Polk County Sports
Polk County Itemizer-Observer • August 30, 2017 13A
PREP CROSS-COUNTRY
Coach seeks elusive accomplishment
By Lukas Eggen
The Itemizer-Observer
DALLAS — When cross-
country coach Monique
Lankheet joined Dallas High
School in 1996, it was never
meant to be her final stop as
a coach.
Dallas was her first job
after graduating from West-
ern Oregon University — but
something unexpected hap-
pened.
“My son graduated, and I
thought it might be fun to
coach at a bigger school or a
school with a little more
money,” Lankheet said. “I
kept getting attached to the
kids. I kept saying after you
books on training.”
When she arrived at West-
ern Oregon University, she
was approached by another
student about joining the
cross-country team.
Lankheet had her reserva-
tions since she had never
run competitively on a team
before. She eventually caved
in and tried out for the team
— and made it.
“The cool thing about it is
it gave me confidence,”
Lankheet said. “I don’t know
that I learned a ton from
being on the team, but I felt
like, now I’m a runner. Kids
respect that. Now, when I tell
them this is what we’re going
to do, they go, ‘Oh, you were
graduate, I’ll go. No, after
you graduate, I’ll leave.”
After more than two
decades at Dallas, Lankheet
has become synonymous
with the Dragons’ cross-
country program.
“Now, I’m here to stay,” she
said.
—
The world of running has
always intrigued Lankheet,
but she lacked the opportu-
nities to run competitively.
“I’ve always been a run-
ner, but I wasn’t born in the
right generation,” she said.
“We didn’t have athletics at
my high school, but I
learned how to do and
write workouts. I’d read
a runner, so it’s OK.’ I under-
stood the commitment and
saw the coach’s role on a
team. I don’t know if I’d be
coaching if I hadn’t made the
team.”
When she came to Dallas,
Lankheet understood how to
write workouts and had a
plan how to best train her
runners.
What she wasn’t prepared
for was finding the balance
between training her ath-
letes as runners and as peo-
ple.
“In the beginning I had so
many rules,” she said. “You
have to do this or that. Then,
I was super easy where you
could do anything wrong
and you’re still on the team.”
It took some time, but she
realized cross-country was
as much about developing
people as it was about run-
ners
“I was more worried about
whether people liked being
on the team than developing
some character,” Lankheet
said. “Now for me, it’s more
about providing experiences
that can last a lifetime. Hard
work, dedication, support-
ing your teammates, these
are things that you have to
do as runners, as business
people and as family mem-
bers.”
Dallas has accomplished a
lot during Lankheet’s tenure.
There’s just one thing she’s
hoping changes. She’s never
taken a team to state.
“I think this is the year,”
Lankheet said. “I’m opti-
mistic we can do it. I want it
mainly for the kids to experi-
ence that joy and be proud
of their accomplishments.”
Staying at Dallas may not
have been her original plan,
but today, Lankheet can’t see
herself coaching anywhere
else. Above all else, it’s be-
come her home.
“I feel like this is my pro-
gram, like this is home,” she
said. “I’ve watched it grow
and develop with the help of
a lot of people. It’s been a re-
ally fun experience.”
Sending it back
CENTRAL VOLLEYBALL
Panthers earn five set
victory over Stayton
Itemizer-Observer staff report
INDEPENDENCE — Cen-
tral’s volleyball team opened
the 2017 season with a 23-25,
25-22, 25-22, 23-25, 15-6 win
over Stayton on Thursday.
“We got some of the nerves
out in that first match,”
coach Claudine Mendazona
said.
The win wasn’t always
pretty. The Panthers led for
much of the first set before
Stayton rallied. Combined
with early season jitters,
Mendazona said there’s
plenty of room for improve-
ment.
“We weren’t firing on all
cylinders,” she said. “There’s
a lot of stuff we need to
sharpen up. We’re going to
get our ro-
t a t i o n
where
it
needs
to
be. We’ve
m a d e
s o m e
changes
weekly and
Omlid
that can be
hard for the girls to deal
with that. Luckily, we have a
few preseason matches. We
can make the adjustments
we need to make, which is
big for us.”
Central plays at North
Marion Thursday at 4:30
p.m. before opening Mid-
Willamette Conference play
at home against Silverton
Tuesday at 6 p.m.
LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer
Grace Holstad (11) attempts to spike the ball during Central’s victory over Stayton on Thursday evening.
Wolves: Western Oregon finished tied for third in 2016
LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer file
The Wolves finished tied for third in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference in 2016.
Serving it up
Continued from Page 12A
Torreahno Sweet returns
as the top running back,
though Fenumiai is the
team’s top returning rusher.
Linebackers Bo High-
burger and Tyler Johnson
will help anchor the de-
fense. Highburger led the
Wolves in tackles in 2016
with 111, while Johnson
recorded 65 tackles, five
sacks and an interception.
Highburger was a first team
all-conference selection.
Johnson was named to the
second team.
“Their speed and ability to
make plays is starting to
stand out,” Ferguson said.
Senior defensive lineman
Michael Kluge, who earned
an all-GNAC honorable
mention in 2016, will have a
shot to be a more disruptive
force in opponents’ back-
fields.
Western Oregon’s ability to
get consistent pressure will
be imperative as an inexpe-
rienced secondary tries to
learn on of the fly.
“The secondary guys are
fairly new,” Ferguson said.
“They’re working hard to
get used to each other, but
it’s going to take some
time.”
WOU’s schedule will be
difficult. The Wolves open
the season against Division
I school Idaho State on
Thursday.
“They are a fast and a
physical team,” Ferguson
said. “It will be a good test
for us. Last year, we were
successful, but that was last
year. We’re not going to
sneak up on anybody.”
Western Oregon’s first
home game won’t be until
Sept. 23 when the team
hosts Humboldt State after
road games against Central
Washington and Western
New Mexico.
If the Wolves can get
steady play from their de-
fensive backs and a steady
hand at quarterback, Fergu-
son expects to see WOU in
the thick of the conference
title race.
“We’re excited to see what
we can do,” Ferguson said.
PERRYDALE VOLLEYBALL
Pirates go 6-2 at tournament
Itemizer-Observer staff report
MOLALLA — Perrydale’s
volleyball team went 6-2 at
the 1A Season Preview on
Friday and Saturday at
Country Christian High
School.
The Pirates went 2-2 on
Friday, falling to Country
Christian 25-15, 25-11 and
North Douglas 26-24, 25-21
and defeating Joseph 25-16,
25-21 and Ione 25-11, 25-15.
Perrydale won all four
matches on Saturday, beat-
ing Powder Valley 25-18, 23-
25, 15-9; Trinity Lutheran
25-17, 25-9; Hosanna Chris-
tian 25-15, 23-25, 16-14; and
South Wasco County 25-15,
25-20.
“We started our season
out strong,” coach Denise
Dickey said. “I am very
happy with how our team
is playing. We have not had
a lot of gym time, so I am
hoping to see some big im-
provements in our of-
fense.”
The Pirates hosted Falls
City Tuesday after press
time.
Perrydale plays Triad and
North Clackamas Christian
Thursday at 4:45 and 6:30
p.m., respectively, before
hosting Livingstone Adven-
tist Tuesday at 6 p.m.
FALLS CITY VOLLEYBALL
Falls City defeats Southwest Christian
Itemizer-Observer staff report
FALLS CITY — Falls City’s
volleyball team defeated
Southwest Christian 25-16,
25-18, 25-17 on Friday in the
LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer
Central junior Elizabeth Chavez goes up for a serve during the first set of Central’s
season-opening victory over Thurston on Thursday evening. The Panthers won 23-
25, 25-22, 25-22, 23-25, 15-6. Central opens Mid-Willamette Conference play on
Tuesday at 6 p.m. when the Panthers host Silverton.
team’s first match of the 2017
season.
The Mountaineers played
at Perrydale Tuesday after
press time.
Falls City plays at Crosshill
Christian Tuesday at 6 p.m.
The Mountaineers host
Livingstone Adventist on
Sept. 6 at 6 p.m.