By James Day
Oops!
Make that a double oops!
I intended in my column for the June 1 Our Town to wrap up all state championship participation for area high schools.
But I left somebody out. And it’s too bad because that somebody is definitely worth writing about.
The Kennedy High golf team, led by senior Doug Pomeroy, took home fifth place in the OSAA Class 3A-2A-1A state tournament.
Pomeroy finished 13th overall after shooting 78 and 81 in his two rounds for a 159 total.
Also scoring for Kennedy were junior Kyle Manning (tied for 24th at 173), Oscar Cardenas (tied for 28th at 178) and junior Austin Berning (tied for 36th at 184).
The Trojans totaled 694 strokes in two days of play at the Emerald Valley Golf Club in Creswell. St Mary’s of Medford won with 598, followed by Rogue River (675), Catlin Gabel (680), Westside Christian of Lake Oswego (683) and Kennedy.
Congratulations to the Trojans for an excellent showing. My bad for the oversight.
Meanwhile, Silverton High basketball ace Zach Gengler has made it official: He will be playing college ball at Portland State. Gengler signed his letter of intent June 3 in a ceremony at the school library.
“He is the best basketball player to ever play at Silverton High School,” said Foxes coach Darren Shryock. “Some of his records (career points and steals specifically) will never be broken in my opinion. The most impressive stat in my mind is his career record of 84-24 for a 77% winning percentage.
“That speaks volumes about Zach. He did whatever needed to be done to help his team win. Beyond basketball, Zach has been a model citizen in the classroom and in the halls. Kids naturally look up to him for his talent, but they also look up to him for the type of person and tremendous leader that he is.”
Gengler, who helped lead Silverton to three state tournaments, holds 11 school records, including career records for steals (396), points (2,016) and scoring average: (18.6 points per game). The 6-2 senior guard was a three-time all-Mid-Willamette Conference player, was twice named all-state for Class 5A and was player of the year in Class 5A for 2013.
He broke the school single-game scoring record with a 44-point explosion in the state playoffs against Sherwood in his final home game.
“Our recruiting philosophy has been to try to get the top recruits from Oregon and Washington. Zach really fits that mold as the 5A player of the year,” said PSU coach Tyler Geving. “One thing we really liked about Zach was his understanding of the game. He has a high basketball IQ. In addition, he can handle and shoot the ball. He is very skilled with a sneaky athleticism to him.”
Silverton High has hired Michelle Carbajal and Alyssa Workman as interim co-head coaches for the cheerleading squad. Both coaches have experience in cheer and have also been involved in the athletic department for the past couple of years as volunteer assistant coaches. Additionally, athletic director Greg Kaatz will assume assistant coaching responsibilities as the team’s strength and conditioning coach.
Last season the Foxes qualified for the OSAA championships in the Class 5A small division where they finished 10th.
If you have a sports tip to share, send me a note at [email protected]. Follow me on Twitter @jameshday
