Pirate Pride Fall 2013

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Pirates Pride Fall 2013

Neah-Kah-Nie High School

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NKN cross country team looks to uphold tradition Last year, it was the girls that turned out in numbers for the Neah-Kah-Nie cross country team. This year, it’s the boys, according to coach Brett Duer.

“We have a strong boys team this year with seniors Logan Romig and Matt Clayton leading the team along with sophomore Julian Croman and Freshman Colby Hixon,” said Duer. “I am really looking forward to three more freshman additions, Roan Childress for the girls and Wade Becker and Colby Hixon for the boys. Colby is showing great promise

in practice running with the front-runners on the team, While the girls’ team said goodbye to Willa Childress, who graduated in June, Rebecca Savage, a junior, is out again this season. A seasoned runner with good speed, Duer looks for Savage, the girls’ captain, to lead the girls in 2013. “Becca has stepped it up this year and is looking strong. Unfortunately, we only have three girls on the team as of right now, and need two more to be able to compete, so we’re trying to recruit more girls,” said Duer.

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In recent years, NeahKah-Nie cross country teams have enjoyed success in league and Duer’s goal this year is more of the same, finish well at district competition and advance more runners to state.

The Pirates were among the teams that participated in the Northwest League Jamboree at Neah-Kah-Nie August 31. Other home meets include the league districts on Oct. 8, at Nehalem Bay State and the NKN Big Foot Classic the following week on Oct. 15, at the Friends Camp at Rockaway Beach.

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DAY DATE Tue. Oct. 8 Tue. Oct. 15 Wed. Oct. 16 Thurs. Oct. 24

DA Th Sa Tu Sa Tu 2013 PIRATE CROSS COUNTRY Th Head Coach: Brett Duer Mo OPPONENT SITE TIME Tu NWL Districts Nehalem Bay State Park 3:00 p.m. Th NKN Big Foot Classic Friends Camp 3:00 p.m. Sa Vernonia New H.S. 4:00 p.m. Sa Districts Tualatin Hills Park TBA Fri

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Experience hopefully makes the difference for Lady Pirates Having only lost one player from last year’s volleyball team to graduation, Neah-Kah-Nie High volleyball coach Jackie Vandecouvering is counting on returnees to assume the role of team leaders.

“We’re still young,” say Vandecouvering of her players. “We have seven to eight freshmen and three sophomore in addition to two juniors and four seniors. We’ve been practicing hard and it’s a matter of taking it one game at a time and playing aggressive volleyball.”

The Lady Pirates got a early-season taste of competition at a jamboree held at Neah-Kah-Nie High August 31, featuring eight high school teams, each playing four games. The Lady Pirates finished with two victories and two losses. Afterwards, the fifth-year coach said, “We shouldn’t have lost those two.”

Vandecouvering sees Delphian and Gaston as the teams to beat in the Northwest League, but she doesn’t downplay her team’s chances.

“As long as we’re consistent and play hard, we can beat any teams in our league.”

One of those jamboree victories came against Gaston.

Among returning players the coach is counting on are junior Annie Kelly and sophomore and team captain Alaina Holm, who Vandecouvering sees as being a strong presence in the middle.

Sophomore Sokcali Hanson will see time as center, a defensive specialist and libero, a player that wears a different color jersey and that can substitute for two players instead of one in the back row. A libero can also report in and out of the lineup without reporting to the referee.

“She’s the best passer on the team and she is quick,” says Vandecouvering of Han-

son’s athletic abilities.

Also back is assistant coach Brianna Stephens, now in her third year with the volleyball program.

Five games into the young season the Lady Pirates are 1and 4 overall, 1 and 3 in league competition. At press time, the latest match was against Delphian on Sept. 19, a team loaded with seniors, that took three of the four games, proving Vandecouvering was right in her preseason analysis. However, matches against Portland Christian and Gaston were ones that slipped away.

“We could have won those games,” said Vandecouvering. “It’s just a matter of consistency. Some games we’ve been very good on defense and others we haven’t.”

Lucky for the Lady Pirates, there’s still plenty of time to right the ship and work on the consistency aspect of their game.

2013 PIRATE VOLLEYBALL Head Coach: Jacque Vandecoevering Asst. Coach: Breanna Stephens DAY Thur Sat. Tues.

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DATE OPPONENT SITE Oct. 3 Knappa NKN Oct. 5 Clatskanie JV Clataskanie Oct. 8 Vernonia NKN Oct. 12 Faith Bible Faith Bible Oct. 15 Delphian NKN Oct. 17 Rainier NKN Oct. 21 Nestucca Nestucca Oct. 22 Play Offs Begin TBA Oct. 24 Play Offs Oct. 26 Play Offs Nov. 2 1st Round State Nov. 8, 9 State Finals

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TIME 5:30 p.m.

TBA 5:30 p.m.

11:00 a.m.

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TBA

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Neah-Kah-Nie Fall Sports 2013 NKN VOLLEYBALL Sari Booth - 9 Kristina Burdick - 12 Madison Chestnut - 9 Katie Clifford - 9 Fayth Dunn - 9 Morgan Eastin - 12 Sokcali Hanson – 10 Alaina Holm - 10 Kindness Hyde - 9 Mariah Johnstone - 10

NKN CROSS COUNTRY Wade Becker - 9 Roan Childress - 9 Matt Clayton - 12 Julian Croman - 10 BJ Dillard - 10 Colby Hixson - 9

Colin Purcell - 11 Annie Romig - 10 Logan Romig - 12 Becca Savage - 11 Alec Winder - 9 Jonathan Woodward - 11

Annie Kelly - 11 Savannah Kelly - 11 Tasha Mabe-DeRoest - 12 Allison Modrell - 9 Laurel Monaco - 9 Dana Moore - 12 Jamey Sherman - 10 Cheyenne Spliethof - 9 Samantha Noregaard - Mgr. - 9 Blythe Adams - Mgr. - 9

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Neah-Kah-Nie Fall Sports 2013

NKN FOOTBALL

Omar Arenas - 9 Kevin Ayala - 11 Jordan Bowen - 11 Andy Davidson - 12 Ivan Davidson - 9 Dylan Dunlap - 9 Simon Elinsky - 9 Greg Elligsen - 9

Jed Emonds - 11 Tristan Fields - 10 Garrett Gallino - 10 Craig Grasseth - 12 Max Halvorson - 9 Dylan Hanson - 9 Leim Hettenbach - 10 Levi Hill - 10

NKN CHEER Sydney Brown - 11 Alex Bush - 12 Amyann Chacon - 12 Libby Eckstrom - 12 Victoria Elligsen - 10 Dani Finlay - 10 Sam Finlay - 12

Kaitlyn Lorenz - 10 Carolyn Maizel - 12 Natasha Stein - 10 Katelyn Vanloo - 12 Haylee Stinnett - Mgr. - 12 Makayla Hutchinson Mgr. - 10

Milton Hoffman - 10 Preston Jowers - 9 Cameron Kelly - 10 Chandler Koch - 12 Troy Martin - 12 Tanner McAmis - 10 Caton Mott - 10 Luis (Gus) Perez - 9

Juan Pozos - 9 Gage Price - 11 Anthony Ramirez - 9 Logan Romig - 12 Alejandro Quintana - 12 Dakota Schijvijnck - 11 Tony Serrano-Guzman - 10

Andrew Smith - 12 Nick Smith - 12 Wyatt Smith - 9 Corey Socia - 9 Blake Spliethof - 10 Ian Thurber - 10 Bowen Townsend - 11 Dallas Townsend - 9

Loet VanDen Heuval - 12 Johnny Vargas - 10 Isaac Woolley - 12 Nikki Waldron, Nikki Mgr. - 11 Emily Marugg, - Mgr. - 12

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Large turnout for football bodes well for Pirates With nearly 40 players turning out for football this season, fourth-year head coach Scott Ross is excited that Neah-Kah-Nie was able to field a junior varsity team with a full schedule in addition to varsity competition.

“Every year, the turnout has gone up. We want to keep it at that 40 number.

For a school this size that’s pretty darn good,” said Ross.

Considering Neah-Kah-Nie has a student population of approximately 200 with half of those boys, Ross’ enthusiasm is justified.

With just eight players returning from last year, Ross and his assistants – Dennis Woodward, Greg Kelley, Mike Sims and George Young – will be depending on the 25 freshmen and sophomores that make up the ream’s roster to step up.

“We’re going to be counting on more sophomores to

fill in this year,” said Ross.

“With a full JV schedule, those swing players that play both JV and varsity will be getting more experience.”

Expectations are high, as they always are at the beginning of the season.

“The goal is to finish high in league play and secure a playoff spot,” said Ross.

Though posting a losing record last year, the Pirates won some games and were, for the most part, were more competitive.

In three “games,” featuring 12 offensive snaps along with as many plays on defense, the Pirates performed well against the likes of Knappa, Vernonia and Nestucca, at the Northwest League Jamboree the end of August, scoring four times and giving up two scores in the three stanzas.

Since the start of the season Sept. 6, the Pirates have

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played on the road, opening with a 32 - 20 victory over Reedsport, followed by

losses to Naselle (Washington) and Warrenton, before returning home Oct. 4 in a game against Knappa.

In the two losses, penalties and turnovers didn’t help the Pirates’ cause. The game against Warrenton was tantalizingly close. Warrenton, who has given NeahKah-Nie fits in recent years,

got a safety the start of the second quarter and that was all the scoring there was. In a score that sounds more like baseball or soccer, Warrenton ended up winning, 2 – 0.

For Ross and the Pirates, it amounted to a “moral victory,” though an actual victory would have been more satisfying.

“We can move the ball.

Right now, our strengths are running the ball and our defensive play,” said Ross.

Carrying the load offensively are seniors Craig Grasseth and Logan Romig in the backfield, with the Smith brothers, Nick and Andrew, shoring up the offensive line. Quarterback Alejandro Quintana is still trying to get a better handle on his passing game, but has made his presence felt on the defensive side of the ball.

The Pirates suffered a blow when sophomore defensive end Levi Hill went down in the Naselle game with a separated shoulder.

“So far, the kids have been working hard and learning the system,” says Ross. Looking ahead, he looks forward to more and more players with football experience joining the Pirates’ ranks in coming years, thanks to the parent-driven Neah-Kah-Nie youth football program. Next year, according to Ross, those eight graders turning out for high school football will have at least three years of experience under their belts.

2013 PIRATE VARSITY FOOTBALL Head Coach: Scott Ross

DAY DATE Friday Oct. 4 Friday Oct. 11 Friday Oct. 18 Friday Oct. 25 Friday Nov. 1

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OPPONENT SITE Knappa NKN Gaston NKN Vernonia Vernonia Nestucca Nestucca Portland Christian Portland Christian

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TIME 7:00 p.m.

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NKN cheer squad to host first ever cheer competition Eleven girls strong, NeahKah-Nie High School’s 2013 fall cheer squad is looking to host its first ever cheer competition at the school on January 4. It’s a milestone of sorts as the program continues to grow.

Third-year coach Sharon Finlay is excited about the prospects for this year’s squad. “They all seem to get along together very well and working together they have become almost like family,” said Finlay. “It’s different than other sports.”

Senior projects will have an impact on the program this year, with senior Amy Chacon taking the lead in organizing the NKNhosted competition in January. While Willamette Valley schools, with wellestablished programs, have hosted 50 or more schools in similar, Finlay said she would be delighted with ten squads from other schools

participating in Neah-KahNie’s January event.

In the meantime, senior Alex Bush organized a Junior Cheer Clinic for wouldbe cheer members on Sept.

28. Those who participated performed at halftime at the Oct. 4 home football game against Knappa to demonstrate what they learned at the clinic.

This winter, Neah-KahNie will participate in two competitions against other schools, qualifying the squad for the state competition in February. “We’re still kind of new to state, so we’re still working on that,” says Finlay.

Just as other Neah-KahNie sports programs, cheer members hit the practice field (or gymnasium floor when its raining) fine-tuning their routines in hopes that practice makes perfect by the time the state competition rolls around.

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8 8 • Pirates Pride - Fall 2013 Name: Les Schwab Tires Width: 10.5 in Depth: 10.5 in Color: Black plus three Ad Number: H51348