Polk County
Sports
Wolves ready to run
SCHEDULE
THURSDAY, AUG. 24
Boys soccer: Dallas at
Century Jamboree, 3:30
p.m.
Girls soccer: Dallas at
Century Jamboree, 10:30
a.m.
Volleyball: Central at
Stayton, 6 p.m. Dallas at
Jamboree (at Lebanon),
TBA.
FRIDAY, AUG. 25
Football: Dallas at Cas-
cade Jamboree, 7 p.m.
Volleyball: Southwest
Christian at Falls City, 6 p.m.
Perrydale at 1A Season Pre-
view (at Country Christian),
10 a.m.
SATURDAY, AUG. 26
Boys soccer: South Al-
bany at Central, 1 p.m.
Volleyball: Perrydale at
1A Season Preview (at
Country Christian), noon.
TUESDAY, AUG. 29
Boys soccer: Dallas at
Stayton, 3 p.m.
Girls soccer: Stayton at
Dallas, 4 p.m.
Volleyball: Falls City at
Perrydale, 6 p.m.
WEDNESDAY, AUG. 30
Boys soccer: Central at
Thurston, 4:30 p.m.
—
Schedules Subject to Change
QUICK HITS
Hole in one
DALLAS — Jack Cramer
recorded a hole in one at
Dallas Golf Club on Aug. 18.
Cramer’s ace came on the
eighth hole using an 8-iron.
Cross Creek
men’s club results
DALLAS — Cross Creek’s
men’s club results for Aug.
15:
Low gross/low net
Gross: 1 (tie), Paul Disney
and Bob McCleery, 38; 3,
Don Seth, 39; 4, Rocky
Kygar, 40.
Net: 1, Jason Fahlman,
32; 2, Al Fahlman, 33; 3 (tie),
Chuck Woodbeck and Jack
Duncan, 34; 5, Rich Do-
minick, 35; 6 (tie), Terry
Reed, Wayne Baughman,
Bob Hughes, Mike Largent
and Roy Speelman, 36.
WOU football picked
fourth in GNAC
Polk County Itemizer-Observer • August 23, 2017 10A
By Lukas Eggen
The Itemizer-Observer
MONMOUTH — Western
Oregon senior Kennedy
Rufener enters the 2017 sea-
son as the Wolves’ top
women’s cross-country run-
ner.
But it wasn’t always that
way — far from it, in fact.
—
When Rufener graduated
from high
school, she
figured her
running
career was
over.
Her sen-
ior year of
h i g h
school, her
Rufener
season best
in the 5-kilometer race was
24 minutes, 38 seconds.
“I always loved running,
but I was just so bad that
when (high school) was
over, I was like, there’s no
hope for me,” Rufener said.
She attended Southern
Oregon University for a term
and was approached about
running — she turned them
down.
“I basically said ‘no, you
don’t know how bad my
times were,’ and I just
walked away,” she said.
And yet, the desire to run
never fully disappeared.
She transferred to Clacka-
mas Community College,
where she was convinced to
try running competitively
again.
“It was very slow
progress,” Rufener said. “But
I knew I wanted to continue
to run at a different school.”
That school was Western
Oregon.
“Almost two years ago, I
talked to coach Johnson and
asked him if I could join the
team,” Rufener said. “He
told me, ‘well, your times
aren’t very quick, but we’ll
give it a try.’”
Si n c e t h a t m o m e n t ,
Rufener has seen steady
LUKAS EGGEN/ Itemizer-Observer file
Western Oregon senior David Ribich placed fifth at the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships in 2016.
progress — and realized the
sport she was ready to walk
away from was actually what
she wanted to do for as long
as she could.
“Through all the training, I
realized I really love this,”
Rufener said. “It’s what I
want to do after college. The
more coach stuck with me
and the people around me
stuck with me, I loved it
more.”
Last season, Rufener was
the women’s team’s top fin-
isher at the Great Northwest
Athletic Conference Cham-
pionships.
She’s got her eyes set on
qualifying for nationals this
year.
But she has newfound
confidence that she has
what it takes to make it hap-
pen.
“When I first got here,
coach would give me a
workout and I would be re-
ally negative about it and
think, ‘I can’t do this,’”
Rufener said. “In the last
year or so, he’s proven to me
— and I’ve proven to myself
— that I can do this.”
The work has paid off. As
a junior, Rufener took ninth
at the GNAC Champi-
onships — finishing the 6-
kilometer race in 22:41.3.
She’s out to take the next
step this fall.
“My personal goal is to
qualify for nationals,” she
said.
Rufener will see some re-
turning faces, including jun-
ior Grace Knapp and senior
Suzanne Van De Grift.
With seven freshmen
joining the team, competi-
tion will be stiff among the
runners.
“We have quite a few new
faces,” Rufener said. “I think
we’ll be stronger.”
The men’s squad returns
all scoring runners from the
GNAC Championships in
2016, led by senior David
Ribich, who took fifth at the
G N AC C h a m p i o n s h i p s.
Joining him are junior
Dustin Nading, sophomore
Justin Crosswhite and jun-
ior Tyler Jones, among oth-
ers.
As a team, the men placed
fourth in 2016. The Wolves
have even bigger goals for
this fall.
“We’re chomping at the
bit to get things underway,”
Ribich said. “… Pressure is a
really interesting word. I
don’t think we feel pressure
as much as we’re excited
about the opportunity.”
The key will be trusting
that their preparation will
shine when it matters most.
“I think ultimately it
comes down to confidence,”
Ribich said. “We have to trust
in each other and the work-
outs and stay consistent. I’m
not sure what we can achieve
this year, but I’m not setting
any limits on it.”
Eclipsing the competition
MONMOUTH — Western
Oregon’s football team was
picked fourth in the Great
Northwest Athletic Confer-
ence preseason coaches
poll.
The Wolves finished 4-6
overall in 2016.
Azusa Pacific was chosen
to repeat as champions.
Central Washington was
picked to place second, and
Humboldt State was cho-
sen third.
Western Oregon opens
the 2017 season at Idaho
State on Aug. 31. The team’s
first home game is Sept. 23
against Humboldt State.
Soccer predicted
to finish eighth
MONMOUTH — Western
Oregon’s women’s soccer
team was picked to finish
eighth in the Great North-
west Athletic Conference’s
preseason poll.
WOU received 23 points,
ahead of only Saint Martin’s.
Reigning NCAA Division
II national champions West-
ern Washington was picked
to repeat as conference
champs.
Western Oregon went 5-
11-1 in 2016.
The Wolves open the
2017 season by hosting
Biola on Aug. 31 and San
Francisco State on Sept. 2.
Top: Conrad Farmer takes
a shot during the Dallas,
Oregon Recreation Inc.
disc golf tournament at
Dallas City Park on Satur-
day morning.
Fall sports section
Left: Two runners sprint to
the finish of the Dallas
Family Night Out 5K run
on Sunday evening.
The event drew more than
100 runners and walkers.
The Fall Sports section
will be coming in the Sept.
6 issue of the Itemizer-Ob-
server.
Online
LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer
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