Polk County
Sports
Polk County Itemizer-Observer • July 1, 2015 10A
43rd MONMOUTH-INDEPENDENCE MINI-MARATHON
SCHEDULE
WEDNESDAY, JULY 1
Baseball: American Le-
gion: Demarini Dirtbags at
Grants Pass, 2 p.m. Division
II Junior Baseball: South
Salem at Dallas, 6 p.m.
THURSDAY, JULY 2
Baseball: American Le-
gion: Demarini Dirtbags at
Western Oregon Baseball
Tournament, TBA. Division I
Junior Baseball: Central at
Sprague, 5:30 p.m.
FRIDAY, JULY 3
Baseball: American Le-
gion: Demarini Dirtbags at
Corvallis Tournament, TBA.
Division I Junior Baseball:
Astoria at Dallas (DH), 11
a.m. Division II Junior Base-
ball: West Salem at Dallas, 6
p.m.
SATURDAY, JULY 4
Baseball: American Le-
gion: Demarini Dirtbags at
Corvallis Tournament, TBA.
Recreation: Mon-
mouth-Independence
Mini-Marathon, 11:30 a.m.
SUNDAY, JULY 5
Baseball: American Le-
gion: Demarini Dirtbags at
Corvallis Tournament, TBA.
MONDAY, JULY 6
Baseball: Division I Jun-
ior Baseball: McKay at Dal-
las, 6 p.m.
TUESDAY, JULY 7
Baseball: American Le-
gion: Florence at Demarini
Dirtbags, 2 p.m. Division II
Junior Baseball: Dallas at
Silverton, 5:30 p.m.
WEDNESDAY, JULY 8
Baseball: American Le-
gion: Demarini Dirtbags at
Florence (DH), 1 p.m. Divi-
sion I Junior Baseball: Cor-
vallis at Dallas, 6 p.m. Mc-
Nary at Central, 6 p.m.
—
Schedules Subject to Change
QUICK HITS
Nelson plays in
all-star match
LA GRANDE — Perrydale
High graduate Sarah Nel-
son competed in the Ore-
gon Athletic Coaches Asso-
ciation
2A-1A
volley-
ball all-
s t a r
match
on June
20 at
Quinn
Colise -
Nelson
um at
the Eastern Oregon Univer-
sity campus.
Hosted by EOU, Nelson
was one of 24 players to be
chosen from across the
state to compete.
Nelson led the Pirates in
all statistical categories, de-
spite dealing with a shoul-
der injury during the 2014
season.
She received first team
all-Tri-River Conference
honors for her efforts.
STAT SHEET
The number of
years the Mon-
mouth-Inde-
pendence
Mini-Marathon has taken
place. Organizers are ex-
pecting a big crowd for
Saturday’s edition.
43
400
The 2014
Mini-
Marathon
featured
more than 400 runners and
walkers who finished the
2.6-mile course between
the two cities.
www.polkio.com
Mini-Marathon offers inviting route
Organizers expect a large turnout for the Fourth of July tradition
By Jolene Guzman
The Itemizer-Observer
MONMOUTH/INDEPEN-
DENCE — Has it been
awhile since you’ve laced up
your running shoes?
You wouldn’t be alone, but
July 4 offers a fun and rela-
tively easy way to end your
racing drought in the 43rd
annual Monmouth-Inde-
pendence Mini-Marathon.
At a distance of 2.6 miles,
on a mostly downhill course
following the July 4 Grand
Parade route, the race is the
perfect distance to reintro-
duce you to a fun run with-
out wiping you out for the
Time For A Fun Run
What: 2015 Monmouth-Independence Mini-Marathon.
When: Saturday, 11:30 a.m.
Where: The 2.6-mile run begins in front of Monmouth City
Hall and ends at the old Independence City Hall.
Cost: $15 adults, $5 children 10 and younger in advance; $20
adults, $10 children for day-of-race registration.
How to register: Online registration is available through
noon Thursday at www.eclecticedgeracing.com. On-site regis-
tration will be available on Saturday from 7 to 10:30 a.m.
rest of the day.
“It’s a fun, special event to
run the route just before the
big parade,” said Terry
Cable, the race coordinator.
“As fitness has been more in-
grained in our society, a little
2.6-mile race like this isn’t
intimidating to anyone.
Families run together, and
we definitely have people
who make it a Fourth of July
tradition.”
See MINI, Page 12A
KURT HOLLAND/Itemizer-Observer file
The 2014 Monmouth-Independence Mini-Marathon fea-
tured more than 400 runners and walkers.
Tennis
tourney
ready
BASEBALL
Making a change
Central graduate looks to
make a difference
By Lukas Eggen
The Itemizer-Observer
By Lukas Eggen
MONMOUTH/INDEPEN-
DENCE — The Monmouth-
Independence Fourth of July
tennis tournament is set to
return July 11 and 12.
This year’s tournament
will happen the week after
Independence Day because
the holiday falls on a Satur-
day.
“Prior experience
showed us trying to have
the tournament with the
parade going on and all the
family commitments just
wouldn’t work out,” Ron
Warkentin, tournament di-
rector, said.
Signups are open through
July 8 for the annual tourna-
ment, now in its 42nd year.
Matches will be played at
Central High School and at
Western Oregon University.
See TENNIS, Page 11A
The Itemizer-Observer
MONMOUTH — Upon finishing his senior
season with Central’s baseball team, Chris
Rech arrived at a pivotal moment in his life —
one that could lead him away from the base-
ball diamond.
“I feel like I’m called for something bigger,”
Rech said.
Rech just finished a successful campaign dur-
ing the spring, one that included throwing a no-
hitter and talking with a few possible destina-
tions to play in college. Rech also received an in-
vitation to join the Demarini Dirtbags American
Legion team.
One thing kept nagging at him, though.
“I dug deep into my heart,” Rech said. “I strug-
gled with it for a little while. If you love some-
thing a lot, you’ll be out there doing it every day
and pouring your heart and soul into it. Baseball
just wasn’t at that point anymore. I want to do
bigger and better things.”
See CHANGE, Page 11A
INDEPENDENCE SPRINT TRIATHLON
Pushing for a good cause Surviving triathlon
Triathlon a rewarding, worthwhile endeavor
E MILY
M ENTZER
Commentary
Standing in line to use
the toilet at the Independ-
ence Heated Community
Pool, it dawned on me: this
is why we’re here.
A lady next to me said,
“They should really get that
second toilet fixed.”
Yeah, they should.
One of the reasons we
were participating in the
second annual Independ-
ence Sprint Triathlon was to
raise money for repairs to
the pool house — badly
needed upgrades. And when
everyone in line was pushed
for time — we’d all been hy-
drating all week in anticipa-
JOLENE GUZMAN/Itemizer-Observer
Emily Mentzer prepares for the running portion of the
Independence Sprint Triathlon on Saturday morning.
tion of high temperatures
on Saturday and had to start
our first heat in 8 minutes,
56:25 seconds it was more
apparent than ever that our
cause was good.
More than the cause,
something happened to me
as I trained for and then
competed in my first
triathlon.
See CAUSE, Page 12A
a rewarding event
This is the final of a series
of columns chronicling my
journey in training for my
first sprint triathlon, held on
Saturday morning.
The moment had finally
arrived.
The Independence Sprint
Triathlon was about to
begin.
I had my final moments of
preparation on Friday by
watching the film “300.”
Granted, it did nothing for
my actual preparation, but it
did reignite the feeling that it
would be cool to throw a
spear while screaming a
manly shout.
Once Saturday morning
came around, I was the first
participant to arrive at the
Independence pool.
The nerves were high.
To combat this, I started
to recite some of my favorite
movie lines, from, “Spar-
tans, prepare for glory!” to,
www.facebook.com/pages/Polk-County-Itemizer-Observer/205062686252209
L UKAS
E GGEN
Commentary
“I drink your milkshake.”
Yeah, not sure what that
line was supposed to do for
me either.
I quickly went over my
race strategy. Luckily, it was
simple — Pace yourself.
As soon as the triathlon
started the only thing I failed
to do was … pace myself.
There’s something about
the start of a race that gets
my competitive juices flow-
ing.
This was a chance to
channel my inner Spartan.
That feeling lasted for
maybe 30 minutes.
See SURVIVE, Page 12A
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DALLAS 121 Main St • 503-623-8155 • INDEPENDENCE 1710 Monmouth St • 503-838-6340