Polk County
Sports
Polk County Itemizer-Observer • June 3, 2015 10A
CLASS 5A PREP GIRLS SOCCER
QUICK HITS
Free camping
at state parks
POLK COUNTY — Oregon
State Parks invite the public
to camp for free on Saturday
night in celebration of State
Parks Day and free fishing
weekend.
Camping will be free Sat-
urday night at traditional
sites. Yurts, cabins and tepees
are available at regular price.
Parking will also be free at
parks that charge a day-use
parking fee.
Reservations may be
made by calling 800-452-
5687 before 5 p.m. Friday or
online at www.oregon-
stateparks.org.
The Oregon Department
of Fish and Wildlife will host a
free fishing weekend Satur-
day and Sunday. ODFW will
provide gear, bait and in-
structions at selected loca-
tions.
For more information:
www.dfw.state.or.us/educa-
tion/angling/free_fishing.
Youth football
camp coming
MONMOUTH/INDEPEN-
DENCE — The Monmouth-
Independence YMCA will
host a football camp begin-
ning Monday.
The camp will run Mon-
day through Friday from 6 to
7 p.m. Cost is $40. It is open
to students in kindergarten
through sixth grade. Dead-
line to register is Friday.
For more information:
www.theyonline.org.
Fearless 5K
coming June 13
DALLAS — The Fearless
Youth Ministry will host the
Fearless 5K June 13.
The 3.1-mile run begins
at 10 a.m. at Dallas City Park
on the Levens Street side.
Cost is $25 for ages 13
and older and $15 for 12
and younger.
Raffle tickets will also be
available for $1 for a chance
to win a Traeger Pro-Tail-
gater grill.
All proceeds will go to-
ward the ministry’s 2015
high school Philippine Mis-
sion Team. A Filipino lunch
will be included.
For more information:
www.graceindallas.org.
YMCA to host
soccer camp
DALLAS — The Mon-
mouth-Independence YMCA
will host a micro soccer camp
starting June 10. The camp,
open to beginners ages 3
and 4, will meet once a week
on Wednesdays for five
weeks. Registration deadline
is Monday. Cost is $25.
For more information:
Natascha Cronin, 503-838-
4042, online at www.they-
online.org.
STAT SHEET
The number of
local baseball
players who
earned all-
league recognition. Dallas’
Logan Hatley was named
the Mid-Willamette Confer-
ence’s Pitcher of the Year.
17
21
The total num-
ber of Polk
County softball
players to earn
all-league honors. Dallas’
Yasmine El-Hato was
named the MWC’s Co-Of-
fensive Player of the Year.
www.polkio.com
Dragons turn to new face to lead squad
Myrold hopes to help lead Dallas girls to bigger success this season
By Lukas Eggen
The Itemizer-Observer
DALLAS — Dallas High
hopes a new face can lead to
more success for the Dallas
girls soccer team.
Kirk Myrold has been
hired to take over the Drag-
ons, Dallas Athletic Director
Tim Larson said.
Myrold may be new to the
Dallas family coming from
Corvallis High, but he’s look-
ing to hit the ground run-
ning.
He’s already gotten a head
start on winning over his
new players.
“This is my first year teach-
ing at Dallas High School,
and I got to know some of the
girls on the
team,” My-
rold said. “I
found out
through the
athletics
department
that the
girls coach
Myrold
was open. I
thought
with the relationships I had
made in those classes that
this would be fun to do. I’ve
been around (the sport of)
soccer all my life and I
thought this could be a good
opportunity to expand my
horizons and help the girls
who are coming back.”
The Dragons finished 5-9
overall and 2-5 in Mid-
Willamette Conference
(MWC) play during the 2014
season, finishing in sixth
place. They fell to North Eu-
gene 3-0 in the play-in
round. But Myrold is hoping
brighter days are ahead.
“I need to get to know the
girls on the soccer field,”
Myrold said. “I’ve known
some of them in the class-
room. Now I need to get to
know their personalities, see
them on the field and how
they work together. This
summer and preseason I
need to see how they mesh
and move forward together
as a soccer family. I look for-
ward to the bumps and
bruises along the way.”
See FACE, Page 11A
LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer file
Dallas returns several players from last season’s squad,
including Sarah Ussery (7). The Dragons went 5-9 in 2014.
COLLEGE ATHLETICS
Pulling her weight
Metzgar-Deacon accepts honor
By Lukas Eggen
The Itemizer-Observer
By The
Numbers
3
Number of female
strength and condition-
ing coaches responsible
for football in the NCAA.
MONMOUTH — It was a moment 17 years in the mak-
ing.
Western Oregon’s Director of Sports Performance Cori
Metzgar-Deacon was named a Master Strength and Con-
ditioning Coach by the Collegiate Strength and Condition-
ing Coaches Association (CSCCA) in a ceremony May 7.
She joins elite company in her field — there are 160 master
coaches nationwide, including fewer than 15 women.
Metzgar-Deacon qualified for the honor two years ago.
It wasn’t until now that she felt compelled to accept when
— like throughout her career — she could accomplish a
bigger purpose.
17
A new world
The number of years
Cori Metzgar-Deacon’s
career has spanned at
the collegiate level.
Metzgar-Deacon discovered the world of strength and
conditioning coaching purely by chance.
See MASTER, Page 12A
160
Master Coach
The number of strength
and conditioning
coaches who have been
named Master Coaches.
What: Master Strength and Conditioning Coach.
Who: Western Oregon Director of Sports Performance
Cori Metzgar-Deacon.
Qualifications: In order to receive the certification,
an individual must have a bachelor’s degree, be a cur-
rently practicing, full-time strength and conditioning
coach at the collegiate or professional level, hold current
membership in the Strength and Conditioning Coaches
Association and have a minimum of 12 years experience
as a strength and conditioning coach on the collegiate
and/or professional level.
CLASS 5A PREP BASEBALL
Dallas falls in first round
By Lukas Eggen
The Itemizer-Observer
HOOD RIVER — The Dal-
las baseball team saw its
season come to an end after
falling to Hood River Valley
5-0 in the first round of the
state playoffs on May 27.
The 10th-seeded Drag-
ons failed to record a hit
during the loss as Eagles
pitcher Kam Walker shut
down Dallas’ offense.
“He was throwing 93
MPH fastballs with a good
breaking pitch,” Dallas
coach Scot McDonald said.
BEN MITCHELL/for the Itemizer-Observer
Dallas players and coaches look on during the team’s
5-0 loss to Hood River Valley on May 27.
“Throwing strikes like that,
we just don’t see that. It’s
hard to prepare for. The kids
battled. We just ran into a
really good pitcher.”
See DALLAS, Page 12A
It looks so easy on TV ...
* This is the second of a se-
ries of columns chronicling
my journey in training for
my first sprint triathlon.
I’ll be honest. I’m behind
on my training.
Sure, I’ve run four miles
and swam as much as 1,000
yards. But, as of last Thurs-
day, there was one thing that
I had yet to attempt — cy-
cling.
The truth is, my bike had
moved from my closet into
my living room, but hadn’t
left my apartment.
A quick trip to Veal’s Bikes
Plus in Monmouth last week,
however, and I was ready to
go.
And so, this past Saturday,
I went for a ride.
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Mon -Fri 8am - 6pm • Sat 8am - 5pm
DALLAS 121 Main St • 503-623-8155
INDEPENDENCE 1710 Monmouth St • 503-838-6340
www.LesSchwab.com
L UKAS
E GGEN
Commentary
I’m not sure how far I
went, but I was out for an
hour and a half. Upon re-
turning, the thought hit me.
I needed to step up my train-
ing.
From now until about
two weeks before the Sec-
ond Annual Independence
Sprint Triathlon on June 27,
workouts should be
ramped up.
See BIKE, Page 11A
www.twitter.com/PolkIOSports