Polk County Sports
Polk County Itemizer-Observer • May 17, 2017 11A
PREP BASEBALL
A perfect ending
Dallas to host Ashland
By Lukas Eggen
The Itemizer-Observer
LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer
Lauren Wallace gets ready to celebrate with teammates after hitting a home run
during Dallas softball team’s 14-4 win over Central on May 9. The Dragons finished
league play with a perfect 18-0 record. Dallas will host a game in the first round of
the state playoffs against a to-be-determined opponent on May 24.
DALLAS — Dallas’ base-
ball team had a rough end
to its league season, losing
two of three to Corvallis
and five of its last six over-
all.
But the Dragons remain
confident ahead of its state
play-in game against Ash-
land Friday at 5 p.m.
“We took away that we
can play with anyone,”
coach Scot McDonald said.
“We just need to play clean.
If we do the small things,
we can play with anyone.
We are much improved
from the beginning of the
year. We just need to keep
getting better at having
complete games at what we
do.”
Dallas finished fourth in
the Mid-Willamette Con-
ference. Ashland finished
fifth in the Midwestern
League.
“Ashland has great pitch-
ing and that drives confi-
dence,” McDonald said.
“We will need to have a
great approach against the
guys on the mound and
compete every at-bat and
don’t give up outs cheap.”
Ashland gave up 4.4 runs
per game during the regu-
lar season.
“To come out on top, we
need to string some hits to-
gether,” McDonald said.
“We need clutch at-bats
with two outs and make
them play defense.”
STATE PLAY-IN GAME
What: Ashland (13-11 overall, 10-11 Midwestern League,
fifth place) vs. Dallas (15-11 overall, 12-9 Mid-Willamette Con-
ference, fourth place).
When: Friday, 5 p.m.
Where: Dallas High School.
Admission: Adults, $6; students $4.
What’s at stake: The winner advances to the first round of
the state playoffs on May 24. The loser is eliminated.
Dallas: Collins wins a district title in the pole vault
Continued from Page 10A
Even the 300 hurdles
proved to be more difficult
than it may have looked.
“At the beginning, we
had a pretty bad headwind
hit us,” he said. “At the sec-
ond hurdle, the rain started
coming, so even though I
thought I had a hold on the
race, there are always new
variables.”
He still found a way to
set a new personal record
in the race.
Deming will be busy at
state — but that’s just the
way he likes it.
“It’s very exciting,” he
said. “I’m proud of myself
to see all the hard work pay
off. I’d be disappointed if I
wasn’t preparing for state
(this) week.”
—
Last year, hurdlers Ste-
fani Tallon and Jenifer
Webb finished first and
second in the 100 hurdles.
Now both seniors, the
pair had their sights set on
defending their spots.
“It’s all I wanted to do
this year was to finish 1
and 2 again and have one
more shot at state,” Webb
said.
Mission accomplished.
Webb won the race in
16.14 seconds with Tallon a
close second in 16.18 —
holding off a stiff challenge
from Crescent Valley’s Jor-
dyn Edwards, who took
third.
“I could see Jordyn Ed-
wards running next to me
at the start,” Tallon said. “I
knew Jen was in the lane
next to me and I was won-
d e r i n g
where she
w a s .
A b o u t
halfway
through
the race, I
saw her
arms start
Collins
to come
up next to me and I
thought here she comes.
When we crossed the fin-
ish line, I knew it was us.
It’s an incredible feeling,
and it’s great that we both
get to go and share this
moment.”
Tallon also finished sec-
ond in the 300 hurdles.
Now, the duo’s focus
turns to state.
“It all comes down to
that final race,” Tallon said.
“We’ve prepared for that
pressure. We were pretty
confident (ahead of dis-
tricts). At state, we’ll go
hard and hopefully other
people fail under pressure
and we don’t.”
Regardless of what hap-
pens, Tallon and Webb are
grateful that they get one
last chance to experience it
together.
“It’s so special,” Webb
said. “We want to leave
everything out on the line,
reach finals and get on that
podium. This is a great
end.”
—
Senior Jake Collins had
little interest in trying the
pole vault when he first ar-
rived at Dallas High School.
But, his mom convinced
him to try it his sophomore
season.
LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer
Dallas freshman Hailey VanWell qualified for state in the
triple jump after placing second at districts on Saturday.
“She thought I could do
well in it,” Collins said.
“She was right.”
Collins took home a dis-
trict title with a height of 13
feet, 6 inches on Saturday
— the culmination of three
seasons of hard work and
dedication — and a long
way from his first attempts
at the event as a sopho-
more.
“It’s scary getting up
there,” Collins said. “It’s an
uncomfortable, hard mo-
tion but once you get past
that, it flows smoothly.”
On Friday, it all went
smoothly for Collins.
“When I stepped onto
the runway, I thought of
the perform form, planting
high and all the little things
that it takes to get over the
bar, and that carried me
through,” Collins said. “It’s
exciting. It’s an adrenaline
rush, and when you clear a
good height, it’s just a good
feeling.”
Collins is ready to take
that good feeling all the
way to Eugene.
“It’s awesome,” he said.
“I never thought I’d see my-
self winning a district title
in any sport.”
—
If freshman Hailey Van-
Well had her way, she
would have never stepped
onto the track at all.
It seemed everyone else
— from her mom to her
volleyball coaches to coach
Jason White all saw what
she didn’t: Massive poten-
tial.
“I remember watching a
volleyball match with
Aaron, and I saw Hailey,
and I stood up and pointed
and asked, ‘who is that?’”
White said.
White envisioned Van-
Well as a star jumper.
Just one problem.
VanWell didn’t want to
do track and field.
“My mom made me do
it,” she said. “My volleyball
coaches told me it could
help and my mom was like,
‘oh, you’re doing this.’”
Even after she joined,
her preference was going to
be the javelin — though
that was a short-lived ex-
periment.
“I had my mind set on
javelin,” VanWell said. “I
tried it but I wasn’t very
good at it.”
White convinced her to
give jumps a try this spring
and, despite zero experi-
ence with long jump, triple
jump or the high jump, she
finished second in the
triple jump at the district
championships on Satur-
day.
Now, she’s headed to
state.
“I feel good,” she said.
“It’s been a great experi-
ence.”
It sure beats sitting at
home.
“Coach told me I could
go places,” VanWell said.
“He was right.”
—
Dallas also saw Trevor
Cross (second, 3,000-
meter run, 9:04.98), Jacob
Ronco (second, javelin,
146-7), Aaron White (sec-
ond, triple jump, 43-11¼),
Amelia Burgess (second,
girls discus, 115-3), and
Kayley Sayer (second, long
jump, 16-1½) qualify for
state.
Cody Webb did not com-
pete due to injury.
PREP TRACK AND FIELD
Pope sets PR, wins a district title
By Lukas Eggen
The Itemizer-Observer
PORTLAND — Perrydale
senior Jacob Pope wasn’t
sure this was the year.
With weather that threat-
ened to bring rain and wind,
Pope knew he needed to be
at his best in the javelin at
the Special District 1 District
track and field champi-
onships.
Even then, he wasn’t sure
it would be good enough.
But Pope set a personal
record with a throw of 158
feet, 1 inch — enough to put
him in first place.
Then, the waiting game
began.
“I started thinking, who is
going to be able to beat me,”
Pope said. “I kept holding
my breath and wanted to
keep composure and not
freak out because anything
could have happened.”
No one was able to beat
Pope’s mark and, after four
years of throwing, Pope
could celebrate as a district
champion at last.
“There was excitement
and relief,” he said. “I have a
lot of gratitude for my
coach (Brian Evans). He’s
been with me since fresh-
man year. It’s really hard to
explain. I’m just over-
whelmed. I thought if I even
got to go to state, it would
be in second.”
BRIAN EVANS/for the Itemizer-Observer
Jacob Pope, Amity Deters and Abigail Bibler are headed to state.
LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer
Amity Deters qualified for state in the 300-meter hur-
dles, the long jump and the high jump.
Pope’s performance was
one Evans won’t likely forget.
“Jacob’s title was the high-
light of the meet for me,”
Evans said. “I’ve been work-
ing with him for four years
and to finish his senior sea-
son with the great throws he
had, it was a very emotional
moment for me and his fam-
ily. He has the third best
throw in the state at the 1A
level.”
Pope’s performance was
far from the only highlight
put on by the Pirates.
Amity Deters finished sec-
ond in the girls high jump
(4-6) and long jump (14-9½)
and earned a wild card bid
to state after taking third in
the 300-meter hurdles (51.34
seconds).
“Amity had an amazing
meet and she has a chance
to do very well at state,”
Evans said.
Abigail Bibler also quali-
fied for state after taking sec-
ond in the shot put (30-8).
CLASS 1A TRACK AND FIELD STATE
CHAMPIONSHIPS
When: Thursday, 10 a.m.; Friday, 2:30 p.m.
Where: Hayward Field, University of Oregon, Eugene.
Admission: Adults, $12; students and children, $5.
Perrydale qualifiers: BOYS — Jacob Pope, sr., javelin
(seeded third). GIRLS — Amity Deters, fr., 300-meter hurdles
(seeded fifth), long jump (seeded 10th), high jump (seeded
13th); Abigail Bibler, jr., shot put (seeded eighth).