Cottage Grove Sentinel
Sports & Recreation
B1
THURSDAY | NOVEMBER 18, 2021
KENDRICK MURPHY/CG SENTINEL
ODFW R ECREATION AND F ISHING
R EPORT
myodfw.com/recreation-report
Updated November 18, 2021
Best bets for weekend fishing
The catch-and-release chum salmon
fishery on the Kilchis and Miami rivers
is open until Nov. 15.
Coho fishing has picked up in Silt-
coos and Tahkenitch lakes. The coho
fishery here usually peaks in Novem-
ber and continues into December.
Anglers are still picking up summer
steelhead in the upper Rogue River.
Lost Creek and Applegate reservoirs
and Fish Lake are good bets for trout
fishing in the Rogue watershed.
There are coho throughout the San-
dy and Clackamas systems. There are
probably a few early winter steelhead
around as well.
The coho run is shaping up to be a
good one on the North Fork Santiam.
Trout fishing on the Crooked River
can be excellent this time of year.
Whitefish are spawning and trout
anglers can do well nymphing with egg
patterns.
Fall can be an excellent time to fish
for trout in the Blitzen River. With
recent rains, water levels are close to
normal.
The trout fishing on Cottonwood
Meadow Lake has been excellent. Ex-
pect good fishing throughout the fall.
Look for steelhead fishing in the
Imnaha and Grande Ronde to improve
as recent rains have improved water
levels. Anglers will also find coho
running in the Grande Ronde.
Anglers have been catching coho
and Chinook near the mouth of the
Umatilla, with most being fish caught
in the early morning hours.
November means elk hunting
General Any Legal Weapon seasons
start Saturday with West Cascade
Elk and Rocky Mtn second season,
followed by Coast Elk seasons the next
two Saturdays—plus many controlled
elk hunts are happening. Don’t forget
West Cascade elk is now in November
(Nov. 6-12 this year), rather than the
middle of Western Oregon deer sea-
son, a change made to improve hunt
quality. Remember to get your elk tag
or redeem your SportsPac voucher at
myodfw.com/articles/how-buy-license-
or-tag#How-to-redeem-Sports-Pac-
voucher no later than the day before
the hunt begins.
Winter whale watching
Gray whales will soon be making
their migration south from Alaska to
Mexico. The peak time to see these
interesting animals along the Oregon
coast is during the winter holidays.
Many state parks make good spots
for whale watching. More informa-
tion about gray whales is available at
orwhalewatch.org/
Game bird harvest statistics at
ODFW wildlife areas
As upland bird and waterfowl
hunting continue, hunters can use the
harvest statistics from ODFW wildlife
areas to help plan their next hunting
trip.
Local athletes shine in fall season
Plenty of local athletes saw success during the fall season and a lot of
them were named to league honors at the end of their respective seasons.
KENDRICK MURPHY/CG SENTINEL
KENDRICK MURPHY/CG SENTINEL
Elkton junior Christian Halstead makes a
nice catch in the Elks big win early in the
season over North Lake.
North Douglas senior Palu-Rayon Wilder
was named offensive player of the year for
the 1A Special District 3 league.
COURTESY OF BECKY GERRARD PHOTOGRAPHY
North Douglas junior Brooke
McHaffie goes for one of her
KENDRICK MURPHY/CG SENTINEL
big kills in the state champi-
Yoncalla’s Ashton Hardy tries to break away
onship game vs St. Paul.
from the grasp of a North Douglas defen-
sive player.
KENDRICK MURPHY/CG SENTINEL
The Creswell football teams huddles one
last time before the start of the second half.
CG volleyball enjoys
successful season
By Kendrick Murphy
kmurphy@cgsentinel.com
Plenty of excitement was felt for the Cottage Grove
volleyball team this season. The Lions were able to
advance to the quarterfinals, win the Sky-Em league
for the first time since 2018, while five of the six start-
ers were named to a conference selection. Second
year Head Coach Abby Ladd was also named Sky-
Em coach of the year.
“It kind of feels surreal, I guess I never in 100 years
saw that I would get coach of the year,” said Ladd. “I
definitely attribute it more to the girls than myself.
They took everything I said to heart and did their
best to follow what I was saying and trust what I was
saying. And so, I think that having a group of girls
who trust you as a coach is more telling than like
winning any award.”
For Ladd, most of that trust probably stems from
the fact she has been a longtime part of this program
dating back to her playing days in high school at Cot-
tage Grove. Now she has been a part of the coaching
staff for four years with this being her second year as
the leader of the program. Last season the Lions were
second behind Junction City in the league standings
but had lost some key seniors who brought size up-
front ahead of the 2021 season.
“Coming into this season the team knew that we
graduated some height, and that we graduated some
longtime varsity players,” said Ladd. “But I think that
it was just going through the season recognizing the
change of strategy, and the change of emphasis in our
play was going to work. And they just had to buy into
it and put effort into different things throughout the
season, and improve in different areas for themselves
and for the team.”
The Lions had plenty of returning players from the
2020 campaign with seven total seniors coming back.
The girls did buy in to the strategy Ladd would
See SUCCESS B2
Athletes of
the Week
KENDRICK MURPHY/CG SENTINEL
KENDRICK MURPHY/CG SENTINEL
Senior Dazjah Tinsley makes a Cottage Grove wide receiver Hadyn Peterson Creswell sophomore Lizabelle Osborn was
critical point against Siuslaw was one of two Lions players named to a key contributor to the Bulldogs 4th place
helping the Lions win the Sky- Honorable mention for 4A Special District 4.
finish at state.
Em league.
This week’s athletes of the
week are Senior Cottage
Grove Volleyball player
and Boys Soccer player.
Gracie Arnold and Jayden
Cameron. Both Cameron
and Arnold earned Player
of the Year in the Sky-Em
league for their respective
Sports.
COURTESY OF BECKY GERRARD PHOTOGRAPHY
Head Coach Emily Reed hoists the 1st place trophy after the Warriors win
over St. Paul in the championship game.
2021 Warriors volleyball
make history
By Kendrick Murphy
kmurphy@cgsentinel.com
In the annual city-wide garage sale
held in Drain Oregon every August,
North Douglas Head Coach Emily Reed
joked with another coach that she just
held her first practice with her state
championship volleyball team.
The Warriors have been no stranger
to recent success after finishing third in
the state tournament in 2015, second in
2016, fourth in 2017, and fifth in 2018.
Coach Reed was heading her third
season after taking over the program
from Anne Campbell and has had a
connection with the girls on this current
team dating back to their middle school
days where Reed started coaching them.
“I knew they were a special group,”
said Reed. “Some of them have played
together since they were in sixth grade
and they didn’t lose a game in middle
school.”
The girls continued to win once they
got to the high school, and after Reed
took over in 2019 North Douglas fin-
ished second to their biggest rival Days
Creek in league in the ‘19 and ‘20 sea-
sons but would have other plans for the
2021 season.
The Warriors started their 2021 sea-
son showing the big potential of what
they could accomplish after they defeat-
ed their first three opponents in a dom-
inant fashion.
“I felt like we were playing really good
volleyball,” said Reed. “I felt like if we
See HISTORY B2
Arnold (left)
and Cam-
eron (right)
ended
their senior
fall sports
season with
Sky-Em
league
honors.
PHOTO BY KENDRICK
MURPHY/CG SENTINEL