Polk County Sports
12A Polk County Itemizer-Observer • January 6, 2016
CENTRAL GIRLS BASKETBALL
Omlid no longer ‘freshy’ for the Panthers
By Lukas Eggen
The Itemizer-Observer
INDEPENDENCE — It
was only a year ago Krista
Omlid went by “freshy” on
Central’s girls basketball
team.
Going from “freshy” to
veteran this year is a surpris-
ing jump for the sophomore.
Entering her freshman
year, Omlid’s vision extend-
ed as far as junior varsity.
Instead, she made varsity
in basketball.
It came as a shock to
Omlid, but not to the coach-
es who saw her potential.
“Really, athletically her
skills have been there,” Cen-
tral girls basketball coach
Julie McDonald said. “It was
just men-
tally being
able to
come up
from the
eighth-
grade level
to the var-
sity level.
Omlid
It’s a big
jump for anybody.”
Making varsity is one
thing. Learning to thrive at
the varsity level is whole dif-
ferent matter, one that
Omlid struggled with at first.
“I just thought, ‘don’t
mess up, don’t mess up,
don’t mess up, and don’t foul
out,’” Omlid said. “I was like,
I don’t know about this. I’m
playing with seniors. With
(former Central post) Sai
(Tapasa), I had to guard her
sometimes during practice.
That scared me so much.”
Her trial by fire taught her
invaluable lessons, though.
“I learned to pass the ball
around a lot better,” Omlid
said. “The experience was
huge. It’s a big step going
from Talmadge ball to play-
ing 6A schools. It’s nerve-
racking. Coach had me
bring the ball down the
court once. I wasn’t feeling
it.”
Omlid’s mental hurdles
are beginning to disappear.
She scored six points dur-
ing the Panthers’ 37-33 win
over Mountain View on Sat-
urday and 10 points against
Wilson on Dec. 30.
“She had to slow down
Big wins
• Central defeated Wilson
51-34 on Dec. 29 and
Mountain View 37-33 on
Saturday.
• Kylie Nash scored a
game-high 23 points
against Wilson, while Eliza-
beth Chavez added 12
points.
• Chavez scored a team-
high 12 points against
Mountain View. Nash
added 10 points.
her mind a little bit,” Mc-
Donald said. “This year,
she’s improved playing with
the speed of the game, as far
as strategy goes and when
she needs to penetrate and
when she needs to shoot.
Her athleticism is above
where most sophomores are
at. She’s definitely looked to
as one of our leaders.”
As one of five returners,
the role of leader is a new
experience for Omlid.
“I was nervous about this
season,” Omlid said. “I didn’t
know if we were in shape or
any of that, but the fresh-
men have put us on pace.”
McDonald has preached
that at varsity, grade levels
don’t matter much.
“Krista’s pretty internal,
but the younger girls look to
her as an example that it can
be done,” McDonald said.
The Panthers entered the
week with a 4-4 record, win-
ning three of their last four
games.
Offensively, senior Kylie
Nash has carried the bulk of
the load, but several other
players, including Chavez,
and Emma Girod are mak-
ing key contributions, Mc-
Donald said.
“We have a lot of girls
playing a lot of different po-
sitions,” McDonald said.
“With our limited number of
athletes that we have for var-
sity and JV, it’s important
that they do know the differ-
ent positions.”
Central opens league play
Friday against South Albany.
“We’re doing a lot of film
study and making the cor-
rections that need to be
made,” McDonald said.
“We’re excited and ready for
league.”
PERRYDALE ROUNDUP
Pirates boys, girls basketball teams earn wins at Gaston
Itemizer-Observer staff report
GASTON — Perrydale’s
boys and girls basketball
squads earned wins at Gas-
ton on Dec. 29.
The girls team won 35-29,
while the boys earned a 57-
34 victory.
Senior Telaney Newton
scored a game-high 17
points to lead the girls.
“We came out and played
really well in the first half
and took a 23-10 lead at
halftime,” girls coach Terry
Newton said.
Sierra Starr added seven
points and Anna McGill
scored six points.
Haylen Janesofsky scored
17 points to lead the boys
team. Janesofsky also had
eight rebounds and four
s t e a l s f o r t h e P i ra t e s.
MEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Spencer Bibler scored 12
points and Brant Barnes
added 10 points, 12 re-
bounds and seven assists.
Perrydale hosted Falls City
Tuesday after press time. The
Pirates play at Southwest
Christian on Thursday and
hosts Saint John Bosco Fri-
day before playing at Jewell
on Monday.
Games begin at 5:30 p.m.
DALLAS ROUNDUP
Wolves bounce back Wrestling places second at Pac Coast
from pair of losses
Itemizer-Observer staff report
NAMPA, Idaho — Western
Oregon’s men’s basketball
team bounced back from its
first two losses of the season
with a 75-53 win over North-
west Nazarene on Saturday.
The Wolves opened the
week with an 88-60 loss to
the University of Oregon on
Dec. 29 and an 81-77 setback
at Central Washington on
Thursday.
Senior Julian Nichols
scored 13 points to lead five
players in double figures
against Northwest Nazarene.
Julian Nichols (13 points),
Jordan Wiley (12 points),
Ta n n e r
Omlid (12
points) and
Andy Avgi
(11 points)
rounded
out the
team’s lead-
ing scorers.
Nichols
WOU (10-2
overall, 3-1 Great Northwest
Athletic Conference) hosts
Simon Fraser Thursday at 7
p.m. and Saint Martin’s Sat-
urday at 9 p.m. Saturday’s
game will be broadcast on
Root Sports. Root Sports is
available on Charter, Direct
TV and the Dish Network.
Wolves: WOU gets
first win since Nov.
Continued from Page 10A
Thursday’s victory was the
team’s first since Nov. 22.
“When you’ve gone so
long without a win, it’s a
b o o s t o f c o n f i d e n c e ,”
Howard-Carpenter said.
Howey hopes that it will
build positive momentum
and help turn this season
around.
“We are a momentum
team,” Howey said. “We love
it. I think we showed that we
can be a super strong team.
We’re great individually, but
when we play together, we’re
even better.”
WOU plays at Alaska An-
chorage on Thursday and at
Alaska Fairbanks on Satur-
day.
Itemizer-Observer
Athlete of the Week
Marlon Tuipulotu
Central Oregon
Tuipulotu, a senior wrestler, had a ter-
rific two-tournament stretch last week.
Tuipulotu went undefeated at the North-
west Duals, helping Central to an eighth-
place finish in the middle 16 bracket. He
followed that performance up by going 3-0 in the 285-
pound weight class at the Bob Bishop Invitational, winning
his weight class and helping the Panthers to a third-place
finish in the team standings.
Itemizer-Observer staff report
VANCOUVER, Wash. —
Dallas’ wrestling team
placed second at the Pacific
Coast Wrestling Champi-
onships on Friday and Sat-
urday.
The Dragons finished be-
hind Union in the team
standings.
terstate Shootout in Portland
last week. The Dragons defeat-
ed Aloha 56-32 on Dec. 29 be-
fore defeating South Eugene
39-35 on Dec. 30. Dallas host-
ed Sunset Tuesday after press
time and hosts Woodburn
Thursday at 7 p.m. The Drag-
ons play at Mountain View on
Friday and will host Central
Jan. 13 at 7 p.m.
Panthers take third at Bob Bishop
Itemizer-Observer staff report
WILLAMINA — Central’s
wrestling squad finished
third at the Bob Bishop In-
vitational on Saturday.
Collin Swinehart (152
pounds) and Marlon Tuipu-
lotu (285) placed first to
lead the Panthers.
Sam Crow (195) finished
second and Luis Martinez
(106) took third.
Swinehart
T h e
Pa n t h e r s
a l s o
placed
eighth in
the middle
16 bracket
at
the
Northwest
Duals on
Dec. 29 and 30.
Central will compete at
L e b a n o n We d n e s d a y
(today) and will host South
Albany Jan. 13 at 7 p.m.
BOYS BASKETBALL FALLS
TO MT. VIEW: Central’s boys
basketball team fell to Moun-
tain View 55-49 on Saturday.
“I was very pleased with the
guys’ preparation for this
game,” Central coach Tim Kreta
said. “We know our last few
games have not been our
most crisp, so we wanted to
end our nonleague season
moving in the right direction.”
Alec Barba scored 18 points
to lead the Panthers, who
enter Mid-Willamette Confer-
ence play with a 4-5 record.
“The guys played very hard
and have shown growth and
maturity,” Kreta said.
Central opens league play
at South Albany on Friday be-
fore hosting Dallas Tuesday at
7 p.m.
FALLS CITY ROUNDUP
Girls basketball drops close game to Alsea
Itemizer-Observer staff report
ALSEA — Falls City’s girls
basketball team lost to
Alsea 37-36 on Dec. 29. No
details were provided.
The boys basketball
squad won by forfeit.
The girls (5-4 overall) and
boys (2-6 overall) played at
Perrydale Tuesday after
press time.
The Mountaineers host
Crosshill Christian on Fri-
day. Games begin at 5:30
p.m. Falls City plays at Jew-
ell on Tuesday.
Form: Glade changing focus
Continued from Page 10A
But he quickly realized
the desire to win only car-
ried him so far. In eighth
grade, Glade decided to
change his approach.
“I was thinking more
about swimming for myself
and trying to improve in-
stead of winning all the
time,” Glade said.
That shift in thinking
helped him improve even
more, especially during his
freshman year of high
school.
He hopes to recapture
that feeling quickly — even
as he balances a busier
schedule.
“The toughest part is find-
ing time for yourself,” Glade
said. “All I want to do after
practice is eat and sleep, and
you just can’t do that.”
Despite the slow start to
his season, Glade’s goals re-
main ambitious. He hopes
to break five minutes in the
500 freestyle.
Solution on Page 13A
Perrydale High
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.
Dallas will compete at
L e b a n o n We d n e s d a y
(today), before hosting the
Brunner Invite on Saturday.
The Dragons will compete
at Woodburn on Jan. 13.
GIRLS BASKETBALL ENDS
TOURNEY WITH WINS: Dallas’
girls basketball team won its
inal two games at the Nike In-
CENTRAL ROUNDUP
Telaney Newton
Newton, a senior, helped Perrydale’s
girls basketball team to a 35-29 victory
over Gaston on Dec. 29. Newton scored a
game-high 17 points as the Pirates im-
proved to 4-5 overall and broke a three-
game losing streak. Newton was the only player to score in
double digits during the game. The senior also helped on
defense, helping the Pirates build a 23-10 lead at the half
thanks to pressure defense.
Dawson Barcroft (106
pounds), Tanner Earhart
(160), Jeff Dunagan (170)
and Clay Coxen (182)
recorded third-place finish-
es to lead the Dragons.
Dallas also finished fifth
in the top 16 bracket at the
Northwest Duals on Dec. 29
and 30.
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He knows that will be a
difficult task, but the goal is
a positive step forward, sig-
naling what he hopes will be
a return to form.
“Swimming gets me so fo-
cused and keeps me calm,”
Glade said. “… Right now,
I’m just trying to do my
best.”