Clatsop County golfers and track stars tee off on championship season

Championship season has officially arrived for spring sports.

Monday and Tuesday concludes golf season for Seaside as both the boys and girls traveled to their respective state championship locations. The boys made a return trip to Emerald Valley Golf Club in Creswell, while the girls traveled to Eagle Crest Resort in Redmond. On the track, Knappa, Astoria, Warrenton and Seaside teams are set for their district meets later this week.

Seaside senior eyeing state title

The Seaside boys enter the state golf tournament as the defending champions.

Despite returning top golfer Xanh Quang and experienced golfer Landon Nofield, the Seagulls have three new members making the trip this year. Freshman Will Haag, and juniors Gunner Norman and Dexter Jenks are looking to provide the Seagulls with two more good rounds.

The Seaside boys entered the state tournament ranked fifth in the official Oregon School Activities Association computer rankings. The Seagulls rank behind favorites Pendelton/Griswold and Marist Catholic, as well as Cascade and Marshfield. Though Pendleton and Marist are the two favorites, Seaside head coach Jim Poetsch says the tournament is wide open for anyone to take due to how difficult the course is to manage.

On the individual side, Quang is looking to cement his legacy as one of the best golfers in Seaside history. Quang will be chasing the state individual title to cap off his legacy. After setting milestones like a tournament record at the Seaside Invitational and winning the district title last week, he’s hoping for one more moment on Tuesday.

Seaside girls golf team hopes for splashy finish

The girls entered Monday’s 21-team field as the No. 5 seed.

A strong season from Seaside has the girls ranked behind Salem Academy, Henley, Catlin Gabel and St. Marys. Cowapa league rival Scappoose is ranked sixth, but is trending up over the last couple of weeks.

The girls’ field is shaping up to be a coronation for Salem Academy. The Crusaders have dominated the 4A/3A/2A/1A division all season and look poised to hold the trophy Tuesday afternoon. Salem is coming off shooting a total team score of 644 in last week’s district championships. This was more than 160 points lower than second-place Santiam Christian. Not only that, but Salem had four of the first five spots in the individual category.

Second place behind Salem will be up for grabs, so the experienced Seagulls squad can easily claim a top five finish if all four girls shoot well at the same time.

Knappa distance runners look sharp in last tuneup

In the final tuneup meet before the 2A District Championships on Friday, the Knappa boys distance runners had solid results.

Senior Wyatt Jacobson won the 800 meters in a personal best time of 1:57.95. Jacobson now owns the top times in the state for three events. His 1:57.95 leads in the 800, his time of 4:07.57 is top in the 1500 and 8:55.54 in the 3000 meters is also first. The senior has a chance to add more state titles to his belt before he leaves the Loggers.

In the 1500 meters, Rowdy Justus and Kyler Rodriguez both ran personal best times at the Jeannie James Invitational. Justus crossed the line first with a 4:17.37, then Rodriguez came home third with a 4:24.13. Logan Affolter was fourth in a time of 4:33.66. Finally, Gavin Jasper ran a personal best of 9:27.01 in the 3000 meters to finish second. Jasper and teammate Oskar Peitsch finished with near identical times as Peitsch crossed the line in 9:27.50.

Entering districts, the Loggers have three of the top 10 times in the 3000 meters, two of the top 10 in the 1500, the top 800 meter time and Paul Thompson is ranked fourth in the 400 meters with a time of 51.47.

On the girls side, Emma Jackson continued her lowering of times with a personal best in the 1500. The junior blew away the competition while running a 5:09.42, to win the race by over 45 seconds.

Jackson now ranks in the top 10 in all three distance events. She is eighth in the 800 meters with a time of 2:29.80, ninth in the 1500 after her 5:09.42 and is eighth in the 3000 meters with a time of 11:26.44

Astoria, Seaside track teams set to begin Cowapa League showdowns

The Cowapa League Championships is set to begin Wednesday. The two-day event is expected to see some exciting matchups.

The most anticipated track matchup will featuring Seaside’s super freshman Will Flores and Scappoose senior Cameron Dierdoff. Flores has taken the track world by storm as one of the fastest freshman in all of Oregon regardless of division. Flores has run under 50 seconds in the 400, 1:55 in the 800 and under 4:25 in the 1500 meters. These are times that would get most seniors into college and Flores is running them as a freshman.

His counterpart Dierdoff, is right with him.

The Indians senior has run 49.99 in the 400, to Flores’ 49.86 and is the No. 1 seed in the boys 800 meters with a 1:54.99. Assuming these two run the same races, that will be one of the most watched track events of the two day meet.

The other will be William Laman vs Diego Velazquez in the distance events. These two have been rivals for the last two seasons and Laman is looking to get revenge on Velazquez after losing to him during cross country season. Velazquez has the lower time at the 1500 distance, while Laman has him beat in the 3000 meters.

Of course, there are other athletes to watch in the field events, but these are two events that will garner the most attention on track.

Warrenton is set for district meet

Warrenton’s track and field team members are set to join the rest of their Clatsop County counterparts at their own district meet. The Warriors will travel to Griswold Stadium at Lewis and Clark College for the 3A Coastal Range League Championship. This will be the final meet for athletes to qualify, so Warrenton seniors will look to finish off their track and field seasons with a qualifying berth in Eugene.