Polk County
Sports
Polk County Itemizer-Observer • July 6, 2016 10A
WESTERN OREGON
QUICK HITS
Rotary clubs
host golf
tournament
DALLAS — The Rotary
Clubs of Salem, Keizer and
Stayton will host a golf tour-
nament on July 22 at Cross
Creek Golf Club, 11875 Orrs
Corner Rd. ,Dallas.
The four-person scram-
ble begins at 1 p.m. with
registration beginning at
noon.
Advanced registration is
available before July 11.
Cost is $125 per person
and $500 per foursome in
advance and $150 per per-
son and $600 per foursome
the day of the event.
Tickets include 18 holes
of golf with a cart, a raffle
ticket and a buffet dinner
following the tournament.
Dinner-only tickets are
available for $20.
For more information:
Natalie Dunn, 503-584-
1665.
Avgi trades hardwood for gridiron
By Lukas Eggen
So long, basketball
The Itemizer-Observer
MONMOUTH — Of all the players on
Western Oregon’s men’s basketball team,
none received more accolades than Andy
Avgi.
The senior forward was named the Great
Northwest Athletic Conference Players of the
Year — for the second in a row — and earned
a spot on numerous preseason and postsea-
son All-American lists. Avgi, like his team-
mates Julian Nichols and Devon Alexander,
is looking to turn pro.
Unlike his teammates, if Avgi has his way,
it won’t be on the hardwood. Avgi is taking
aim at the NFL.
—
Prior to playing basketball at WOU, Avgi
appeared headed for a college football ca-
reer. He was a walk-on to Oregon State, a Di-
• Andy Avgi was named the 2016 Great
Northwest Athletic Conference’s Player of the
Year. The second season he earned the honor.
• Avgi led the Wolves in points per game
(19.4).
• He also ranked first on the team in blocks,
second in rebounds and field goal percent-
age and third in steals and assists during the
2015-16 season.
vision I program, but something didn’t sit
right.
“It was a hard decision,” Avgi said. “I didn’t
want to give up basketball and I think I al-
ways knew that, but getting to play (Division
I) football is hard to pass up. I knew what I
wanted, though.”
See AVGI, Page 11A
LUKAS EGGEN/ Itemizer-Observer file
Andy Avgi led Western Oregon to the NCAA Division II
Final Four, but will pursue a pro football career.
Hitting the pavement
BDST competes
in Eugene
EUGENE — The Blue
Dolphins Swim Team com-
peted at a meet in Eugene
June 24-26.
Elizabeth Dressel placed
sixth in the girls 100-yard
backstroke (15 and older)
with a time of 1 minute,
16.89 seconds. She took
seventh in the 800
freestyle (15 and older), fin-
ishing with a time of 10:
52.56 seconds. Dressel also
took 15th in the 400 indi-
vidual medley (15 and
older) in 6:06.71.
Kaitlyn Landis took 21st
in the 200 individual med-
ley (10 and younger) in
3:37.28.
Isaiah Dressel led the
boys with a 16th-place fin-
ish in the 200 breaststroke
(13-14) with a time of
3:46.90.
For full results, see
www.polkio.com.
Kings Valley
seeks interest in
hunter program
POLK COUNTY — Kings
Valley Charter School is
gauging interest in a po-
tential hunter education
program.
The instructor would be
available in mid-September.
The course would be either
over three days in the after-
noons or an independent
study program followed by
a one-day class.
If interested, contact
Jamon Ellingson, jelling-
son@kvschool.org.
Cross Creek
men’s club results
DALLAS — Cross Creek’s
men’s club results for June
28:
Two man scramble low
gross/low net.
Gross: 1, Paul Disney-Lee
Taylor, 32; 2, Rocky Kygar-
Wayne Weathers, 33.
Net: 1, Larry Hatcher-
Denny Klassen, 28.5; 2, Bob
Sprinkle-Jim Schroeder, 29;
3, Don Seth/Eldon Rivers,
29.5.
STAT SHEET
335
The total
number of
partici-
pants in
the Monmouth-Indepen-
dence Mini-Marathon.
www.polkio.com
EMILY MENTZER/Itemizer-Observer
Runners take off at the start of the Monmouth-Independence Mini-Marathon on Monday morning. More than 300 participants ran the 2.6-mile
race. Results were not available as of press time, but check out www.polkio.com for full results.
Central athletes volunteer
at Monmouth Public Library
Going out in a
blaze of glory
By Lukas Eggen
L UKAS
E GGEN
The Itemizer-Observer
MONMOUTH — Central
High School freshman Bailey
Padilla paused for the
briefest of moments — then
she tackled a difficult chal-
lenge.
The girls basketball player
wasn’t trying to burn a de-
fender. She was reading
some long dinosaur names.
Padilla, along with a few of
her teammates, was part of
Monmouth Public Library’s
Fun Thursdays.
See CENTRAL, Page 11A
Commentary
LUKAS EGGEN/ Itemizer-Observer
Central freshman Bailey Padilla reads to kids at Mon-
mouth Public Library on Thursday morning.
The moment had finally
arrived. All the training (well
… at least a couple days of
training) was about to come
to fruition at the Mon-
mouth-Independence
Fourth of July tennis tourna-
ment on Saturday.
I was ready to show off my
www.facebook.com/pages/Polk-County-Itemizer-Observer/205062686252209
newly developed skills and
make Novak Djokovic proud
— not that he was watching
or anything.
All I knew was my first op-
ponent in the 3.0 bracket
(the lowest available) was
Justin Toews. I didn’t know if
he was young or old. Skilled
or new. Secretly I hoped for a
young child who was new to
the game.
Boy was I disappointed
when I saw who I was going
against. A man who looked
to be in his 30s or 40s intro-
duced himself as Justin.
See TENNIS, Page 11A
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