Polk County Itemizer-Observer • August 19, 2015 11A
Polk County Sports
COLLEGE SOCCER
Wolves hope to take the next step
Western Oregon looks for a return trip to conference tournament
By Lukas Eggen
WOU Soccer
The Itemizer-Observer
MONMOUTH — When
senior Makena Pundyke ar-
rived at Western Oregon as a
freshman in 2012, the West-
ern Oregon women’s soccer
team was in a state of transi-
tion.
Head coach Steve An-
cheta, then in his second
season, was building the
start of what he hoped
would be something special.
Entering the 2015 cam-
paign, and the Wolves are
hungry to realize that poten-
tial in the Great Northwest
Athletic Conference.
“I’ve seen a lot of progress
from when I was a freshman
to now,”
Pundyke
said. “I
t h i n k
our best year
is to come.”
Whether the squad real-
izes that potential may
come down to one big area.
—
At first glance, WOU’s
biggest strength in 2014, its
defense, should receive a
boost this fall with the re-
turn of senior Brooke Stein-
berg. Steinberg started 18 of
19 matches in 2013 before
knee injuries forced her to
miss the 2014 campaign.
She figures to give anoth-
er steady presence to a back
line that recorded seven
shutouts, tied for third most
in the conference.
The defense’s biggest
question mark will be at
Head coach: Steve An-
cheta (fifth season).
2014 record: 6-8-4
overall; 4-6-4 Great North-
west Athletic Conference,
fifth place.
Key returners: Makana
Pundyke, sr., midfielder/for-
ward; Brooke Steinberg, sr.,
defender; Taylor Higa, jr.,
forward/midfielder.
Newcomers to watch:
Phoebe Hendry, jr., mid-
field/forward;
Dacia
Alexander, fr., midfielder;
Chelsea Hartnett, fr., mid-
fielder; Danielle Payne,
soph.,
midfielder/de-
fender; Morgan Roan, fr.,
midfielder; Sydney Tho-
mas, fr., midfielder/de-
fender.
Significant stat: 7 —
The number of shutouts
the Wolves recorded dur-
ing the 2014 season.
Itemizer-Observer file
Makana Pundyke (right) and Taylor Higa return to help lead the Wolves in 2015.
goalkeeper, after losing
Amanda-Rose Johnson to
graduation. Lindsey Mabin-
uori, the lone goalkeeper re-
turning from last year’s ros-
ter, played in two games in
2014.
The Wolves hope to com-
bat any growing pains at
goalkeeper with an im-
proved offensive.
Pundyke, who led the
team in goals (four) and
shots (38) during the 2014
season, will be called upon
to help spur an attack that
ranked sixth out of eight
teams in goals scored in
2014 with 16, less than half
of what GNAC Tournament
champion Seattle Pacific
(38) recorded.
“We need to lay our hat
on something early on and
that will be our defense,”
Ancheta said. “But we have
to score more goals, there’s
no question.”
While Pundyke and Stein-
berg will be two of the
squad’s most experienced
leaders, some new faces
could have a major impact
on the team’s fortunes, in-
cluding Phoebe Hendry a
junior transfer from Mendo-
cino College in California.
Hendry scored 10 goals
and recorded 13 assists as a
sophomore and is one of the
reasons why players believe
its offense is ready to break
out.
“I think we played well
against good teams because
we played good defense
against them,” Steinberg
said. “I’m excited this year
that we have so much talent
and can move the ball better
and play against people, in-
stead of playing defense and
hoping that we’re going to
score.”
Entering their final sea-
s o n w i t h t h e Wo l v e s ,
Pundyke and Steinberg
have their eyes set on a trip
to the GNAC tournament.
After finishing fifth in
2014, players know that it
won’t be easy — Seattle Pa-
cific and Western Washing-
ton both qualified for the
NCAA tournament last
year.
“Our league is tough,” An-
cheta said. “It’s going to be
really tight and there are
going to be a lot of close
games. That’s not going to
change. It’s only going to get
tougher.”
Now, players are eager for
a chance at a conference
title.
“This is my senior year, so
this is it for me,” Pundyke
said. “With how much we
have accomplished so far, I
believe we can get to the
final four and past it to the
NCAA tournament.”
Heat: Coaches promote all day hydration
Continued from Page 10A
“We dictate the pace as
it heats up,” Cirino said.
“We use the standard of
going about 30 seconds
per mile slower for every 5
degrees. So, if you’re run-
ning a 7-minute mile and
its 80 degrees, if it reaches
90 degrees, you should be
running an 8-minute
mile.”
Other measures taken in-
clude planning out routes
closer to Central’s campus
and having ice water sta-
tions that runners are re-
quired to stop at, as well as
monitoring heart rate and
increased recovery time dur-
ing workouts.
“We try and make it fun,
let the kids run through the
sprinklers or have more cold
water stations,” Cirino said.
“If you cool off in between
reps, you can almost make
the heat irrelevant.”
For football, which re-
quires players wear protec-
tive gear, the OSAA requires
coaches ease the players
into a new season.
“Part of the rules has to do
with getting the kids accli-
mated to the heat,” Dallas
football coach Tracy Jackson
said. “(On Monday) and
Tuesday, we practiced with
helmets only. Today, they’ll
have shoulder pads on and
Thursday we can go full
pads.”
The heat is affecting prac-
tices at the collegiate level as
w e l l . We s t e r n O r e g o n
women’s soccer coach Steve
Ancheta said excessive heat
means every practice is run
as efficiently and safely as
possible.
“You have to control your
practices,” Ancheta said.
“We really shorten our train-
ing parts down to 10 min-
utes, have more water
breaks and days that we do
double workouts, maybe
your practice isn’t as long.
You have to be careful and
not slow things down, but
have high intensity in short-
er periods of time, and you
can still get a lot out of
them.”
Aside from keeping a
close eye on athletes during
practices, coaches at all lev-
els are also hoping to teach
their athletes to make
healthy choices when it
comes to food and drinks.
“Caffeine is a no-no for
athletes right now,” Jackson
said. “Caffeine dehydrates
you, and that can be danger-
ous with this heat.”
Encouraging their ath-
letes to get rest and stay
hydrated are also impor-
tant keys to being able to
practice in the summer
heat.
“I tell my kids they have
to hydrate throughout the
day and not try to tank up
at the last minute,” Cirino
said. “They have to take
care of themselves, includ-
ing eating and drinking
well. Eating well might not
be that big of a deal when
its 70 degrees and you are
hydrated. At 90 degrees,
that’s going to show up real
well. This is a good oppor-
tunity to educate them on
the little things.”
As Polk County athletes
begin their 2015 campaigns,
the first opponent they are
facing isn’t anther school —
it’s the heat.
“You make sure you’re
taking care of them and that
they feel safe,” Jackson said.
“That’s what we can offer as
coaches.”
Ready For Some Football?
PREP SWIMMING
Martin steps
down as coach
By Lukas Eggen
The Itemizer-Observer
INDEPENDENCE — Cen-
tral’s swim program is in
search of a new coach. CHS
Athletic Director Shane
Hedrick announced on
Thursday Shawn Martin is
stepping away as coach of
the Panthers’ swim program.
Martin accepted a new
job in Newport. The job is
unrelated to swimming.
Martin coached Central
for the past three seasons.
“I think they have a good
foundation for the girls,”
Martin said. “They have
young girls stepping up and
the good swimmers are get-
ting older and more experi-
enced. The boys have Daniel
(Glade) and some others
who are setting up pretty
nice. They will have oppor-
tunities to continue to do
well.”
Most recently, Nathan
Glade qualified for the 2015
state swim meet under Mar-
tin’s guidance, reaching the
finals in the 100-yard breast-
stroke. The Panthers also
saw its 200 medley relay
team of Nathan Glade,
Daniel Glade, Ryan Rosas
and Orion Waight qualify for
state as well.
Martin also pushed for
Central swim practices at
Western Oregon University
during the 2014-15 season,
allowing the team to offer
workouts in the mornings
and evenings, as well as
making it easier for swim-
mers to get to and from
practice. Previously, the Pan-
thers practiced at Dallas
Aquatic Center.
“I think it helped the par-
ents a lot,” Martin said. “The
parents were able to help at
our home meets more than I
know they were previously
able to because their time
was spent carpooling to and
from practices. And having
the kids have two practices a
day made a big difference.
We had more records broken
this year than any other
year.”
Hedrick said the school
opened its search for a new
coach immediately.
Martin’s tenure at Central
is something he won’t soon
forget.
“It’s been really nice work-
ing with the kids, seeing
them grow into adults and
having them come back and
see where they’re at,” Martin
said. “It’s been fun to see the
impact swimming might
have had on their lives. I’m
hoping for the best for the
program. It’s been a big part
of my life. Those kids gave
me more than I gave them.”
LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer
High school football players take part in a drill during Central’s football camp on Friday afternoon. Central
hosted two camps, one for high schoolers and one for younger students, last week. The Panthers opened offi-
cial practices on Monday. Central finished 7-3 overall and 6-1 in Mid-Willamette Conference play during the
2014 season, the team’s first in Class 5A.
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