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About Polk County itemizer observer. (Dallas, Or) 1992-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 27, 2017)
Polk County Sports Polk County Itemizer-Observer • September 27, 2017 13A Kiner: Dallas opens league play against Lebanon Continued from Page 12A “Co ach i n g g i rl s i s a unique perspective,” coach Kendra Steele said. “It’s kind of awesome, though. The more experienced players get the opportunity to teach the less experienced — or the new — players a whole new game. We thrive be- cause we love soccer. We get to show the other players why we love soccer so much.” Steele matched experi- enced players with less ex- perienced ones. “I want to put them in a big sister or a mentor type of role,” Steele said. “It forces them to speak up and take on that leadership role in a good way. I’ve definitely seen Callista start to speak up more. She also learned that team is more than just self. It’s about all the other girls put together so every- one can achieve more.” This season also meant players have redefined goals. The Dragons aren’t wor- ried about wins and losses or the number of goals scored or given up. Instead, it’s about the small victo- ries. “It’s not all about win- ning,” Kiner said. “The score, that’s what the fans see. To us, it’s much more than the score. It’s about making small progress. Maybe it’s moving the ball up the field more or hav- ing five consecutive pass- es.” Progress has been steady. “We’re much better in our spacing,” Kiner said. “We used to just be clumped to- gether like playing soccer in elementary school.” The Dragons open Mid- Willamette Conference play by hosting Lebanon Tuesday at 4 p.m. where the chal- lenges will be stiff, but the Dragons know the final score won’t necessarily be indicative of how far they’ve come. “We’ll be playing our game,” Steele said. “The scoreboard is someone else’s expectation of a win.” DALLAS ROUNDUP Cross takes third at MWC preview Itemizer-Observer staff report GERVAIS — Dallas junior cross-country runner Trevor Cross finished third at the Mid-Willamette Conference Preview Meet on Sept. 20. Cross finished the 5-kilo- meter course in 16 minutes, 6.14 seconds. Drew Roberts, of Crescent Valley, took first in 16:00.67, and CV’s AJ Sandvig placed second in 16:04.55. Dallas’ boys squad fin- ished second in the team standings behind Crescent Valley. Freshman Toby Ruston finished eighth in 17:08.42; sophomore Gavin Grass took 12th in 17:20.78; junior Orion Knudson placed 20th in 17:47.41; and freshman Dillon Stuhr took 27th in 18:10.76 to round out the Dragons’ scoring runners. Junior Bekah Rocak fin- ished 25th in the girls race in 22:58.19. Sophomore Melody Hight took 32nd in 23:40.88, and sophomore Mikayla Thiel placed 33rd in 23:42.39. “We had a great meet,” coach Monique Lankheet said. “All but three runners got a season best. I do value the outcome of the meet, but I also know that things can change. Kids get injured, some kids may not have run, so I know things are fluid, but I am hope- fully that if we can work hard, we have g o t t e n Cross some posi- tive feedback that going to state is possible.” Dallas also competed at the Three Course Challenge on Saturday. Cross finished second in the boys moderate course in 19:10. The Dragons will compete at the Nike Portland XC Invi- tational Saturday morning. FOOTBALL FALLS TO GLEN- COE: Dallas’ football team built a 20-0 lead, but couldn’t hang on for the win, losing to Glen- coe 40-35 on Friday. Touchdown runs by Brycen Grillo and Jaret Stewart, and a 27-yard touchdown pass from Stewart to Treve Earhart put Dallas up in the first quarter. Glencoe scored twice in the second to close the gap to 27- 13 at the half. Camden Frizelle scored a rushing touchdown for the Dragons in the second quarter. Grillo scored his second touchdown of the game in the third quarter, but three touch- downs by Glencoe trimmed Dallas’ lead to 35-33 entering the fourth. Glencoe returned an inter- ception 99 yards for a touch- down in the fourth to take the lead for good. Frizelle finished the loss with 161 rushing yards and a touchdown. Grillo had 11 car- ries for 58 yards and two touchdowns. Dallas (2-2 overall, 0-1 MWC) hosts Central Friday at 7 p.m. VOLLEYBALL DOWNS CEN- TRAL: Dallas’ volleyball team went 2-0 in league play last week, defeating Central 25-19, 25-14, 26-24 on Sept. 19 and Woodburn 25-12, 25-12, 25-7 on Thursday. The Dragons also split a pair of matches at the Oregon City Tournament on Saturday. Dal- las defeated Gresham 25-14, 25-20 before falling to Canby 25-22, 26-24. The Dragons (6-7 overall, 2-4 Mid-Willamette Conference) played South Albany Tuesday after press time. Dallas hosts Lebanon Thursday at 6 p.m. be- fore playing at Crescent Valley Tuesday at 6 p.m. BOYS SOCCER LOSES TWO: Dallas’ boys soccer team dropped a pair of matches last week. The Dragons fell to Parkrose 6-0 on Sept. 19 before losing to Sandy 8-3 on Thurs- day. Dallas (1-4 overall) played Milwaukie Tuesday after press time. The Dragons close out the nonleague season by host- ing St. Helens Saturday at 4 p.m. Dallas opens league play at Lebanon Tuesday at 4 p.m. LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer Central’s boys soccer team tied La Salle 1-1 on Thursday. CENTRAL ROUNDUP Boys soccer ties La Salle Itemizer-Observer staff report MILWAUKIE — The Cen- tral boys soccer team tied La Salle 1-1 on Thursday. Omar Ceja scored for the Panthers. “When the game started, it seemed like we were a lit- tle nervous,” coach Joe Orozco said. “As the match progressed, we started to distribute the ball a little more and feel more confi- dent. La Salle is a tough team and they don't make many mistakes.” “We battled throughout the entire game and we came home with a tie. Overall, the boys were dis- appointed but we know what we need to work on. We are going to continue to work hard to accomplish our goal. Everyone is con- tributing in one way or an- other and we are coming together as a team.” The Panthers (5-0-1) will p l a y a t Mo u n t a i n s i d e Thursday at 7:30 p.m. be- fore hosting Silverton Tues- day at 6 p.m. GIRLS SOCCER DROPS TWO: Central’s girls soccer team lost a pair of nonleague matches last week. The Pan- thers fell to Madison 4-2 on Sept. 19 and Milwaukie 10-0 on Thursday. Central finished its nonleague season with a 1- 4 mark overall. The Panthers open league play at Silverton Tuesday at 6 p.m. VOLLEYBALL LOSES TWO: Central's volleyball squad lost a pair of league matches last week. The Panthers lost to Dallas 25-19, 25-14, 26-24 on Sept. 19 and Corvallis 25-17, 25-20, 25-8 on Thursday. Central (5-6 overall) played Woodburn Tuesday after press time. The Panthers play at Sil- verton Thursday at 6 p.m. be- fore hosting South Albany Tuesday at 6 p.m. PREP CROSS-COUNTRY Brown, Hartford lead Panthers at race By Lukas Eggen ELI CIRINO/for the Itemizer-Observer Jonathon Brown placed 10th at the MWC preview meet. The Itemizer-Observer Cross-country INDEPENDENCE — The Mid-Willamette Conference Preview Meet on Sept. 20 is just that. It offers the first chance for all of the league’s cross-country squads to compete against each other in the same place. “I say it means very little, but it’s an indicator of what the rest of the league looks like,” Central coach Eli Cirino said. The Central girls squad finished third at the meet, while the guys finished sixth. While Cirino said a lot can change between the preview meet and the district meet, the Panthers viewed the race as a measuring stick. “I was gauging where other people were at,” senior Bailie Hartford said. “There were a couple people who were closer to me than be- fore at the Ash Creek race. The preview meet put every- one else in perspective so I could see who I should stick with, and who I should be picking off.” • Central’s girls cross- country team placed third at the MWC Preview Meet. The boys finished sixth. Hartford finished 10th in the girls race in 20 minutes, 4 4 . 7 0 s e c o n d s . Ju n i o r Jonathon Brown also placed 10th in the boys race in 17:10.28. Both runners will be key to the Panthers’ success, and both are aiming for a break- out. When Brown was a fresh- man, he was a non-factor. As a sophomore, he flirted with varsity and won the junior varsity race at districts. This season, he has con- tinued that development in a big way. “He’s transformed himself as a runner,” Cirino said. “He ran as a freshman and was not competitive. He ran JV last year and to go from there to 10th in the league preview meet is awesome.” In previous seasons, Brown would attend prac- tices, but that was it. “I prac- ticed a whole lot more,” he said. “I’ve increased how much I ran and the number of days I ran.” There were multiple days of running 10 or more miles during the summer. It made for some long training ses- sions, but that work is paying off now. “It’s so awesome to see him having an impact on the league,” Cirino said. “Our team sees what he’s done and what he’s doing now, and it reinforces the whole thing that hard work and dedica- tion can lead to good things.” Hartford has had success before. But there was also a sense of frustration that she wasn’t reaching the marks she had hoped. “Last year, I felt like I couldn’t get my times down to where I wanted them,” Hartford said. “I felt like I was going fast, but my times weren’t adding up to it.” A bigger focus on her own training has led to an experi- enced runner ready to start picking people off. “She has a better sense of how she’s feeling and how to read her body,” Cirino said. “She’s responding to that bet- ter and doing what she needs to do to run her own race and not get caught up with going out too fast or trying to run with others.” Now, Hartford is eager to end her high school cross- country career with her best season yet. “I feel more confident when I’m running,” she said. “I don’t feel like I’m not capa- ble of going fast. I feel like my legs are under me and I can run with whomever I want to.” The Panthers know that the preview meet ultimately means little, but runners hope it is a launching pad to a state berth. “I think we took away that there is a lot of work to be done,” Hartford said. “We want to close some of the gaps between our runners and hopefully we’ll go to state as a team.” Central will compete at the Woahink Lake XC Invitation- al on Saturday. WESTERN OREGON ROUNDUP Soccer ties Montana State, Billings Itemizer-Observer staff report MONMOUTH — A goal with just minutes left in reg- ulation allowed Western Oregon University’s women’s soccer team to earn a tie against Montana State, Billings on Saturday morn- ing. The Yellowjackets took the lead in the first half, scoring in the 23rd minute. The score remained 1-0 until the 88th minute, when WOU junior Meli Cortez scored to tie the game at 1. The Wolves lost to North- west Nazarene 2-0 on Thurs- day. Western Oregon played Concordia Tuesday after press time. WOU (1-5-1 overall, 0-2-1 Great North- west Athletic Conference) hosts Seattle Pacific Satur- day at 1 p.m. VOLLEYBALL DROPS TWO: Western Oregon’s volleyball squad pushed No. 16 North- west Nazarene to the brink be- fore falling 16-25, 22-25, 28-26, 25-16, 15-11 on Thursday. Senior Alisha Bettinson had 23 kills and one block. Junior Mariella Vandenkooy recorded 10 kills and two blocks. The Wolves also lost to Cen- tral Washington 25-17, 25-21, 25-22 on Saturday. WOU (5-6 overall, 1-3 GNAC) plays at Simon Fraser Thursday at 7 p.m., at Western Washington Saturday at 7 p.m. and at Con- cordia Tuesday at 7 p.m. MEN’S XC PLACES SEC- OND: Western Oregon’s men’s cross-country team placed sec- ond at the San Francisco Invita- tional on Friday. The women finished fifth. Senior David Ribich took first in the men’s race, finishing the 8-kilometer race in 24 min- utes, 47.0 seconds. Junior Dustin Nading finished seventh in 25:20.6; junior Tyler Jones placed 11th in 25:35.9; senior Josh Dempsey took 12th in 25:36.5; and sophomore Stephen Fey took 19th in 25:48.7. Senior Kennedy Rufener led the women’s team with a sixth-place finish. She com- pleted the 6-kilometer course in 21:54.4. Senior Suzanne Van De Grif t placed 22nd in 23:02.5; sophomore Cassie McKinney took 32nd in 23:23.4; junior Olivia Woods finished in 50th in 24:35.6; and freshman Isabelle Tinglestad took 51st in 24:26.0. WOU will compete at the Charles Bowles Invite at Bush Park in Salem Saturday at 9:30 a.m. LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer Meli Cortez (7) dribbles past a Montana State, Billings player on Saturday.
