Stayton High boys soccer is off to a 4-0 start and has given up just one goal while scoring 21. That math has lifted the perennial state power Eagles into the No. 1 spot in the OSAA’s Class 4A rankings.
Two seniors, Nick Pelayo and co-captain Isaiah Dixon, have scored three goals apiece for coach Chris Shields, while junior Noah Klampe also has three.
The Eagles opened league play on Sept. 25 after Our Town’s press time. Stayton was a perfect 10-0 in the Oregon West Conference a year ago and advanced to the state semifinals before falling to eventual state champion Henley.
State tournament success has come often for the Eagles, who won state titles in 2010 and 2020, with runner-up finishes in 2014, 2015, 2017 and 2019.
The Oregon West might be the best boys soccer league in Class 4A. North Marion, currently ranked 15th, finished second at state a year ago, while No. 4 Newport won the title in 2023. And don’t forget that Philomath, also 4-0, and ranked No. 4, won the state title in 2021. Cascade is lurking at 3-1 in the early going and carries the No. 10 ranking.
In girls soccer Stayton heads into OWC play with a 2-1-1 record and the No. 13 state ranking. Cascade is 1-3, with No. 6 Newport and No. 7 Philomath looking like the top contenders through the non-league slate.
Volleyball: Cascade volleyball is off to its usual strong start. The Cougars, led by coach Cristina Williams, are 8-4 overall and 2-0 in Class 4A’s Oregon West Conference. Cascade, which claimed the 2021 state title and finished second in 2022, took sixth in last year’s tournament. Stayton, which took fifth at the state tournament a year ago, is 3-5 overall and 0-1 in league play. Last season Cascade and Philomath tied for the OWC title at 8-2 with Stayton a game back with a 7-3 mark. The Warriors are ranked second by the OSAA, with Cascade third and the Eagles 14th.
Cascade and Stayton already have met three times this season, with the Cougars winning twice in tournament play as well as in the league opener on Sept. 23. The two sides play again on Oct. 9 at Stayton.
Regis, meanwhile, is 9-2 overall, 4-1 in the Tri-River Conference and ranked No. 8 in Class 2A. The Rams are in a three-way battle for league dominance with 4-0 Delphian and 3-1 Santiam.
Hoops tryouts: Coach Tal Wold, who led Stayton High’s girls basketball team to the 2025 Class 4A state title, has scheduled tryouts for the Future Eagles program. The program serves girls in fifth through eighth grades. Tryouts will take place at the high school on Sunday, Oct. 19, 2 to 2:45 p.m. and 7 to 7:45 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 22. The goal of the program, Wold said, is to find “girls interested in playing high school basketball and who want to get better.” For more information email wold at woldtal@yahoo.com.
Alumni watch: Former Cascade track and field standout Emma Gates represented the United States at the World Athletics Championship in Tokyo. Gates, who participated in college at the University of Arizona, took third in the high jump at the USATF national championships on Aug. 2 at Eugene’s Hayward Field. Her mark of 6-3.25 equaled her lifetime best and qualified her for the U.S. team for the world meet. In Tokyo, Gates recorded a mark of 6-2 but did not make the final.
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