By James Day
Junior Olympics: Kennedy High junior Lauren Stokley and Silverton High sophomore Maddie Fuhrman both competed in USATF Junior Olympic Cross Country meet on Dec. 14 in San Antonio, Texas. Fuhrman finished 10th in 19:20.41 and Stokley was 45th in 20:49.34. There were 152 finishers in the 15-16 girls race.
The Silverton High boys basketball team is in a rebuilding mode. The Foxes, who finished third in last year’s OSAA Class 5A state tournament, lost all five starters, including state Class 5A player of the year Zach Gengler.
“Losing our top six from last year is certainly proving to be a challenge,” said veteran Silverton coach Darren Shryock. “Some of the young kids are stepping up and playing well (and) keeping us competitive.”
Silverton is off to a 1-2 start, with a win against Class 6A West Salem and losses to Sherwood and Springfield. In addition to the loss of the six seniors from last year’s squad, one of Shryock’s key returners, senior Jonas Dahl, likely will miss the entire season because of an injury.
Stepping up for the Foxes, Shryock said, have been senior guard Ian Sucich, sophomore point guard Sam Roth and junior forward Cole Chandler.
“Sucich is off to a great start,” Shryock said, “and will be our leader without question.”
Roth, a sophomore, has grown three inches to 6’3” and “is handling the point guard duties and playing well,” Shryock said.
Chandler, the quarterback on the Fox football team that advanced to the Class 5A semifinals “has emerged as a leader and should have a very good year,” said Shryock.
The Foxes were a perfect 14-0 in the MidWillamette Conference last season and finished three games ahead of West Albany, which looks like the team to beat this season. “The MidWillamette Conference should be wide open after league favorite West Albany,” Shryock said.
“Hopefully we can continue to improve and have it pay dividends as we hit league play in January.”
The Foxes played in a tournament at Wilsonville on Dec. 26-28 and have nonleague games against Sprague and St. Helens before opening MidWillamette play Jan. 14 at West Albany.
Colleges: Speaking of Gengler, the former Fox star has played in all eight games thus far as a freshman at Portland State, including a pair of starts. Gengler is averaging 3.5 points per game. He is shooting 45.8 percent from the floor, has made 3 of his 6, 3-point attempts and has seven assists and four steals. He is averaging 14.5 minutes per game for the Vikings.
Oregon State University quarterback Sean Mannion, the son of Silverton High football coach John Mannion, turned in some glittering numbers for the Beavers, who played Boise State on Christmas Eve in the Hawaii Bowl after Our Town’s deadline. Mannion completed 66 percent of his passes (376 of 570) for 4,.403 yards and 36 touchdowns. The attempts, completions, yardage and touchdown totals all broke OSU records, and Mannion’s yardage total was No. 2 nationally during the regular season. Mannion, a 6’-5”, 220-pound junior, was named honorable mention, all Pac-12 Conference.
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