12A Polk County Itemizer-Observer • April 8, 2015
Polk County Sports
CLASS 5A PREP TRACK AND FIELD
Quinn learns from past mistakes
Senior ready to make the most of his final track and field season
By Lukas Eggen
The Itemizer-Observer
INDEPENDENCE —
There is something different
about Central senior Alex
Quinn.
Quinn has always been
one of the Panthers’ most
versatile athletes. But this
season, he’s taking his game
to a new level.
As a sophomore, Quinn
set personal records in the
100-, 400-, and 1,500-meter
runs, as well the 300 hurdles,
while also competing in
events ranging from the 4 x
400 relay to the javelin.
In 2013, despite lessening
the number of events he
competed in, Quinn set just
one personal record in the
shot put.
It was a big disappoint-
ment that taught Quinn a
difficult lesson.
“I learned that you have
to put in the work,” Quinn
said. “The work you do in
practice shows up in the
meets. My freshman and
sophomore years, I worked
really hard and my results
improved. My junior year, I
kind of slacked off. I had this
upper classman mindset
and thought it was cool to
not work as hard, I guess. I
had played football and
gained weight for that and
was out of shape and lazy.”
After a 2014 season that
Quinn saw as a lost opportu-
nity, he decided to not let
himself enter a season un-
prepared ever again. The dif-
ference has been nothing
short of dramatic.
Q u i n n — a h u rd l e r,
thrower and jumper for the
Panthers’ track and field
squad — came in more pre-
pared than he’s ever been,
something that hasn’t al-
ways come easy for him.
“Alex came into the sea-
son leaner and in better
shape than he’s ever been to
start the season,” Central
coach Eli Cirino said. “He is
a big, powerful athlete who
has worked hard and seems
poised to have a big year.”
In addition to playing
other sports, Quinn kept
himself in shape through
offseason workouts.
Quinn set personal
records in the 110 hurdles,
finishing in 16.09 seconds,
and the long jump, with a
mark of 19 feet, 0¾ inches
against Woodburn on April
1. His 300 hurdles time of
43.54 is just off his personal
best of 43.38.
“Considering how early it
is in the season and consid-
Up Next
• Central hosts South Al-
bany Wednesday (today)
at 4 p.m. The Panthers
travel to compete at the
Sandy Invitational Satur-
day at 10 a.m.
LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer
Central senior Alex Quinn looks to make state in the hurdles, among other events.
ering how cold and wet it
was, I think it’s safe to say
that he is going to break out
very soon,” Cirino said.
Laziness is no longer part
of Quinn’s vocabulary.
“My mindset is to be more
aggressive,” Quinn said.
“Don’t just go through the
motions. I have to be aggres-
sive and attack it, sprint as
hard as I can and jump as
hard as I can. I don’t just go
about it casually this sea-
son.”
Quinn’s path to success in
the hurdles hasn’t been a
simple one.
“(Hurdles) can be hard,”
Quinn said. “It’s not like a
PREP SOFTBALL ROUNDUP
Panthers remain undefeated
Itemizer-Observer staff report
INDEPENDENCE — Cen-
tral opened Mid-Willamette
Conference play with a pair
of victories to enter the
week undefeated during the
2015 season.
The Panthers (6-0 overall,
2-0 MWC) defeated South
Albany 13-3 on Thursday,
before downing Dallas 6-4
on Monday.
Ryanne Huffman had
four hits against South Al-
b a n y, i n c l u d i n g t h re e
triples.
Pitcher Erin Cole earned
the victory in both games.
The Panthers were sched-
uled to host Lebanon Tues-
day after press time.
Central faces Silverton
Wednesday (today) at 4:30
p.m. before playing at Cor-
vallis on Friday.
PIRATES DEFEAT CROW:
Perrydale’s softball team re-
bounded from a 16-0 loss to
Scio on April 1 by defeating
Crow 11-7 on Friday. The Pi-
rates entered league play with
a 3-2 record overall. Perrydale
was scheduled to play
Kennedy Tuesday after press
time to open Tri-River Confer-
ence play. The Pirates host
Western Mennonite Thursday
at 4:30 p.m.
DALLAS SPLITS LEAGUE
OPENERS: Dallas’ softball
team rolled to a 17-2 win over
Woodburn on March 31 to
open Mid-Willamette Confer-
ence play. The Dragons were
scheduled to host Corvallis
Tuesday after press time. Dal-
las plays at Crescent Valley on
Wednesday (today) before
hosting Lebanon Friday at 4:30
p.m.
PREP TRACK AND FIELD ROUNDUP
Vergin leads Perrydale
Vergin, Price record first-place finishes for Pirates
Itemizer-Observer staff report
L E B A N O N — Se n i o r
Alysia Vergin and junior Tay-
lor Price exceled at the Tri-
River Conference Preview
Meet on Thursday.
Vergin placed first in the
100-meter
hurdles in
18.53 sec-
onds to
help lead
Perrydale’s
track and
field team,
w h i l e
Price won
Vergin
the 300
hurdles in 53.27. The girls
placed fifth out of six teams.
Jacob Pope took third in the
discus with a throw of 80
feet, 10 inches to lead the
boys team, which finished
sixth.
The Pirates competed at
Santiam Tuesday after press
time. Perrydale travels to
Dayton on Thursday. The
first event begins at 4 p.m.
DALLAS PLACES NINTH:
Dallas’ boys and girls track and
field teams finished ninth out
of nine squads at the Titan
Track Classic in West Salem on
Friday. Sophomore Aaron
White led the boys team, tak-
ing third in the triple jump
with a mark of 40 feet, 5½
inches. Junior Kyleen Benz led
the girls squad, taking second
in the shot put with a throw of
36-4¼ and discus with a dis-
tance of 114-3. The Dragons
opened the week falling to
Lebanon. The boys lost 101-35,
while the girls lost 63-54. Dal-
las traveled to Silverton Tues-
day after press time, while the
Dragons will compete at the
Springfield Rotary Invitational
on Friday. Events begin at 4
p.m.
CENTRAL DOWNS WOOD-
BURN: Central’s boys and girls
track teams defeated Wood-
burn on April 1. The boys won
103.5-40.5, while the girls
earned a 94-39 triumph. The
boys placed first in 15 events,
while the girls won 12 events.
Among the event winners in-
cluded Thomas Peterson in the
200-meter run in 24.07 sec-
onds, Nick Burgett in the 400
in 55.04 seconds and Kaj
Bansen in the triple jump with
a mark of 38-4 to lead the
boys. The girls saw first-place
finishes from Sai Tapasa in the
shot put with a throw of 31-8,
Abby McBeth in the 1,500 in
5:05.03 and Bethanie Altamira-
no in the 100 and 200 in 14.04
and 29.93, respectively, among
others. The Panthers host
South Albany Wednesday
(today) at 4:30 p.m. before
competing at the Sandy Invita-
tional Saturday at 10 a.m.
YEAGER EXCELS AT ESTA-
CADA: Falls City’s boys track
a n d fi e l d
t e a m fi n -
ished sev-
enth out of
17 teams at
the Estaca-
da Invita-
tional on
S a t u r d a y.
Senior Tris-
Yeager
tan Yeager
won the discus with a throw of
130 feet, 8 inches, while plac-
ing second in the shot put
with a mark of 38-1. Bo
Beauchamp placed third in the
shot put (37-11½) and discus
(99-5) to help lead the Moun-
taineers. The girls placed 15th
out of 16 teams. Freshman
Madelyn Hendrickson finished
fourth in the 100-meter hur-
dles in 19.70 seconds. She also
placed ninth in the 100 and
11th in the 200. Falls City will
compete at the Great White In-
vitational at Newport High on
Tuesday.
WESTERN OREGON ROUNDUP
Central high graduate throws a one-hitter Friday
outs in the second game.
Nathan Etheridge and Cody
Sullivan combined for five
hits each during the two
games to lead WOU at the
plate.
The Wildcats responded
on Saturday, defeating the
Wolves (16-19 overall, 12-
17 GNAC) 6-3 and 9-4, de-
spite home runs from Gar-
ret Harpole and Marcus
Hinkle.
WOU leads Montana
State Billings, which entered
the week at 9-6 in confer-
ence play.
The Wolves host Lewis-
Clark State Thursday at 1
p.m. for a doubleheader
before taking on Saint
Martin’s in a pair of dou-
bleheaders on Saturday
and Sunday. Play begins at
1 p.m. Saturday and noon
on Sunday.
TRACK AND FIELD EX-
CELS: Western Oregon sent
athletes all across the west
coast on Saturday. Freshman
Return: Mitchell
happy to be back
Continued from Page 10A
Mitchell’s return added
depth to the infield. She also
provides the Dragons with
another dangerous bat.
“Having Sarah back is
such a boost, not only on the
field, but off it as well,” Drag-
ons coach Al Perkins said.
Mitchell’s biggest hurdle
since returning hasn’t been
relearning the game.
“We often find ourselves
second guessing and, with
such a quick sport like soft-
ball, you don’t have the time
to second guess,” Mitchell
said. “Our instincts are cor-
rect, I think we just need to
gain that extra level of confi-
dence and go with what our
body is telling us to do be-
cause most of the time your
instincts are correct. ... As a
team, one of our biggest
strengths is our fight,”
Mitchell said. “We don't ever
cash out of a game. We know
that everything can change
in just one inning. Meaning,
we don't give up.”
There are a few moments
that Mitchell wonders what
it would be like if she stuck
with track and field. But in
the end, she knows she’s
where she belongs.
“Every once in a while, I
wish I would have stuck with
javelin this year, but I’m
happy with the choice I
made,” Mitchell said.
PREP GOLF ROUNDUP
Dallas boys place
sixth at tourney
Itemizer-Observer staff report
DALLAS — It was a famil-
iar story for Dallas and Cen-
tral’s boys golf teams.
The Dragons placed sixth
out of eight teams at the sec-
ond Mid-Willamette Confer-
ence tournament, while the
Panthers finished eighth on
Monday. Dylan Cackler led
Dallas with a team-low 93,
while Collin Brinton led
Central with 103.
Both teams will compete
at Mallard Creek Golf Course
in Lebanon on Monday.
DALLAS GIRLS OPEN SEA-
SON: Dallas’ girls golf team
competed at Mallard Creek Golf
Course on
Monday.
Th e D r a g -
ons had
three girls
competing.
Kailee Curtis
led the team
after finish-
i n g fi f t h
Curtis
overall,
shooting a team-low 50 over
the nine-hole course. Natalie
Crabtree (62) and Gwen Coons
(72) rounded out Dallas’ com-
petitors. The Dragons compet-
ed at Springhill Golf Club in Al-
bany Tuesday after press time.
The girls will compete at Tuk-
wila Golf Course in Woodburn.
Itemizer-Observer
Pratt dominates Wildcats
Itemizer-Observer staff report
ELLENSBURG, Wash. —
Western Oregon hung on to
its slim lead in the Great
Northwest Athletic Confer-
ence after splitting a four-
game series with Central
Washington.
The Wolves opened up
the series by sweeping the
doubleheader on Friday, 3-2
and 10-0.
Central High graduate
Jesse Pratt threw a one-hit-
ter, recording eight strike-
sprint where someone can
just be faster than you. This
was something I could
make up for the fact that
someone was faster than
me by working harder.
Whether you have a tail
wind or a head wind deter-
mines how many steps you
can take between hurdles. It
wasn’t until the end of my
sophomore year did I really
get the knack of it.”
His field events provide a
different challenge.
“You wait and you look to
see how everyone fares,”
Quinn said. “You’re not rac-
ing next to somebody. You’re
not seeing how they do. You
wait and see how far they
jumped or threw.”
He is excited to face them
all this spring.
In 2015, Quinn knows this
is only the beginning, and
he plans to make anyone
who overlooks him pay.
“I looked at track results
online on Friday and I know
5A is a lot more competi-
tive,” Quinn said. “I knew
my times last year weren’t
going to be good enough
here. I’ve had some decent
results, but I’m not close to
satisfied to the marks I want.
… Making state and to do
well at state, that’s the ulti-
mate goal.”
Athlete of the Week
Chris Rech
Central High
Cody Warner finished ninth
overall in the 100-meter run in
10.71 seconds at the Stanford
Invitational. At the San Francis-
co Distance Carnival, junior
Emmi Collier won the women’s
shot put with a mark of 42
feet, 6¼ inches. And at the
Jenn Boyman Memorial Invita-
tional in McMinnville, sopho-
more Amanda Ditzhazy set a
career best in the 1,500 with a
time of 4:56.76. WOU hosts the
John Knight Twilight meet on
Friday. Events begin at 2:30
p.m.
Rech, a senior left-handed pitcher, had
the game of his season against Wood-
burn. Coming off an 8-0 win over the
Bulldogs, Rech threw a masterful game.
His no-hitter allowed the Panthers to
cruise to a 13-0 victory and improve to 3-0 to open Mid-
Willamette Conference play. Rech’s pitching helped the Pan-
thers shut out Woodburn in all three games. Entering the
week, Central has given up just six total runs.
To submit nominations for the Itemizer-Observer Athlete of
the Week, contact Sports Editor Lukas Eggen at 503-623-2373
or leggen@polkio.com by 9 a.m. on Monday.