John Michaels
IVN Contributing Writer
There were a pair of highlights for the Illinois Valley non-football sports teams last week.
The Illinois Valley High School boys soccer team registered a big win with a 9-1 romp over Lakeview on Friday. Senior Servando Vargas led the way for I.V. by scoring five goals in the game. Seniors Grit Charitram and Shiloh Farnsworth also found the back of the net for I.V. in the win. Sophomore Mason Richardson and freshman River Lahey scored the other two goals for the Cougars.
Illinois Valley was extremely competitive in the other two soccer matches of the week, both losses. On Monday, the Cougars dropped a tough 1-0 decision at 3A North Valley. On Wednesday I.V. traveled to Lost River and wound up on the wrong side of a 3-1 Special District 5 decision.
The Cougars are 2-4 on the year, with a 0-2 league mark. I.V. hosted Rogue Valley Adventist Academy in a league match on Tuesday and will travel to Rogue River to take on the Chieftains in another league face-off Thursday.
The other major highlight for the Cougars was an individual highlight in cross-country. Senior Curtiss Heier finished fourth in the prestigious Grizzly Invitational meet at Oak Knoll Golf Club in Ashland Friday. The Grizzly Invitational is a 5,000-meter race which draws harriers from all levels and other states. Heier completed the course in 16:42.68. The race was one by a California runner, and the two other participants to finish ahead of Heier were from 5A Crater.
The Cougars’ Naomi Merrill also participated in the race for the Illinois Valley women’s cross-country team. Merrill finished with a respectable Top 40 finish. Merrill was 39th among the female runners, completing the course in 25:37.94
The Lady Cougars volleyball came close to breaking into the win column in Sunset Conference play, taking Reedsport to five sets before dropping a tough decision at home Saturday. I.V. won the first set, 28-26, before dropping the next two sets to the Brave 19-25 and 13-25. I.V. tied the match with a 25-19 win in the fourth set. Unfortunately, the Cougars dropped the final set 10-15 and dropped to 2-8 on the year and 0-3 in league play.
“Asia Davis played very well as our libero (defensive specialist) for all five sets,” said Cougars coach Beth Boatman. “Lauren Tucker had a good day as well with three kills and a pair of service aces.
“The girls fought hard today.,” continued Boatman. “It was a good game, and they showed a lot of heart. Each week we see improvement.”
The Cougars, who dropped a 25-17, 25-10, 26-24 straight set decision to Oakland last Tuesday, traveled to Gold Beach Tuesday for another Sunset Conference match. The I.V. returns home to face Bandon in a league match Thursday at 6 p.m.
The Lady Cougars soccer team had a tough week, dropping an 8-1 decision to Brookings Harbor Tuesday, before being blanked by Cascade Christian 4-0 Thursday. The Lady Cougars are now 1-5 on the year, with every match being a league contest so far.
The I.V. hosted Coquille Tuesday and will travel to Winston to take on the Douglas Trojans Thursday. Both contests will be league matches.