Sophomores William Calderon led four boys and Avery Nightingale six girls with individual titles Tuesday as Taft High placed second in both the men’s and women’s competitions at the Lincoln County JV track and field meet in Newport.
Calderon won the 100- and 200-meter dashes for the Taft boys, while Nightingale won the 800-meter run and shared the pole vault title in a meet that included host Newport, Eddyville and Siletz Valley.
Sophomore Mauricio Rivas won the 1,500 meters, freshman Austin Winters the 3,000 meters and sophomore JJ French the pole vault for the Taft boys at Morrow Field.
Freshman Divine Mathews won the 100 meters, junior Sammy Halferty the 200 meters, freshman Aubrey Sciarrotta the 400 meters, junior Ella Knott the javelin and junior Brooke Orendorff the high jump for the girls.
Class 4A Newport won the boys team title 122.5-60.5 and the girls 120.5-72 over the Class 3A Tigers.
Taft junior Logan Gilleo was second behind teammate Calderon in the two sprints, Rivas was second in the 800 meters and freshman Cayden Edmonds second in the 3,000 meters for the boys.
sophomore Elizabeth Kirkendall was runner-up in the shot put, Nightingale second in the 1,500 meters and Orendorff second in the 3,000 meters for the girls.
The Taft varsity will host a Special District 2 meet featuring Blanchet Catholic, Salem Academy and Scio beginning at 3:30 p.m. Thursday at Voris Field.
Taft High reaffirmed there’s no place like home Tuesday in a game moved due to wet playing conditions and defeated Willamina 11-0 in a Special District 1 game shortened to five innings by the 10-run mercy rule.
Taft coach Sandy Stuart
“We came out aggressive swinging the bats hard and playing tough defense,” Taft coach Sandy Stuart said.
The Tigers scored in every inning in support of the two-hit shutout pitching of junior Emma Coulter, who struck out nine and walked two.
“We scored runs in each inning, which is one of the offensive goals we set for ourselves,” Stuart said. “It was another important league win for us on the road to the playoffs.”
Junior catcher Hailee Danneker had two doubles and joined Coulter by scoring three times for Taft.
Sophomore Kayla Lininger also doubled and drove home three runs for the Tigers. Coulter had two RBIs.
Taft improved to 10-4, 3-1 with the win, while Willamina fell to 4-6, 0-2.
The Tigers meet Amity at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday on the road before playing four games in four days next week.
Taft 11, Willamina 0
WILLAMINA AB R H BI TAFT AB R H BI
T Hunt 3 0 0 0 Hailee Danneker 3 3 2 1
M Tuck 2 0 1 0 Addie Gates 3 1 1 0
K Graham 2 0 0 0 Emma Coulter 3 3 1 2
E Neville 2 0 0 0 Kayla Lininger 1 1 1 3
R Mooney 1 0 1 0 Olvia Coulter 1 1 1 1
M Mooney 1 0 0 0 Claira Tolan 3 0 0 0
E Shrabel 2 0 0 0 Lily Hatton 2 0 1 0
L Nolen 1 0 0 0 Makena Cole 0 0 0 0
B Burk 1 0 0 0 Kyla Knott 1 0 0 0
O Mestas 1 0 0 0 Caitlyn Rundstrom 1 0 0 0
D Leno 1 0 0 0 Chloe Peterson 1 2 1 1
TOTALS 17 0 2 0 TOTALS 19 11 8 8
WILLAMINA 000 00 -- 0
TAFT 424 1x -- 11
LOB--WILLAMINA 4, TAFT 7. E--M Mooney.
2B--Kayla Lininger, Hailee Danneker (2). HBP--Olivia
Coulter, Hailee Danneker. SACF--Kayla Lininger. SB--R
Mooney, Hailee Danneker, Chloe Peterson.
WILLAMINA IP H R ER BB SO HR
L Nolen 3.00 8 10 9 5 1 0
K Graham 1.00 0 1 1 3 0 0
TAFT
Emma Coulter 5.00 2 0 0 2 9 0
WP--L Nolen (3), K Graham. SO--B Burk, D Leno, E Shrabel, L
Nolen, E Neville, O Mestas, T Hunt, K Graham (2), Claira
Tolan. BB--M Mooney, R Mooney, Kyla Knott, Addie Gates,
Kayla Lininger, Olvia Coulter, Makena Cole, Chloe Peterson
(2), Emma Coulter.
Senior Cody Knott and junior Trenton Fisher had two hits and two RBIs each Tuesday and junior starter Eli DeMello went the distance as Taft High disposed of WIllamina 11-1 in a Special District 2 baseball game shortened to five innings by the 10-run mercy rule.
Taft coach Matt Hilgers
“We came out a little slow today,” Taft coach Matt Hilgers said. “We did what we needed to win, though. We threw strikes, made plays on defense, and made adjustments at the plate.”
DeMello struck out five and walked one in a game moved to Taft due to playing conditions at Willamina.
Freshman Kaden Hindman also had two hits and joined senior Tyee Fisher by scoring twice for Taft. Hindman and Knott both doubled.
“I was encouraged by the way in which we made some adjustments at the plate compared to our previous game,” Hilgers said. “We need to have this same mindset moving forward.”
The Bulldogs scored first, but Taft went ahead 2-1 in the bottom of the second and erupted for nine runs in the fifth to build a 10-run lead and end the game.
The win improved the Tigers to 6-8 overall and 2-2 in league play, while Willamina fell to 4-9, 0-4.
Taft returns to action at 4:30 p.m. Friday with a home doubleheader against Catin Gabel.
“We have another long day of baseball Friday,” Hilgers said. “We have to approach that similar to today’s game. We are playing against ourselves and trying to play our game.”
Taft 11, Willamina 1WILLIMINA AB R H BI TAFT AB R H BI
Wyatt Baker 2 1 1 0 Darius Smith 3 0 1 0
Kaleb Reid 2 0 0 0 Trenton Fisher 3 1 2 2
Nick Colton 2 0 1 0 Eli DeMello 2 1 0 0
Austin Watkins 0 0 0 0 Cody Knott 3 2 2 2
Tucker Neville 2 0 0 0 Tyee Fisher 2 2 1 0
Nick Hawk 2 0 0 0 Bleiz Kimbrough 2 1 0 0
Dominik Briant 2 0 0 0 Fco Ramos 2 1 0 1
CJ Toney 2 0 0 0 Kaden Hindman 3 2 2 1
Austin Ash 2 0 0 0 Jordan Hall 3 1 1 1
TOTALS 16 1 2 0 TOTALS 23 11 9 7
WILLIMINA 100 00 -- 1
TAFT 020 09 -- 11
LOB--WILLIMINA 2, TAFT 2. E--Austin Watkins,
Drue Tuck. 2B--Kaden Hindman, Cody Knott. SACB--Austin
Watkins. SB--Tyee Fisher, Darius Smith.
WILLIMINA IP H R ER BB SO HR
Kaleb Reid (L) 1.67 2 2 1 0 1 0
Nick Colton 2.67 6 5 5 1 1 0
Drue Tuck 0.00 0 3 2 3 0 0
J 0.33 1 1 1 0 0 0
TAFT
Eli DeMello (W) 5.00 2 1 0 1 5 0
PB--Austin Ash, Kaden Hindman. WP--Nick Colton (2), J (2).
SO--Kaleb Reid, Nick Colton, Dominik Briant, Tucker Neville
(2), Fco Ramos, Kaden Hindman. BB--Austin Watkins, Tyee
Fisher, Bleiz Kimbrough, Fco Ramos, Eli DeMello.
Seventeen-year-old Newport High junior Chasity Sargent lost her life last week due to cardiac arrest
Simply talking about it seems to be the best way for Linda Hitchcock to cope.
“I still have no concept of time or what day it is or how I’m going to cope from one moment to the next, but talking about her helps,” said the mother of Newport High junior Chasity Sargent, who died last week from cardiac arrest after her heart stopped suddenly at home.
Just 17 and still 6 1/2 months shy of her 18th birthday, Chasity fell in her house on Tuesday and had no pulse and was not breathing. Her mother administered CPR while her oldest son, a 15-year-old Newport High freshman, called 911.
“He handled himself amazingly in that situation,” Hitchcock said, as paramedics arrived and transported the unresponsive teen to nearby Samaritan Pacific Communities Hospital.
With no Life Flight available, even from Seattle, Chasity was transported with a full support crew via ambulance to Legacy Emanuel Medical Center in Portland.
“They spent several hours trying to get her heart back to beating normally and get her stable enough to transport,” Hitchcock said. “That night she was hooked up to an EEG [electroencephalogram brain activity test] and it showed her brain had been deprived of oxygen for too long.”
Doctors said Chasity’s kidneys and liver were damaged from the oxygen deprivation. On Wednesday night, after most friends and family had a chance to say goodbye, she was taken off life support and died Thursday morning from “a heart condition from birth that was silent for all these years.” Hitchcock said.
News of Chasity’s death was shared with fellow Newport High students Thursday by school staff after receiving permission from the family.
“Chasity was outgoing, always spoke her mind and had no filter,” Hitchcock said. “She wasn’t afraid to tell anyone how she felt. If she saw anyone being treated poorly she would come to their defense.
“Family was one of her top priorities. She was the best big sister her siblings [one brother, two half-brothers and one half-sister] could have.
“They would fight like any siblings would, but she loved them fiercely and would not tolerate anyone treating them poorly. She always told her friends that they were perfect and to never let anyone treat or make them feel that they weren’t.”
Chasity, who loved music and could easily memorize song lyrics such as “Gary Come Home” from SpongeBob SquarePants, wanted to graduate from high school with at least a 3.0 grade point average, then travel, her mother said.
“She was an amazing artist who loved to write,” she said. “She was always laughing, and had a snort when she laughed hard. She loved bad puns. She loved golf, bowling shooting her BB gun … trying new things.”
Chasity was considering joining the military or becoming a police officer, but started to develop asthma and was thinking of being a grade school teacher. She had recently started working at Starbucks.
“Every day, she would come home and I would ask her how work went,” said Hitchcock, who added that her daughter greatly loved her boyfriend, Sean, who attends Taft High 7-12. “She said she loved her job and all the people she worked with.”
Hitchcock said her daughter participated in several activities and desired to have a positive impact on her community.
“She had an adventurous, inquisitive spirit,” she said. “She was always asking questions, and I was constantly telling her to Google them. She loved children and babies and wanted to be a mother some day.”
Mostly, though, Chasity had a warm and gracious heart and put others before herself, her mother said.
“She had a hard time seeing anyone around her sad and would do her best to cheer them up,” she said. “Her biggest fears were losing those she loved. She had a strength of character and self-awareness most adults have not achieved. I was so proud she was surpassing the expectations and hopes I had of the woman she would become.”
The annual Great Oregon Coast Garage Sale is set this weekend, April 19-21, and will feature more vendors than previous years, making it the biggest to date.
Every year, Lincoln City brings out its wares for all to peruse in a community-wide event with visitors and locals checking out more than 100 garage sales from Otis in the north, to Lincoln City, and as far as Depoe Bay to the south.
“There’s definitely an increase of the number of people who want to be involved,” Lincoln City Chamber of Commerce Marketing Manager Jessica Martinez said. “The way we did our mapping, we cut it off after a certain date and after that date we had probably 40-50 more people call wanting to be on the map.”
A paper copy of the map will be published Thursday, April 18, in Oregon Coast Today and is available at the Lincoln City Chamber of Commerce.
“It gets pretty crazy. People go crazy for this,” Martinez said.
The Taft High track and field team, fresh off participation Saturday in the prestigious Prefontaine Rotary Invitational in Coos Bay, will host a Special District 2 meet at 3:30 p.m. Thursday at Voris Field.
The Tigers’ junior varsity squad is scheduled to compete at 4 p.m. today at an event in Newport.
Freelance photographer Lon French shares his work from the Prefontaine meet in the following photo gallery:
Lincoln County School District elementary schools are hosting a special event just for incoming kindergartners throughout the month of May.
Each family with a child who will be 5 by Sept. 1, are encouraged to attend. Participants will be able to meet kindergarten teachers, enjoy a taste from the school menu, find a bus, explore the playground and connect with many local resources.
“We had a committee develop this event as a way to ease the big transition to being a kindergartener,” Yaquina View Elementary School Principal and Taste of Kindergarten committee member.Kristin Becker said.
“Our hope is that by attending ‘A Taste of Kindergarten,’ the kids will be less overwhelmed by the building, buses and eating in the cafeteria. They will also get to meet our kindergarten teachers before coming back for registration at the end of summer.”
Each of the area elementary schools have events planned:
Toledo Elementary, 600 SE Sturdevant Road, Toledo, OR 97391 Phone 541-336-5121
Monday, May 13, or Monday, May 20, from 5:30-6:30 p.m.
Yaquina View Elementary, 351 SE Harney Street, Newport, OR 97365 Phone 541-265-4637
Monday, May 13, or Monday, May 20, from 5:30-6:30 p.m.
Oceanlake Elementary, 2420 NE 22nd Street, Lincoln City, OR 97367 Phone 541-994-5296
Monday, May 13, or Monday, May 20, from 5:30-6:30 p.m.
Support for Spanish speaking families will be available at all schools. All new kindergarten students who come will receive a “Welcome to LCSD” gift-bag. If a family cannot attend one of these sessions they are welcome to call or visit the school to answer any questions.
Parents or Guardians should try to bring proof of birth date and immunization information for their child.
Taft freshman Kadence James, second from right, graces the podium with a third-place showing
Kadence James has gone from pinning opponents on a mat to landing on one from increasingly higher heights. On Saturday, the high-jump specialist leaped for the stars as just a freshman performing in Oregon’s premier regular-season high school track and field meet.
“It is definitely one of my top sports achievements,” the burgeoning 15-year-old Taft High track star said after leading the Tigers with a tie for third in the cold and rain against 36 participants from all classifications in the prestigious Prefontaine Rotary Invitational in Coos Bay.
“It was pouring rain and the track was puddling,” said James, who also competes on Taft High’s wrestling team. “They had to keep stopping the event to brush the water off the runway.”
Three other Tigers joined James in the top 10 Saturday, with junior Kaden Wright finishing fourth and seventh in the 100- and 200-meter dashes, respectively; sophomore JJ French seventh in the pole vault; and senior Savannah Russo eighth in the javelin.
“I feel good about my jumping today,” said James. who soared 4 feet, 8 inches, then said her goal is to improve her personal-best leap of 4-10 to 5-2 in Taft’s quest to compete at State in mid-May at Mt. Hood Community College.
Saturday’s meet, which honors legendary American Olympic distance runner Steve Prefontaine in his birthplace, draws one of the most competitive fields in the high school ranks with 26 teams 6A to 2A competing in the boys competition and 22 in the girls.
Also placing in the top 20 for the Taft boys were senior Micah McLeish (11th in the 3,000 meters, 14th mile); junior Elin Fitch (12th triple jump, 14th high jump); senior Mad Scott (15th javelin); junior Edson Fuentes (16th mile); senior Jacob Mayoral (20th 400 meters); and freshman Sam Cortes (20th mile).
Joining James and Russo with top-20 finishes for the girls were sophomore Jordyn Ramsey (14th mile, 18th 800 meters); junior Sammy Halferty (15th 400 meters); junior Brooke Orendorff (19th mile); and freshman Aubrey Scarriotta (19th 200 meters)
Class 3A Taft tied for 15th behind winning Class 5A representative North Bend in the men’s competition and 21st behind champion Class 4A member Hidden Valley in the women’s.
The Tigers return to action Thursday, April 18, when they host a league meet at Voris Field on the Taft campus.
This post will be updated with more live event photos
UPDATE: North Lincoln Fire & Rescue firefighter Matt Miller has been discharged from the hospital.
“I have been so blessed by all the love and support of family and friends,” Miller said.
“Just finished day four of recovery and the big concerns have been resolved. Chest tube was taken out, brain bleed stabilized and all fractures remain with no need of any type of splint or brace.
“I was released to go home today which has been so nice! I have some follow up appointments that include rehabilitation from post concussion symptoms. There is a long way to go but today was a big step in the right direction.”
UPDATE: Miller, seriously injured Thursday in a car crash, has made significant progress in the last 30 hours, according to NLFR officials.
His head injury has been stabilized and the chest tube has been removed. Miller got out of bed and took a few steps. The plan is to move him out of intensive care and into a regular hospital bed.
The family said it is overwhelmed by the community’s support and prayers.
Previous coverage:
North Lincoln Fire & Rescue firefighter Matt Miller is in intensive care in a Salem hospital with serious head and chest injuries following a car crash early Thursday morning but is expected to make a full recovery.
“We’re all very concerned and our thoughts and prayers are with the family,” NLFR Capt. Jim Kusz said. “Matt is a great firefighter and a good guy. He’s an asset to our community, the staff and crews.”
Miller was involved in an accident at approximately 8 a.m. at the intersection of Highway 22 and Perrydale Road between Lincoln City and Salem, NLFR said in a Facebook post published at 12:45 a.m. Friday.
Dallas Fire & Rescue responded to the incident and extricated Miller from his car and transported him to Salem Hospital.
Sophomore Kyla Knott (Photos by Eli DeMello and Lon French)
Host Taft High reversed its league fortunes following a season-opening home loss to Rainier by sweeping a Special District 1 softball doubleheader Friday with Warrenton.
“The girls played well today,” Taft coach Sandy Stuart said following 8-1 and 9-3 victories. “I was proud of their composure. Those were important wins for us in league.”
Junior Emma Coulter
The Tigers improved to 9-4 and 2-1 in conference play behind junior starting pitcher Emma Coulter. Coulter struck out 13 and surrendered just three hits in the opener, and fanned five and yielded a lone triple in the second game.
“Emma pitched amazing from start to finish,” Stuart said. “She was putting more velocity on the ball and focusing on each out.”
Freshman Addie Gates went 3-for-4 in the opener, while junior Hailee Danneker and freshman Olivia Coulter had two hits each. Coulter drove home three runs in support of her older sister, and Gates two.
Gates, freshman Chloe Peterson and Emma Coulter scored two runs apiece for Taft.
“The defense worked behind Emma and our offense was aggressive,” Stuart said. “We timed the pitching and put the ball in play a lot more today than we have been. We were aggressive on the bases, which led to more runs.”
Sophomore Claira Tolan had two hits to lead the Tigers in the second game, while Gates scored twice. Emma Coulter, freshman Lily Hatton, junior Corey VanDamme, Peterson and Tolan drove home a run each for Taft.
“Going in to the second game we continued to play well,” Stuart said. “We had one inning where we had a few mishaps and misplayed balls. In previous games that has brought us down and ruined our momentum, but today it didn’t. The girls rallied to stay in control and worked together to bring themselves back up, which was huge.”
The Warriors fell to 3-5 and 0-2 in their opening league action of the season.
Taft returns to the diamond at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday at Willamina.
Junior Hailee Danneker
GAME 1Taft 8, Warrenton 1
WARRENTON AB R H BI TAFT AB R H BI
A Miethe 3 0 1 0 Hailee Danneker 4 1 2 0
D Bue 3 0 0 0 Kayla Lininger 3 0 1 0
J Freniere 3 0 1 0 Addie Gates 4 2 3 2
M Kapua 3 0 0 0 Emma Coulter 4 2 1 1
K Ramsey 3 1 1 0 Olivia Coulter 3 0 2 3
M kadera 3 0 0 0 Claira Tolan 3 1 1 1
R Dyer 2 0 0 0 Lily Hatton 3 0 1 1
L Thomas 3 0 0 0 Kyla Knott 2 0 0 0
C Bussert 2 0 0 0 Caitlyn Rundstrom 1 0 0 0
Chloe Peterson 3 2 0 0
TOTALS 25 1 3 0 TOTALS 30 8 11 8
WARRENTON 010 000 0 -- 1
TAFT 010 241 x -- 8
LOB--Warrenton 4, Taft 5. E--A Miethe (2), J
Freniere, Olivia Coulter. 2B--J Freniere, Hailee Danneker.
SACB--Kayla Lininger. SB--A Miethe, Addie Gates (2), Claira
Tolan, Emma Coulter.
WARRENTON IP H R ER BB SO HR
M McFadden 5.00 9 7 5 0 2 0
A Miethe 1.00 2 1 0 0 1 0
TAFT
Emma Coulter 7.00 3 1 0 1 13 0
PB--L Thomas, Hailee Danneker. SO--A Miethe, M Kapua (2), L
Thomas (3), J Freniere (2), M kadera (2), C Bussert, D Bue,
R Dyer, Caitlyn Rundstrom, Kayla Lininger, Chloe Peterson.
BB--R Dyer.
GAME 2Taft 9, Warrenton 3
WARRENTON AB R H BI TAFT AB R H BI
A Miethe 4 0 1 1 Hailee Danneker 4 1 1 0
D Bue 4 0 0 0 Addie Gates 2 2 0 0
J Freniere 3 0 0 0 Emma Coulter 2 1 1 1
K Ramsey 2 1 0 0 Claira Tolan 4 1 2 1
B Quaschnick 3 1 0 0 Olivia Coulter 3 1 1 0
M kadera 3 0 0 0 Lily Hatton 2 1 0 1
R Dyer 3 0 0 0 Corey VanDamme 3 1 0 1
L Thomas 2 0 0 1 Kyla Knott 3 1 0 0
M Kapua 1 0 0 0 Kayla Lininger 1 0 0 0
C Bussert 1 1 0 0 Chloe Peterson 2 0 1 1
TOTALS 26 3 1 2 TOTALS 26 9 6 5
WARRENTON 001 200 0 -- 3
TAFT 101 502 x -- 9
LOB--Warrenton 5, Taft 8. E--A Miethe (2), J
Freniere (2), Corey VanDamme, Emma Coulter. 2B--Chloe
Peterson. 3B--A Miethe. HBP--Addie Gates. SACF--Chloe
Peterson. SB--K Ramsey, B Quaschnick, Addie Gates (2),
Hailee Danneker, Chloe Peterson, Corey VanDamme.
WARRENTON IP H R ER BB SO HR
A Miethe 4.00 4 7 3 5 1 0
M McFadden 2.00 2 2 2 2 0 0
TAFT
Emma Coulter 7.00 1 3 1 3 5 0
PB--Hailee Danneker. WP--A Miethe, Emma Coulter. SO--A
Miethe, L Thomas, M kadera, B Quaschnick (2), Addie Gates.
BB--C Bussert (2), K Ramsey, Addie Gates, Lily Hatton (2),
Olivia Coulter, Corey VanDamme, Emma Coulter (2).