The Silverton High equestrian team finished seventh in the large division of the Oregon High School Equestrian Teams state championships May 11-14 at the Deschutes County Fairgrounds in Redmond.
Silverton scored 141 points. Oregon City (588) and Mountain View of Bend (411) dominated the team race.
Silverton scored well in numerous events, with Adeline Kuenzi taking third in hunt seat equitation and saddle seat. Teammate Abigail Anderson was third in steer daubing.
Kuenzi also took 15th in trail equitation and 16th in western horsemanship. Other top 20 individual finishes were Sydney Rogosin (20th in dressage), Sidney King (16th in reining), Grace Kuenzi (14th in western horsemanship), Danielle Velasco (tenth in steer daubing and 15th in figure 8), Talus Miller (13th in individual flags), Madison Bailey (eighth in steer daubing) and Brooklyn Coulbourn-Sanchez (tenth in driving).
In team events Bailey, Velasco, Miller, Charlise Sperle and Adeline Kuenzi led the way by taking fifth in freestyle 5-plus. Other teams in the top 20 were Rogosin, Velasco, Coulbourn-Sanchez and Adeline Kuenzi (16th in the in hand obstacle relay) and Rogosin, Velasco, Wylie Blamer and Adeline Kuenzi (ninth in team versatility).
On the high point performance list Adeline Kuenzi was 12th with 35 points. On the timed event list Anderson tied for 15th with 14, Bailey and Velasco tied for 17th with 10 and Miller was seventh with 7. The contributor list featured Velasco (48 points, tied for 30th) and Adeline Kuenzi (42, tied for 33rd).
Football: Longtime coach Joe Panuke and Kennedy will be playing in a new district for football in the fall. The Trojans, who were 12-1 a year ago and finished second in their first year at Class 3A while playing in Special District 2, move into Special District 1. Also in the league are Banks, North Marion, Rainier, Valley Catholic, Warrenton and Yamhill-Carlton.
Kennedy opens with a nonleague game Sept. 1 at Stanfield, then comes home to play Siuslaw on Sept. 8. The league season begins with road games Sept. 15 at Yamhill-Carlton and Sept. 22 at Warrenton. Kennedy hosts Sisters on Sept. 29, then returns to league play for its final three games, home vs. Banks on Oct. 6, at Valley Catholic on Oct. 13 and home for the Oct. 20 finale vs. North Marion. Banks, Warrenton, Y-C, Siuslaw and Sisters all made the Class 3A playoffs a year ago, with Kennedy downing Banks 15-7 in the semifinals.
Silverton, meanwhile, was 7-4 overall a year ago under first-year coach Dan Lever and advanced to the Class 5A quarterfinals before falling to eventual runner-up Wilsonville.
The Foxes were 6-2 in the Mid-Willamette Conference and shared the title with Dallas and Central. Silverton remains in the ten-team MWC and the size of the league means the Foxes will not face a nonleague opponent.
Silverton opens with three consecutive home games at McGinnis Field, Sept. 1 vs. Dallas, Sept. 8 against Woodburn and Sept. 15 vs. Central. Three road games follow, Sept. 22 at South Albany, Sept. 28 at Corvallis and Oct. 6 at Crescent Valley. The Foxes host McKay on Oct. 12 for homecoming, visit West Albany on Oct. 20 and close at McGinnis with Lebanon on Oct. 27, senior night. Note that the Corvallis and McKay games are Thursday nights.
Academic All-state: Kennedy had 12 of its sports teams finish with grade point averages above 3.0, while Silverton produced nine such teams in OSAA activities.
The Trojans’s class 2A-1A state championship baseball team was second statewide with a 3.76 GPA, although the top JFK GPA went to girls cross country, which finished seventh at 3.88. Kennedy’s girls basketball squad was first in Class 2A at 3.84. Other 3.0-plus squads included football (sixth at 3.25), girls swimming (sixth in 3.82), boys swimming (sixth in 3.70), boys basketball (fourth at 3.63), volleyball (fourth at 3.77), boys cross country (ninth at 3.11), boys soccer (28th at 3.03), girls soccer (tied for 24th at 3.16) and wrestling (fourth at 3.37).
The Silverton girls basketball squad was the Foxes’ top performer (third at 3.85), while the softball squad was third at 3.70. Other teams above 3.0 were girls swimming (18th at 3.60), boys swimming (22nd at 3.11), boys basketball (20th at 3.25), dance and drill (8th at 3.73), girls tennis (14th at 3.67), boys tennis (11th at 3.56) and baseball (18th at 3.16).
Coaching Honor: Steve Ritchie, the veteran cross country and track and field coach at Kennedy High, has been honored by the Oregon Athletic Coaches Association for his 30 years of coaching service. The coaching honor was announced at the OACA’s annual banquet May 27 at Autzen Stadium.
Ritchie’s girls track and field team took second in the state in 2013 and first in 2014. The boys squad finished second in 2001. In addition, Ritchie coached Alejandra Lopez to a state cross country individual title in 2018.
Alumni Watch: Alejandra Lopez, a former state cross country champion at Kennedy who is now running at Southern Oregon University, turned in two sterling 10,000 meter performances this spring. First, at the Mike Fanelli Track Classic in San Francisco on March 30, she ran 37:24.97 while finishing 15th in a field of 35. It was her first 10K and just her second track race in four years. Later, on May 24, she ran 37:17.16 to finish ninth in the NAIA championships at Indiana Wesleyan in Marion, Indiana.
All-star Baseball Series: Four players from Kennedy’s two-time Class 2A-1A champions participated in a small school all-star series June 10-11 at Linfield University in McMinnville. Trojans Ethan Kleinschmit, Andrew Cuff, Luke Beyer and Charlie Beyer played for the West team, which won all three games by scores of 15-6, 13-7, and 5-1. In the final contest Kleinschmit, who was named the series’ most outstanding player, pitched seven innings, allowing no runs, one hit and struck out 16. Cuff closed out the game and struck out three. For the series Kleinschmidt went 4-for-5, walked two times and scored three runs. Charlie Beyer went 4-for-5 with two RBIs, scored two runs and stole two bases. Luke Beyer was 1-4 with a walk.
“I got to coach them for the last time,” said Kevin Moffatt, the JFK coach, who has won state titles in 2012, 2022 and 2023 while taking second in 2019 and 2021. “It was pretty sweet, sad but sweet.”
