Cottage Grove Sentinel
Sports & Recreation
SOUTH LANE COUNTY SPORTS AND RECREATION
•
WEDNESDAY | SEPTEMBER 18, 2019
•
B1
CONTACT SPORTS REPORTER NICK SNYDER AT
942-3325 OR NSNYDER@CGSENTINEL.COM
CG volleyball cruise to second consecutive win
By Nick Snyder
nsnyder@cgsentinel.com
NICK SNYDER/COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL
Junior Matty Ladd skied high all game long for blocks and kills, leading her
team to victory of Klamath Union last Thursday.
After somewhat unexpectedly dropping
their first two games to Crescent Valley
and Philomath, last Tuesday gave all indi-
cations that Cottage Grove volleyball has
gotten into the swing of things.
Taking on visiting Klamath Union (5-3)
on Sept. 12 for their second home match,
the Lions made quick work of the Peli-
cans, winning 3-0 (25-14, 25-12, 25-11).
Amidst a buzzing atmosphere - fervent
fans, a boisterous student cheering section
and even players dancing between points -
Cottage Grove took care of business in just
over an hour.
“Shane May, our announcer, when he’s
there to play music it’s great. It really helps
get the crowd into it also, and the crowd
was great on Thursday,” said head coach
Kendra Anderson.
Whether it was the music that spurred
the team on to victory is a dubious mys-
tery, but “playing loose” is an oft-heard
term in many sports and the young wom-
en of the volleyball team looked relaxed
and ready for league play in their sixth
game of the season and second consecu-
tive 3-0 victory.
Sophomore libero Taylor McKay looked
like a fixture in the starting lineup, fresh-
man Blakely Herbert communicated
loudly with her teammates in a way that
typically belies young players and key-
stone leaders Matty Ladd (jr.) and Gracie
Arnold (so.) defended the net and spiked
the ball in customary impressive fashion.
“Her hangtime is so impressive,” one
spectator was overheard saying about
Ladd as she rose above the net again and
again. Ladd finished the game with 13 kills
in total.
Additionally for the Lions, Arnold had
nine kills and one block, McKay finished
with six digs, Izabell Senters (so.) smashed
five aces and Peyton Kidd (so.) had 31 as-
sists and five digs.
See VOLLEYBALL 3B
XC teams get
glimpse of
district course
at LCC
By Nick Snyder
nsnyder@cgsentinel.com
It’s an exciting year
for fans of Cottage
Grove boys’ and girls’
cross country and last
Saturday gave the teams
an early glimpse of a
course they hope to re-
visit at the end of the
season.
The Northwest Clas-
sic at Lane Community
College (LCC) featured
33 boys’ teams and 32
girls’ teams from high
schools across Oregon,
Washington and Cali-
fornia. The still-nascent
Cottage Grove team
- with a bevy of under-
classmen runners look-
ing to carry the program
into the future - acquit-
ted themselves well,
taking 12 varsity boys
and girls competitors to
the course that will be
the future venue for the
district and state cham-
pionships later this fall.
With relatively fl at
terrain, the LCC course
gave the team an oppor-
tunity to set fast times
while also prepping for
future competitions.
“When you’re most-
ly running hilly cours-
es that challenge your
strength and are more
like building strength
and endurance, then
you come out here and
you run something like
this, all of a sudden it’s
kind of a shock. There
isn’t a lot to challenge
you physically other
than your speed and 3.1
miles. So, this was a fun
way to look ahead and
we’ll have some real
things we can talk about
goal-wise,” said head
coach Jim Settelmeyer.
“This was, for the
people who ran it, pret-
ty darn close to how fast
they can run at this point
in time, no matter what
the course. And we’ll
now see if we can chop
away. [Personal records]
are meaningful now.”
In total, the Lions
trotted out seven male
and fi ve female compet-
itors, nine of whom are
underclassmen.
Unsurprisingly, senior
Jimmy Talley carried
the torch, fi nishing sec-
ond overall in the var-
sity 5k - a race that in-
cluded 1A, 2A, 3A and
See NW CLASSIC 2B
NICK SNYDER/COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL
Cottage Grove is getting closer and closer to seeing it’s hometown Warren H. Daugherty Aquatic Center return to action after a long
period of upgrades and renovations. The locker rooms have been completely overhauled, the pool shortened to a standard 25 meters
and a warm water recreation pool added. In the main tank, the lanes have been widened as well as deepened and there is better fil-
tration so the pool will officially be considered a “fast” pool. The grand opening is tentatively scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 1.
Cowboys corral Lions in first home game
By Nick Snyder
nsnyder@cgsentinel.com
After two games, and with a largely still-inexperienced
squad, Cottage Grove football is still looking to find its
footing in the 2019 season.
Last Friday, Sept. 13, Crook County made the long trek
from Prineville and handily dispatched the Lions by a fi-
nal score of 49-0, sending Cottage Grove to their first 0-2
start since the 2015 season.
In high school football there are no free agent sign-
ings, no draft and, for most schools, no recruitment of
non-local players. Every season begins as a rough draft
that needs work, regardless of talent on the listed roster.
With a young team and a new head coach, the Lions are
certainly still working out some kinks.
“This is a lot of guys’ second varsity game … so we have
to coach them up. That’s our job as coaches,” said first-
year head coach Chad Smith after the game.
“We’ll watch our film tomorrow and get ready for Stay-
ton next week. Like I said, we have to continue to play.
The season is still going to come and we’re going to have
game number three on Friday. It’s all about how we re-
spond and where we go from here,” continued Smith,
emphasizing the ever-present need in sports to move on
See FOOTBALL 3B
Athlete of
the Week
NICK SNYDER/COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL
Cottage Grove’s Walker Humphrey (51) is unable to bring down Crook County
running back Marshal Raymond before reaching the end zone.
Th is week’s athlete
of the week Jimmy
Talley, runner for
CG cross country
who fi nished
second overall at
Saturday’s NW
Classic 1A-4A 5k.
Talley sprints
across the
fi nish line
ahead of
third place
fi nisher Will
Thorsett
from Sisters.
NICK SNYDER/COTTAGE
GROVE SENTINEL