Polk County
Sports
SCHEDULE
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 29
Track and field: Dallas,
Falls City, Perrydale at
Canby All-Comers, noon.
Polk County Itemizer-Observer • March 29, 2017 11A
DALLAS TENNIS
Blair evolves on the court
THURSDAY, MARCH 30
Baseball: Perrydale at
Colton, 4:30 p.m.
By Lukas Eggen
The Itemizer-Observer
FRIDAY, MARCH 31
Baseball: Central at The
Dalles (DH), 2 p.m. Western
O re g o n a t N o r t hwe s t
Nazarene (DH), 2 p.m.
Softball: Tournament of
Champions (at Turlock,
Calif.): Western Oregon vs.
Holy Names, 9 a.m. West-
ern Oregon vs. University
of California, San Diego,
11:30 a.m.
Track and field: West-
ern Oregon at San Francis-
co State Distance Carnival
and Stanford Invitational,
all day.
DALLAS — As a freshman,
Caedmon Blair was faced
with a decision.
He wanted to find a sport
to play in the spring, and it
came down to two choices:
track and field, or tennis.
“I didn’t want to run track,
so I decided to play tennis,”
Blair said.
His first two seasons, he
played doubles with former
Dallas player Cole Oace.
The pair found some suc-
cess on varsity, but Blair did-
n’t figure tennis would be-
come a passion.
“I’m always competitive,
but at first (tennis) was more
fun than anything else,” Blair
said. “That changed proba-
bly last year when I switched
to singles. I saw that I had a
chance to do something spe-
cial with it.”
As a junior, Blair played
singles, but fell short of qual-
ifying for state.
He spent time in the off-
season playing with coach
Caleb Gillette and saw him-
self evolve from an athlete
playing tennis to a true ten-
nis player.
SATURDAY, APRIL 1
Baseball: Western Ore-
gon at Northwest
Nazarene (DH), noon.
Softball: Tournament of
Champions (at Turlock,
Calif.): Western Oregon vs.
Academy of Art, 9 a.m.
Western Oregon vs. Cal
State Dominguez Hills, 3
p.m.
Track and field: West-
ern Oregon at San Francis-
co State Distance Carnival
and Stanford Invitational,
all day.
SUNDAY, APRIL 2
Softball: Tournament of
Champions (at Turlock,
Calif.): Western Oregon vs.
Sonoma State, 3 p.m.
Tennis time
MONDAY, APRIL 3
Boys golf: Central, Dal-
las at Cross Creek (Dallas),
10 a.m.
Girls golf: Central, Dal-
las at Springhill (Albany),
12:45 p.m.
TUESDAY, APRIL 4
Baseball: Central at Sil-
verton, 4:30 p.m. Lebanon
at Dallas, 4:30 p.m. Country
Christian at Perrydale, 4:30
p.m.
Boys tennis: Central at
Crescent Valley, 4 p.m. Dal-
las at Silverton, 4 p.m.
Girls tennis: Crescent
Valley at Central, 4 p.m. Sil-
verton at Dallas, 4 p.m.
Softball: Central at
Lebanon, 4:30 p.m. Silver-
ton at Dallas, 4:30 p.m.
Amity at Perrydale, 4:30
p.m.
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 5
Baseball: Silverton at
Central, 4:30 p.m. Dallas at
Lebanon, 4:30 p.m. West-
ern Oregon at Concordia, 4
p.m.
Softball: Dallas at Cen-
tral, 4:30 p.m.
Track and field: Central
at Silverton, 3:45 p.m. Dal-
las at Crescent Valley, 3:45
p.m.
—
Schedules Subject to
Change
QUICK HITS
Cross Creek
men’s club results
DALLAS — Cross
Creek’s men’s club results
for March 21:
Low gross/low net
Gross: 1, Jim Schroeder,
41; 2, (tie), Rocky Kygar
and Bill Karjala, 42.
Net: 1, Jack Duncan, 35;
2 (tie), Lee Taylor and Larry
Hatcher, 37; 4 (tie), Greg
Fisher and Wayne Weath-
ers, 39.
LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer
www.polkio.com
• Dallas’ boys tennis team will play at Silverton Tuesday at 4
p.m. The Dragons return home to host South Albany on April
6 at 4 p.m., weather permitting.
• Dallas’ girls tennis team defeated Woodburn 8-0 on March
22 and plays at North Marion on Monday before hosting Sil-
verton Tuesday at 4 p.m., weather permitting.
• Follow the Itemizer-Observer on Twitter for updates.
Dallas senior Caedmon Blair returns a shot against Woodburn on March 22.
CENTRAL TRACK AND FIELD
One giant leap
Henke sets school record in girls triple jump during first meet
By Lukas Eggen
Track meet
The Itemizer-Observer
INDEPENDENCE — On March
15, Central’s track and field team
hosted Crescent Valley for its first
meet of the season.
Spirits were high among several of
the Panther athletes.
Sophomore Sophia Henke wasn’t
one of them.
“The weather wasn’t good, and I
was stressed out,” Henke said. “I did-
n’t even know I was supposed to do
the triple jump that day.”
Her plan was just to scratch the
event, but decided to give it a go.
Even though she participated, she
wasn’t pleased with how her jumps
felt.
“It didn’t feel right,” she said. “I
thought, did I really just jump that?”
But Henke said jumps coach Kirk
Saxman was far more positive — and
with good reason. Henke set the
school mark in the triple jump with a
mark of 35 feet, 7 inches, breaking the
previous mark of 35-1½.
“I wasn’t expecting that at all,”
Henke said. “It was crazy, but pretty
cool that it happened.”
—
Henke is a versatile athlete for
Central’s track team. She has com-
peted in sprints, relay teams and
• Central’s track and field team
competed against North Marion
and Woodburn on March 22.
• Isaac Burgett won the boys 200-
meter run in 24.36 seconds and the
400 in 53.70. Other first place fin-
ishes included Aaron Padilla (800,
2:06.83), Zach Meyer (1,500, 4:28.34),
Josh Dickson (300 hurdles, 42.86),
Kyle Aklin (shot put, 44 feet, 10
inches), Alec Barba (high jump, 5-8),
James Rand (pole vault, 11-0), Peter
Mason (long jump, 19-7) and Xander
Bailey (triple jump, 36-9).
• Bethanie Altamirano won the
girls 100 in 13.30. Other first-place
finishes included Bailie Hartford
(1,500, 5:23.33), Diana Nye (3,000,
13:10.43), Annie Taylor (300 hurdles,
58.55), and Lexy Anderson (javelin,
84-9).
Central will compete at Silverton
on April 5. First event begins at 3:45
p.m.
jump events.
But Henke struggled to build mo-
mentum during her freshman year.
“She experienced some injuries
last year,” head coach Eli Cirino said.
“She came back and competed at a
pretty high level, but I don’t think
she was ever at 100 percent.”
See LEAP, Page 12A
Cross Creek
summer league
DALLAS — Cross Creek
Golf Course will hold an
informational meeting on
April 5 at 5:30 p.m. for
team captains of summer
league teams.
There is still time for
players to sign up for the
league, which consists of
teams of six to 12 players
who will compete on
Wednesday nights from
May to September.
Entry fee is $100 per
team. Teams share in the
winnings.
Teams can be made up
of individuals, families
and/or represent a local
business.
For more information:
Lynn Hurt, 503-910-3925
or Dave Watson, 503-871-
2731.
“My backhand is better
and my forehand is better,”
Blair said. “I have more
power, definitely and a bet-
ter understanding of the
game. Last year, my fore-
hand was more of a dinky
shot and I was just trying to
get the ball into play. This
year, I can place the ball to
certain spots. It brings an-
other aspect to the game in-
stead of just running around
on the court.”
Blair’s evolution has not
gone unnoticed as the senior
has played in Dallas’ top sin-
gles spot.
His match against Wood-
burn on March 22 showed
both his potential and what
needs to improve if he wants
to achieve his goal of reach-
ing state.
During his match, Blair
showed off impressive speed
and power — but also strug-
gled to place shots — com-
mitting numerous unforced
errors.
The wind likely had an ef-
fect. The match showed that
Blair has the potential, but
needs to fine tune if he
wants to compete with the
league’s best players.
See BLAIR, Page 12A
ELI CIRINO/for the Itemizer-Observer
Central sophomore Sophia Henke set a school record in the triple jump.
PREP ATHLETICS
Committee favors five-class system
Itemizer-Observer staff report
POLK COUNTY — The
debate will continue on
whether the OSAA should
stick with its current six-
classification system or
change.
The Classification and
Districting Committee held
a public meeting March 20
in Wilsonville to receive
testimony and review writ-
ten communication re-
ceived about potential
changes for the OSAA’s
classification system be-
ginning in the 2018-19
school year.
Cu r re n t l y, t h e O S A A
splits schools into one of
six classifications (1A to 6A)
based on school size.
The committee supports
a draft of a five-classifica-
tion system because of: re-
duced overall travel com-
pared to the current classi-
fication system; greater
depth (number of schools)
in each classification; more
balance when comparing
the number of schools in
each classification; and
provides more stability and
less volatility within and
between classifications
throughout the four-year
time block.
Under the current draft
favored, draft 13, Central
and Dallas would be part
of the Mid-Willamette
Conference in Class 4A
along with Corvallis, Cres-
c e n t Va l l e y, Ne w p o r t ,
South Albany and Sweet
Home.
Perrydale and Falls City
would be part of the Casco
League in class 1A with C.S.
Lewis, Crosshill Christian,
Jewell, Kings Valley, Living-
stone Adventist, Oregon
School for the Deaf, Veritas
a n d W i l l a m e t t e Va l l e y
Christian.
Perrydale athletic direc-
tor Dan Dugan said he
there is no easy solution
and any new system will
have local ramifications,
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but sees some positives to
the draft.
“I think it evens out
t e a m s b e t t e r ov e r a l l ,”
Dugan said. “Right now, 5A
only has 33 teams. That
seems pretty watered down
in many respects. With the
latest proposal, it appears
all classifications will have
at least 42 to 45 teams.”
The OSAA has had a six-
classification system since
the 2006-07 school year.
The committee will hold
meetings on April 10, April
24, May 22, June 20, Sept.
25 and Oct. 16.
www.twitter.com/PolkIOSports