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.