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.