Cottage Grove Sentinel
Sports & Recreation
SOUTH LANE COUNTY SPORTS AND RECREATION
Calendar
Sept. 26
• CGHS VB at Elmira
6:30 p.m.
• CGHS boys soccer
vs. Elmira 7 p.m.
• CGHS girls soccer
at Elmira 5:30 p.m.
• CGHS water polo
vs. Churchill at
Amazon pool 6
p.m.
Sept. 27
• CGHS FB vs.
Marshfield 7 p.m.
• NDHS FB at
Lowell 7 p.m.
• EHS FB at
Mapleton 7 p.m.
• YHS FB at
Oakridge 7 p.m.
•
•
WEDNESDAY | SEPTEMBER 25, 2019
B1
CONTACT SPORTS REPORTER NICK SNYDER AT
942-3325 OR NSNYDER@CGSENTINEL.COM
Underclassmen lead Lions to big week
CG have scored 19 total
goals in their last three
games
By Nick Snyder
nsnyder@cgsentinel.com
Soccer, when played at its
best, is a game of teamwork,
communication and fl uidity.
Th e end product is, as many
have said over the years, a beau-
tiful game.
On the evening of Wednes-
day, Sept. 18 that beautiful
game was on display as the
weather delivered a brief respite
from heavy rains and the Cot-
tage Grove boys soccer team
dismantled a visiting Banks
squad 8-0, their most complete
game yet of the young 2019 sea-
son.
“If you notice the pros, they
don’t communicate a lot verbal-
ly but they sure do a lot of com-
munication based on … their
approach to a ball or a pass and
that’s the beauty of the game.
You want to be verbal and you
want to be communicating, but
you want to get to a point where
you know where ‘X’ is going to
be before ‘X’ makes the move
… and that’s what becomes
harmonious about the whole
game,” said head coach Vern
Stewart.
While visiting Banks may
not have heard many harmo-
nies themselves in such an
overwhelming loss, the Lions
performed like a group whose
effi ciency and synergy as a
team seems only poised to grow
throughout the year.
Aft er completing a come-
from-behind win last week at
Mazama - scoring three goals in
the fi nal 11 minutes to win 5-4
- the off ensive barrage contin-
ued Wednesday evening. Un-
derclassmen midfi elders Jayden
Cameron (so.) and Aldo Rea
(fr.) were the stars of the show,
giving the Banks defense fi ts up
front all game long, seeming-
ly always around or in the box
threatening to score.
“It makes my job exciting
that they’re this young. With
seniors you’re going, ‘oh ok, we
get to watch and enjoy them
just this year, but shoot I’ve got
one for two more aft er the sea-
See SOCCER 2B
CG XC makes strides in hometown race
Sept. 28
• EHS VB vs.
Mohawk 3 p.m.
• NDHS VB at
McKenzie RPI
Tourn.
• CGHS XC at Nike
Portland
NICK SNYDER/COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL
ODFW R EGIONAL F ISHING
R EPORT
www.dfw.state.or.us/RR
COTTAGE GROVE POND
(ROW RIVER NATURE PARK
POND): Trout, warmwater
species
The next stocking is scheduled
for the week of Oct. 4. Cottage
Grove Ponds are open to year-
round fishing and via an asphalt
pathway behind the truck scales
on Row River Road. In addition
to fishing, these ponds also offer
wildlife viewing opportunities
and a fishing dock is available
on-site.
COTTAGE GROVE RESER-
VOIR: Trout, warmwater species
Was last stocked the week of
April 29 with 5,000 trophy-size
rainbow trout. Cottage Grove
Reservoir is south of Cottage
Grove and is open to fishing all
year. Lakeside boat ramp is now
open.
DORENA RESERVOIR: Trout,
warmwater
Was last stocked the week of
April 29 with 5,000 trophy-size
rainbow trout. Dorena Reservoir
is east of Cottage Grove on Row
River Road and is open to fishing
all year. Trout and warmwater
fish are available. Baker Bay boat
ramp is accessible at the current
reservoir elevation.
FERN RIDGE RESERVOIR:
Largemouth bass, crappie, blue-
gill, brown bullhead
Currently, the reservoir is
mostly full and the three main
public boat ramps are available
to launch boats. For local infor-
mation regarding the lake and
available boat ramps, contact the
Lane County Parks Department
at 541-682-2000.
Bass and crappie fishing usu-
ally gets going around mid-April
with peak months being May and
June. Look for crappie along the
weedy edges on the south side
of the reservoir. The south shore
around Perkins Peninsula as well
as along the face of the dam are
good spots.
NICK SNYDER/COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL
(Top) Evie Smith (front) and Kajsa Merz race out from the Freshman Jaden Owens participates in his first ever varsity
starting line; (Bottom) Jimmy Talley makes a final push for cross country race.
the finish line.
By Nick Snyder
nsnyder@cgsentinel.com
After a seemingly abrupt end
to the summer warmth and
sunshine, Cottage Grove cross
country caught a bit of a break
last Saturday in their only
home meet of the season.
The rain clouds briefly de-
parted for a day as Schwarz Park
at Dorena Reservoir played
host to the Harrier’s Challenge
5k - also known colloquially as
‘The Dam Run’ - on Sept. 21
where Cottage Grove was rep-
resented by not only their var-
sity squad, but also a sizeable
junior varsity contingent and a
group of runners from Lincoln
Middle School’s still-growing
cross country team.
The Harrier’s Challenge
course begins with a loop
through Schwarz Park before
heading up an exhaustingly
steep incline to the top of the
dam, hence the nickname and
the cause of many frustrated
words muttered by the runners
as they reached the dam and
saw the challenge before them.
“The hill is really tough,
but luckily we’ve run this race
before,” said sophomore Evie
Smith after finishing the race.
Overall, 16 teams were rep-
resented, mostly from the
southern Willamette Valley
and northern Douglas Coun-
ty. The Cottage Grove varsity
team consisted of four girls and
six boys who all took on the
challenging route.
For head coach Jim
Settelmeyer, being able to race
so close to home is always a
See CROSS COUNTRY 2B
Five-set thriller
opens league play
By Nick Snyder
nsnyder@cgsentinel.com
NICK SNYDER/COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL
Freshman Blakely Herbert starred in the Lions league-open-
ing win. CG built a lead nearly every time it was Herbert’s
turn to serve.
Athlete of
the Week
After two weeks of build-
up, the Lions volleyball team
got the Sky-Em season off to a
riveting start.
On Thursday, Sept. 19 the
Cottage Grove volleyball team
defeated the Siuslaw Vikings
3-2 (21-25, 25-21, 19-25, 25-
10, 15-10) in a gripping five-
set match that featured top-
end talent on both sides of
the court. The back-and-forth
contest was the first Sky-Em
league competition for any of
the Cottage Grove fall sports
teams.
The Vikings jumped out to
an early 4-0 lead in the first set
until their run was interrupt-
ed by the serve of freshman
outside/opposite hitter Blakely
Th is week’s athletes
of the week are the
members of the
Cottage Grove cross
country junior varsity
team.
Herbert who rattled off eight
consecutive points, including
three aces, to take an 8-4 lead.
The early trading of leads
would set the tone until mid-
way through the fourth set
when Cottage Grove seemed
to finally settle in and correct a
series of mental mistakes from
earlier in the game.
“There were times when we
were behind and we were do-
ing it to ourselves … we were
just making some errors that
cost us some points,” said head
coach Kendra Anderson.
Early on, the team mis-
judged a number of serves,
allowing them to fall in for
aces, mental lapses that then
forced the team to recover and
refocus in order to capture the
See VOLLEYBALL 2B
Three of the
19 total JV
runners Cot-
tage Grove
had partic-
ipating at
the Harrier’s
Challenge
JV 5k.
NICK SNYDER/CG
SENTINEL