Polk County Sports
Polk County Itemizer-Observer • January 25, 2017 13A
CENTRAL SWIMMING
Thornton embraces role as leader
Thornton said.
He was able to run cross-
country that fall, but when
he returned to the pool, he
discovered his favorite
stroke caused pain in his
right arm — enough that he
decided to find a different
stroke to specialize in.
“That pushed me toward
the breaststroke,” Thornton
said. “I could do it without
(my arm) hurting as much.”
He’s excelled in his new
stroke, and as the years have
gone by he has returned to
compete in the freestyle
again.
“You have to have the mo-
tivation to keep on going,”
Thornton said. “There are
times when you’re tired and
you don’t want to finish a
workout and it sucks in the
moment, but you remember
you’re going to get better
and training for something
bigger.”
Though he’s chasing a trip
to state, that bigger goal is to
become a true leader among
Central’s swim team.
By Lukas Eggen
The Itemizer-Observer
INDEPENDENCE — Dur-
ing his middle school years,
it appeared Central senior
August Thornton was des-
tined to be a freestyler for
the Panthers’ swim team.
It was the stroke he liked
the most and felt most con-
fident doing, and the one he
saw himself succeeding in
the most.
Three years ago, his
swimming plans took a
drastic turn.
“I was riding my bike to
swim at the YMCA,” Thorn-
ton said. “I hit a rock on a
gravel road and flipped over
the bike.”
Thornton’s right arm was
broken, and needed screws
and plates installed.
For Thornton, who also
runs cross-country and
track, the recovery was diffi-
cult.
“I wasn’t allowed to go in
the water or even really
move it for six months,”
LUKAS EGGEN/ Itemizer-Observer
Central senior August Thornton is a team captain.
“When I was a freshman
and I was the youngest one
on the team, I didn’t really
know what I was doing at
first,” Thornton said. “You
become a senior and you re-
alize I can actually help out
some of the younger people.”
Thornton is one of the
Panthers’ captains. He takes
that title seriously.
“I’ve seen him become
more of a leader,” coach Jen-
nifer Tress said. “If I’m say-
ing something and the team
isn’t paying attention, he’ll
tell the guys to listen. He en-
courages his teammates and
makes sure they understand
what’s going on. He’s not
afraid to take the lead.”
Beyond that, his desire to
make the most of his final
high school season and his
work ethic serve as an exam-
ple for his teammates to fol-
low.
“He’s great about asking
for feedback,” Tress said.
“He’ll say things like, ‘my
dive is feeling off, can you
look at it for things to im-
prove on.’”
With the district swim-
ming championships just
weeks away, Thornton, like
the rest of his teammates, is
focused on fine tuning and
preparing to swim his best
at the right time.
But he’s not putting any
extra pressure on himself or
his team. Instead, he re-
minds everyone to focus on
Swim meet
• Central’s swim team
competed at Corvallis on
Jan. 17.
• Lynze Bradley won the
girls 50-yard freestyle in
30.76 seconds. Grace Hol-
stad took first in the 100
butterfly in 1:05.55 and
Annie Taylor won the 500
freestyle in 6:43.15 and the
100 backstroke in 1:14.35.
For more results: www.-
polkio.com.
the simple things — doing
what they can to be at their
best.
“It’s about taking it one
thing at a time,” Thornton
said. “You’re trying to get a
personal record, not neces-
sarily beating the guy next
to you. You have to be fo-
cused on improving your-
self. If that lets me go to
state, that would be awe-
some. But knowing I’m
pushing myself is a fulfill-
ing feeling.”
Dallas: Foster wins an
Pirates move into first place individual title at Reser’s
PERRYDALE ROUNDUP
Itemizer-Observer staff report
PERRYDALE — Perry-
dale’s boys basketball team
had showdowns with two of
the top teams in the Casco
League and emerged from
those tests with a pair of
convincing victories.
Perr ydale defeated
Crosshill Christian 58-38 on
Jan. 18 and Willamette Valley
Christian 54-39 on Friday.
The Pirates (11-3 overall,
7-1 Casco League) handed
Crosshill Christian its first
league loss of the season as
Perrydale moved into first
place in the league standings.
“We put Cooper (Butler)
on their best scorer,” Pirates
coach Brian Domes said.
“Whether it was Haylen
( Janesofsky) or Daniel
(Domes) or David (Domes)
off the bench, we had play-
ers step up and showed
growth on the defensive
side.”
Perrydale defeated C.S.
Lewis on Monday.
The Pirates play at
Crosshill Christian Wednes-
day (today) at 7 p.m. Perry-
dale hosts Falls City Friday at
7 p.m. before playing at St.
Paul Saturday at 3:30 p.m.
and at Falls City Monday at 7
p.m.
GIRLS BASKETBALL DROPS
T W O : Fa c i n g t h e C a s c o
League’s top two teams, Perry-
dale’s girls basketball team fell
to Crosshill Christian 38-28 on
Jan. 18 and to Willamette Valley
Christian 37-30 on Friday.
But the Pirates showed
promise.
“We competed really well
and had a chance to win both
games,” coach Terry Newton
said. “Both games we were
within three to six points in the
final three to four minutes of
the game. We couldn’t close it
out.”
In both games, Perrydale
outscored its opponents over
the final three quarters, but
couldn’t overcome slow starts
in the first quarter, Newton
said.
“We have to be ready to play
from the very beginning,” New-
ton said. “I think the other
teams were a little bit bigger
and older than us, and came
out a little readier than we
were.”
The Pirates play at Crosshill
Christian Wednesday (today) at
5:30 p.m. Perrydale will host
Falls City Friday at 5:30 p.m. be-
fore traveling to St. Paul Satur-
day at 2 p.m. and playing at
Falls City Monday at 5:30 p.m.
FALLS CITY BASKETBALL
Girls defeat Mapleton
Itemizer-Observer staff report
FALLS CITY — Falls City’s
girls basketball team defeat-
ed Mapleton 27-21 on Fri-
day. The Mountaineers
opened the week with a 53-
32 loss to Crosshill Christian
on Jan. 17.
Against Mapleton, the
Mountaineers overcame a
five-point deficit entering
the fourth quarter, outscor-
ing Mapleton 14-3.
3
Emma Burgess led Falls
City with 12 points and nine
rebounds. Gracie Tadlock
added 11 points.
Amara Houghtaling
scored a team-high 17
points against Crosshill
Christian.
The boys basketball team
lost to Crosshill Christian
60-38 on Jan. 17 and to
Mapleton 41-29 on Friday.
Jared Curry scored a
team-high nine points
against Crosshill Christian.
Austin Burgess led the
Mountaineers against
Mapleton with 12 points.
Falls City hosts Jewell
Wednesday (today) before
playing at Perrydale on Fri-
day and hosting Perrydale
on Monday. The girls tip off
at 5:30 p.m. on each night
with the boys following at 7
p.m.
MONTHS
Continued from Page 10A
Jo s e p h Fo s t e r ( 1 2 6
pounds) won an individual
title. Tanner Earhart (170)
finished second. Clay
Coxen (182) took third.
“We’re very proud of Joe
Foster,” Olliff said. “He beat
a top-seeded kid. We’ve had
four Reser’s Champions:
Josh Christenson, Cody
Bibler, Matt Hofenbredl and
now Joe joins them. It’s a
special thing to be in that
category.”
Ryan Bibler (106) and
Dawson Barcroft (113)
placed fourth. Jacob Jones
(132) and Treve Earhart
(195) took fifth, and Cody
Janssen (160) finished sixth.
The results were promis-
ing against some of the
state’s top wrestling talent
from all classifications.
“It’s the best of the best,”
Bibler said. “If you place at
Reser’s, you get a good look
at what you’re going to face
at state.”
Tanner faced Travis Witt-
lake from 4A school Marsh-
field in the final. Wittlake is
considered one of the top
wrestlers in the state.
“Tanner did an excep-
tional job,” Olliff said. “The
only way people aren’t
going to get beat up pretty
bad by the guy he faced in
the finals is if they’re smart
enough not to come out for
wrestling.”
That didn’t mean Tanner
Ta. Earhart
Barcroft
was OK
with los-
ing.
“I know
he’s really
good, but
I don’t like
how much
stronger
he was
than me. I
need to
keep get-
ting better
a
n
d
stro n g er.
T h a t ’s
what my
focus will
be on,”
Ta n n e r
said.
Bibler, similarly found
that his losses weren’t
blowouts.
“I lost to a few people I
shouldn’t have,” Bibler said.
I just have to get at it more.”
The most important les-
son the team learned is
that, even among some of
the state’s best competition,
Dallas will be a force to be
reckoned with come district
championship time and be-
yond.
“The last time we fin-
ished this well, we won a
state title a couple weeks
later,” Olliff said. “It’s excit-
ing for us to finish like we
did. Hopefully we can keep
the momentum going.”
Reser’s may have lit an
even big-
ger fire
u n d e r
Dallas’
wrestlers.
T h e
Dragons
host Cen-
t r a l
Bibler
We d n e s -
day (today) at 6 p.m.
It’s a rare chance to see
Dallas wrestle at home. The
Brunner Invitational was
canceled earlier this season
d u e t o w e a t h e r, a n d
wrestlers are eager to com-
pete in front of a home
crowd.
“Wrestling at home is al-
ways fun,” Tanner said. “We
have some pretty passion-
ate fans. I like it.”
Dallas will travel to com-
pete in the Robert Paul Invi-
tational in Sandy on Satur-
day and to Woodburn on
Feb. 1. But the Dragons also
are keeping their eyes on a
bigger prize: getting ready
for state. If the Reser’s Tour-
nament of Champions
showed them anything it’s
that Dallas could be a major
player if wrestlers continue
to work hard.
“I think to me, and it
should for all of us, show
that we have something
special right now,” Tanner
said. “We can’t take this for
granted and we have to
make the most of the rest of
the season.”
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