Silverton has selected replacements for its two open basketball positions, hiring Tyler Allen to coach the boys and Alyssa Ogle to lead the girls.
Allen replaces Jamie McCarty, who led the Foxes to a runner-up finish in the Class 5A tournament in March. McCarty lost just one Mid-Willamette Conference game in his 5 years with the program, while taking 4th and 3rd in two other state tournaments. His 2020 team was through to the semifinals when COVID-19 shut down further play.
Ogle already is on staff, having served four years as an assistant under Tal Wold, whose teams won the 2016 5A title, took 2nd in 2017 and 3rd in 2018. His 2020 Foxes also were in the semifinals when the pandemic froze that tournament.
Allen, 37, grew up in Dallas and received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Western Oregon University. He spent eight years at South Salem, coaching the Saxons to three appearances in the Class 6A semifinals. He took the past three years off from coaching while maintaining his P.E. and health teaching position with the Oregon Youth Authority’s MacLaren Correctional Facility in Woodburn.
“My goal is always to leave a place (personal or professional) better than I found it,” Allen said when asked about stepping away from the South Salem job. “I had accomplished that, and felt I didn’t have the energy to continue to invest the amount of sacrifice it takes to run a successful program, from the youth programs, to summer workouts, to the actual season.
“What led me to return to coaching was a much-needed three-year break to spend time with my wife and family. Silverton has always been at the top of my list for desired coaching jobs. What excites me most about Silverton basketball is the community. I really get the sense that the whole town is invested in Silverton athletics and the growth of our student-athletes. That level of support is very enticing for a coach looking in from the outside.”
Allen has a bit of a rebuilding job ahead of him. The 2021-22 basic seven-man rotation consisted entirely of seniors, with nine seniors on the roster overall.
“The program will look new, but my goal is to continue the Silverton tradition,” Allen said. “To develop young men who are model citizens and give back to their community. This team will be young, with little to no varsity experience, and the process will be a fun journey.”
Ogle, a Sheridan native and University of Oregon graduate, will continue as a social studies teacher at the high school as she assumes responsibility for the girls program. Like Allen, this will be her second varsity job. Ogle coached eight years at North Eugene, the final two as head coach before moving to Silverton.
“I knew that I wanted to be a head coach again someday, but was waiting for the right timing,” she told Our Town. “When I started at Silverton as a teacher, it was my first teaching job and I wanted to really excel and learn in the teaching field. Being a first-year teacher and a head coach is difficult, so I wanted to take a step back and work as an assistant during that time. I was lucky enough to have Tal Wold reach out to me and ask to meet up. Ever since then, I have been coaching in the program and wouldn’t change anything if I were to do it all over again.
“Working with Coach Wold has been an unbelievable experience. Learning from him and working alongside him has been incredible for me. He has been able to build a culture of girls’ basketball at Silverton that most places don’t possess, and my goal is to continue to build upon what it means to be a Silverton Fox and to represent the girls basketball program.”
Equestrian: The Silverton equestrian team continued its strong set of performances with championship showings at a Pacific Northwest event in Moses Lake, Washington. The event brought together the top 5 finishers at state events in Oregon and Washington.
Samantha Griffin of the Foxes won the breakaway roping event, was fifth in steer daubing and seventh in working rancher. In addition, Griffin teamed up with Alexis Ditchen to finish fifth in two man birangle. Griffin and Ditchen also participated in team sorting but did not score.
Silverton’s Sidney King and Morgan Cuff, meanwhile, captured first in team sorting. Cuff also finished fifth in individual flags.
OSAA Cup: Silverton and Kennedy both produced top 4 finishes in the annual statewide all-sports competition that also credits schools for academics and sportsmanship.
Kennedy, which has ruled 2A in recent years with 4 top finishes, from 2015-16 and 2018-19, finished 2nd this school year to Regis. Top state finishes for the Trojans included first in baseball and second in football, with the softball team making the final four and girls cross country taking fifth.
Silverton, meanwhile, finished fourth in Class 5A. Wilsonville won the competition, which was dominated by Mid-Willamette Conference teams. Crescent Valley finished second, Corvallis was fifth and West Albany was seventh. The Foxes won the 5A football and boys track and field titles, while finishing second in boys basketball and girls golf. Four other teams: boys soccer, volleyball, girls basketball and softball made the state quarterfinals.
Football: An OSAA committee working on football districts for the fall season, has completed its work. The big change is that teams in Class 2A will play nine-man this fall because of dropping roster numbers. Kennedy, which advanced to the 2A championship game last fall, will continue to play 11-man but will do so as a Class 3A member for football only. The Trojans will play in the PacWest Conference with Amity, Dayton, Jefferson, Newport, Salem Academy, Santiam Christian and Scio. Salem Academy also is playing up from 2A, while Newport is playing down from 4A.
Silverton remains in the Class 5A Mid-Willamette, with football opponents Central, Corvallis, Crescent Valley, Dallas, Lebanon, McKay, South Albany and West Albany. Woodburn, which is playing at the 4A level for football, will join the MWC for all other sports.
Baseball & Softball: Class 2A champion Kennedy, placed six players on the 2A all-state baseball teams. Ethan Kleinschmit (pitcher), Riley Cantu (infielder) and Owen Bruner (outfielder) were first-teamers, with DH Charlie Beyer on the second team. Andrew Cuff was a third-team pitcher, with first baseman Matt Hopkins earning honorable mention.
Silverton standout outfielder Cole Mucken was named first-team all-state in Class 5A. Foxes softball infielder Justina Semerikov and outfielder Marin Bliss were named second-team all-Class 5A, with infielder McKenzee Peterson landing a spot on the third team.
Middle School Track: Mount Angel’s Madalynn Ehrens won the shot put to lead local participants at the middle school Meet of Champions on May 26 at Corvallis High. Ehrens threw the shot 40-3 and also finished 20th in the discus with a mark of 66-0. Teammate Anna Vogel was ninth in the high jump at 4-6. Jaden Traeger was fourth in the javelin (138-8) and Brian Morgan 25th in the javelin (103-5) to pace the Mount Angel boys.
Silverton’s girls took 3rd in the 4×100, with the team of Lexi Enzenberger (Central Howell), Chloe Brooks (Victor Point), Sofie Baldridge (Silverton Middle School) and Brooklyn Schurter (Victor Point) running 53.25 in the final. The foursome, seeded 22nd coming into the team, ran a 52.84 in the preliminaries
to advance.
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