It was a banner fall for Stayton High. The boys cross country and boys soccer squads finished second at state, with the girls runner turning in a sixth-place finish.
Cross country: The Eagles’ boys runners, who finished fifth a year ago at state, accumulated 96 points in the Nov. 4 state meet in Eugene, 16 behind champion Crook County of Prineville.
Stayton Junior Matthew Frazeur finished fourth overall in 16:47 on the 5,000-meter course. Senior Casey Pugh was 10th in 16:57 and sophomore Ben Kirby was 12th in 17:02. Pugh, Frazeur and Kirby went 1-2- 3 at the district meet. Also scoring for Stayton were senior Brody Johnson (44th, 17:48) and sophomore Isaac Nieto (52nd, 17:57). Also participating were junior Dylan Cudd (69th, 18:17) and sophomore Zach Holloway (79th, 18:42).
The young Stayton girls squad, which took second at districts, finished sixth at state.
Freshman Hailey Notman took sixth overall in 19:35. Also scoring for Stayton were freshman Skyla Anderson (37th, 21:14), sophomore Jessica Mitchell (43rd, 21:32), sophomore Bridget Spencer (66th , 22:25) and freshman Alyssa Cudd (70th, 22:28). Also running were sophomore Cailyn Riordan (96th, 23:46) and freshman Emma Frazeur (105th, 24:56).
Cascade’s Savanna Waters, meanwhile, finished 26th in 20:42.
Stayton’s Frazeur and Notman also participated in the prestigious Nike Border Clash, a Nov. 18 competition at the Nike campus in Beaverton that included the top runners from Oregon and Washington. Frazeur was 66th in the boys race in 17:02.38, while Notman’s 21:43.98 was good for 75th for the girls.
Boys soccer: The Eagles continued their run of phenomenal success under coach Chris Shields. Stayton lost 2-1 to Newport in the Class 4A title match Nov. 11 in Hillsboro. The Eagles won the 2010 title and finished second in 2014 and 2015.
“It was a good year,” Shields told Our Town. “We played well, but we just couldn’t finish our chances in the championship match. But second place is not a bad place to be.”
No. 2 Stayton, which defeated ninth-seeded Newport twice during the Oregon West Conference season, outshot the Cubs 14-6 and led in corner kicks 7-1. After a scoreless first half Newport struck in the 46th minute. Kevin Hernandez tied it for Stayton in the 52nd, but Drew Torres tallied the game-winner for the defending champion Cubs with 10 minutes left.
“I thought we dominated,” Shields said. “We created a lot of opportunities, but we didn’t capitalize on those opportunities. Hat’s off to Newport. They had a great run. I knew we needed three goals to win, plus it’s hard to beat a team three times.”
Shields earned Oregon West coach of the year honors and Hernandez was named player of the year. Also on the first team were Jacobe Croff and Alex Cramer of Stayton and William Pelayo-Garcia of Cascade, which finished 4-7-1.
Stayton Goalkeeper Jose Navarro and field players Jose Gomez, Jair Navarro and Cole Atiyeh made the second team, as did Blake Mills of Cascade. Earning honorable mention were Stayton’s Omar Renteria, Javier Hernandez and David Gomez and Cameron Jeppsen, Julian Lopez, Eric Mitchell, Alexander Gutierrez and Ivan Pelayo-Garcia of Cascade.
Basketball: Stayton High is hosting a “meet and greet” Thursday, Dec. 14, 6 p.m. in the school gym to introduce the Eagles’ basketball squads for 2017-18. Stayton boys and girls players will demonstrate their skills, treats will be provided by Roth’s and spectators will receive a pass for a regular-season home game. The boys and girls teams will participate in and host the Stayton Holiday Tournament, which runs Dec. 27-29.
Volleyball: Cascade senior Tori Lewis shared Oregon West player of the year honors with Kaela Lindsay of Philomath. Lewis was joined on the first team by Cougars Jolinn Daviscourt and Kaelyn Worst. Erica Mitchell, Alejandra Osuna-Sola and Skyler Perlichek received honorable mention for Cascade, which finished 12-8 overall, 7-3 in league and came within one match of qualifying for the Class 4A state tournament.
Stayton, which finished 4-6 in league and 7-11 overall, placed Emma Lindemann on the second team and Piper Freres on the honorable mention list.
Football: Three members of Cascade’s 6-4 football team received or shared top honors in the Oregon West. Linebacker Marco Reyes was named defensive player of the year, quarterback Quinn Legner shared offensive player of the year honors with Tanner Stottlemyre of Newport and Kennan Connor of Philomath, and tight end Macoy Christman of the Cougars shared lineman of the year honors with Ramon Organiz of North Marion and Jake Tucker of Newport.
Legner also was the first-team QB and a second-teamer at defensive back. Christman was the first-team TE and a first-teamer on the defensive line. Reyes was on the first team at linebacker and the second team at running back.
Also honored for the Cougars were Jake Cowan (1st, OL), Joel Negrete (1st, kicker), Tristan Teal (2nd, OL), Ethan Coffey (HM, RB), Jacob Schultz (HM, OL), Elijah Nolan (1st, punter and HM, WR), Kyle McAlister (2nd, DL) and Brandon White (HM, DL).
For Stayton, which finished 4-5, Sean Bodi (1st, WR and 2nd, DB) and Aidan Hill (1st, DB, 2nd, RB and HM, punter) led the way. Also honored were Jerry Daniels (HM, RB and DL), Ben Rash (HM, QB), Morgan Smith (HM, OL), Ryan Diehl (HM, WR), Garrett Sandefur (2nd, DL), Jordan Bader (2nd, LB) and Tony Schoenborn (HM, DL).
Girls soccer: Kandee Xiong and Alishae Grizzell of 8-5-3 Cascade and Maddie Pask of 7-7-1 Stayton earned first team slots on the Oregon West all-stars.
Kelsey Molan, Brooklynn Peterson and Jenical Weibenga of Cascade were on the second team, as were Ari Aceves and Silvia Gomez of Stayton.
Earning honorable mention were Diana-Colin Martinez, Nyah Collins, Faith Craig and Riley Bangert of Cascade and Karli Nyquist, Kylie Fisk and Alli Nyquist of Stayton.
