Polk County
Sports
QUICK HITS
Cross Creek
women’s club
results
DALLAS — Cross Creek
Women’s Club results for
July 31.
Nine holes: 1 (tie), Car-
olyn Wall and Laurilee
Hatcher, 16; 3, Jan Danken-
bring, 17; 4, Sherril Hurt, 18.
Eighteen holes: 1, Lau-
rilee Hatcher, 33; 2, Shirley
Watson, 39..
Cross Creek
men’s club results
DALLAS — Cross Creek’s
men’s club results for Aug.
1:
Low gross/low net
Gross: 1 (tie), Derrill
Weaver, Eldon Rivers and
Wayne Weathers, 39.
Net: 1 (tie), David White,
Ken Dankenbring and Kevin
O’Brien, 34; 4 (tie), Al
Fahlman, Lynn Hurt, Roy
Speelman and Dave Voves,
35.
Polk County Itemizer-Observer • August 9, 2017 10A
Rough Stock Rodeo returns Thursday
By Lukas Eggen
The Itemizer-Observer
POLK COUNTY — Ride
’em cowboy.
The Hell on Hooves Rough
Stock Rodeo returns Thurs-
day at 7 p.m. As cowboys
and cowgirls compete, ex-
pect to see fans flock to the
rodeo arena for some high-
speed excitement.
“They can expect a wreck
every eight seconds and lots
of action,” organizer Wayne
White said.
This year’s rodeo will fea-
ture bareback riding, saddle
bronc riding, bull riding, bar-
rel racing and mutton bust-
ing and some of the best
from the area putting on a
show for fans.
“Champions from all over
the northwest will be on
hand to compete,” White
said.
The rodeo, which has
been a fixture at the fair
since 2015, and has proven
to be one of the most popu-
lar draws.
“The county fair and rodeo
are both family entertainment
for the entire family. From 8 to
80, there is something for
everybody,” White said.
See RODEO, Page 11A
The Rough Stock Rodeo re-
turns Thursday at 7 p.m.
The rodeo will feature
bareback riding, saddle
bronc riding, bull riding,
barrel racing and mutton
busting. Admission to the
rodeo is free with paid fair
entry.
Cost is $8 before 4 p.m.
Thursday and $10 after 4.
LUKAS EGGEN/
Itemizer-Observer file
Registration open
for 5K fun run
DALLAS — Registration
is open now for the 5K Solar
Run on Aug. 20 at 6:30 p.m.
The race will begin at
Lyle Elementary School, 185
SW Levens St., Dallas.
Cost is $25 through Aug.
19. Children ages 5 and
younger are free with a
paid adult.
Entry fee includes a shirt
and eclipse glasses.
Registration is available
online at www.secure.get-
meregistered.com/get_in-
formation.php?event_id=1
27504.
The Solar Run is also
looking for volunteers.
Help is needed for the
check-in table, race support
and drink station.
For more information:
Sheri
Beehner,
sbeehner@wvpha.org.
PHOTO COURTESY OF CHRISTOPHER RAMSEY/Itemizer-Observer
Christopher Ramsey has helped raised more than $32,000 for the National MS Society so far in 2017.
Raising the bar
Fall sports forms
due Thursday
DALLAS — Registration
forms for fall sports at Dal-
las High School are due
Thursday.
Official school practices
begin Monday. Student-
athletes must turn in forms
by Thursday to practice on
Monday.
The athletic office will be
closed Friday.
Cost is $150 for all sports.
Sports physicals are due
every two years.
Forms are available on-
line or outside the athletic
office.
For more information:
503-831-1976.
Highburger earns
preseason honor
MONMOUTH — Western
Oregon linebacker Bo High-
burger was named to Col-
lege Football America 2017
Yearbook Division II defen-
sive starting lineup.
High-
burger
w a s
named
fi r s t
t e a m
a l l -
Great
North-
w e s t
Highburger Athletic
Conference in 2016 after
finishing second in the
conference in tackles with
111 and fourth in tackles-
for-loss with 13.5.
The Wolves open the
2017 season at Idaho State
on Aug. 31. WOU’s first
home game is Sept. 9 at 1
p.m. against Central Wash-
ington.
By Lukas Eggen
The Itemizer-Observer
MONMOUTH — Multiple Sclero-
sis is a chronic condition that affects
the brain and spinal cord. Its symp-
toms can be debilitating. The dis-
ease, which affects more than 2.3
million people worldwide, according
to the National MS Society, can
cause blurred vision, loss of balance,
slurred speech, tremors, numbness,
extreme fatigue, paralysis and blind-
ness.
Beaverton resident Christopher
Ramsey, who was recognized during
Bike MS at Western Oregon Univer-
sity on Saturday with the “limitless
award,” is out to prove that MS does-
n’t have to keep you down.
“You need to raise the bar,” Ram-
sey said. “I need to keep that bar as
high as it can be. If MS is going to
take my endurance, take my
strength, take, take, take, what can I
do to make sure that no matter how
much it takes, there’s still room for
that bar to drop.”
—
Ramsey was born to move.
He ran his first mile at age 2,
alongside his father in a local fun
run. Ramsey wouldn’t be content
with that.
Prior to 2008, Ramsey had com-
peted in multiple Ironman
triathlons — a race consisting of a
2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride
and a 26.2-mile run, and competed
six times in the Ironman World
Championships in Kona, Hawaii.
“I started racing triathlons when I
got into college,” Ramsey said. “I
found a sport that I was really good
at.”
His life began to change in 2008.
“Within a couple weeks, I would
try for a half an hour ride on my bike
trainer, and it would feel like I had
just done an Ironman,” Ramsey said.
It wouldn’t be long before he was
diagnosed.
Ramsey had MS.
Instead of letting the disease de-
fine him, Ramsey decided to take
the fight to the disease.
“This is my future,” Ramsey said.
“You can still be angry about it, but
you can either choose to do some-
thing about it or let it do something
to you.”
See RIDE, Page 11A
COLLEGE VOLLEYBALL
Wolves ready for trial by fire
By Lukas Eggen
The Itemizer-Observer
Dallas swim coach
steps down
DALLAS — Dallas High
School swim coach Dave
Morelli will not return for
the 2017-18 season.
Athletic director Tim Lar-
son said the position is not
yet open for applications.
Morelli coached the
Dragons for the past two
seasons.
www.polkio.com
LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer
Bike MS returned to Western Oregon University on Friday, Saturday and
Sunday to raise money for MS research.
LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer file
Western Oregon finished 10-17 overall in 2016.
MONMOUTH — The 2016
season was always going to
be a transitional one for West-
ern Oregon’s volleyball team.
A new coach, Tommy Gott,
meant learning a new system
and new expectations.
The result was a 10-17
record overall.
With a year under his belt
as head coach, Gott and the
Wolves are ready to take a
big step forward in 2017.
Gott’s first season with the
Wolves led to modest im-
provements record-wise —
WOU finished 8-21 the sea-
son prior to
his arrival.
But it
also had its
share of
ups and
d ow n s —
highlighted
by the fact
Bettinson
that Gott
and his staff had to try and
make changes on the fly.
“You learn a lot in your
first year, I’ll tell you that
much,” Gott said. “A lot of it
was making sure that myself,
and the team overall, trusted
the process. I know for my-
self, and sometimes in the
team, there’s some frustra-
www.facebook.com/pages/Polk-County-Itemizer-Observer/205062686252209
tion that
c o m e s
along with
the process
of learning
a new sys-
tem, and a
new style of
play and all
Gott
the things
that come along with that.
… It’s not easy coming in
and expecting things to be
changed right away.”
With most of the major
growing pains behind them,
Gott expects a year of famil-
iarity with players will pay
big dividends this fall.
See WOLVES Page 11A
www.twitter.com/PolkIOSports