Kennedy High has returned to the top of the leaderboard in Oregon’s Class 2A. And the accomplishment involves elements way beyond just athletic competition.
The Trojans have captured the 2022-23 OSAA Cup, the all-sports trophy that also includes academic and sportsmanship components. It’s an honor that’s dear to the heart of Kevin Moffatt, who coached the baseball team to its third state title since 2012 and whose stewardship of the athletic department helped produce championship-level teams across the board as well as 3.0 or above grade-point averages for ALL 12 teams.
“This is the best honor the OSAA gives,” Moffatt told Our Town. “It takes into account how your sports teams do on the field and in the classroom, so to me it is the biggest achievement. Not many pro athletes come out of our school, so what they do in the classroom is really the important thing. Sports are a vehicle to support the classroom, and I think that is lost sometimes in society these days.”
In addition to the state baseball title, coach Joe Panuke’s football team finished second, coach Karl Schmidtman’s boys basketball team took third and Steve Ritchie’s boys and girls track and field teams won district titles and his girls cross country team finished second in the district.
And as noted in my July 1 column, Kennedy shined academically as well, with the girls cross country team turning in a cumulative 3.88 GPA, followed by girls basketball (3.84), girls swimming (3.82), volleyball (3.77) and baseball (3.76).
Kennedy, unlike many of its brethren in these budget-conscious times, has been ADDING teams in recent years, with boys and girls soccer, boys and girls swimming and wrestling now being offered.
“I’m proud of all of our teams, players, coaches, and teachers because this is truly a school award,” Moffatt said. “Our kids that are involved in activities consistently perform well in school. It is one of the reasons we try and get every kid out for some type of sport. It seems to have a direct impact on student success.”
The 2022-23 school year marks the sixth time Kennedy has won the award. The Trojans won five in a row from 2015-16 through 2019-20. COVID claimed the 2020-21 season and Regis won a year ago. Kennedy finished with 2,100 points, 42.5 ahead of runner-up Bandon.
Kennedy will receive the trophy from the OSAA at an all-school assembly at the start of the school year in the fall.
Silverton finished seventh in the Class 5A standings with 2,570.75, led by its girls basketball team (fourth at state) and football and volleyball (both advanced to the state quarterfinals). Summit won the Cup with 4,673.75. The Foxes were third among Mid-Willamette Conference schools. Crescent Valley was third overall with 3,523.35 and West Albany sixth (2,754,4).
Equestrian: Silverton equestrian athletes participated in the prestigious Pacific Northwest Invitational Championships June 14-16 at Moses Lake, Washington.The elite competition brings together the top five finishers in the Oregon and Washington state meets.
Adeline Kuenzi led the way for Silverton by participating in three events. Kuenzi tied for fourth in saddle seat equitation and placed eighth in hunt seat equitation as an individual and teamed with Madison Bailey, Danielle Velasco, Talus Miller and Charlise Sperle to take fifth in the freestyle 5-plus. Also scoring for Silverton was Abigail Anderson, who took sixth in steer daubing.
Silverton finished seventh as a team in the large squad division of the Oregon High School Equestrian Teams state meet May 11-14 in Redmond.
Volleyball: Kirsten Barnes, who last coached Silverton volleyball in the 2015-16 school year, is returning to lead the Foxes in the fall. She replaces Reilly Rosecrans, who was 23-5 in her lone season at the helm. Will have more on this one in my next column (Barnes is out of town and unavailable for immediate comment).
Correction: Steve Ritchie, veteran Kennedy cross country and track and field coach, was honored in May by the Oregon Athletic Coaches Association for his 25 years of coaching. My July 1 column had incorrectly listed his tenure as being 30 years.
