By James Day
Veteran Cascade High School cross country and track and field coach Dan Petersen has been honored by National Federation of State High School Associations.
Petersen earned the state girls track and field honor and will be recognized May 23 at the Oregon Athletic Coaches Association’s annual awards banquet.
Petersen, who was a three-sport athlete at Salem Academy, has won 18 conference titles, 12 state trophies and three state championships in a coaching career at Cascade that started in 1997.
“I’ve been blessed with outstanding athletes and coaches to work with my whole career,” Petersen told Our Town, reserving special praise for the late Darrel Deedon, whom Petersen said deserves the credit for establishing the track program at Cascade.
“Honestly, winning is great, but it’s the day-to-day interactions that make coaching a lot of fun.”
“Dan is a leader with a gentle soul,” Cascade athletic director Heidi Hermansen told Our Town. “He cares about each individual in his programs whether they have Olympic potential or have never participated in an organized sport.
“Dan sets high expectations and builds a system of support so that everyone involved in his programs (student athletes and coaches) are successful.”
Hermansen also noted Petersen’s broader influence.
“The respect for Dan extends beyond Cascade,” she said. “Track coaches across the state at the high school and college level respect Dan for his knowledge and experience.”
Boys hoops: It’s been quite a turnaround this season at Stayton. The Eagles were 1-9 in the Oregon West Conference and 5-18 overall last season. This year, under first-year coach Joe Kiser, Stayton is 6-3 in league play and tied for second with Cascade heading into the season finale. The Eagles already have qualified for a Class 4A play-in game.
Stayton, which had its growing pains in the nonleague season when the Eagles were 4-8, has been doing it with defense in conference play, holding Newport to 39 points, Yamhill-Carllton to 40 and North Marion to 37 as they opened Oregon West play with three consecutive victories.
“I am happy with the progress this group of kids have made this season,” said Wiser, a 2002 Stayton grad who coached Regis the past four years.
“We are a young group with no seniors so that is a positive for the future.”
Playing key roles for the Eagles, Kiser said, are Kyle Schwarm (scoring and rebounding), point guard Matt Lindemann and ace defender Everett St. Clair.
Regis, meanwhile, captured the Tri-River Conference with a 13-1 record and is ranked fifth by the OSAA in Class 2A heading into its 6 p.m. Feb. 27 home showdown with Bandon in the playoffs. A Rams win would put them into next week’s Class 2A tournament in Pendleton.
Girls hoops: Cascade is one win away from a perfect Oregon West season. The Cougars took a 9-0 league mark and a 21-1 overall record into Feb. 24 league finale against North Marion. Cascade is ranked No. 3 by the OSAA and will host a playoff game March 7. A win there puts the Cougars in the state tournament in Hillsboro.
Regis, meanwhile, took third in the tough Tri-River (Western Mennonite and Kennedy are ranked first and second in the state, respectively) and is ranked eighth by the OSAA heading into a 6 p.m. Feb. 28 Class 2A playoff game at Pilot Rock. The Rams need a win there to have a shot at going for a sixth consecutive title in the Class 2A tournament.
Wrestling: Cascade advanced seven wrestlers out of the Special District 2 regional tournament Feb. 13-14. Three Cougars athletes won district titles, Logan Humphrey at 120 pounds, Spencer Crawford (182) and Malachi Gonzalez (220). And as a sign of the depth of the Cascade program, Crawford and Gonzalez battled teammates in the finals.
Crawford downed Hayes VanDeHey and Gonzalez defeated Jeff Schaefer.
Also finishing second was Kade VanDeHey at 132. Also going to this weekend’s state tournament in Portland is Jared Riesterer, who took fourth at 132.
A slew of other Cougars scored points. Asa Alexander was fifth at 138, Cole Cade was fifth at 145, Jacob Forcier was fifth at 195, Seth Everetts was fifth at 285, Dillon Blythe was sixth at 126, Austin Brill was sixth at 138, Ronald Benton-Hayes was sixth at 152 and Gabriel Pointer was sixth at 195.
“As a team we competed very well,” Cascade coach Jason Lovell told Our Town. “All the guys wrestled hard and almost all of them won at least one match. Our region is very tough, and we were proud of the wrestlers. We had six wrestlers in the finals with three being regional champions.
“We have been working very hard in practice and the guys are hungry. Our 4A classification is very tough and in my opinion the toughest in the state. A big reason we do well at regionals and state is having hard-working wrestlers in the room. Workout partners are essential in getting tough. So, it was more of a team effort then just the wrestlers that competed at regionals.”
Cascade scored 311 points and finished second behind Sweet Home (359) in the team competition. Stayton took eighth with 111.5 points and will be sending three athletes to this weekend’s state tournament in Portland.
Timothy Coblentz of the Eagles won the title at 106 pounds, while Cooper Goguen took fourth at 145 and Cleveland Smith was fourth at 160. In addition Trey Summers was fifth at 182, Ryan Ninman was sixth at 106 and Levi Summers was sixth at 160.
Future First Citizens: Stayton basketball player Madison Shryock and Regis multisport athlete Andrew Kelley were honored as future first citizens Feb. 19 at the Stayton-Sublimity Chamber of Commerce awards celebration at the Foothills Church in Stayton. The awards, which include academic and community service components, are sponsored by the Stayton Rotary Club.
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