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Polk County Sports Polk County Itemizer-Observer • October 5, 2016 13A PREP CROSS-COUNTRY Running leads to self discovery for Meyer By Lukas Eggen The Itemizer-Observer INDEPENDENCE — There’s a nickname Central senior Zachary Meyer has gotten from his cross-coun- try teammates — one that may not sound all too flatter- ing at first. “Dictator Zachary, be- cause I lead our drills,” Meyer said. “I think that the name comes from a joking heart rather than a resentful one. My actions and words are for the good of the team rather than selfish gain.” Meyer, one of the team’s captains, has emerged as the Panthers’ fastest runner so far this season. But he’s got his eyes set on a bigger prize. — Meyer never had plans to become a distance runner. In seventh grade, he was forced to pick a sport and wound up on the cross-country team. That choice had far greater impacts than he ever thought. “I have found in running what I hope everyone finds in life — purpose, friendship, passion and a feeling of self- worth,” Meyer said. “Some- thing about pushing yourself to the absolute limit physi- cally and mentally strikes a chord in my brain, and I truly believe this sport has made me a better person.” Among that includes be- coming someone the team can look up to. “Being a part of the team has brought out the leader inside of me,” Meyer said. “I’ve learned to have empa- thy for others, to lead by ex- ample rather than just tell others what they should be doing. In addition, cross- country has led me to give my best effort in everything I do and really stand up for what I believe in.” Meyer hopes to lead the Panthers to the state cross- country meet in November. The boys finished third at the Mid-Willamette Confer- ence District preview meet on Sept. 21. Central’s top six runners (Meyer, Matt Raines, Jaydon Aydelotte, Caedmon Whisen- hunt, Jonathon Brown and Maynard Dewitt) were sepa- rated by 35 seconds. “That’s by far the smallest spread in the league,” coach Eli Cirino said. “They have a good sense of pace and a good idea on where they should be.” The top three teams from the MWC championship on Oct. 26 advance to state. But with Lebanon finish- ing just six points behind, the Panthers have little room for error. “It got them excited, but they know they have work to do,” Cirino said. “We know that if we take too much time off, we’re going to get spanked a little bit.” At the Harrier Classic on Saturday, Central placed 11th in the team standings. Fellow MWC teams Lebanon, Silver- ton and Woodburn finished 12th, 13th and 14th. “It is so easy for a team that is seen as the underdog to have one good day and take third place to qualify for state, so we have to keep our hearts in the sport and not get comfortable with our po- sition, no matter how good it may be,” Meyer said. The boys aren’t the only team with state aspirations. The girls also placed third at the district preview meet. Bailie Hartford is the girls team’s top runner, but others are emerging. “We’re starting to get our five, six and seven runners (Naomi Vega, Annie Taylor and Aliza Camero) to close the gap between our two, three and four runners (Beat- riz Trujillo, Bethanie Altami- rano and Diana Nye),” Cirino said. Central, which will com- pete at the Ash Creek Invita- tional No. 2 on Saturday, will begin to turn its attention to getting runners ready to peak at districts. For Meyer it will be the final stretch of his cross- country career. “It is very surprising to see where running has taken me over the years,” Meyer said. He hopes it takes him one more place this November — the state meet. ELI CIRINO/ for the Itemizer-Observer Central senior Zachary Meyer takes off at the start of the Harrier Classic on Saturday. WOU: Wolves Football falls to Azusa Pacific show progress WESTERN OREGON ROUNDUP Itemizer-Observer staff report MONMOUTH — Western Oregon’s football team gained 424 yards, but failed to score any points on of- fense as the Wolves fell to Azusa Pa- cific 31-2 on Satur- day. W O U ’s l o n e points came in the fourth Swartzlender w h e n George Swartzlender and Austin Spencer tackled APU run- ning back Chris Soloman in the end zone for a safety. We s t - ern Ore- gon quar- terback Phillip Fenumiai Spencer threw for 307 yards and two intercep- tions in the loss. Fenumiai also had 20 rushes for 72 yards. Receiver Paul Revis fin- ished the game with nine catches for 106 yards. Keoni Piceno had seven recep- tions for 94 yards. The Wolves (2-3 overall, 1-2 Great Northwest Athlet- ic Conference) host Simon Fraser Saturday at 1 p.m. Western Oregon entered the week in a tie for third place in the GNAC standings. Simon Fraser has yet to win a game this season and enters Saturday’s matchup with an 0-5 mark overall. MEN’S XC PLACES FIFTH: Western Oregon’s men’s cross- country team placed fifth at the Charles Bowles Invitational in Salem on Saturday. Sopho- more Dustin Nading took eighth overall in the 8,000- meter race, finishing with a time of 25 minutes, 8.8 sec- onds. The women’s team fin- ished ninth in the team standings. Kennedy Rufener took 16th in the 5,000-meter race with a time of 18:26.0. The Wolves will host the Ash Creek Invitational No. 2 Fri- day at 5 p.m. SOCCER DROPS T WO: Western Oregon’s women’s soc- cer team dropped a pair of con- ference matches last week. The Wolves lost to Central Washing- ton 4-1 on Thursday and Simon Fraser 6-0 on Saturday. Fresh- man Kaili Brundage scored WOU’s lone goal against Cen- tral Washington on Thursday, in the 62nd minute. Western Ore- gon (4-6 overall, 1-4 GNAC) plays at Saint Martin’s Thursday at 2 p.m. before hosting Central Washington Sunday at noon. Continued from Page 11A “I tell the girls it’s going to get harder before it gets easi- er on, and off the court,” Co- lasurdo said. “It’s normal to come to campus and be a lit- tle overwhelmed at first. On the court, when you learn something new, it’s hard at first but once you master it, it’ll become easier and you’ll become better.” Western Oregon is 1-2 in conference play and has lost three of its last four matches. Even as the team has struggled to find wins, matches like Saturday offer glimpses that WOU hints to a future where the Wolves can howl once again. “We showed ( Western Washington) what we’re real- ly made of,” Colasurdo said. “It’s all about confidence, belief and hard work. You have to believe that you can do it, have confidence that you can, and be willing to outwork people. When we have that, we are a force to be reckoned with. I’m excit- ed to see where this team goes.” FALLS CITY ROUNDUP Volleyball earns victory Itemizer-Observer staff report FALLS CITY — Falls City’s volleyball team earned a 25- 11, 25-8, 25-12 win over C.S. Lewis on Thursday. “The girls were working well as a team and covering out-of-system plays,” coach Roxi Barnhart said. “We are seeing progress as far as communication and trust- ing teammates to work their zones. A few of our hitters had significant additions to score Sairah Ziola, Anna Lammers and Madelyn Hen- drickson.” The Mountaineers (4-3 overall, 3-3 Casco League) host Perrydale on Thursday a n d W i l l a m e t t e Va l l e y Christian on Tuesday. Both matches will begin at 5:30 p.m. FOOTBALL FALLS TO LOW- ELL: Falls City’s football team lost to Lowell 44-20 on Friday. The Mountaineers (2-3 overall, 2-0 Special District 3) play at Alsea on Friday. Close knit community needs it’s local paper In Chelsea Metcalfe’s opinion, the Polk County Itemizer- Observer is “the best place to get the word out about our events and programs.” Metcalfe, Dallas Area Chamber of Commerce’s executive director, recommends the I-O to chamber member busi- nesses. “Pricing is reasonable … especially when it comes to some of the special projects (the I-O) does, like Explore Polk County, Who’s Who, the phone book, and then specific guides like the medical directory,” she said. Reasonably priced and effective advertising isn’t the only reason Metcalfe likes her local newspaper. Of the I-O’s special sections, the annual Summerfest preview is her favorite, naturally. She added Explore Polk County — an annual tourism guide published each May — is high on her list, too. She said it “has been fantastically put to- gether over the last couple of years in particular.” Metcalfe said she always finds time to read the weekly edition to keep up with what is going on in her community. “The local ‘heart’ stories are fantastic,” she said. “Being a very close knit com- munity, it is always fun to read about someone doing something extraordinary.” Solution on Page 3A
