Kennedy and Silverton both should have strong cross country programs this year after a 2018 season in which three of the four squads placed at state.
Kennedy’s boys were sixth at the Class 2A-1A meet a year ago, with the girls seventh in the Class 3A-2A-1A meet. Silverton’s boys were eighth in Class 5A.
Veteran Kennedy coach Steve Ritchie reports one of his better turnouts, 11 girls and nine boys, with Nick Riedman, Korbin Wedding (who is out with an injury for the early part of the season) and Jose Salazar the top returning boys. Aleks Eyles, Cassie Traeger, Whitney Lopez and Mikayla Schaecher return for the girls squad.
Key newcomers for the Trojans include Jesus Cortes and Jesus Espinosa among the boys as well as girls runners Catherine Butsch, Reese Hall, Haley Kline, Yessenia Salazar and Kylee Rodriguez.
District handicapping is a little challenging given that there are 31 schools in the girls district and 23 in the boys district, but Ritchie thinks East Linn Christian should be the boys favorite, with Neah-Kah-Nie a good bet among the girls.
Silverton coach Erik Cross reports he has 76 athletes on the roster, including 42 boys and 34 girls. The boys return Trevor Ortega, Miles Decker, Jadon Mansur, Carter Gauvin and Jon Hansen from the state qualifying team from last year. Colin Allen, Zach Kuenzi, Nick Zitzelberger and Andrew Fronza will all see time running at the varsity level for the boys, Cross said.
The girls are very young with just senior Justice McBride-Steiger returning to the top seven so far. Cross said as many as 15 girls might wind up competing for the varsity this season, including Josslyn Ames, Cherise White, Abby Espinavarro, Jasmine Carlin, Anne Hurley, Alisha Larkin, Sophia McElroy, Kayden Eberle, Talus Miller, Hannah Bashor and Rebecca Noordam.
As testimony to the strengths of the two programs it should be noted that five alums are participating in college, Silverton’s Maddie Fuhrman (Oregon State), Jori Paradis (Concordia of California) and Haile Stutzman (Huntington of Indiana) and Kennedy’s Kaylin Cantu (Western Oregon) and Alejandra Lopez (Southern Oregon).
Football: Week one was a success for the Silverton High football program. The Foxes blanked Central 50-0 and held the Panthers to 133 yards of total offense. The score was 20-0 before Central collected a first down. The Foxes rang up 376 yards, with both quarterbacks, junior Aaron Rieskamp and sophomore Jordan McCarty, hitting 2 of 3 passes, including a long one apiece to senior wide receiver Grant Buchheit, who caught two passes for 114 yards.
Senior running back Hayden Roth rumbled for 109 yards and three touchdowns on just seven carries. The offensive line of seniors Tashaun Treat, Tanner Ellsworth, Spencer Von Flue, Jackson Clements and soph Orie Schaffers dominated the line of scrimmage and the Foxes finished with 230 yards rushing.
The Foxes took on Special District 3 foe South Albany Sept. 13 at McGinnis Field, after Our Town’s presstime.
Kennedy, meanwhile, fell 22-0 in its opener at Rainier. The game pitted the defending Class 2A (JFK) and Class 3A against each other. The Trojans hosted 0-1 Regis in a nonleague game on Sept. 13.
OSAA Cup: For the fourth consecutive September Kennedy has started school with a trophy presentation. On Sept 3 Kris Welch of the OSAA presented the Trojans their fourth consecutive OSAA Cup at an all-school assembly. The Cup goes to the school in each of the OSAA’s six classifications that turns in the best athletics, academic and sportsmanship performance during the preceding school year.
Kennedy won the Class 2A football title, was second in baseball and softball and had several other teams perform well at state competition. In addition, all 14 Trojans sports and activity teams turned in grade-point averages of better than 3.0.
Volleyball: Kennedy is off to an 8-1 start and ranked No. 1 in Class 2A by the OSAA. The Trojans’ lone loss was to Class 4A Sweet Home. Kennedy has a win against Class 4A Astoria as well as victories against 3A schools Salem Academy and Creswell. Kennedy starts Tri-River Conference play this week. Silverton, meanwhile, already has started Mid-Willamette Conference action. The Foxes are 0-2 overall and 0-1 in league.
Soccer: The Silverton boys squad under new coach Marty Limbird won its opener, a 5-0 blanking of Scappoose. The girls are 1-1, via a 3-1 win against Mountain View and a 4-1 loss to Thurston. The boys open Mid Willamette Conference play Oct. 3 at Dallas. The girls open Oct. 8
at home vs. Crescent Valley.
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