Cascade’s Zach Moore moved into uncharted territory at this year’s state tennis tournament. The Cougars’ senior flew through the Class 4A-3A-2A-1A boys bracket and captured his second consecutive singles title.
Moore won all four of his matches in straight sets and downed EJ Roedl of Marist Catholic 6-3, 6-3 in the final. Moore surrendered just four games during the first three rounds. His showing helped Cascade accumulate eight team points, good for fifth in the competition. Marist Catholic scored 20 to win the boys title. Stayton scored two points on the doubles win by Liam Rutherford and Jake Andersen.
Cascade and Stayton both scored two points apiece in the girls competition. Laina Atiyeh won a singles match for the Eagles, while the Cascade doubles team of Marilyn Suelzle and Rachel Suelzle also advanced one round.
Golf: Junior Maddie Dustin of Cascade tied for the Class 4A-3A-2A-1A state golf title. Dustin shot a 72-73–145 at Trysting Tree in Corvallis to tie junior Ava Austria of Catlin Gabel. Earlier, Dustin won the Special District 2 title by 18 strokes after carding a 74-73–147 at McNary Golf Club.
The Cascade boys team, meanwhile, took fifth in the Class 4A state tournament at Trysting Tree. The Cougars accumulated 686 strokes in the two-day event, just one more than fourth-place The Dalles. Baker/Powder Valley won the event with 613.
Leading the way for the Cougars was Kyler Hemelstrand, who finished seventh at 153. Also participating for Cascade were Zach Wilson (tied for 22nd, 170), Cruz Shank (24th, 172), Kaiden Ford (41st, 191) and Landon Knox (45th, 198). The Cougars should be in good shape for next season as Helmerstrand and Wilson are juniors and the other three players are sophomores. The Cougars advanced to state by claiming second in the Special District 2 meet at Tokatee in McKenzie Bridge.
Softball: Stayton, which is ranked No. 3 in Class 4A, dominated the Oregon West Conference all-league squad. Jessica Rule was named pitcher and player of the year, with first-year coach Ryan Borde also honored.
The Eagles, who were 24-3 at Our Town’s presstime, earned six first-team nods, Rule at pitcher and infield as well as infielders Isabelle Trevino and Kenzie Hollenbeck and outfielders Christine McCants and Brooke Morley. Outfielder Riley McCalmant and catcher Abigail Archuleta made the second-team, while infielder Mylie Walker and pitcher/utility player Kenzi Beougher received honorable mention.
Defending state champion Cascade, which finished 16-7, also earned six first-team spots, infielders Malia Scanlan and Cassidy Crabtree, outfielder Kailee Bode, catcher Amyah Miranda, utility player Lizzie Hedges, and pitcher Jari Stegman. Infielder Lexie Gidcumb, outfielder Alyssa Collins and Hedges, this time as a pitcher, were on the second team, while infielder Gabby Cave received honorable mention.
In the Oregon West Conference baseball list, nine players on 16-9 Stayton and three from 7-17 Cascade received mention. First-teamers from the Eagles were infielder Cody Leming, catcher Eli Brown and outfielder Ty Borde. On the second team were pitcher Freddy Connally and outfielder Daniel Odenthal. Pitchers Ryne Hockman and Conner Choate, infielder Wyatt Hooper and first baseman Grady Salisbury received honorable mention.
Pitcher Jamie Whelden and outfielder Brett LeDay of Cascade were named to the first team, while catcher Braden Johnson received honorable mention.
Track & Field: The Cascade girls finished second while the boys took third at the Oregon West Conference district meet at Sweet Home. Stayton finished fourth among girls teams and fifth among the boys. Qualifiers from both schools participated in the Class 4A state meet after Our Town’s presstime.
Leading the way for the Cascade girls was Kalina Saechao, who won the shot put with a throw of 36-0.5 and the discus with a mark of 116-0. Both marks were personal bests. Teammate Lillian Pickett, meanwhile, took second in the 200 in 26.77 and ran legs on the 4×100 and 4×400 relays, both of which finished second. Pickett was joined on the 4×100 squad by Allison Course, Livia Free and Julia Duncan, which was timed in 51.32. The same four runners ran the 4×400 in 4:21.41.
Ethan Newton led the Cascade boys by winning the 300 hurdles in 40.83 and taking second in the 100 hurdles in a personal best 15.46. Newton also ran the anchor leg on the 4×400 relay team that also included Drew Baker, Lane Baker and Coleton Urquhart.The team ran 3:34.98. Urquhart also won the discus (144-6) and teammate Eli Atiyeh took the pole vault with a personal best 11-11.
Stayton’s Travis King won the 100 in a personal best 11.27 and the 200 in a personal best 22.94 to lead the Eagles boys. Haley Butenschoen won the 800 in a personal best 2:22.24 and took second in the 400 in a personal best 1:01.53, while Hope Bridge captured the 1,500 in 4:58.25 for the Stayton girls.
Regis, meanwhile, competed in the Special District 2 meet at Blanchet, with the girls finishing third and the boys fifth. Tim Crowell won the high jump in a personal best 6-3 and took the pole vault with a clearance of 12-6 for the boys. Mac Parrish won the long jump at 15-9, took fourth in the 200 (a PR 27.93) and ran on two high-finishing relays for the Regis girls. Parrish, Rachel Koellmann, Daisy Hernandez and Clara Persons ran 4:23.17 to finish second in the 4×400, while the same foursome ran 52.18 to take third in the 4×100. Persons was third in the 200 and 400, both times in personal bests, 27.66 in the 200 and 1:02.67 in the 400. Hernandez was 2nd in both hurdles races, running 17.35 in the 100 and 50.18 in the 300.
Basketball: Two-time defending Class 4A champion Cascade landed three spots on the boys all-state team. First-year coach Justin Amaya was named coach of the year, while Spencer Horne was named to the first team and Landon Knox to the second. Garrett Callsen of Stayton, meanwhile, earned honorable mention.
On the girls side Maddie Dustin of Cascade was named to the first team and Meah Carley of the Cougars received honorable mention.
Running: The annual Santiam Hospital Fun Run and Health Walk events are set for Saturday, June 10. The day includes 3-kilometer, 5-kilometer and 10-kilometer runs as well as a 5K walk. All events start at 8:30 a.m. in front of the hospital at 1401 N. Tenth Ave., with registration set for 7 a.m. to 8 a.m. Runners and walkers can register online at santiamhospital.org.
