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Show biz kids: Kennedy track, Gervais gear to be in sports movie

The track and field facility at Kennedy High is going to be in a movie. Production crews spent July 8 at the school in Mount Angel shooting a movie called Flash Before the Bang. It could be released as early as next year depending on issues that remain bizarrely confined to the movie biz.

The movie is about the 1986 championship track and field squad at Oregon School for the Deaf and it was written and is being directed by Jevon Whetter, an OSD grad who played a key role on the championship team.

Although the movie is largely being recorded at OSD in Salem, the producers also came to Kennedy and Cascade in Turner.

Mt. Angel Superintendent Rachel Stucky told Our Town that she OK’d the use of the facility because she liked the message of the movie, which focuses on successes of the hearing impaired. Stucky also suspected that the nice view of Mt. Hood from the school’s campus, might have helped.

Whetter also visited Gervais, and veteran track and field and cross country coach David Castle, a Silverton resident and long-time volunteer with the Silverton Runners Club, rented the movie some equipment.

Included were “some of my old hurdles (with wooden gates), tape measures, javelins, high jump pit and standards, our timer review stand (back before electronic timing, the timers would be on this tiered review stand getting times), old starting blocks, meet flagging, discuses, and shots, etc.,” Castle told Our Town.

“It is set in the 1980s and they needed track stuff from that era and Gervais… still has a lot from that era,” Castle said.

In return, the movie is paying to repaint the markings/lines on the track. Some of Castle’s athletes also were paid to appear as extras in the production.

Kennedy Trojans

Academics: Kennedy’s athletic teams continued their excellent work in the classroom. All 13 of the Trojans’ teams finished with a cumulative grade point average above 3.0, with the majority of them well above that figure. 

Six of Kennedy’s teams ranked in the top 5 in their class, with volleyball ranked No. 1 at 3.81. Boys swimming was second (3.69), boys wrestling was third (3.36), girls track and field was fourth (3.64), baseball took fourth (3.60) and softball finished tied for fifth (3.63). Other teams finished thusly: boys track and field (seventh, 3.32), boys basketball (seventh, 3.41), girls basketball (eighth, 3.63), girls swimming (15th, 3.54), football (11th, 3.20), girls cross country (13th, 3.81) and boys cross country (ninth, 3.38).

Kennedy generally competes in Class 2A, but boys cross country, baseball and softball competed against 2A and 1A teams, girls cross country was listed in 3A-2A-1A, swimming competed in the 4A-3A-2A-1A group and football was in Class 3A.

Silverton, which usually turns in a strong performance in the 5A rankings, was not listed. Foxes athletic director Andy Jones said he was under the impression that the school had submitted its information. If the figures emerge I will note them in a future column.

OSAA Cup: Kennedy finished eighth in Class 2A in the annual OSAA Cup competition, which includes athletic, academic and sportsmanship components. The Trojans were credited with 1,633.75 points. Bandon won the cup with 2,495. Silverton, meanwhile, finished 14th in Class 5A with 2,115. Summit of Bend was the winner with 4726.25. Mid-Willamette Conference rivals Crescent Valley (3,620) was third, West Albany (2,917.5) was fifth, Corvallis (2,494.2) was 11th and South Albany (2,410) was 12th.

Coaching Changes: Foxes athletic director Andy Jones has announced a couple of coaching updates. David Morgan takes over for Jamie McCarty with boys basketball. Morgan has served as an assistant under McCarty. Don Holland and Eric Lay have taken over as co-coaches for girls soccer. They replaced Renee Cantrell. And although not a coach but clearly a major contributor to the department, athletic secretary Valerie Martinson has retired.

Coaching Honors: Long-time Silverton-area coach Pat Scott has been honored by the National Federation of High School Associations for his 45 years of service. Scott was honored, along with coaches hitting milestones between 25 years and 60 years at the Oregon Athletic Coaches Association’s annual conference in Sunriver. Scott currently serves as a Silverton High assistant football coach who works with linemen. On the 25-year list was Chad Waples, a former Foxes baseball assistant coach who now serves as athletic director at Woodburn. His son Chad played baseball and football for the Foxes, and a second son, Hudson, is a current Foxes athlete.  

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