It’s such a beautiful, beautiful spot for a triathlon,” said Shane Jensen of Portland, Oregon, who woke up at four o’clock Saturday morning to make the three-hour drive down to Cottage Grove. “The location is exceptional, the lake seems cleaner than most and ... it’s a flat course, too, so I like the size of it. It’s not too big ... but still there are enough folks that there’s serious competition. So all those things together make the three- hour drive worth it.” Clanging cowbells to spur the athletes on, the boom of the an- nouncer’s voice over the PA system and throngs of cheering spectators, family and friends made for a live- ly ambience. Yet perhaps the most immediately noticeable aspect of this year’s Tri at the Grove was the diversity of participants. “Just getting out here with so many different folks and seeing the whole spectrum of athletes. It’s im- pressive, especially the age ranges. There was a 72-year-old out there just crushing it. I only caught up with him on the last few miles of the bike ride ... he’s out there ahead of most of us, I mean, just an ani- mal!” said Jensen. Throughout the day, race di- rector Blair Bronson wore many hats, though none more noticeable than his trademark cowboy hat. Nonetheless, despite his full plate on race day, Bronson took notice of the varied demographics repre- sented at the lake. “Seven or eight states were rep- resented today, so a good little reach. A lot of folks come up from California, Washington. We had a good contingent from B.C. that comes and joins us and an Idaho group that’s pretty regular. So it’s pretty cool to see folks willing to travel across state lines and beyond to come down to CG, and our goal is to make as positive of an impact as we can,” Bronson said. “This year we added a paratri- athlon in which paratriathletes come out,” Bronson continued, “so the highlight’s probably getting [them] out there for the first time and … this is the most youth ath- letes we’ve had out here as well.” On the other end of the spec- trum from this year’s record youth turnout was Lockett Wood, the oldest participant of the day at 80 years old. “I started [doing triathlons] when I was 70,” Wood said. “I had a brother in law that just challenged me to do one. We did the Nation’s, which is a triathlon with 5,000 peo- ple in Washington D.C., and I won the age group and got hooked.” Wood, who came all the way from Lyons, Colorado, also shared his views on the quality of this par- ticular event.. “This is one of the prettiest tri- athlons that I’ve ever run. It’s gor- geous. It’s one of the nicest courses I’ve run on. And the bike course and run course were both gor- geous.” When asked if he planned on coming back in the future, Wood responded enthusiastically, “I hope so, I hope so. It’s a good run.” The 400 participants had a num- ber of different course combina- tions to choose from. The longest, the Olympic triathlon, consisted of a 1500 meter swim, a 40 kilometer bike ride, and a 10 kilometer run. The sprint triathlon was roughly the same, just with distances cut in half. Participants also had a duathlon option (biking and running, no swimming), the aqua bike course (swimming and biking, no run- ning) as well as the paddle triath- lon which replaces the swim with either a paddleboard or a kayak. All options were available in both the Olympic and sprint distances. Finally, there were two shortened course options for kids, one for ages four to seven and another for ages seven to 17. Natural beauty, varied race TRIATHLON see B2 Local students put CG wrestling on the map Local wrestlers achieve national recognition through their skill and hard work B Y N ICK S NYDER nsnyder@cgsentinel.com Wrestlers Raina Herzog (top) and Adelle Kent (bottom) . PHOTO C/O RICH HERZOG For a pair of Cottage Grove wres- tlers, the wrestling season hasn’t stopped. While the high school season of- ficially ended in February, Cottage Grove’s Raina Herzog and Adelle Kent have continued in the sport and both wrestled at junior nationals in Fargo, North Dakota earlier this month. At the tournament, Herzog finished sec- ond in her weight class. “It’s like any sport, it’s hard work, it’s dedication - willing to put the time in. The girls that put the time in during the summer time, those are the ones that you are going to see suc- cessful during the high school season come state in February,” said Natasha Umemoto, the women’s wrestling coach for the state of Oregon. Athlete of the Week Th is week’s athletes of the week are the youth participants at last week’s Tri at the Grove triathlon. Herzog and Kent, who will both be juniors at the start of next school year, competed on the Oregon team under Umemoto. The pair of girls qualified to be one of the 34 girls on the team at a tournament this past March. For this tournament, wrestlers compete in freestyle wrestling as opposed to folkstyle which is used at high schools in Oregon. Before the 25-hour bus ride to Fargo, the team spent a week preparing at Elmira High School. “We get everybody equated to each other, and we spend a week train- ing and making sure the girls are in shape,” said Rich Herzog, Raina’s dad, who is an assistant coach on both the CGHS team and the Oregon team. “We own them for one week.” During the high school season Raina Herzog, in her first year of high school wrestling, won the state title at the 235 weight class. But at nationals, she was now competing in the 200 weight class. “That weight class is actually more fitting for her. And in this case, she did it right. She took the time, you know, so it was a little over three months of working the weight off and it wasn’t a crash weight cut. So she was healthy, she was strong and she wrestled well,” said Rich Herzog. Going into the tournament, Raina didn’t know what to expect. “My goal coming into the tour- nament was maybe to place because I didn’t know where I sat, I had no idea. But I came into the tournament thinking I just want to place, I want to win my first match, then my sec- ond match,” she said. “I just had these little tiny goals because I didn’t know what my potential was.” After rallying back in the first round against a wrestler from Iowa, Herzog cruised into the quarters and then the semifinals. Executing a move that her and her dad had practiced in the mat room – a front headlock paired with an underhook while turning your op- ponent that the Herzogs dubbed the “head scoopy” – Raina Herzog had wrestled her way to the finals. In the finals she lost to Oklahoma’s Olivia Brown who has won multiple WRESTLING see B2 Kids give high fi ves during tran- sition out of the water PHOTO BY NICK SNYDER/ CG SENTINEL
