The Silverton High choir shared the state title with Central at the OSAA Class 5A competition held May 3 – 5 at George Fox University in Newberg.
The Foxes, led by director Cole Haole-Valenzuela, totaled 324 points, five more than Central. But Silverton was penalized for exceeding the 20-minute time limit for their performance.
“We had the pleasure of sharing the state title with Central,” Haole-Valenzuela told Our Town, adding that the time penalty will “be a learning experience for future competitions.”
The state choir title is the first in school history. Silverton choirs previously took second in 1994 under Ric Cooper and in 2007 under Brace Langenwalter.
Silverton performed five pieces, including works by Hans Leo Hassler; Brahms; Dan Forest; Michael Barrett and Ralf Schmidt; and Paul John Rudoi.
Rudoi, who is working on his master’s in choral conducting and composition at the University of Oregon, was present for the competition and thanked the choir for singing his piece.
“The singers did what they have been doing all year: singing high-quality music with excellence,” said Haole-Valenzuela, who is in his second year at the school. “I knew that they would perform to inspire and connect with others through their singing. That is always our goal.
“State competition is a celebration of what we do. I know that no matter how we placed on that day the concert choir singers would have been proud of what they did and happy with the opportunity to share with the audience what they love to do.”
Baseball, softball: Kennedy is 17-3 overall and 9-1 in Special District 2 as teams head into the home stretch. The Trojans are ranked No. 3 in Class 2A/1A and coach Kevin Moffatt told Our Town “we are not the most talented group we have had for sure, but we have kids that work hard and are doing the little things right. We have been solid on defense and really have thrown strikes on the mound.”
Moffatt said he has nine or 10 players who are contributing, noting the leadership of Daniel Moreno, the defense of Angel De La Rosa and Bruce Beyer, the hitting of Demeter Marselle and the all-around play of Jonathan Valladares and Sam Grosjacques. Also, the freshman duo of pitcher Brady Traeger and catcher Dylan Kleinschmit have played “huge roles,” Moffatt said.
The Trojans’ softball team, meanwhile, is battling with Central Linn for the district title as the season enters its final week. Kennedy, ranked No. 3, was 14-1 in league play and the top-ranked Cobras 13-1 at Our Town’s presstime.
Golf: The Silverton boys took second in the district meet May 1-2 at Quail Valley in Banks. Antip Ayhan, Daniel Valihov and Stephen Samoilov finished seventh, eighth and ninth, respectively, while Fred Snegriff and Isaac Martushev also will be going to state for the Foxes. The state meet at Emerald Valley in Creswell took place after Our Town’s presstime. See our June 1 edition for results.
Hoop shoot: Pratum School student Housten Kuenzi finished third in the national Elks Hoop Shoot competition April 21 in Chicago. Kuenzi, who competed in the 12- and 13-year-old division, made 24 of his 25 free throws, a superb mark matched by two other contestants. Housten wound up third after a tiebreaker.
Kuenzi, who represented Silverton Elks Lodge 2210, advanced to nationals by winning at local, district, state and regional competitions. The local competition, which included boys and girls aged 8 to 13 from 21 schools, took place at Robert Frost School.
Speech, debate: Silverton’s Elijah Rakha-Sheketoff and Dylan Pool both made the semifinals in events at the OSAA speech and debate championships held April 19-21 at Western Oregon University in Monmouth. Rakha-Sheketoff made the semifinals in extemporaneous speaking, while Pool did so in radio commentary. Rakha-Sheketoff also participated in impromptu. Other Silverton competitors included Chloe Platt and Brady Tavernier (After Dinner Speech), Hannah Brown (oratory) and Lily DeSantis (radio commentary)
Running: A total of 140 runners and walkers participated in the May 5 Run for the Hills, a benefit for Victor Point School. Sophia Patterson, 22, of Salem, scored a dramatic win in the grueling 15-kilometer trail run, besting Chris Buckley, 47, of Silverton by less than two seconds. Patterson ran the course in 1:10:51.8, with Buckley close behind in 1:10:53.7. Silverton’s Zack Kuenzi, 13, won the 5K run/walk in 19:16.9, James Dunning, 35, of Salem took the 10K in 45:02.5 and K. Kuenzi, 9, of Salem triumphed in the 1-mile kids run in 6:36.0.
Correction: In the segment of my May 1 column on Silverton student-athletes signing to attend college I flubbed Will Wright’s name. Which is stupid because we follow each other on Twitter. Will will be running track and cross country at Westmont College in Montecito, California.
Follow me on Twitter.com @jameshday.
