Putnam, Israel win cross country races
Runners from Goldendale, Glenwood and Bickleton are starting the cross country season strong with good placings in the first three meets.
Glenwood’s Neola Putnam opened the season with second place finishes at Ellensburg and The Dalles, Nelson Invite in Sorosis Park. The Glenwood senior led for the first half of the race at Sorosis Park, before The Dalles-Wahtonka’s Marie Miller beat Putnam up heartbreak hill and cruised to victory. But, Putnam was tuning up quickly.
In the third race of the year, it was all Putnam. She won her flight at Apple Ridge, last Saturday, in a time of 18:17, about two and a half minutes ahead of the runner-up.
Asa Israel, Goldendale’s star runner, just missed third place in Ellensburg, but led from start to finish at The Dalles. The hill at Sorosis Park didn’t slow Israel’s pace, in fact he began to stretch out the lead over the final mile and finished with second place nowhere in sight.
Saturday’s race at Apple Ridge was a meeting of familiar foes for Israel. Ki-Be’s Jose Marcial was able to pull out a 17 second win over second place Israel, similar to the margin he held over Israel for second at Ellensburg.
Sorosis Park and Apple Ridge were also good for Bickleton runners Junior Hernandez and Danielle Raschko.
Hernandez looking to regain his freshman form, finished sixth at The Dalles and fourth at Apple Ridge, behind Ellensburg runner, Joshua Aubol, Ben Villanueva, of Toppenish, and Jeff Ott, of Ellensburg. Raschko won a medal at The Dalles for her 10th place finish, and she, too, finished fourth at Apple Ridge.
Other runners who scored well were Addie Christensen, of Goldendale, who medalled at The Dalles, and Bickleton’s Christina Wilson who was sixth at Apple Ridge after struggling with breathing difficulties at The Dalles.
Bickleton’s Kali Federwisch, in her first ever cross country race said “I thought I was going to collapse,” referring to her encounter with the Sorosis Park hill. She stuck with it to the end, however, and came back at Apple Ridge to finish eighth.
Timberwolves crush Mabton 49-6
Andrew Christiansen
Reporter
Domination in every phase of the game is the only way to describe Goldendale’s 49-6 win over Mabton, last Friday. The game was a highlight reel for most of the Timberwolves.
Goldendale’s offensive line overwhelmed the Vikings, often blowing them four or five yards off the line on running plays. Their pass protection was equally superb. Quarterback, Austin Ross, was untouched as he picked apart the Viking defense with 7-9 passing for 127 yards.
The combination rushing from Kyle Cairns, a strong, bowling-ball type runner who uses his blocks well, Torey Spaulding, a burner who accelerates well off the corner, and Justin Garrigus, a slashing runner, piled up 261 yards.
Cairns accounted for 19 of the Timberwolves 49 points, on two touchdowns and seven extra points. He had 108 yards rushing on the night.
Mabton was unable to cover what Coach Don Strothers calls his trips formation with three wide receivers to one side. J.D. Moss, Cole Cameron and Dalton Jaekel each pulled down touchdown passes. Jaekel and Cameron had nobody within five yards of them on their scores.
The defense was also dominant. Ron Lindhe, Steven Bischoff, and Moss picked off three Viking passes. Two more turnovers came when John Barkowski and Blake Lesko forced fumbles that were recovered by Goldendale.
Mabton had trouble from the opening kickoff, as Cairns bounced it into the end zone for no return. Goldendale’s first series began at the Mabton 40. Two quick off-side penalties and four Cairns runs later, it was 6-0.
Mabton got their running game going on their second possession, moving to the Goldendale 30, largely off a Noe Gutierrez run. Bischoff put a halt to the drive with his interception and return to the 21 of Goldendale.
The only other drive from Mabton was early in the third quarter, after recovering a fumble at the Goldendale 44. Nine straight runs were capped by a two-yard score by quarterback, Saul Flores, to make it 42-6.
Coach Strother gave Ross and Cairns a rest from that point on, with Tyrell Cronin at quarterback, and running back duties shared by Spaulding, Garrigus and Gabe Mosbrucker.
Mabton came up with a good defensive stand in the fourth quarter, as Bickleton’s Andrew Venema stopped Cronin on fourth and one at the Mabton 10 yard line.
Next up for the 2-1 Timberwolves is a trip to 0-3 Cle Elum. Goldendale beat the Warriors 15-7, last year, in a thrilling Homecoming game.
Mabton 0 0 6 0 6
Goldendale 7 35 0 7 49
Rushing - Cairns 16-108, Garrigus 11-74, Spaulding 4-33, Ross 2-35, Mosbruker 2-11.
Passing - Ross 7-9-0-127.
Wolves have no answer for soccer league leaders
LaSalle had no mercy for the Goldendale soccer team, last week, with a crushing 10-0 victory. The undefeated Lightning scored eight first half goals to remain tied for the league lead with Goldendale’s Tuesday opponent, Highland. Results of the Highland match were not available at press time.
Thursday’s match against Ki-Be was also a shut-out, but Goldendale showed they could apply some offensive pressure with Traci Bailey and Taylor Gaston making frequent runs at the Bears’ goal.
The Timberwolves continued to progress as they battled another of the league’s top teams, Naches Valley, on Saturday in Goldendale. Five minutes into the second half, trailing 2-0, Goldendale’s Carlee Wheelon split two defenders and passed across the middle to Andrea Keffeler, whose shot banged off the goal post and ricocheted off the diving goal tender, Whitney Shirley, for a goal.
For most of the second half, Goldendale held up under the Rangers’ attacking offense, as Sydney Ross had eight saves and Tiara George and Hailey Hudson played defense. However, two quick goals put the game out of reach and Naches Valley capped the 5-1 win with a final, late goal.
Goldendale has home matches against Toppenish on Thursday and Connell on Saturday before making a last half run that could produce wins against Cle Elum, Granger, Mabton or Royal, all currently seeking their first league win.
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