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About Seaside signal. (Seaside, Or.) 1905-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 26, 2021)
A8 FRIDAY November 26, 2021 Fall Sports SeasideSignal.com BOYS SOCCER All-league honors for Seaside, Astoria players The Astorian Despite tough years in the league stand- ings, the Astoria and Seaside boys soccer teams still managed to place a combined 11 players on the Cowapa all-league team, as voted on by the league’s coaches. In a down season for the Cowapa League, the 4A boys soccer state quarterfi nals did not include any teams from the Cowapa, as league champion Valley Catholic and sec- ond place Tillamook both lost in the fi rst round of the state playoff s. Player of the Year honors went to Car- ter Aff olter of Tillamook and Charles Bett- ger of Valley Catholic; and Goalkeeper of the Year recipients were Valley Catholic’s Dhilan Thanik and Seaside senior Riley Wunderlich. Valley Catholic landed eight play- ers on the all-league team, including two goalkeepers. Seaside (5-7-1 overall), which lost at state runner-up Hidden Valley in the play-in round, had six all-league selections, with two juniors and three sophomores joining Wunderlich, one of just two Seaside seniors this season. Seaside’s fi rst team all-league players were juniors Migiel Campos and Anthony Peon, and sophomores Leivis Lopez and Ismael Villasenor. A young Astoria team, which had just one senior, fi nished 0-13-1 overall. The Fishermen still reeled in fi ve all-league selections, with one junior, two sophomores and two freshmen. First team players were junior Cameron Schauermann, sophomore keeper Salvador Wienecke and freshman Walker Steele. Photos by Gary Henley/The Astorian Seaside’s Anthony Peon, left, and Astoria’s Cameron Schauermann, middle, both made Cowapa all-league fi rst team as juniors. Seaside’s Riley Wunderlich capped his senior season with a co-Goalkeeper of the Year award for the Cowapa all-league team. COWAPA ALL-LEAGUE Player of the Year: Carter Aff olter, Tillamook; Charles Bettger, Valley Catholic D: Carl Carlson, Sr., Banks M/F: Cameron Schauermann, Jr., Astoria Honorable Mention M: Edgar Estrada, Sr., Tillamook M/D: Walker Steele, Fr., Astoria M/F: Kaden Burch, So., Seaside D: Riley Hill, Sr., Valley Catholic D: Sebastian Stefanowicz, Sr., Valley Catholic D/M: Tayden Cole, Fr., Astoria D: Drew Klopcic, Fr., Valley Catholic D/F: Ismael Villasenor, So., Seaside F: Cole Crossen, Jr., Banks M/F: Carter Aff olter, Jr., Tillamook D/M: Leivis Lopez, So., Seaside F/M: Graysen Voss, Jr., Banks M/D: Kainoa Henley, Sr., Banks M: Charles Bettger, Sr., Valley Catholic D: Brock Manderson, Sr., Tillamook GK: Sam Brown, Sr., Valley Catholic M/GK: Diego Lara, Fr., Tillamook M/F: Cole Aff olter, Fr., Tillamook M/F: Cruz Mendola, Jr., Banks GK: Dhilan Thanik, Sr., Valley Catholic F/M: Alex Lopez, Sr., Tillamook F: Elian Ayala, Sr., Valley Catholic M: Bruno Monroy, Sr., Tillamook GK: Salvador Wienecke, So., Astoria M: Riley Reinikka, So., Valley Catholic D/M: Migiel Campos, Jr., Seaside M/F: Anthony Peon, Jr., Seaside GK: Riley Wunderlich, Sr., Seaside M/F: Owen Williams, So., Astoria Goalkeeper of the Year: Dhilan Thanik, Valley Catholic; Riley Wunderlich, Seaside First Team Arden, Taylor, Brien on girls soccer fi rst team By GARY HENLEY The Astorian League champion Valley Catholic contin- ues to lead the way and reap the rewards in Cowapa League girls soccer, but Astoria and Seaside continue to close the gap between the Valiants and the next two best teams in the Cowapa. While Valley Catholic led the all-league selections with seven players (fi ve on the fi rst team), the Fishermen and Gulls were right behind, with a combined nine all- league players (fi ve for Seaside, four for Astoria). The league’s Player of the Year honor went to Valley Catholic senior Casmira Fox, while Rainier’s Jamie Knox was named Goalkeeper of the Year and the Valiants’ Kibwe Cuffi e earned Coach of the Year honors. Seaside had three fi rst team selections — senior Emma Arden and juniors Lilli Taylor and Abby Brien, one of two goalkeepers on COWAPA ALL-LEAGUE Player of the Year: Casmira Fox, Valley Catholic Goalkeeper of the Year: Jamie Knox, Rainier Coach of the Year: Kibwe Cuffi e, Valley Catholic First Team M: Casmira Fox, Sr., Valley Catholic M: Evelyn Wheeler, Jr., Rainier/Clatskanie M: Kimara Witham, Fr., Banks GK: Abby Brien, Jr., Seaside GK: Jamie Knox, Sr., Rainier/Clatskanie Honorable Mention Ila Bowles, Sr., Seaside F: Emma Arden, Sr., Seaside Elizabeth Louie, So., Valley Catholic M: Paulina Filip, So., Valley Catholic Kate Manderson, Jr., Tillamook D: Malia Groshong, So., Valley Catholic Natalee Rizzo, Sr., Banks F: Mariella Gunther, Sr., Valley Catholic Tyler Rose, Jr., Banks F: Karen Jiminez, Sr., Astoria Mia Rosebrook, Fr., Valley Catholic D: Anna Kinder, Sr., Valley Catholic Ashley Sisley, So., Astoria M: Adriana Rico, Sr., Tillamook Kaylee Snyder, Jr., Seaside Emma Arden takes the ball downfi eld. M: Madelyn Russell, Jr., Banks Grace Tallman, Sr., Rainier/Clatskanie the fi rst team. The Fishermen landed seniors Karen Jiminez and Maddie Sisley on the fi rst team. F: Maddie Sisley, Sr., Astoria Vanessa Velazquez, Sr., Astoria D: Lilli Taylor, Jr., Seaside Areli Velazquez Villa, So., Tillamook Jeff TerHar Crab season set to open on time By KATIE FRANKOWICZ The Astorian Marine toxins, skinny crabs and conten- tious price negotiations have all had a hand in delaying the start of Oregon’s lucrative com- mercial Dungeness crab season in recent years. Not this season — at least not yet. For the fi rst time in years, commercial Dungeness crab fi sheries in Oregon, Washing- ton state and Northern California will begin on the traditional Dec. 1 opener after recent pre- season testing showed high meat yield in crabs across the region. At the same time, domoic acid — and the diatom that produces the naturally-occurring marine toxin — seems to have almost dis- appeared from ocean waters off Oregon and Washington. Crabbing vessels can begin to set gear on Nov. 28 and could begin pulling ocean crab pots on Dec. 1. It is the fi rst time in years that Oregon has cleared meat fi ll hurdles in the fi rst round of tests, said Tim Novotny, spokesman for the Oregon Dungeness Crab Commission. A starting price per pound still needs to be set, but, Novotny said, “we are over one big hurdle to a potential Dec. 1 opener for the fi rst time since 2014.” Last season, the state gave commercial crabbers the green light in mid-December but regional price talks and elevated levels of domoic acid in Washington delayed the start of season. Still, with the all-clear from the state this season, fi shermen and buyers can begin to pre- pare in earnest earlier than has been normal for a while. Crab could be at markets in time for Christ- mas this year, another fi rst in a long time, said Dan Ayres, coastal shellfi sh manager with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. Commercial Dungeness crab is one of Ore- gon’s most valuable fi sheries. Despite a delay last year, fi shermen still landed 12.2 million pounds coastwide in Oregon for an ex-vessel value of $60.6 million. The West Coast fi sh- ery is managed under a tri-state agreement between Oregon, Washington and California. Cold water off the coast now could also Crabbing vessels can begin to set gear on Nov. 28. Hailey Hoff man/ The Astorian mean domoic acid is unlikely to be an issue this winter. The toxin load in razor clams — an important indicator species when it comes to tracking the presence of domoic acid — is in the single digits and dropping in Washington state, Ayres said. In Oregon, domoic acid and pseudo-nitzs- chia, the diatom that produces the toxin, is just “background noise at this point,” said Matt Hunter, shellfi sh project manager with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. “You never give it 100% confi dence, but I think compared to past years it certainly looks better than it was,” he said. The good meat fi ll results may also be a boon for the fi shery beyond allowing for an earlier start. Fishery managers do not use the tests to predict crab abundance, but Ayres said they did see a higher number of crabs in pots they pulled. It is impossible to predict very far in advance for any fi shery, however. “We’ll see what we see when we get there,” Ayres said. But, he added, “I think we’re headed for some positive stuff ahead.”