2007 Sports in Review

Mohawk becomes 1A powerhouse

With only 90 kids in the entire school, it can be hard to develop strong championship teams. But the Mohawk Indians managed to do it in not one, but two sports this past year.
The first came in boys basketball. Mohawk faced Damascus Christian in the final game, who was trying to win back-to-back championships for the first since, fittingly, Mohawk had in 2002 and 2003. It took two overtimes to settle the battle, with Danny Reiter hitting two free throws with 33.6 seconds left in the second overtime to give the Indians a 65-54 win.
The football team’s journey was just as exciting. Proving they had a high-powered offense with a nearly 50-point-per-game average, the Indians kicked it up a knoch in their first playoff game against Powder Valley in a 90-12 routing. Their 90 points was the most amount of points ever scored in a state playoff game. That was just their first of many records set during the post-season. In a semi-final win over Crane to advance to the championship game, Mohawk kicked a field goal to win 37-34 with seven seconds remaining. That historic kick was not only the Indian’s first attempt in three years, either a field goal or point after, but the first goal in Oregon's eight-man football history, and the first in a 1A playoff game since 1947, when teams played with just six men.
Although no records were set in the championship match against Imbler, Mohawk still got the win to clinch the state title 22-16.

State success across the board

Springfield and Thurston teams had a strong showing at the state level this year in a variety of sports. Both high school sent teams to the state cheerleading competition, with the Colts finishing in second by less than one point, and the Millers taking home the gold.
“Thurston and Springfield traditionally have two of the strongest cheer programs in the state,” said Springfield coach Janet Fryback.
Also during the winter season, the Thurston wrestling team ran away with the district title to send 14 wrestlers to the state meet.
The spring and fall seasons proved such as fruitful for the Colts, with Alicia Omlid taking first in state for girls golf. The team finished fourth overall. Meanwhile, the Springfield boys sent their first team to state since 1990. Their fifth place finish the school's high performance ever, as well as their lowest state tournament score.
Certainly each team had their share of success during the fall season, but the most memorable performance was that of the Thurston boys soccer team. For the first time in 20 years, the Colts won a Midwestern League Title. Winning the championship was no easy task, but the team had home field advantage over Churchill to clinch the title.

Colts pull huge upset
Going into the season, the Churchill Lancers softball team had a 64-0 record. North Eugene managed to give the team their first loss in several seasons, but they were still undoubtedly the team to beat. In a late-season matchup between the Lancers and the Thurston Colts was key, as it was nearing playoff seeding. A win would move the Colts closer to the second place position in the Midwestern League.
The game was hardly a thriller, scoreless until the seventh inning. Each team had produced a fair amount of threats but they weren’t able to capitalize, frequently leaving runners stranded on base. The Colts had two runners on base and two outs after a controversial call. With senior Kelsey Rogers up to bat, the Colts were focused. Rogers, waiting for the perfect pitch, found it, smacking the ball to center field. Chloe Alverson rounded third and, running with all her might, slid into home. She was called safe and the Colts pulled out a 1-0 win.
Thurston advanced to the state playoffs, but lost in the second round to Sherwood High School.

The perfect game

The Springfield bowling team managed to bowl a perfect 300 in the Mixed Baker High School Tournament. According to the United States Bowling Congress, the perfect score was the first 300 game bowled by a mixed team in the state of Oregon, at either the high school or collegiate level. It was also only the seventh 300 game in the nation for a mixed team at either level. The members on the team were Alex Graham, Brandon Ewing, Rachael Englund, Kelsee Leno and Chris Keown.

I was certain of one thing - I wouldn't be a sports reporter

Some of you may be aware that the Springfield Beacon just celebrated its one year anniversary. Everyone on our staff has learned a lot about the newspaper business this year, myself included. Being fresh out of journalism school when I was hired, I had no idea what to expect.
There was one thing I could pretty much count on though; I wouldn’t be writing sports.
Ok, so I turned out to be wrong about that too. I remember during my interview for this job, former editor Matt Hall asked if I had any interest in sports. Without even missing a beat I firmly responded no. I admitted I enjoyed watching sports, mainly football, but had no interest in actually writing them.
For the first month of publication, Matt frequently asked me if I wanted to learn sports, and my answer was always no. Finally I caved in. Not because I changed my mind about learning, or because I thought it was something I should learn. I was bribed. By simply agreeing to learn, I would be 50 cents an hour richer. Knowing full well I wouldn’t be making much money in this business, I accepted his offer.
I started out doing features on players and any other story I could find to avoid actually covering a game. But it was bound to happen eventually, and I had to dive straight into basketball. I won’t actually admit to you how little I know about the sport, as it’s just embarrassing. I’m frequently asking my boyfriend questions about the game that any real sports reporter should know.
But what I didn’t realize how much basketball was a blessing in disguise. Spring sports were just around the corner. My first softball game was a non-league match between Springfield and Cottage Grove. I don’t think I’ve ever gotten so wet in my life. I finally asked to seek refuge in the concession stand because I was so cold and wet. A big thanks to the moms running the stand who let me squeeze into the tiny booth. From there on out I made sure that I was always prepared for the elements. For about three months I made sure I had a towel, a coat, fingerless gloves and an umbrella in my car so that I would be able to brave the cold or rain.
Even when I agreed to learn how to do sports, I never thought that I would become the Beacon’s main sports reporter, let alone the only one. Budget cuts have left me trying to cover both Springfield and Thurston athletics, as well as keep an eye on Mohawk and McKenzie. That’s not an easy job, let me tell you (If anybody wants to volunteer to help with coverage, or to just submit scores call me! 741-9111). Only being able to realistically cover two games a week means that other teams aren’t getting the coverage they deserve. I feel like I am constantly letting somebody down or not being fair and covering one team more than the other. I try my best though. I sit down at the beginning of the season and figure out what games I want to cover, making sure that I have an equal number of boys and girls coverage, and that Thurston has the same amount of games in the paper that Springfield does. It never works out as well as I plan with games getting postponed, or played on the wrong day in one case, and come the end of the season I try and keep closer tabs on the games that will have a bigger effect on seeding in the playoffs.
Don’t take this as complaining though. There are certainly aspects of sports reporting that I love. It lets me spend a good portion of my hours out of the office and I get to watch some amazingly talented athletes. Plus, I think of Thurston and Springfield as my teams. I realize reporters are supposed to be objective but it’s hard. When I go to games I might be frantically trying to write down the play-by-play, but I also find myself cheering on our teams. After a tough loss I’m just as down as the next fan.
So, yes, I realize I’m not the world best sports reporter. I don’t even pretend to be. But I am trying my hardest to at least get coverage of your kids in the paper. Just bare with me a while longer while I try to figure out how to be a good sports reporter.
And if there is anybody out there who would like to give suggestions on how the paper can improve our sports section or would like to help out, let me know!