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About Seaside signal. (Seaside, Or.) 1905-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 13, 2019)
VOLLEYBALL CROSS COUNTRY Lund and the Gulls ready for ‘one crazy season’ By GARY HENLEY Seaside Signal Challenges? They’ve got one in Seaside, when it comes to the upcoming high school volleyball season. Head coach Demi Lund had a tough task on her hands when she first arrived in 2018, and it hasn’t gotten any easier going into her second year . First off, there’s the competition the Gulls will face in their own league. Defending state champion Valley Catholic returns with a good part of its lineup still intact, while Astoria, Banks and Tillamook are all hoping to make a big push for the postseason. Then there’s the job of replacing some key losses on their roster. Seaside had three all- league players last season, and lost all three to graduation. Another key player has decided to play soccer. If that wasn’t enough, Lund is expecting her first child in December. It’s “going to be one crazy season!” she said. The 2018 Gulls finished 1-7 in league play, good enough to make the play-in round, where Seaside was swept in a match at Philomath. On the positive side, the Gulls still have some experience on the roster. Key returners include outside hitters Ellisa Blodgett and Emma Brown, defensive spe- cialist Andrea Castro, and setter Emma Meyer — all seniors. Junior Annaika Wunderlich will be mak- ing her varsity debut, while Sandee Adriano returns for her sophomore season. “We were extremely fortunate to have the Blodgett sisters (Morgan and Ellisa) trans- fer from Warrenton High School last sea- son,” Lund said, as Morgan ended up mak- ing all-league. “Ellissa Blodgett is projected to be one of our strongest players,” she said. “And they also have a little sister coming in as freshman who will be an asset to the program like her sisters were.” Meanwhile, Lund — who turned 28 in August — doesn’t get a lot of time to learn about being a coach in a tough league. “I am continuing to implement a fast-mov- ing offense to keep up with the teams in our league, and keep them on their toes with our defensive structure,” she said. As a second-year varsity coach, “I am still trying to develop a completely new program Seaside runners hope to bounce back in ’19 By GARY HENLEY Seaside Signal Hailey Hoffman Volleyball players line up at the net before the ball is served during the first week of practice. SEASIDE VOLLEYBALL Coach: Demi Lund, 2nd year 2018: 12-14 (1-7 Cowapa) Playoffs: Lost play-in match at Philomath, 0-3 All-league losses: Morgan Blodgett, Anna Huddleston, Tori Tomlin. All-league returners: None Schedule Aug. 31 at Warrenton Tournament, TBA Sept. 3 at Stayton 6 p.m. Sept. 5 Clatskanie 6:30 p.m. Sept. 7 at Cascade Invitational, TBA Sept. 10 Rainier, at Warrenton 5:30 p.m. Sept. 10 at Warrenton 7:30 p.m. Sept. 12 North Marion 6:30 p.m. Sept. 17 Gladstone 5:30 p.m. Sept. 19 at Corbett 6 p.m. Sept. 24 at Astoria 6:30 p.m. Sept. 26 at Valley Catholic 6:30 p.m. Oct. 3 Tillamook 6:30 p.m. Oct. 8 at Banks 6:30 p.m. Oct. 10 Astoria 6:30 p.m. Oct. 12 Seaside Tournament, TBA Oct. 15 Valley Catholic 6:30 p.m. Oct. 19 at Corbett Tournament, TBA Oct. 22 at Tillamook 6:30 p.m. Oct. 24 Banks 6:30 p.m. from scratch here at Seaside,” Lund said. “My goal is to keep my girls very well conditioned to go those long five-game sets if needed. My girls have a lot of heart and passion, and I am so excited to see what this season has in store for us.” Historically a very competitive school when it comes to distance running, the Seaside cross-country program has fallen off the pace a bit, so to speak, over the last couple of years. Athletes competing in two sports and some key graduations have been hard to overcome, along with some normally very competitive teams in the Cowapa League. The result? A pair of last-place team fin- ishes in last year’s district meet. It wasn’t that long ago that the Seaside boys were on top of the world — or at least the Oregon Class 4A part of it. The Gulls won the state championship in 2015, then took second behind league rival Valley Catholic in 2016. The boys dropped to fourth in the Cow- apa League meet in 2017, the same season the Lady Gulls were unable to field a com- plete team in the district meet. Heading into the current season, the Seaside boys are still “a little light on num- bers,” said Frank Januik, now in his sec- ond year as the Gulls’ coach. “We need to recruit a few more. The top boy is Luis Moreno. He has trained hard all summer and is ready for a great season.” Moreno’s top time in the 5,000 meters last year was 18 minutes, 4.6 seconds, good enough for an eighth-place finish (out of 35 runners) at the district meet in Hillsboro. Seaside’s next highest placers at dis- tricts were Sam Henderson (27th) and Geo Ortega (28th), both lost to graduation. Sophomores Francisco Rojas and Cameron Lippert placed back to back, 30th and 31st. Meanwhile, the Lady Gulls are look- ing to bounce back with more numbers and experience. “The girls’ team looks good,” Januik said. “We will battle at the district meet. The top three girls are back from last year: Elise Seppa, Tara Lair and Brooke Blankenhorn.” As freshmen last season, Seppa and Lair finished 15th and 16th in the district meet, out of 30 runners. Blankenhorn, now Gary Henley Seaside cross-country runner Tara Lair is hoping for big improvements in 2019. SEASIDE CROSS- COUNTRY Aug. 29 Bill Chapman Invitational, Hillsboro Sept. 7 at Ultimook Race, Tillamook Sept. 17 at Warrenton Wreck Race Sept. 21 3-Course Challenge, Camp Rilea Oct. 4 at Fred Berkey XC Invite Oct. 8 at Bigfoot Classic Invite Oct. 23 vs. Astoria, at Cullaby Lake Oct. 30 Cowapa League championships a junior, was 21st. “My goals are to push myself a little bit harder than last year, and get a higher place in meets,” Lair said. “Last year I was getting tired and wasn’t pushing myself as much, so I want to push myself as hard as I can this year. “Last year I was finishing races around 24 or 25 (minutes), and now I want to get in the low 20s.” SeasideSignal.com • 7
