Polk County Sports Polk County Itemizer-Observer • October 25, 2017 12A SCHEDULE COLLEGE CROSS-COUNTRY WEDNESDAY, OCT. 25 Cross-country: Central, Dallas at Mid-Willamette Conference District Meet (at Willamette Mission State Park, Gervais), 2:30 p.m. Volleyball: OSAA Class 1A state playoffs, first round: Damascus Christian at Perrydale, 6 p.m. Wolves win men’s title THURSDAY, OCT. 26 Women’s soccer: West- ern Oregon at Seattle Pacif- ic, 7 p.m. Volleyball: Western Washington at Western Oregon, 7 p.m. By Lukas Eggen The Itemizer-Observer FRIDAY, OCT. 27 Football: Corvallis at Central, 7 p.m. Dallas at Lebanon, 7 p.m. North Dou- glas at Falls City, 7 p.m. Sherman at Perrydale, 7 p.m. SATURDAY, OCT. 28 Football: Western Ore- gon at Tarleton State, 4 p.m. Volleyball: OSAA Class 5A state playoffs, first round: Central vs. TBA, TBA. Dallas vs. TBA, TBA. OSAA Class 1A state playoffs, sec- ond round: Perrydale vs. TBA, TBA. Simon Fraser at Western Oregon, 2 p.m. Women’s soccer: Simon Fraser at Western Oregon, 1 p.m. PREP CROSS-COUNTRY Running men LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer TUESDAY, OCT. 31 Volleyball: Concordia at Western Oregon, 7 p.m. Dallas runners Trevor Cross, Gavin Grass and Toby Ruston race during the Dragons’ home meet on Oct. 18. WEDNESDAY, NOV. 1 Boys soccer: OSAA Class 5A state playoffs, first round: TBA vs. Central, TBA. — The Itemizer-Observer Schedules Subject to Change QUICK HITS Registration open for turkey shoot DALLAS — Registration is open for the 19th Annual Turkey Shoot Golf Tourna- ment at Cross Creek Golf Course, 13935 Highway 22, Dallas, on Nov. 11. The two-person scram- ble will begin at 9 a.m. Cost is $60 per team and one can of food. All golfers will receive a turkey and compete for net, gross and hole prizes. Entry includes green fees, snacks and prize money. Space is limited to the first 110 players to pay fees. Players may sign up as a team or as individuals. All food and a portion of the proceeds will go toward providing Thanksgiving dinners to families in Polk County through the Dallas Food Bank. A portion of the proceeds will also go to the Fisher House, a nonprofit organization that provides housing for families of vet- erans under care near veter- an’s hospitals throughout the country. Deadline to register is Nov. 5. For more information: 503-623-6666. Cross Creek men’s club results DALLAS — Cross Creek’s men’s club results for Oct. 17: Low gross/low net Gross: 1, Ben Talon- Kayne, 35; 2 (tie), Jim Schroeder and Lee Gamaney, 37. Net: 1, Bill Karjala, 33; 2, Larry Hatcher, 34; 3 (tie), Ed Johnson, Lee Taylor and Bob Sprinkle, 35. STAT SHEET 0 The number of times Corvallis’ boys soccer team had been shut out this season entering Thursday’s match. Central defeated the Spartans 1-0 to clinch at least a share of the Mid- Willamette Conference title. 5 The number of run- ners Western Ore- gon’s men’s cross-country team had among the top 15 fin- ishers at the Great North- west Athletic Conference Championships Saturday in Bellingham, Wash. www.polkio.com By Lukas Eggen DALLAS — Dallas’ home meet on Oct. 18 was a rela- tively laid-back affair for the Dragons’ boys cross-coun- try team. Ju n i o r Tre v o r C r o s s helped pace his teammates in the team’s final tune up before the Mid-Willamette Conference District Cham- Home meet • Dallas’ boys team finished first at its home race on Oct. 18. Toby Ruston, Trevor Cross and Gavin Grass took the top three spots. Ruston finished the 5,000-meter course with a time of 17 minutes, 30.8 seconds. Cross recorded a time of 17:31.0 and Grass crossed the finish line in 17:47.2. • The girls squad placed third. Sophomore Mikayla Thiel fin- ished 14th in 25:26.60 to lead the Dragons. p i o n s h i p s We d n e s d a y (today) at Willamette Mis- sion State Park in Gervais. “We feel good,” Cross said. “We’re prepared. Our training is paying off. I think we’re ready to go to state. I think this is it.” The trio of Cross, fresh- man Toby Ruston and soph- omore Gavin Grass will like- ly lead the Dragons on Thursday. Junior Orion Knudson, sophomore Anto- nio Barrientos, senior Ryan Bibler and senior Daniel Gagner will help round out the Dragons’ varsity squad. See DALLAS, Page 13A BELLINGHAM, Wash. — In the world of the Great Northwest Athletic Confer- ence cross-country, Alaska Anchorage has reigned supreme. The school had won the previous seven team titles on the men's side. On Sat- urday, that s t r e a k came to an end. Led by an individ- ual title by Ribich D a v i d Ribich, the m e n ' s team took home the t e a m champi- onship for the first time in Rufener school his- tory. The Wolves scored 51 points. Alaska Anchorage placed second with 64. Simon Fraser and Western Washington followed close- ly with 70 and 73 points, re- spectively. See WOU, Page 14A PREP BOYS SOCCER Panthers top Spartans to clinch league title By Lukas Eggen The Itemizer-Observer INDEPENDENCE — Winning a league title isn’t just something Cen- tral’s boys soccer team wanted to do. It was something it needed to do. “The first thing A a ro n ( Pa d i l l a ) said to me in eighth grade was Evan, let’s go get a league title,” senior Evan Hoover said. That has proven to be difficult to achieve. Hoover Since joining the Mid-Willamette Conference, the Panthers have finished fifth, sixth and third. On Thursday, with one kick — and a little good fortune — that dream came true. Central defeated Corvallis 1-0 in a clash of undefeated teams, and the Panthers clinched at least a share of the MWC title. “I’m just happy for the team,” Diaz said. “We won. It was a team ef- fort.” The Spartans and the Panthers were tied until Diaz lined up for a free kick just outside the 18-yard box with about 11 minutes to go in the game. “I thought, I have to make this,” Diaz said. “I want- e d t o w i n . We needed to win. We got it. We finally got it.” Diaz’s shot rico- cheted off a Cor- vallis defender — and into the goal. Padilla “ ( T h e re w a s ) some luck,” Hoover said. “Well, a lot of luck, but I think it’s deserved.” What followed was a tense final 11 minutes, filled with multiple scoring opportunities for the Spar- tans, including a shot that hit the crossbar. “The last thing I told them after the goal was to calm down and play defense,” coach Joe Orozco said. “They played their hearts out. They didn’t let Corvallis create too many plays. They had some real good shots, but you have to put them in to count.” Each scoring chance the Panthers turned away brought them seconds closer toward a victory that was years in the making. “I was hearing the fans,” Hoover said. “I could feel the atmosphere building. I knew if we tied, we wouldn’t win the league title. We had to win.” When the final whistle blew, the celebration was on. See CENTRAL, Page 13A LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer Senior Evan Hoover, right, celebrates after Central’s 1-0 on Thursday. PREP VOLLEYBALL Perrydale to host Damascus Christian in first round By Lukas Eggen The Itemizer-Observer SALEM — Perrydale’s vol- leyball team will host Dam- ascus Christian Wednesday (today) at 6 p.m. in the first round of the 1A state play- offs. The match comes after a second-place finish in the Casco League Tournament on Saturday. The Pirates fell to Crosshill Christian 22-25, 21- 25, 25-22, 25-14, 15-6 in a tightly contested league championship match. “I knew it was going to be a tough match,” coach Denise Dickey said. “I’m proud of the girls. They played hard and nobody wanted it more than they did, b u t (Crosshill Christian’s) offense is r e a l l y strong and Lux we can only defend it for so long be- fore it starts to take over.” The two teams shared the regular season title after fin- ishing with identical 11-1 records in league play. The teams played back- and-forth sets throughout the match, and though the Pirates lost, Dickey said she was pleased with her team’s effort. See PIRATES, Page 14A LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer Coach Denise Dickey talks with her team during the Pirates’ match on Saturday. www.facebook.com/pages/Polk-County-Itemizer-Observer/205062686252209 www.twitter.com/PolkIOSports