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About Polk County itemizer observer. (Dallas, Or) 1992-current | View Entire Issue (April 20, 2016)
Polk County Sports Polk County Itemizer-Observer • April 20, 2016 9A FALLS CITY TRACK AND FIELD Macnab making up for lost time Kings Valley senior competes for the first time since middle school By Lukas Eggen Up and Comers Invite The Itemizer-Observer FALLS CITY — It was dur- ing a break at Falls City’s track and field team’s first meet on March 17 that Kings Valley senior Ryan Macnab questioned what he was doing. Macnab was watching the javelin — and he wasn’t all too excited about what he witnessed. “I saw someone throw 140 feet,” he said. “At the time, I’d been throwing around 90 feet in practice. I thought, I’ll never do that.” This was, after all, Mac- nab’s first season of high school track and field. But he’s proving that a lack of experience doesn’t have to equal a lackluster season. — If not for a little friendly competition, Macnab, who did track and field in middle school, but stopped once he reached high school, may never have competed ever again. • Falls City’s track and field team com- peted at the Up and Comers Invite on Fri- day. • Senior Robert Kempfer won the boys triple jump with a leap of 37 feet, 6 ¼ inches. Sophomore Jeremy Labrado took first in the high jump (5-6) and freshman Austin Burgess finished second in the long jump (18-0). • Senior Brittany Varney won the girls Varney shot put (30-6) and discus (86-8 ½). Sopho- more Madelyn Hendrickson finished second in the long jump (15-3 ¾). Hendrickson and freshman Pheonix Brown finished in a tie for second in the 100 hurdles, finishing in 19.67 seconds. LUKAS EGGEN/ Itemizer-Observer Senior Ryan Macnab prepares to throw the shot put dur- ing track and field practice on Thursday afternoon. “I hadn’t done track since middle school,” Macnab said. “My best friends Bo (Beauchamp), Tristan (Yea- ger) and Arlin (Schwanke) did it last year. We’ve been best friends for a long time and I wanted to see if I could beat some of their records.” Macnab gravitated toward the throws — shot put, dis- cus and javelin — but didn’t expect much from himself. “I expected that I would improve and was interested to see how I would do, but I didn’t expect to do very well,” Macnab said. “My first throws were pretty crappy. I thought it was all about the power.” The Mountaineers’ first meet helped show him that power only counted for so much and that form, not strength, could make the difference between a good throw and a great one. “I’d watch videos and re- alized that form is key,” Macnab said. “Smaller guys than me could throw a javelin double what I could throw.” Macnab has come a long way in a short amount of time. He set a personal record in the javelin on Fri- day, throwing 135 feet, 1 inch at the Up and Comers Invite. He ranks fifth in school histo- ry in the shot put (39-4¼), just behind Yeager and Beauchamp, fifth in school history in the discus and sec- ond in the javelin. One of his biggest chal- lenges is not letting a good throw lead to a string of bad ones. “When I have a good throw, I get pumped up and I forget about my form, and then I have really bad throws,” Macnab said. “I get too much adrenaline. I just need to take a few deep breaths, not worry so much about power and make sure I feel good when I throw.” He’ll get another chance to improve on his marks at the Portland Christian Invi- tational on Saturday and the Southwest Christian In- vitational on April 27. Macnab has surpassed his expectations so far. He hopes that his results are a sign of things to come. “I still have a long way to go,” Macnab said. “I expect to throw a lot father when I get my form down.” PERRYDALE ROUNDUP Get in the hole! Clark, Price take first at Willamina meet LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer Dallas golfer Kailee Curtis watches a putt on the first hole of a Mid-Willamette Conference tournament Monday morning at Cross Creek Golf Course in Dallas. Curtis finished the round with an 88, placing third overall. The Drag- ons (Natalie Crabtree, Emma Johnson and Missie Davis) took fifth in the team standings. Central did not record a team score. Zoe Farnworth scored a 100 to lead the Panthers. Melissa Torres shot a 135 and Calista Braziel recorded a 147. Itemizer-Observer staff report SHERIDAN — Perrydale’s boys and girls track and field teams took fifth at Willamina on Thursday. Senior Taylor Price won the 100-meter hurdles in 17.80 sec- onds and placed second in the 300 hurdles in 54.79 sec- onds to lead the girls. Clark Sarah Clark won the javelin with a throw of 101 feet, 10 inches and finished sec- ond in the shot put (27- 10). Vanessa Miller took second in the 800 (2:52.56). Kirk Fairchild took sec- ond in the high jump (5-6), long jump (17-0 ¾) and triple jump (36-3) to lead the boys. The Pirates competed at the PacWest/Tri-River meet at Salem Academy Tuesday after press time. Perrydale will travel to the Portland Christian Invitational on Saturday. SOFTBALL DEFEATS SAN- TIAM: Perrydale’s softball team defeated Santiam 18-3 on Monday in a Special Dis- trict 2 contest. The game marked the fourth time the Pi- rates have scored 14 or more runs this season. Perrydale has scored at least nine runs in each of its wins so far this season. The Pirates (6-2 over- all, 4-2 SD2) play at Central Linn on Friday and at Amity on Monday before hosting Delphian on April 27 at 4:30 p.m. B A S E B A L L FA L L S T O WESTERN MENNONITE: Per- rydale’s baseball team lost to Western Mennonite 10-0 on April 13. The Pirates (0-8 overall) lost to Santiam 16-5 on Monday. Perrydale plays at Central Linn on Friday at 4:30 p.m. before hosting East Linn Christian Monday at 4:30 p.m. WESTERN OREGON ROUNDUP Dragons: Dallas enters week Baseball sweeps Saint Martin’s in second place in conference Itemizer-Observer staff report LACEY, Wash. — Western Oregon’s baseball team went 6-0 against Saint Mar- tin’s last week. The Wolves opened with 11-1 and 8-4 wins on April 13 before winning 20-6 and 4-2 on Sunday, and 8-0 and 7-4 on Sunday. Saturday’s opener saw the Wolves set a school record for most hits in a single game (29) and most doubles (14). Every Miller member of the starting lineup had at least one hit. Kyle Vanderkin hit a two- run home run. Vanderkin, Brock Pradere and Joey Crunkilton each had four hits. Pitcher Brady Miller earned the win to improve to 8-0 on the season. Cody Sullivan hit a home run in the series finale on Sunday as WOU extended its win streak to 14. Western Oregon (24-13 overall, 19-8 Great North- west Athletic Conference) entered the week leading the conference — two weeks after being in fifth. T h e Wo l v e s p l a y a t Northwest Nazarene on Fri- day at 2 p.m. and Saturday at noon before hosting Montana State, Billings on April 27 at 2 p.m. SOFTBALL SPLITS WITH NORTHWEST NAZARENE: Western Oregon’s softball squad split a four-game series with Northwest Nazarene. The Wolves dropped the open- ing game 6-5 before earning a 5-3 win on Friday. WOU took the first game of a Boytz double- header on Saturday 6-0 before losing the series finale 8-1. Pitcher Alyson Boytz earned a complete game shutout win on Saturday as Ashlee Lynch hit a solo home run. Western Oregon hosted Northwest Christian Tuesday after press time. The Wolves host Concordia for a double- header Friday at 2 p.m. before playing at Concordia on Satur- day to close out the regular season. WOU entered the week in fourth place in the conference standings with a two-game lead over Western Washing- ton. The top four teams advance to the GNAC championships next week. RIBICH SETS RECORD IN 1,500: Western Oregon soph- omore David Ribich set a new s c h o o l record in the men’s 1 , 5 0 0 - meter run Saturday at the Bryan Clay Invita- tional in Azusa, Calif. Ribich Ribich fin- ished the race in 3 minutes, 43.41 seconds, which breaks the previous school mark of 3:44.27 set in 1987 by Wes Tilgner. At the Mt. Sac relays in Nor- walk, Calif., Cody Warner ran the second-fastest time in pro- gram history in the 200 in 21.15 seconds. WOU will compete at the Raider Invitational in Ashland Saturday at 10 a.m. Tickets available for Central Hall of Fame ceremony INDEPENDENCE — Tickets are available for Central High School’s Hall of Fame induction cere- mony on April 30 at 6 p.m.Tickets cost $5 and can be purchased at the school’s main office, athletic office or the Independence Les Schwab. Coach John Oliver, athletes Joe Mendazona, Johanna Koch Dillard, Dick Britton, Jordan Pratt, Floyd Graves and Darryl “Mouse” Davis and the 1983 football team and 1982 boys tennis team will be honored. Clyde McMillan will receive the Meritorious Award. Continued from Page 8A “Some games we don’t come out as strong in warmups, and that affects our play,” infielder Olivia Nelson said. “Our energy was a lot better (against Central). It was a boost for our confidence.” The Dragons racked up eight hits against the Pan- thers. Yasmine El-Hato had three hits and four RBIs. Makena Linn drove in three runs and Kaelynn Simmons, Maddi Feldman and Greisen each had two hits. “Our intensity was good, and we were ag- g re s s i v e,” Greisen said. “The last few games, we weren’t as aggressive, El-Hato and I think that played a big part (in our losses).” Finding that level of ener- gy no matter the opponent will be key going forward. “We have to stay up no matter who we’re playing. It doesn’t matter if it’s Central or whomever,” Jackson said. “We have to show up as the same team.” Dallas played South Al- bany Tuesday after press time. The Dragons host Cor- vallis Wednesday (today) at 4:30 p.m. before playing at Crescent Valley on Friday at 4:30 p.m. Dallas hosts Lebanon on Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. and Sil- verton on April 27 at 4:30 p.m. “If we show up and play our game, we don’t need to worry about who is on the other side,” Jackson said. Central: Panthers 0-3 against Dallas, Lebanon and Silverton Continued from Page 8A Players believe they are ready to challenge the league’s top teams. “Everyone is beatable right now,” Nash said. Central played Crescent Valley Tuesday after press time. The Panthers host Lebanon Wednesday (today) at 4:30 p.m. and Silver- ton on Friday at 4:30 p.m. The Panthers play at Corvallis on Tuesday — giving the Pan- thers more chances to prove it can compete with the top teams in the conference rather than get caught in the middle of the pack. “If we play well, we can get the win against all of them,” Kerr said. “We’re just looking for something to click. It hasn’t happened yet, but time is running out, so we’re working on it.” LUKAS EGGEN/ Itemizer-Observer Central sophomore Erin Cole prepares to deliver a pitch against Dallas on Friday.
