Polk County
Sports
Polk County Itemizer-Observer • December 27, 2017 9A
LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer
Central junior Trent Nash hasn’t let autism hold him back.
PREP SWIMMING
Defying expectations
By Lukas Eggen
The Itemizer-Observer
INDEPENDENCE — If
there’s one thing that has
driven Trent Nash through-
out his life it’s this: He’s not
going to back away from a
challenge.
“I like to push myself
every day,” he said.
Trent, a junior, joined
Central’s swim team for the
first time this winter.
A student participating in
a sport may not seem like a
momentous occasion, but
for Trent, it was the latest ex-
ample that he won’t be de-
fined by setbacks.
—
When Trent was born,
everything seemed to go ac-
cording to plan.
“Trent was born an almost
perfect baby according to his
nurse of more than 30 years,”
Tammy Nash, Trent’s mother,
said. “She stated that she
gave him the highest APGAR
score of her career.”
But Tammy began notic-
ing things — including dif-
ferences in his demeanor
and strength compared to
his four older siblings.
“At 6 months of age, I
knew for certain there was
something just not right,”
Tammy said.
Getting Trent evaluated
proved difficult.
THURSDAY, DEC. 28
Wrestling: Central, Dal-
las at Northwest Duals (at
Linn County Expo Center),
TBA.
FRIDAY, DEC. 29
Boys basketball: Central
vs. Ashland (at Crescent Val-
ley), 5:45 p.m. Falls City at
Reedsport, 5:30 p.m. St.
Paul at Perrydale, 4 p.m.
Girls basketball: Central
at Churchill, 7 p.m. Dallas at
Sprague, 6:45 p.m. St. Paul
at Perrydale, 2:30 p.m.
Wrestling: Central, Dal-
las at Northwest Duals (at
Linn County Expo Center),
TBA.
SATURDAY, DEC. 30
Boys basketball: Central
vs. Hermiston (at Crescent
Valley), 2:30 p.m. Perrydale
at Regis, 5:30 p.m.
Girls basketball: Perry-
dale at Regis, 4 p.m.
Women’s basketball:
Western Oregon at North-
west Nazarene, 1 p.m.
TUESDAY, JAN. 2
Boys basketball: Dallas
at Pendleton, 5 p.m. Falls
City at Jewell, 7 p.m. Perry-
dale at Crosshill Christian, 7
p.m.
Girls basketball: Dallas
at Pendleton, 6:30 p.m. Falls
City at Jewell, 5:30 p.m. Per-
rydale at Crosshill Christian,
5:30 p.m.
Men’s basketball: West-
ern Oregon at Concordia, 7
p.m.
WEDNESDAY, JAN. 3
Girls basketball: West
Albany at Central, 7 p.m.
Wrestling: Dallas at
MWC 4-Way meet (at Silver-
ton), 4 p.m.
—
Schedules Subject to Change
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Seals,” Tammy said. “He
couldn’t push his tongue
against a tongue depres-
sor, move his tongue in
the proper placement to
make the correct sounds
to pronounce the simplest
of words. He couldn’t suck
up on a straw or even blow
a cotton ball a mere inch.”
Physical activity was also
difficult.
“Trent was unable to do
a n y c ro s s - b o d y m ove -
ments,” Tammy said. “For
example, when writing, he
would switch hands mid
paper, unable to continue
across the body. He could
not get both sides of his
body to move in a fluid
motion together. … Until
he was in double digits, he
couldn’t sit up on his own.
He’d roll to his side and
push himself up.”
Among the other chal-
lenges included taking
everything literally and as-
suming accidents, such as
bumping into him, were
done on purpose.
Trent was taken out of
school after his second at-
tempt at kindergarten due
to having multiple seizures
during the day and a lack
of advancement. Tammy
t a u g h t Tr e n t t h r o u g h
fourth grade, reducing by
about half the years he was
behind, she said.
After fourth grade, Trent
was placed on an Individu-
alized Education Plan. De-
spite significant progress
being made both socially
and academically, even
some of those who inter-
acted with Trent doubted
what he could do.
“One of his teachers said
Trent would never get a reg-
ular high school degree, let
alone be able to attend col-
lege,” Tammy said. “I de-
manded, ‘Don’t you dare
count my son out.’”
Trent, one of six children,
watched his older siblings
find success in the class-
room and athletically.
See TRENT, Page 10A
PREP GIRLS BASKETBALL
SCHEDULE
WEDNESDAY, DEC. 27
Girls basketball: Alsea
at Falls City, 5:30 p.m.
The family communicat-
ed with specialists nation-
wide, but was told Trent
was too young to be evalu-
ated.
When he was 3, Trent was
seen by a behavioral special-
ist in Portland who diag-
nosed him with being on the
Autistic Spectrum. He also
developed a seizure disor-
d e r, C o m p l e x P a r t i a l
Seizures.
Tre n t a t t e n d e d p re -
school, but was behind the
developmental skills other
students had.
“We were working with
speech therapists and a
developmental and behav-
ioral specialist at Easter
Dippel, Dragons off to fast start
By Lukas Eggen
The Itemizer-Observer
DALLAS — There’s some-
thing thrilling about senior
Jordan Dippel when she
steps onto a basketball court
for Dallas’ girls basketball
team.
“I love the freedom you
have with the ball,” Dippel
said. “I love how you can be
creative with your moves;
how you can define a game
with a shot right below the
hoop. I love playing in front
of however many people
are in the crowd. I love
everything about basket-
ball.”
Dippel has established
herself as one of the Drag-
ons’ leaders, but that wasn’t
always the case.
—
Dippel began playing
sports in elementary school.
“I was a socially awkward
kid,” Dippel said. “My confi-
dence was at an all-time low
when I first started.”
As time went by, some-
thing began to change. She
began getting close to her
teammates — many of
whom became some of her
closest friends off the court.
With each new friend
made and each skill learn,
she became more and more
confident.
Now, she can’t wait for
practices to begin.
“It’s amazing to see how
much I’ve grown,” Dippel
said. “I love going to the gym
and hanging out. I love
going to practice. If I’m in a
LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer
Jordan Dippel scored 18 points against Roosevelt on Dec. 11.
bad mood, I know my team-
mates will bring me out of
it.”
Dippel has emerged as a
leading scoring threat for
the Dragons. She scored 18
points against Roosevelt on
Dec. 11 and a team-high 11
points against Hillsboro on
Dec. 15.
“I think early on, her con-
fidence in her shooting was-
n’t there,” coach Tim Ehlers
said. “The last three games,
she’s gotten more confident
and it’s showed.”
She’s also shown a knack
for knowing when to shoot,
drive or pass.
“We know each other’s
strengths and weaknesses,”
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Dippel said. “I’m not afraid
to take the open shot. I’m
not afraid to pass the ball or
to drive in and kick it out to
someone.”
But Dippel has also been
asked to do things she hasn’t
been asked to before — play
more in the paint.
“She had not been an in-
side player her first three
years,” Ehlers said. “Some-
times it can be hard be-
cause they get into a mind-
set of ‘this is how I play.’
We’re not a tall team
though, so we need to learn
to play multiple positions.
We ask them to play un-
comfortable.”
It’s taken some getting
used to, but Dippel, along
with her teammates, are
buying in.
“We’re not the tallest
team, but we work hard,”
Dippel said. “That sounds
really cliched, but it’s 100
percent true. We don’t take
anything lightly. We take
pride in our defense and our
rebounding.”
The result has been a 6-1
start to the season.
“We are taking care of the
ball,” Dippel said. “There are
things to work on, but they
are easy things to fix.”
The Dragons close out
their nonleague season at
Sprague Friday at 6:45 p.m.
and at Pendleton Tuesday at
6:30 p.m.
Dallas opens Mid-
Willamette Conference play
by hosting Corvallis on Jan. 9.
“We’re ready to kick some
butt, honestly,” Dippel said.
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