By James Day
The Stayton High dance and drill team and the Regis High girls basketball team just keep gobbling up state championships. The Highlights made it an otherworldly 12 in a row March 22 in dance and drill, while the Rams took home their fifth consecutive title March 8.
Stayton dance and drill: The Highlights totaled 91.31 points March 22 in the Class 4A-1A competition at the Memorial Coliseum in Portland, well ahead of runner-up Valley Catholic (84.47) and third-place Gladstone (84.25). It was the highest point total the Stayton squad has achieved at state, and the excellent showing came amid a new framework for the OSAA competition.
“This year was incredibly difficult because the division we were in increased from five teams last year to 17 teams this year,” coach Robin Meier told Our Town.
“They combined (four) classifications and made one huge division with all of us. There were four reigning state champions in our division, too. We knew that only one of us was going to come out on top, and we wanted it to be us!
“We worked extra hard this season to make sure that happened. We received better scores than ever at state. They truly peaked there.”
The team roster includes 10 seniors, all of whom have won four consecutive state championships and all of whom never lost a competition in their high school careers. Senior Belle Meier, one of five team captains, represented Stayton on the all-state team.
Seniors: Kami Archuleta, Destany Belliard, Danielle Guerra (captain), Brooke Jordan (captain), Christina Koehler, Belle Meier (captain), Liz Rockwell, Karly St. Clair, Belle Westenhouse and Makenzie Hoffman.
Juniors: Rachel Betker, Madison Boyd (captain), Lauren Brown, Micayla Callahan (captain), Kaylee Denton, Malia Gescher, Miya Neuharth, Kylee Pattee, Hally Robbins and Taylor Westinghouse.
Sophomores: MacKenzie Anundi, Rachael Branch, Maggie Bullard, Kymberlin Bush, Lacy Choate, Mandy Christiansen, Cheyenne Heuberger, Katylin Mead, Lily Robins-Deville and Olivia Whisman.
Freshmen: Reanna Digesualdo, Sydnee Neuharth, Abbie Schafer, Makenzie Schwarm and Jasmine White.
Coach Meier was assisted by Alyssa Lulay.
Regis girls basketball: In the fourth quarter of the Class 2A championship game the Rams looked to be on the ropes. Tri-River Conference rival Western Mennonite had a 29-23 lead and there were less than four minutes to play. But the Rams turned on the defensive jets and scored the final 13 points of the game to take a stirring 36-29 victory.
“At the beginning of our season we knew that to beat Western Mennonite this year and to win another state title we would have to be a better defensive team than we were last year,” co-coach Kyle Tower told Our Town. “To Western Mennonite’s credit they improved quite a bit from last year and gave us very tough games all season. The state championship game was no exception.
“This group of girls were dedicated all season long to improving every day on the defensive end of the court and we played some of our best defense of the season in those final minutes of the game.”
Key to the defensive performance was junior wing Monica Webb.
“Our defensive leader is without question Monica Webb,” Tower said. “She is regularly assigned to our opponents’ best guard, and the pressure she puts on them helps us win games. Monica does a great job, but she does not do it alone. Team defense is what has made us successful.”
Tower noted that the Rams led the tournament in three critical defensive categories: points per game, shooting percentage and 3-point shooting percentage.
Senior guard Jesse Morris was named to the all-tournament first team, and senior wing Becca Lorenz and senior post Beth Lorenz earned second-team honors. Also on the roster: senior Kim Webb, juniors Monica Webb, Alison Rickman, Carly Dedrick, and Erica Stuckart, sophomores Erin Malcom, Emma VanVeen and Ashtyn Chamberland and freshman Abby Frith.
Morris participated on four state championship teams, while Beth Lorenz, Becca Lorenz and Kim Webb have played on three state title teams.
It was the first year for Tower and his co-coach Dustin Lulay, but the pair had been assistants under Jeff and Jason Koehnke.
Regis finished 28-2, with the lone losses a four-point loss to Western Mennonite and a 10-point defeat at the hands of Sutherlin, which went on to win the Class 4A title.
Cascade wrestling: The Cougars finished eighth in Class 4A at the OSAA state championships at the Memorial Coliseum in Portland. Spencer Crawford was the lone state champion for Cascade. The Cougars’ junior defeated Brendan Harkey of Crook County 5-1 in the final at 160 pounds. It was the third win of the season for Crawford against Harkey.
“It is very hard to beat a very tough opponent three times in a year, but he did it,” Cascade coach Jason Lovell told Our Town. “He wrestled very smart in the finals. He stayed in great position and controlled the tempo of the match.”
Logan Humphrey (120) and Bryndyn Gardner (170) each finished sixth for the Cougars, while, Jared Riesterer (126), Kelly Tudela (170) and Hayes VanDe Hey (182) all collected one win apiece.
Other hoops: The Regis boys finished fifth at the Class 2A tournament. Ditto for the Santiam girls at the same tournament. The Cascade boys and girls both fell one game short of the Class 4A tournament. The boys, runners-up a year ago to North Valley, lost 63-60 to Henley. The girls were ousted by eventual runner-up LaSalle, 38-32.
Crystal Kibby: The former Cascade High state swimming champion finished ninth in the 200 breaststroke (2:13.48) and 18th in the 100 breast (1:02.70) for Oregon State at the Pac-12 Championships in Federal Way, Wash. Kibby also swam legs on the Beavers’ 400 medley relay and 400 free relays squads, both of which finished ninth. Kibby’s 100 breast time moved her into the No. 3 spot all time in the event.
Swimming: Stayton’s Julie Wallace took fourth in the 100 free in a time of 56.30 in the OSAA Class 4A-1A championships at Mt. Hood Community College in Gresham. Wallace, Caitlyn Linton, Taniaya Wagner and Aleya Hill combined on a 3:59.09 to finish seventh in the 400 free relay.
