By James Day
The Kennedy High cross country team took home the top individual honors at the Tri-River Conference district meet Oct. 23 at Bush’s Pasture Park in Salem. Junior Adrian Parra won the boys race in 16:31, tying the course record for a Kennedy runner. Meanwhile, freshman Kaylin Cantu of the Trojans won the girls race by 30 seconds in 20:03. Parra and Cantu were named district runners of the year.
“He followed the race plan to perfection,” Kennedy Coach Steve Ritchie told Our Town of Parra, “surging on the derby hill and then destroyed his competitors over the last 1000 meters.”
“Kayla is driven and has worked very hard,” Ritchie said of Cantu. “I don’t think she has missed a practice since maybe August. She is not afraid to go out hard right from the gun and challenge the other girls to stay with her.”
Parra helped lead Kennedy to a second-place finish in the boys team race, qualifying the Trojans for the state meet for the 16th time in the past 17 years. Also headed to state are sophomore Noe Jines (sixth in 17:12), junior Kyle Kinyon (28th in 19:15), freshman Alex Salazar (34th in 19:48), senior Jerome Gillain (43rd in 20:08) and sophomore Brandon Rendon (44th in 20:09).
Senior Lauren Stokley took fourth in 20:56 to help lead the Trojans’ girls to fourth in the team race. Stokley also will run at the state meet, which will be held Saturday, Nov. 1 at Lane Community College in Eugene.
Silverton High School, meanwhile, qualified its boys team for state for the first time in eight years. The Foxes were led by senior Robbie LeParc, who took fifth in 15:39 in the Mid-Willamette Conference district meet Oct. 22 at Crystal Lake Sports Park in Corvallis. Also headed to state are junior Sam Roth (ninth in 17:22), sophomore Hosea Catterall (11th in 17:24), junior Wolf Seifer (15th in 17:38), junior Isaiah Perez (29th in 18:03), senior Hart White (32nd in 18:09), and junior Zeke Linn (47th in 18:55).
“I’ve been very pleased with their commitment to the training and to each other,” Foxes Coach Erik Cross told Our Town. “I’ve looked forward to every practice with this group.”
Foxes junior Maddie Fuhrman will be making her second trip to state. Fuhrman finished third in the girls district race in 19:17, setting a record for a Foxes junior. Fuhrman finished 20th at last year’s state meet.
Silverton giirls soccer: The surprise team of the fall has to be the Silverton girls soccer squad. The Foxes were 0-5-1 during the nonleague season but have caught fire in Mid-Willamette play. Silverton was 6-0-0 heading into the Oct. 28 showdown with 4-0-1 Corvallis.
The Foxes have outscored their league opponents by a combined 23-4.
“Even in that tough preseason we played stretches of good soccer. It just wasn’t reflected in the score,” said first-year Coach Gary Cameron.
“What I’m most proud of is how resilient these girls were, staying together as a team, working hard at practice every day, rallying and turning things around mid-season. Never getting too high, never getting too low.”
Cameron, assisted by Fred George, who led last year’s squad to the round of 16 in the Class 5A playoffs, made a series of adjustments that have borne fruit.
Lizzy Roth moved to defense, joining Elizabeth Fleshman and Maddy Valov in a strong back line. Putting Caitlin Keating, Hailey Satyna and Baylie Cameron up top helped offensively and Heidi Moore has been steady at center mid.
Newcomers Desiree Sinn (defender) and midfielders Hannah Munson and Maggie Roth have played key roles.
Kennedy volleyball: The Trojans finished a perfect 14-0 Tri-River season with a 3-0 win Oct. 22 vs. Regis.
Kennedy, 19-3 overall, is ranked No. 1 in Class 2A by the OSAA and will play a home match Nov. 1 with a shot at the state tournament in Redmond on the line. The Trojans finished fourth in last year’s tournament.
Football update: Silverton is one win away from its second unbeaten regular season in the past three years.
The Foxes (8-0 overall, 6-0 Mid-Willamette) downed Woodburn 55-0 on Oct. 24 and will visit rival Dallas (3-5, 3-3) on Friday night after Our Town’s press time. Senior running back Sam Kuschnick has been a workhorse in recent weeks, with five touchdowns in the 38-6 win against Central on Oct. 17 and three more in the first quarter against Woodburn. Kuschnick has 1,088 yards and 17 touchdowns all told.
“He’s just a real hard runner,” Foxes Coach John Mannion told Our Town after the Central win. “There are a lot of great backs in the state, and he’s right up there with them.”
Silverton, ranked No. 1 by the OSAA, is assured of a home game when the playoffs start Nov. 7.
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