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About Polk County itemizer observer. (Dallas, Or) 1992-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 25, 2017)
Polk County Sports Polk County Itemizer-Observer • October 25, 2017 13A Dallas: Cross took second at districts in 2016 Continued from Page 12A “A lot of these guys have been training year-round,” Cross said. “It’s hard to do it every day. I remember doing some hills in the snow and being out there in the sum- mer when my friends are playing games and stuff.” That dedication has paid off so far. Cross, who placed second at the district meet in 2016, has already beaten his soph- omore personal record by more than 20 seconds (15:47.4) and Ruston and Grass set PRs under 17 min- utes (16:37.0 and 16:53.3). In addition to being faster, the Dragons have become smarter on the course. “I’m more experienced, so I know what I’m doing,” Cross said. “Last year, I’d think I want to hit my first mile in such and such a time and I’d be off by 10 or 15 seconds. (On Wednes- day), I was pacing the other guys and wanted to do the first mile in 5 min- utes, 20 seconds. I did it in exactly that time.” Since the team’s home race, the focus has been on making final preparations for districts. In a hypothetical meet, compiled by taking each runner’s best time of the season, Dallas would take third in the team standings behind Crescent Valley and Corvallis. The top three squads ad- vance to state. “It will take everyone giv- ing it 100 percent,” Cross said. “It’s about eating well, sleeping well, drinking right, all that. We have to stay re- laxed and think about what we’re doing.” The girls squad doesn’t have the numbers to com- pete for a trip to state, but junior Bekah Rocak and sophomores Melody Hight and Mikayla Thiel have been running well, coach Monique Lankheet said. The MWC district meet provides an opportunity for Dallas to experience some- thing that hasn’t happened in recent memory — send- ing a team to state. “That would be huge,” Cross said. “I feel like that’s everything we’ve been work- ing for.” PREP CROSS-COUNTRY Boys, girls face difficult path to state By Lukas Eggen LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer Central junior Diana Nye races at Dallas City Park on Oct. 18. Central Continued from Page 12A “Everything we’ve worked for since middle school has paid off,” Padilla said. Fans rushed the field. Hoover let a scream of joy loose. “We wanted to leave a legacy,” Hoover said. “This is it.” But the Panthers aren’t done adding to that legacy. Central played Woodburn Tuesday after press time in the team’s regular season fi- nale and then, the team’s at- tention will turn toward the first round of the state play- offs, which begins Nov. 1. As momentous as Thurs- day’s victory was, the Pan- thers also know it was just a step toward their ultimate goal — a state title. “We still haven’t done anything too major yet,” Padilla said. “We still have the playoffs.” Central will look to excise another demon. The Pan- thers have been eliminated in the first round of the state playoffs each of the last three seasons. Central’s first round opponent won’t be fi- nalized until later this week, but players are confident that they are ready to make a deep run in the state play- offs. “We’re not losing in the first round,” Hoover said. CENTRAL ROUNDUP Football earns victory over Silverton Itemizer-Observer staff report SILVERTON — Central’s football team defeated Sil- verton 41-35 on Friday. The Panthers improved to 4-4 overall and 2-3 in Mid- Willamette Conference play. Central hosts Corvallis Friday at 7 p.m. in the team’s final regular season game. The Panthers enter the game with the same league recorded as Lebanon and Corvallis and tied for fourth in the league standings. Lebanon defeated Central earlier this season. The top four teams from the league advance to the state playoffs. VOLLEYBALL ADVANCES TO PLAY-IN MATCH: Central’s volleyball team advanced to a state play-in match Tuesday after press time. The Panthers closed their regular season by defeating Woodburn 25-9, 25-8, 25-13 on Thursday. Annika Riddell and Krista Omlid had a team-high seven kills. Elizabeth Chavez recorded eight digs and five aces. Syd- ney Nash had 23 assists. The Panthers played at Thurston Tuesday after press time. The winner advances to the first round of the state play- offs on Saturday. For results, visit www.polkio.com. GIRLS SOCCER TOPS DAL- LAS: Central’s girls soccer team defeated Dallas 8-0 on Oct. 17. Ana Becerra scored four goals to lead the Panthers. Alli- son Wells and Kaitlyn Dorn each scored twice. The Panthers lost to Corvallis 6-0 on Thursday. Central closed out its season against Wood- burn Tuesday after press time. PREP SOCCER Pioneers host Taft Itemizer-Observer staff report SALEM — Western Men- nonite/Perrydale’s girls soc- cer team finished the regular season with an 8-6-1 record overall and an 8-3-1 mark in Special District 3 play. The Pioneers played Taft Tuesday after press time in a league playoff match. The winner qualifies for state and ad- vances to the league title match on Saturday. “I am incredibly proud of how our girls handled this season, a season that was full of all kinds of adversity,” coach Matt Kenitzer said. “They experienced great growth individually and col- lectively on and off the field.” The Itemizer-Observer Cross-country INDEPENDENCE — On paper, Central’s boys and girls cross-country teams have a difficult challenge ahead of them to finish in the top three and qualify for state at the Mid-Willamette Conference district meet We d n e s d a y ( t o d a y ) a t Willamette Mission State Park in Gervais. “On paper, our boys and girls are on the outside look- ing in,” coach Eli Cirino said. That doesn’t mean the Panthers are ready to lay down. “It’s going to be tough,” Cirino said. “We’ll have to run out of our minds a little bit, but we have a bunch of runners who are ready to lay it all out on the line.” Junior Diana Nye is one of those runners. Nye is one of three runners on the girls team, along with sen- ior Bailie Hartford and sophomore Naomi Vega, to set a season record under What: Mid-Willamette Conference District Champi- onships. When: Wednesday (today), 2:30 p.m. Where: Willamette Mission State Park, Gervais. What’s at stake: The top three teams advance to the state meet Nov. 4. Any individual runner in the top 10 who is not on a qualifying team also advances. 21 minutes. “I’m really excited,” Nye said. “We’ve been (setting personal records) and I’m excited to get to do this with Naomi and Bailie. It’s really fun running with them.” But she’s also running for her teammates, especially the seniors. “This is my last year with the seniors,” Nye said. “When they’re gone, some of my motivation might be gone too. They’re a big rea- son why I run. They’re great people.” Senior Rufus Schrader is also ready to give every ounce of energy he has. Schrader has run for the past seven seasons, but Wednesday’s race will mark the first time he’ll run at dis- tricts as a varsity runner. “It’s a good way to end my running career,” Schrader said. “All the runners on our team are really competitive. Everyone is going to run as hard as they can. No one likes losing, especially to teammates.” The Panthers may not be a favorite to qualify for state, but Cirino said his runners have the heart to surprise. “Woodburn’s boys team wasn’t expected to make state last year,” Cirino said. “We’re going to go there and know that we can do this if we go crazy a little bit.” DALLAS ROUNDUP Football loses to Raiders Itemizer-Observer staff report DALLAS — Dallas’ foot- ball team took an early lead against Crescent Valley, but the Raiders earned a 31-21 victory over the Dragons on Friday. A 6-yard touchdown run by Tristan Evans gave Dal- las a 7-3 lead late in the first quarter, but Crescent Valley quarterback Sawyer Cleveland hit Briley Knight for a 27-yard touchdown to put the Raiders back on top 10-7. Knight’s second touchdown of the game put Crescent Valley up 17- 7 in the second quarter, but a four-yard touchdown run from Brycen Grillo pulled Dallas to within 17- 14 at the half. The Raiders scored the first two touchdowns of the second half, both passes to Talanoa Hufanga, to go up 31-14 in the fourth quarter. Dallas quarterback Jaret Stewart hit tight end Treve Earhart for a 50-yard touchdown with 2:30 left in the game to pull within 31- 21. The Dragons (2-6 overall, 0-5 Mid-Willamette Con- ference) plays at Lebanon to close out the season Fri- day at 7 p.m. VOLLEYBALL ADVANCES TO PLAY-IN: Dallas’ volleyball team advanced to the state play-in round. The Dragons defeated Woodburn 25-10, 25-7, 25-12 on Oct. 17 and South Albany 25-12, 25-15, 25-13 on Thursday to finish the regular season with a 14- 10 record overall and 8-6 mark in league play, good for fifth place. Dallas played Crater Tues- day after press time in the play-in round. The winner ad- vances to the first round of the state tournament Satur- day. For updated results, check www.polkio.com. GIRLS SOCCER DROPS TWO: Dallas’ girls soccer team lost a pair of league matches last week. The Dragons lost to Central 8-0 on Oct. 17 and Woodburn 8-1 on Thursday. Dallas (0-11 overall, 0-6 MWC) closed out its season by host- ing South Albany Tuesday after press time. B OYS S O CC E R LO S E S TWO: Dallas’ boys soccer team lost to Central 5-1 on Oct. 17 and Woodburn 6-1 on Thursday. Michael Davison scored the Dragons’ lone goal against the Panthers, while Caleb Kiner scored against the Bulldogs. Dallas (2-10 overall, 1-5 MWC) played South Albany Tuesday after press time. LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer Dallas running back Brycen Grillo runs against Crescent Valley during the Dragons’ 31-21 loss on Friday. WESTERN OREGON ROUNDUP Wolves fall to Humboldt State Itemizer-Observer staff report ARCATA, Calif. — West- ern Oregon University’s football team lost to Hum- boldt State 42-32 on Satur- day. T h e Wolves held a 17- 14 lead in the first half after a 1 - y a rd touch- d ow n by Revis Phillip Fenumiai and a 90-yard punt return for a touch- down from Paul Revis, but the Lumber Jacks scored 21 unanswered points to take a 35-17 lead into the fourth quarter. WOU scored two touch- downs in the fourth quarter to close t h e g a p, but Hum- boldt State earned the victory. Fenu- miai fin- ished the Fenumiai game with 221 passing yards, one touchdown and one inter- ception and 55 rushing yards and a touchdown. Revis had six catches for 89 yards and Zack Suarez recorded two catches for 66 yards and one touchdown. Western Oregon (2-6 overall, 1-5 Great Northwest Athletic Conference) plays at Tarleton State Saturday at 4 p.m. WOMEN’S SOCCER DROPS T W O : We s t e r n O re g o n’s women's s o c c e r t e a m dropped a pair of con- ference matches last week. The Wolves fell to Con- Alexander cordia 3-0 on Thursday and Saint Martin's 2-1 on Saturday. Dacia Alexander gave WOU a 1-0 lead over Saint Martin's in the first half. The Saints scored the tying goal in the 84th minute and scored the game-winner in overtime. Western Oregon (2-10-2 overall, 1-7-2 GNAC) closes out its season at Seattle Pacific Thursday at 7 p.m. before hosting Simon Fraser Saturday at 1 p.m. VOLLEYBALL LOSES TWO: Western Oregon’s volleyball team lost to Central Washing- ton 25-21, 25-15, 25- 19 on Thursday and North- w e s t Nazarene Bettinson 25-12, 25- 16, 25-18 on Saturday. Katherine Huntington had seven kills and two blocks against Northwest Nazarene. Alisha Bettinson, Jenna Co m p t o n , M a r i e l l a Va n - denkooy and Huntington each recorded seven kills against Central Washington on Thursday. WOU (6-13 overall, 2-10 GNAC) hosts Western Wash- ington Thursday at 7 p.m., Simon Fraser Saturday at 2 p.m. and Concordia Tuesday at 7 p.m.