With summer in full swing, a bit of nostalgia has begun to set in for the 2023-24 preps season.
It was my first ever full year covering prep sports — roughly nine months of traveling to communities all across the Mid-Willamette Valley to document the stories of young athletes. I was incredibly excited, albeit a bit nervous, to begin this journey, but felt a deep sense of fulfillment throughout and upon reflecting on the year.
I hope you all enjoyed the coverage as much as I had fun doing it. We'll take this trip together once again pretty soon, but for now, I thought we could look back and reminisce on some of the best moments from the preps season. What a ride it was.
Watchmen football snags first-ever program win
C.S. Lewis Academy's football team hung on in the second half and earned its first win of the season 33-25 on the road against Crow/City First Christian Academy on Friday, Sept. 22.
It's fitting the Watchmen's first win happened where it did; with serene wooded hills as a backdrop, a small pep band in old bleachers and a cinder track circling the field, C.S. Lewis' head coach Steve Wallo called the atmosphere a "perfect 1A six-man setting."
"Our players have worked so hard since June and they really deserved this win," Wallo said. "Thirteen of our 14 players hadn’t played football before this year, and I told them before the game that coming out for our first game in Siletz was a special feeling, and that getting a win in a football game would again be a very special feeling. It was.”
Newberg girls XC qualify for state meet
Newberg sophomore Abigail Wheatley ran a personal best of over 30 seconds at the Pacific Conference Championships on Thursday, Oct. 26, to finish third in a time of 18 minutes, 56.90 seconds.
The result automatically secured Wheatley a trip to the OSAA 6A state championships on Saturday, Nov. 4, at Lane Community College in Eugene.
Fortunately, she won’t be making the trip alone.
Wheatley led the Tigers’ efforts as the girls’ team finished second with 67 points to qualify for the state meet. Sherwood won the team title with 23 points.
A dream season
Newberg senior Bruno Volny is likely enjoying the best basketball season of any high schooler in the state.
No, the Newberg boys basketball team isn’t on a historic run this season, nor is Volny, who starts for the Tigers, posting ridiculous scoring averages. But, of course, there’s more to basketball than statistics and winning.
And that’s exactly why Volny will never forget this campaign. While his peers and opponents might sometimes take for granted the opportunity to lace them up, Volny doesn’t. He cherishes every tip-off, student section, cheer, jeer, loose ball, timeout, loss, win, shot made, shot missed, steal or block — quite literally, everything.
The 6-foot-4 exchange student that hails from Frýdek-Místek, a city in the Moravian-Silesian region of the Czech Republic, did travel over 5,000 miles for the experience, after all.
“That was always my dream to play basketball in the U.S.” Volny said. “For European people, it’s super cool to play basketball in the United States, so that’s one of things on my bucket list that I can check.”
Newberg wrestling reigns supreme
Newberg High School wrestling's Dillon Le had likely been dreaming of this moment for most of his life.
On Saturday, Feb. 24, on the second day of the OSAA 6A wrestling state championships at Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Portland, Le stopped dreaming and created his own reality, as the senior won his first state title, capping his high school career atop the state at 144 pounds.
Le was one of the Tigers' four state champions on the night, as Newberg ran away with the team title at 353 points, over 120 points ahead of second-place West Linn.
Newberg had 18 total state qualifiers, 12 advance to the quarterfinals, 10 finalists in nine matches, went a perfect four-for-four on final placement matches and had already captured the team title before the finals even commenced.
"I was super impressed with our kids all weekend long," Newberg head coach Neil Russo said. "We put on a show here. We won matches that maybe on paper we weren't supposed to win. This event is unlike any other. It is a roller coaster of emotions for athletes, fans, parents, coaches but I couldn't be prouder of our kids this weekend.”
Faith Larsen shatters track and field records
As C.S. Lewis Academy junior Faith Larsen steps into the discus ring, she takes a moment to collect herself.
Just breathe.
Negative thoughts are her kryptonite, and Larsen refuses to become overwhelmed. She gets low to the ground, legs shoulder width apart, imagining a pole is going through her body, keeping her aligned.
Stay on your toes. Keep the hand flat. Balance.
She spins and unleashes a toss. Her mark? Well, more likely than not this season, whatever it is, it likely just set another school record.
"On that first day (of practice), she wanted those records. And she's done it,” C.S. Lewis assistant track and field coach Larry Goodroe said. “She did it right out of the gate and she just keeps excelling every practice, every meet since then.”
In just her first year in the program, Larsen — who transferred to C.S. Lewis Academy from Ellensburg, Washington, this year — has shattered school records in the discus and shot put, orchestrating a historic campaign for the Watchmen.
Ray Greller finishes third at golf state championships
It's often over said in sports that it doesn't matter how one starts, but how they finish.
Well, clichés are often cliché for a reason, and Newberg senior Ray Greller is living proof of that.
Greller orchestrated a stellar second-round performance at the OSAA 6A boys golf state championships at Quail Valley Golf Course in Banks on Tuesday, May 14, to finish in a five-way tie for third. After shooting a score of 5-over 77 in round one on Monday and sitting at 28th, Greller responded with the second-best outing of the second day, shooting 3-under 69 and sinking six birdies, finishing at 2-over 146.
“I worked hard on the range earlier (on Tuesday), just trying to hit more into the wind shots because I was very unprepared for (Monday),” Greller said. “I hit a lot more greens today, and I putted well (on Monday) — I just wasn't close enough to make it count.”
Newberg track and field shines at state track
After missing the finals of the 300-meter hurdles at last year's state championships, Newberg junior Dax Duggan returned this year with a force, finishing second in the discipline in a personal best of 38.85 seconds at the OSAA track and field state championships at Hayward Field in Eugene on Saturday, May 18.
“I feel amazing. I feel great. It's an amazing time to be here," Duggan said. "It's amazing just to get that time. I'm going for school records so hopefully we can get there next year.”
Duggan added: "I feel like I can take on the world."
Meanwhile, Sophomore Sophia Castaneda added to her ever-growing resume, finishing third in the 400 and 200 meters, clocking in at 54.22 and a personal best of 24.41.
“I just love running,” Castaneda said. “If I could run to my school classes and drop my backpack I kind of would, but I don’t want to get in trouble for running in the hall.”
Castaneda's podium finish in the 200 comes just under a year removed from missing the finals at last year's state championships. With her talents in the 400 and 200 solidified, she's considering diversifying her body of work moving forward.
“I kind of want to do a little more 800 stuff, and I would love to learn how to do hurdles and just try the 300 hurdles a few times — just at least give it a go," Castaneda said. "I know this year I didn't do any field events, but I'd love to do high jump and long jump again next year.”
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