Polk County
Sports
Polk County Itemizer-Observer • September 14, 2016 10A
SCHEDULE
CROSS-COUNTRY
Bring on the pain
WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 14
Cross-country: Central
at Silver Falls Invitational, 4
p.m.
Women’s Soccer: Ore-
gon Tech at Western Ore-
gon, 3 p.m.
Sophomore takes aim at 16 minute mark
THURSDAY, SEPT. 15
Boys Soccer: Central at
Cascade, 4 p.m. Dallas at
Southridge, 7:30 p.m.
Girls Soccer: Cascade at
Central, 4 p.m. McNary at
Dallas, 4 p.m.
Volleyball: Central at
Lebanon, 6 p.m. Silverton
at Dallas, 6 p.m. Falls City
at Willamette Valley Chris-
tian, 5:30 p.m. Northwest
Nazarene at Western Ore-
gon, 7 p.m.
FRIDAY, SEPT. 16
Football: Central at
Glencoe (at Hare Field), 7
p.m. Silverton at Dallas, 7
p.m. Mapleton at Falls City,
7 p.m. Mitchell at Perry-
dale, 7 p.m.
SATURDAY, SEPT. 17
Cross-country: Dallas
at Three Course Challenge,
9:15 a.m. Western Oregon
at Sundodger Invitational,
9 a.m.
Football: Western Ore-
gon at Montana State, 1:05
p.m.
Volleyball: Central,
Dallas at Dallas tourna-
ment, 8 a.m. Central
Washington at Western
Oregon, 7 p.m.
Women’s Soccer: West-
ern Oregon at Western
Washington, 4 p.m.
TUESDAY, SEPT. 20
Boys Soccer: Dallas at
Parkrose, 4:30 p.m.
Volleyball: Dallas at
Central, 6 p.m. Falls City at
Crosshill Christian, 5:30
p.m. Jewell at Perrydale,
5:30 p.m.
WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 21
Cross-country: Central,
Dallas at Mid-Willamette
Conference District Pre-
view (at Willamette Mis-
sion State Park, Brooks), 3
p.m.
—
By Lukas Eggen
The Itemizer-Observer
MONMOUTH — What attracts an
athlete to cross-country?
What causes an athlete to willingly
sign up for a sport centered around
what other sports use as punishment?
Dallas sophomore Trevor Cross says
it’s simple.
“Can I take more pain in training and
during a race than the guy next to me,”
Cross said. “That’s distance running.”
Cross is quickly showing that he’s
willing to do whatever it takes to be
among the Mid-Willamette Confer-
ence’s best.
As a freshman in 2015, Cross broke on
to the cross-country scene. He set a per-
sonal record of 17 minutes, 6.5 seconds
on Oct. 14 and took 18th overall at the
district championships, helping the
Dragons to a fourth-place finish in the
team standings.
He’s got bigger goals in mind this fall.
“I’m really close to breaking 17 min-
utes, and I think for sure I’ll do that this
season,” he said. “It’d be cool to run
maybe below 16 (minutes) or get close
to 16 flat.”
See PAIN, Page 12A
LUKAS EGGEN/ Itemizer-Observer
Dallas sophomore Trevor Cross sprints to the finish at the Ash Creek Cross-Country Festival on Saturday afternoon in Monmouth.
PREP VOLLEYBALL
Panthers embrace pressure
Schedules Subject to Change
QUICK HITS
Tickets available
for CHS fundraiser
INDEPENDENCE —
Tickets are on sale for the
Friends of Panther Base-
ball Auction on Saturday
at Eola Hills Wine Cellars
in Rickreall.
The evening will in-
clude a dinner, and silent
and live auctions. The
evening begins at 5:30
p.m. with the silent auc-
tion, followed by the din-
ner and live auction.
Tickets cost $30. A
table of eight costs $240
and includes a bottle of
wine. A 10-person table
costs $300 and also in-
cludes a bottle of wine.
Sponsorship opportu-
nities are available.
To purchase tickets, be-
come a sponsor or to
make a donation, contact
Joe Mendazona, Pan-
therBaseballOR@gmail.co
m or 503-932-9416.
Cross Creek
men’s club results
DALLAS — Cross
Creek’s men’s club results
for Sept. 6:
Low gross/net
Gross: 1 (tie), Brian
Halin and Ben Talon-
Kayne, 39.
Net: 1 (tie), Lynn Hurt
and Darrel Smedstad, 34;
3, Derrill Weaver, 35.
Ribich receives
weekly honor
MONMOUTH — West-
ern Oregon junior David
Ribich was named the
Great Northwest Athletic
Conference’s Male Cross-
Country Athlete of the
Week on Monday.
This is the second week
in a row he has earned the
honor.
Ribich took first at the
Ash Creek Invitational on
Friday, finishing the 6,300-
meter race in 18 minutes,
53.8 seconds.
The Wolves finished
second in the men’s team
standings.
www.polkio.com
By Lukas Eggen
The Itemizer-Observer
INDEPENDENCE — Trail-
ing 6-0 in the fifth and final set
against South Albany on
Thursday, Central’s volleyball
team didn’t panic. They
weren’t frustrated, despite
seeing a 2-0 lead evaporate. In
fact, they were the opposite.
“We told each other that
we got this,” Krista Omlid
said. “This is our game.”
The Panthers outscored
South Albany 15-4 the rest of
the way to earn the victory.
It was an early season vic-
tory, one that showed the
Panthers
might be
growing up
quickly on
the court.
“ L a s t
year we
would al-
ways lose in
Omlid
f i v e
games,” Omlid said. “We
were really bad under pres-
sure.”
For the team’s seniors,
Central had been winless in
matches where they win
the first two sets, but lose
the next two sets.
See PANTHERS, Page 11A
Central volleyball
• Central defeated South Albany 25-17, 25-17, 20-25, 18-25,
15-10 on Thursday. The Panthers opened Mid-Willamette Con-
ference play with a 25-16, 25-13, 25-21 loss to Silverton on Sept.
6.
• Central plays at Lebanon on Thursday and at the Dallas tour-
nament on Saturday before hosting the Dragons on Tuesday.
LUKAS EGGEN/ Itemizer-Observer
Krista Omlid, Sydney Nash and Jori Kerr share a word with each other during Central’s
five set victory over South Albany on Thursday evening.
PREP FOOTBALL
Finding their footing
By Lukas Eggen
The Itemizer-Observer
FALLS CITY — The start of
Falls City’s football team’s
season has not gone accord-
ing to plan.
Injuries to several players,
including starters Jeremy
Labrado (quarterback) and
Noah Sickles has left the
Mountaineers to play at less
than full strength — without
an idea on when they will re-
turn. A 54-12 loss to Dufur on
Friday was the latest setback.
“You give as good as you
can give and hold your head
up high at the end of the
game,” coach Laric Cook
said. “The players are a di-
rect reflection on myself and
the coaches and there’s not
one person who is a quitter.
It’s not in our makeup.”
While the Mountaineers
have dealt with adversity,
LUKAS EGGEN/ Itemizer-Observer s o p h o m o r e r u n n i n g
Falls City sophomore running back/defensive back Austin Burgess attempts to get past back/defensive back Austin
a Dufur defender during the Mountaineers’ 54-12 loss on Friday night.
Burgess has emerged as a
www.facebook.com/pages/Polk-County-Itemizer-Observer/205062686252209
bright spot.
Against
Pe r r y d a l e
on Sept. 2,
he returned
an intercep-
tion for a
touchdown.
On Friday,
Burgess
Burgess
scored one of Falls City’s two
scores against Dufur.
“He’s one of the better
athletes we have,” Cook
said. “He’s long and lean
and athletic. He catches the
ball well and tackles well.
He’s going to be a heck of a
football player before he’s
done.”
Burgess’ success on the
football field comes as little
surprise to those who know
him best.
Burgess began playing
football in elementar y
school. It didn’t take long for
him to realize he had found
his sports passion.
See FALLS CITY, Page 11A
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