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Equestrian stars – Silverton heads to state off strong district finish

The Silverton High equestrian squad came within one point of claiming a team win in the third North Valley district competition of the season.

The Foxes scored 703 points in the April 7-10 Oregon High School Equestrian Teams (OHSET) event at the Oregon State Fairgrounds in Salem. Canby won the large team competition with 704.

Teams from all eight OHSET districts are now pointing toward the May 12-15 state championships at the Deschutes County Fairgrounds in Redmond.

Silverton brought home blue ribbons in four individual events and three team competitions in the third meet. 

Samantha Griffin claimed three individual titles and participated on two team winners. Griffin won barrels, breakaway roping and steer daubing as an individual and teamed with Alexis Ditchen to win the two-man birangle and Hannah Russell to claim working pairs.

Also winning an individual title was Danielle Velasco (figure 8), while Sidney King and Morgan Cuff won in team sorting.

Kennedy’s baseball and softball teams are looking like state contenders once again. 

The two teams memorably finished second in state title bids on the same day in 2019, but COVID wiped out the 2020 season completely and the shortened 2021 campaign did not feature an official OSAA state title.

This year’s Trojans baseball squad is 12-2 overall, ranked second in the state and 7-1 in Special District 2 play. Kennedy is locked in a 3-way race for league dominance with 8-2 Culver (ranked 15th) and 6-3 Western Christian (ranked 4th). The Trojans play a three-game series with Culver starting Monday, May 9, while also faced with a 3-game set against 4-3 Santiam starting Monday, May 2. Three teams from the district advance to the 22-team Class 2A/1A state playoffs.

Kennedy softball is 7-3 overall, 6-0 in district play and ranked 6th. Santiam (4-2), Culver (3-1) and Jefferson (3-2) trail the Trojans in the standings. JFK has two games left against Culver and one vs. Santiam. The top three in the district qualify for the playoffs, but the 22-team girls bracket also includes three at-large slots.

Silverton baseball and softball also are in the playoff hunt. The Foxes are 9-5 in baseball, with a 3-1 Mid-Willamette Conference record and the No. 11 ranking in Class 5A. The league is a mad scramble, with Corvallis (5-1), West Albany (4-0), Crescent Valley (4-2) and Lebanon (3-0) all battling with the Foxes for the 4 automatic playoff berths. There is one at-large slot and given that all 5 MWC contenders (as well as 3-3 Central) are in the top 14, the league stands a good chance of claiming that final position.
Silverton softball is 9-4 overall, 2-1 in league and ranked 13th in 5A. The Foxes, like their baseball counterparts, are 5th in the MWC, trailing Lebanon (5-0), Dallas-Falls City (5-0), Corvallis (3-2) and West Albany (3-2). The playoff situation is identical: the MWC has four automatic playoff berths and one statewide at-large berth exists.

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