Through the year, local sports fans can appreciate the greatness of these athletes’ accomplishments in every game they play.
When looking at the past year and what transpired, it is a sensational year of records falling, champions crowned and teams banding together for fantastic finishes during district and state action.
The Dalles cheer team got off to a fast start in competitive meets with three straight regular-season victories, with a 151.7-point total in Lake Oswego, a final score of 156.9 to chalk up first-place honors at the Scotsmen Rumble and 183.9 points at the Cavalier Cheer Invitational.
Up until last season, The Dalles cheer team had achieved consecutive state runner-up finishes, but were unable to take that next step, finishing outside the top-6 at state.
The team also qualified for the United Spirit Association Spirit Nationals at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, Calif.
* * *
The Dalles wrestler JR Scott posted a 3-1 record for third-place honors to lock down his first-ever state qualification, joining senior teammate Glenn Breckterfield, who placed fourth for his state berth at the Special District 4 Wrestling Tournament in Redmond.
At state, Scott went 3-1 in consolation action to pick up fifth place, and Breckterfield went 1-2 in his final matches at the OSAA State Wrestling Championships at Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Portland.
* * *
The No. 2-ranked Sherman boys basketball team cruised past Arlington by a 61-26 margin and then put up a 74-44 victory over Condon-Wheeler for its third straight Big Sky Conference title in Madras.
After two consecutive state championships, the Huskies had to replace four senior standouts and came through with 27 wins and a fourth-place state outcome after a season-ending 65-55 triumph against Hosanna Christian at the OSAA 1A State Basketball Championships in Baker City.
The preseason goal was to claim a third straight state championship to cement a legacy of dominance, but a 68-53 loss to Prairie City derailed those plans.
* * *
In girls basketball, South Wasco County held on for a 52-49 triumph versus Ione and added a 51-41 victory over Sherman to capture their first Big Sky Conference championship since the 1983 season.
SWC fell one win short of a state-side bid after a 37-24 sub-round loss to Hosanna Christian.
The Redsides had one of their best seasons in program history with 23 wins, including 17 in a row, a No. 8 ranking, a Big Sky Conference championship and four players picking up all-league recognition, including Noland, who was Player of the Year.
Following a 36-33 win against Ione, the Sherman Lady Huskies vaulted into the championship game and secured a home playoff matchup for the first time since 2013-2014 season and their first postseason berth since 2014-2015.
In their first state sub-round contest, the Huskies suffered a 72-27 loss to No. 6-ranked Joseph.
* * *
The Dalles ski team had three athletes qualify for state, as Maddie Gragg wrapped up seventh in the giant slalom and slalom, which put her at seventh place overall. Louis Red Cloud wound up seventh in the giant slalom standings, 19th in slalom for 11th overall out of 35 participants, and Matt Gragg had his best finish of 12th in the giant slalom, tacked on 20th in slalom and placed 19th on the league side.
During state competition, Maddie Gragg, a freshman, placed 32nd overall, and teammates Matt Gragg and Louis Red Cloud each earned top-55 status in slalom action during Oregon Interscholastic Ski Racing Association State competition on Mount Bachelor in Bend.
* * *
Aidan Telles finished tied for ninth place with a 166 to earn his state bid at the two-day 5A Special District 2 Golf Tournament in Creswell on the Emerald Valley Golf and Resort course.
At state, Telles trailed by seven strokes through one day, and ended up totaling 159 through two rounds, as he followed up his 77 with a 10-over par 82 on the second day to lock down a ninth-place tie at the 5A OSAA state championships at Emerald Valley Golf Club in Creswell.
* * *
On the 5A track and field circuit, The Dalles’ Samuel Alvarez claimed district titles in two long-distance events, Emma Mullins captured the 800-meter crown, and Kendyl Kumm tacked on top honors in the pole vault as The Dalles track and field team racked up state berths in 10 events after two days of action at the 5A Columbia River Conference District Championships at Hermiston.
Added to the four firsts, Gabe Lira, Cameron Perez and Justin Conklin scored runner-up finishes for state spots on the boys’ side.
Paulina Finn soared to second place in the high jump with a 5-2, Mercy I’aulualo claimed her state bid in the shotput after a personal-record toss of 37-5, and the 4x400-meter relay team of Liz Tapia, Hanna Ziegenhagen, Mullins and Finn punched their ticket after their second-place outcome.
In state events in Eugene, Conklin, Mullins and Finn each turned in top-5 finishes, and I’aulualo reached podium for her efforts in the shotput after picking up seventh place to highlight The Dalles High School at the OSAA 5A State Championships from Historic Hayward Field.
* * *
South Wasco County’s Ana Popchock posted wins in both hurdle runs and added long jump and triple jump titles to her resume with impressive efforts at the Big Sky Conference district championships in Moro.
Popchock set a new state meet record, school record and personal record in the triple jump with a title-winning distance of 37-4.75 inches to highlight final-day action at the 1A state championships in Eugene.
Added to that accomplishment, Popchock re-set her school record in the 100-meter hurdles after a personal-record 15.67 for second place, after which she tacked on runner-up honors and a school-record 46.80 in the 300-meter hurdle finals.
Popchock finished her day by taking third place in the long jump with a leap of 16-4.25, just four inches shy of her personal record.
Also taking home top honors in the javelin toss was Madisen Davis, who capped a perfect season with nine wins in nine meets, as she captured a javelin state championship with a top distance of 127-feet-1 inch at the 1A OSAA State Track and Field Championships at Historic Hayward Field.
Desiree Winslow staked claim to three individual Big Sky district titles in the pole vault, 100 meters and 200 meters, and added a 4x100-meter relay crown, joining Savanna Orendorff, Jaelyn Justesen and Mercedez Cardona.
Keenan Coles and Owen Christiansen led the Sherman boys with wins, as Christiansen secured a long jump crown with his distance of 19-4.5 and Coles grabbed his win in the triple jump after a leap measuring at 38-7.25.
Sherman’s boys squad also tallied runner-up finishes and state berths in five events, led by Coles, who was second in the 100 and long jump. Makoa Whitaker turned in a season-best mark of 154-0 for second place in the javelin.
The boys’ 4x100-meter relay team of Jeremy Ballesteros, Christiansen, Whitaker and Coles crossed the line in a season-best 47.25 to earn second place, and the 4x400-meter quartet of Tyler Bledsoe, Jed Harrison, Ballesteros and Whitaker shattered their season-best with a second-place tally of 3:53.11.
In her state run, Winslow secured third place in the pole vault after she put up a height of 7-feet-10-inches and the 4x100-meter relay secured a sixth-place time.
Sherman’s Keenan Coles tallied an 11.74 to get seventh place in the 100-meter preliminaries to vault into the finals, and Owen Christiansen grabbed seventh place in the long jump with a measurement of 19-9.50, while Coles was ninth after his 19-2.
The Dufur boys track and field group tallied five individual district titles, four seconds and a third on the day, with Tanner Masterson racking up two wins in the 100 and 200 meters, both in personal-record times, and helping the 4x100 and 4x400 relay to district crowns.
Masterson matched up with Cole Kortge, Abraham Kilby, and Anthony Thomas and that quartet then came together in the 4x400-meter relay to lock down first place.
Kortge qualified for state in both hurdle events, scoring district honors in the 110-meter hurdles and runner-up status in the 300-meter hurdles.
Thomas qualified for state in the 400, and sophomore teammate Friedrich Stelzer put up a pair of second-place outputs in the 3,000 and 1,500.
Dufur’s lone female qualifier was freshman Kierstin White, who had a second-place output in the high jump to grab second place, and at state, she set a personal record to place fourth overall.
At state, Dufur’s track and field relay quartet of Masterson, Thomas, Kilby and Kortge staked claim to the 4x100-meter championship after combining for a season-best 45.25 seconds, inching past Hosanna Christian (45.65).
Kortge, Kilby, Masterson and Thomas also scored a season-best 3:43.06 to lock down sixth place in the 4x400-meter relay run.
Stelzer placed sixth in the 1,500 meters (4:24.41), Kortge had a time of 17.25 to notch seventh place in the boys’ 110-meter hurdle finals, and Masterson added third in the 100-meter race (11.40) and was seventh-best in the 200 (23.50).
* * *
The Dalles Dance Club Academy attended the biggest regional dance competition in the Pacific Northwest, the three-day Onstage New York event held at the Oregon Convention Center, and had its most successful competition ever, receiving the most platinum awards in the club’s history.
Onstage New York brought together 50 studios around the northwest in what is considered the ultimate talent search and competition.
* * *
After capping a regular-season with his third consecutive first-team all-Columbia River Conference award, The Dalles’ Dakota Murr earned all-state honorable mention recognition for the second year in a row.
The senior finished with 1,362 career points.
* * *
With a roster of six sophomores, a freshman, a junior and five seniors, The Dalles Riverhawks baseball team clinched a state play-in spot for the second consecutive year, eliminating Hermiston both times.
During spring break, head coach Steve Sugg and the baseball varsity players took a trip to Arizona for preseason games.
* * *
At Western Oregon University, Dufur High School graduate Kolbe Bales tallied enough votes to earn Great Northwest Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year honors and a spot on the all-GNAC honorable mention list.
* * *
The Dalles Little League had two good matchups in the TDLL City championships.
Bohn’s Printing and Griffith Motors traded leads throughout Saturday’s classic minors-division slugfest, but Bohn’s Printing erased a 7-6 sixth-inning deficit with two runs, capped by a walk-off run scored on a wild pitch by Dominic Cotterill in an 8-7 victory.
Several of the majors-division players were playing in their final little league baseball game.
Pitchers Riley Brock and Luciano Alvarado made sure to make it a memorable one. Both hurlers combined to allow three runs on eight hits, with one walk and 21 strikeouts.
Brock, representing Pepsi, outdueled Alvarado in the end, as he limited Hattenhauer Distributing to one earned run on two hits with no walks and 12 strikeouts in a 2-1 victory at Kramer Field in The Dalles.
* * *
The 10U Cherry City Crush posted a 4-2 overall record and took home fourth-place honors against a 16-team field at the ASA State Championships from June 22-24 in Albany.
* * *
In The Dalles 13-to-15-year-old All Stars’ state-title-clinching win, The Dalles defeated East Portland in a 13-3 mercy-ruled victory at Kramer Field.
TD went 2-2 overall, scoring 33 runs on 34 hits, and the pitching staff gave up nine runs, six earned, on 17 hits during the Babe Ruth Regional Championships in Portland, but did not make it through pool play.
Commented
Sorry, there are no recent results for popular commented articles.