Mind of Mr. Perfect

ECTION SECTION CCNisqually Valley News • Friday, April 24, 2009WWW.YELMONLINE.COM

SPORTS SPORTS

League success for Rainier track

By Tyler HueyNisqually Valley News

Reminiscent of a hot shoot-ing streak, accolades continue to pour in for Rainier sophomore guard Kristen Schoenherr.

Already a fi rst-team all-league selection, Schoenherr earned honorable mention on The Associated Press’ all-state basketball team.

She was one of three players to earn the 1A honorable men-tion.

Sports writers and editors from around the state vote on the award.

“Oh my gosh, I was ecstatic!”

said Schoenherr on receiving the award. “I thought it was so amazing. I didn’t know anything like that existed.”

Coach Dave Wasankari said he was im-

pressed. “I haven’t had a player (re-

ceive this type of recognition),” Wasankari said. “I don’t remem-ber the last girl at Rainier that has.”

Schoenherr led Rainier to its

second consecutive state berth.During the regular sea-

son, Schoenherr averaged 17.8 points, 5.3 steals, 5.5 rebounds and six assists per game.

She broke the four-game dis-trict tournament scoring record with 95 points, including a 38-point game against La Center.

The previous record, 92 points, had been intact since 1987.

Schoenherr also averaged 21 points in each of Rainier’s two state tournament games.

“I think I grew up a lot this season,” Schoenherr said. “I had a good year. I’m hoping to get

fi rst-team (all-state) next year.”Wasankari thought Schoen-

herr had the talent to achieve theaward as her statistics continued to mount.

“I thought it was a possibil-ity to get honorable mention because of how well she played during the playoffs,” he said. “A lot of people from the press were talking about her.”

Not only does the award sig-nify Schoenherr’s stellar year, it motivates her to improve every aspect of her game.

“Oh yeah, it gives me a ton more drive to get better and bet-ter each year,” Schoenherr said.

“It’s super motivation. I’m defi nitely going to step it up.”

Schoenherr’s current level of play, and untapped potential, only continues to impress her coach.

“If I had to pick any kid from our league, she’d be the fi rst one I’d select,” Wasankari said.

“And it’s not because she plays for me. It’s her ability to score and her abilities that you can’t teach — the natural feel-ing for the ball and pressure de-fense.”

“You can’t teach it. It’s some-thing you have or don’t, but she has the gift for it.”.

Schoenherr earns AP all-state award

Schoenherr


Rainier High School hosted the 1A Southwest Washington league track meet last Thursday — and the home cookin’ treated them well.

With 142 points, the boys team placed second out of six schools and the girls, 107.5 points, were third out of fi ve.

“The boys keep getting bet-ter each week,” Rainier coach Rob Henry said. “They’re pretty steady.”

The girls team had some ath-letes in different events and were missing a top performer, sopho-more Kristen Schoenherr who was out with a sore back.

Senior Bradon Franklin led the boys team with a personal best 133 feet, nine inch dis-cus throw, winning the event by more than 15 feet. He also placed second in the shot put at 42-08.

“Bradon competed at state last year and has learned what to expect and how to behave,” Henry said. “Now he can step in and be confi dent and not overly nervous.”

Franklin said he’s right where he wants to be.

“I’m improving every week and throwing farther,” Franklin said. “I want to beat the school Photo by Tyler Huey

Kyle North strains to hand off the baton to teammate Jimmy Soto in the 4x100 relay. Rainier took psecond place at 46.64 seconds.

Back in high school, a few friends and I were really into wrestling. Not real wrestling, but sports entertainment — as it was known back then, the World Wrestling Federation. And it was all thanks to one man: Vince McMahon.

McMahon, Chairman of WWF (now known as World Wrestling Entertainment), was

a big infl uence regarding my freshman through junior year. Though it’s somewhat humorous now, characters he helped create were focal points in my maturation.

All this comes to mind because McMahon re-cently did a captivating interview with ESPN. Not only did it shed light on his upbringing and multi-million dollar rise to power, it made me realize what it took for two unforgettable high school memories to exist.

First surprise: McMahon, born as Vinny Lup-ton, grew up in an eight-foot wide trailer with his mom and stepdad. Wouldn’t have guessed that, especially since he’s now worth more than $500 million.

Second surprise: McMahon has often said, “It is unfortunate that (my stepdad) died before I had a chance to kill him.”

In the interview, McMahon was asked why he wanted to kill him.

“Because he needed it,” McMahon said. “And I would have happily been the person to have done that.”

But why?“It was just the beatings … the way he beat

my mom and the way he treated me in so many different ways. … In a fi ght of any kind, physical or otherwise, if I’m not dead, I win.”

“He used to beat me unmercifully, but I knew that if I lived through that beating, (expletive) him, I won.”

Much of the 13-plus minute interview was in-formation I already knew, such as how he turned his real father’s wrestling business into what it is today and past stories of rampant steroid use throughout the company.

But it was McMahon’s feelings toward his stepdad that stuck with me. When McMahon said he would have killed him if given the chance, I believe him.

Without actually saying it, I took that as a Vince McMahon guarantee. That clip brought me back to high school. Even at times to this day, that phrase — Vince McMahon guarantee — has relevancy.

MIND OF MR. PERFECT By Tyler Huey

Squared circlean old schooleternal memory


When it comes to the league’s best soccer teams, Yelm is steadily prov-ing it belongs at the top.

The Tornados (10-1 overall, 2-0 league) blew past North Thurston 5-0 on Tuesday and defeated Capital 2-1 in a shootout on Friday.

“With us in the South Puget Sound League, I was hoping (in the begin-ning of the season) that we would have a winning record right now,” Yelm coach Mark Tate said. “I’m ec-static where we’re at right now.”

“We’ve worked hard to get here.” Yelm took a 2-0 halftime lead

against North Thurston. Midfi elder Greg Willman netted the fi rst goal off forward Daniel Gonzalez’s assist in the 22nd minute.

One minute later, forward Miguel Gonzalez assisted Daniel for a 2-0 lead.

“In the fi rst half we were strug-gling to control the ball,” Tate said.

“Our goal out of the half was to not be so direct and kicking long balls (to Miguel and Daniel). In the second half we did a nice job of knocking the ball around; we were more danger-ous.”

Yelm scored quickly to begin the second half. Midfi elder Anthony Avelar was credited with an assist to Miguel in the 44th minute. Avelar kicked the ball at the 45 yard line, the goalie bobbled the ball and Miguel knocked it in.

Defender Edd Brown came back with an assist to Miguel in the 54th minute and Daniel scored the fi nal goal when goalie Jacob Smith booted the ball over the defense to him.

Coming off the win over Capi-tal, Tate was concerned Yelm might come out fl at. He attributed the team captains with getting the team fo-cused.

Capital took the initial lead in the 38th minute off a corner kick. Yelm retaliated in the 45th minute. On a

free kick from 35 yards away, mid-fi elder Alejandro Cisneros sent the ball in and Daniel headed it home.

Regulation play ended in a tie and the game was decided in a shootout with Daniel as the goalie.

“We put Daniel in goal because he does a great job of reading and react-ing to shots,” Tate said. “He is very quick off his line and can make some big saves — which he did.”

Capital scored two goals to Yelm’s three.

“I don’t know how to explain it,” said Daniel on his shootout success. “It’s hard to explain. I just try to guess what they are going to do.”

Daniel said he is happy with the team’s success, yet somewhat sur-prised.

“I didn’t expect to be better than last year,” he said. “We’re playing re-ally well together.”

Tate said that having an unde-feated league record puts “them in the driver’s seat, but it is still early.”

Tornados remain‘in driver’s seat’

Photo by Tyler Huey

Yelm co-captain Miguel Gonzalez crosses a pass to his brother, Daniel, in the first half. The pass was deflected by a North Thurston defender, but Yelm went on to win 5-0. The Tornados are 10-1 overall and 2-0 in league.

See HUEY, page C2

See TRACK, page C2


Now that league play is here, the Yelm boys basket-ball team can ignore their 2-8 start. From now on, it’s three games a piece against Timberline, North Thurston and Capital that will determine if the Tornados are play-off bound.

Yelm hosts Timberline 7 p.m. Friday.Assistant coach Dan Helms said they are hoping to

have a big crowd.“It is our fi rst league game against Timberline and

they are on a fi ve-game winning streak,” Helms said.


Junior Kristin Schoenherr hit a half-court shot to spark Rainier’s girls basketball team in a 49-31 win at Montesano Tuesday night. Schoenherr’s basket gave Rainier a one-point lead entering halftime.

“That was an emotional boost, no doubt about it,” Rainier coach Dave Wasankari said. “That boosted our en-thusiasm and our players played with more passion. Every game we play on the road in league is so tough to win.”

With the victory, Rainier (8-4 overall, 4-1 league) is in second place behind Toledo in the Southwest Wash-


Considering Rainier suffered a gut-wrenching double overtime loss to Rochester last Friday, the team was in need of an uplifting victory.

Bouncing back to drop Montesano 56-50 on the road hit the spot.

“We really needed a win at this point,” Rainier coach Josh Frunz said. “The kids were playing really well and outworking our opponents.”

The win improved Rainier to 3-7 overall and 2-3 in league.

“It says a lot about their heart,” Frunz said of winning after the diffi cult loss. “This group is really good about shaking off losses like that.”

“They can shake off mistakes.”Chris Ashby, who scored a team-high 20 points, said

the win “defi nitely felt good.”“We have lot of young kids,” Ashby said, “and consid-


To say the Yelm girls basketball team is playing well would be modest at best. In posting eight consecutive wins, the Tornados are on a hot streak that nobody could have predicted.

After their only loss Dec. 4, Yelm has outscored their opponents by 83 points, 414-331. Not only has Yelm won via blowout, they also won two games by one point and another game by two.

Not a shabby way to enter Friday’s league opener at Timberline.

“Our goal all along was to get ready for the league championship,” coach Russ Riches said. “We didn’t anticipate being 9-1, but as the season progressed, we’re at that place where we’re able to draw on things we’ve learned.”

“They have defi nitely exceeded that expectation.”

Riches said he attributes the team’s success to leadership, mainly coming

from his two seniors, post Katelyn Smith and wing Austin Schorno, and two junior wings, Karley Miskimens and Samantha Jennen.

Not only is Smith a vocal leader, she leads the team in scoring and is a top rebounder.

“She has stepped up another notch,” Riches said. “It has been fun to watch. The kids understand their role. If she doesn’t touch the ball, we’re not as productive.”

In general, players have also bought into the system and are play-ing their respective part.

“I’m encouraged with people set-tling into their roles,” Riches said. “We play better as a team. It’s a testa-ment to their ability to work hard.”

Sophomore wing Sydney Ander-son, for example, is the team’s “nail-down defender” and has earned the role of guarding each opposing team’s prime scorer.

Freshman post Anushka Mal-donado has been explosive off the

bench. Riches said Maldonado gives the team a spark, but when she pairs with Smith on the court, watch out.

“When they play together they’re pretty much an unstoppable tandem,” Riches said. “They’re very effective at times when Anushka is playing and Katelyn comes in off her breather.”

Maldonado said she uses her youth to her advantage.

“Since I’m the youngest girl on the team I try to push myself harder to be at their level,” she said. “I just try to do my best to put some points on the board and get as many rebounds as I can.”

Coming off a league champion-ship and their fi rst state tournament berth since 1991, Yelm had some “tough shoes to fi ll” as six players were lost to graduation. The roster may be young, but they quickly gelled and are ready to start defending their league title.

The NFL postseason is kind of like MTV’s “JerseyShore.” Seriously, just think about it: every remaining playoff team can be com-pared to one of the show’s cast members, and said comparison will potentially relate to how far each teamadvances. “The Situation” knows what’s up: “Alright,

we got a situation.”It only seems right. America is obsessed

with the NFL and “Jersey Shore.” The reality show features eight “guidos” and “guidettes” in search of parties and hooking up while sharing a beach house in New Jersey’s Seaside Heights. Since the NFL playoffs and “Jersey Shore” are heating up, it’s logical to intertwine the two when forecasting football’s future.

THE CONTENDERS

■ New Orleans SaintsThe Saints’ offense is just as precise as Pau-

ly D, a 28-year-old DJ who has a tanning bed in his house. While quarterback Drew Brees can dissect a defense in 25 seconds, it takes Pauly D 25 minutes to style his hair.

“Greatness takes time, and this hair right here is greatness,” Pauly D said. “I have it down to a tee, but this is a process right here.”

Need more proof? “It only takes ninepounds of pressure to break a nose,” he claims. Just like the Saints, that’s precision at its fi nest.

Though New Orleans has lost three straight games, they had a fi rst-round bye and have home-fi eld advantage throughout the playoffs.If the Saints score often, which they will, andget a lead, the crowd will be deafening. All I’m saying is if the Saints’ opposition isn’t con-cerned, they should be.

■ Minnesota VikingsJust like The Situation, Minnesota is scary

good, but they sometimes lack an identity. If the Vikings decide whether they’re a run-fi rst or pass-fi rst team, they’ll be a juggernaut. Quarterback Brett Favre has been unbelievable, and running back Adrian Peterson is a freak.

Speaking of freaks, The Situation’s cocki-ness is reminiscent of the confi dence Minne-sota has earned: “You can hate on me all you want to,” The Situation said, “but what can you possibly say to somebody that looks like Rambo, pretty much, with his shirt off?”

I’m not saying Favre has a six pack, but he silenced his critics long ago. Because of the Vikings, the color purple is no longer emascu-lating. With a high-scoring offense and a stout defense, the Vikes are a must-watch situation.

“I don’t think they are going to be ready for this situation; everyone’s gonna be like, ‘Oh shoot, that’s the situation right there.’”

■ San Diego ChargersIf properly tweaked, the Bolts remind me of

a fi nely crafted “JWoww” quote: “(The Char-gers) are like a praying mantis; after (playing an opponent they) will rip their heads off.” Similar to JWoww’s habit with men, San Diego has a habit of playing games with their opposi-tion.

“When they date me,” she said, “it’s cool in the beginning, we do our thing in the fi rst month and then I send them on a roller coaster ride to hell.”

After starting the season 2-3, San Diego looked to be in trouble. But since then, they’ve won 11 consecutive games and look like the team to beat. Quarterback Philip Rivers is the leader and everyone else just falls in line.

■ Baltimore RavensYou know what you’re in for when it comes

to Sammi “Sweetheart” and the Ravens. For Baltimore, prepare for smash-mouth running, deceptively good passing and a pressuring defense. It’s also just as easy to see where everyone stands with Sammi: “If you’re not a guido then you can get the (expletive) outta my face.”

Sammi has quite a mouth on her, but she probably can’t back up her words up like the Ravens. Teams know what they’re in for but they can’t do anything about it. I mean, anyteam that can decimate the New England Pa-triots in their house needs to be reckoned with: 234 yards on 52 rushes.

Enough said.

THE PRETENDERS

■ Indianapolis ColtsSure, maybe my hatred has gone too far,

but after ignoring the chance at going 19-0, the Colts deserve to pay. Indy is now Angelina-esque. The Colts felt like they were above mak-ing history, similar to how Angelina felt about working for a T-shirt company: “I feel this job is beneath me,” she said. “I’m a bartender. I do great things.”

Ha ha! Being stupid. Classic.

ECTION SECTION CCNisqually Valley News • Friday, January 15, 2010WWW.YELMONLINE.COM

SPORTS SPORTS NFL playoffs visit the ‘Jersey Shore’

MIND OF MR. PERFECT By Tyler Huey

See HUEY, page C2

Photo by Tyler Huey

Senior wing Austin Schorno takes a jumper amid pressure during Tuesday’s practice. Every player seemingly had a hot hand, which Yelm hopes to maintain for Friday’s league opener at Timberline.

Eye of the TornadosGirls aim for second straight league title

See TITLE, page C2

Boys knock off Montesano

Half-court shot lifts Mounties

Yelm readies for league play

Photo by Tyler Huey

As sophomore Dalton Delio, right, puts on the pressure, sophomore Trenton Green looks for an open teammate during Monday’s practice.

See GIRLS, page C2

See WIN, page C2

See BOYS, page C2

“We need to take advantage of the home court to win this game. The band will be there and hopefully the community will give us a much-needed boost.”

Yelm has had troubles all season with starting off slow and needing a second-half rally. But they did hold a 26-22 half-time lead against Steilacoom last Friday yet were unable to

pull out a win.“Now that the guys have

proven that they can put togeth-er a good fi rst half, they need to work towards playing a com-plete game,” Helms said. “We need to value every possession (because) we tend to play very well in spots, then turn around and throw the ball away. The guys will need to limit their turnovers and show a greater level of discipline for an en-tire game if we want to have a

chance to win in league.”Before the season started,

head coach Arlin Olson said he thought Yelm had the potential to win up to 13 games. That won’t happen, but the staff is far from disappointed.

“We are very proud of our players as quality people fi rst andathletes second,” Helms said.“Our players dream of packing our gym some day and giving the community a quality teamthey can be proud of as well.”

ering the competition, it’s nice to come out with a win.”

Kevin Volesky scored 19 and had six rebounds. Brandon Eyga-broad added 9 of 10 points.

Ashby made 9 of 10 shots from the fi eld and had nine re-bounds. Volesky drained four 3-pointers and went 7-of-8 from the free throw line.

“Chris just focused on go-ing to the basket,” Frunz said. “Kevin is our shooter. He did a

good job of spotting up.”Ashby said he stayed ag-

gressive, attacked the hoop and tried to get Montesano’s big guy in foul trouble.

Rainier held a 30-20 half-time lead. Montesano stayed competitive because one of their players scored 18 points in the second half.

“He kept them in the game,” Frunz said. “Montesano did a good job of battling. The game went down to the last 30 sec-onds.”

Rainier now has a chance to get back in the postseason race. Their most diffi cult games are behind them and they play sixof their fi nal 10 games at home,including three in a row Jan. 29 to Feb. 5.

“Home court really makesus feel good,” Ashby said. “Wehave momentum and a bigger crowd. We just know the court and rim. We need to keep com-ing out with intensity because that is defi nitely what winsgames.

ington 1A Evergreen Division.In the second half Rainier

settled down, tightened up de-fensively and went on a 12-min-ute run in which they only al-lowed two points.

Wasankari said his team “acted like they wanted to win the game in the fi rst two min-utes … but they settled down and went back to basics.”

Schoenherr scored 14 points and fi ve assists, while Ashley Stancil had her “best game of

the year,” Wasankari said.Stancil contributed 12 points

and six “big” rebounds. Stancilgrabbed defensive boards in three consecutive possessions.

Similar to the boys’ team,the girls have had a heavy away schedule. But that is about to change. Including Thursday’s game versus Winlock, Rainier plays six of their next seven at home with two road matches to conclude the regular season.

“It’s just a matter of com-ing into each game focused and playing intelligently through-out the game,” Wasankari said. “We’re getting better.”

Wasankari said Rainier must limit their mistakes in order to continue winning throughout league and into the postseason.

“As I look at our league, Capital (7-4) is still the team to compete with,” Riches said. “If we win the league it’s not any different this year, and with the way we’re playing, I think we’re a tough matchup for any team.”

Thanks to Yelm’s current win streak, Maldonado said the season has started better than she expected. Though Maldo-nado is excited for her fi rst taste of league competition, she has butterfl ies.

“I’m looking forward to how league is going turn out, but I’m also kind of nervous,” Maldo-nado said. “I want to perform well and I’m really hoping we have a chance to go to state.”

From the start of the season, Yelm’s expectation was to win league and get the No. 1 seed heading into the West Central District.

“If it doesn’t happen that doesn’t mean we were unsuc-cessful,” Riches said, “but we have the ability to get to that point if we continue to work to-gether.”

The Colts have so much in common with Angelina. Not only do they think too highly of themselves, they make moronic decisions. Example: Angelina was kicked out of the house for refusing to work because she was “sick” and having boy-friend problems.

“We wish she had stayed,” The Situation told In Touch. “What was she thinking? It’s like leaving the Beatles.”

Maybe Angelina getting booted and the Colts deserving to lose isn’t on par with leaving the most successful band ever, but it’s right up there.

■ New York JetsKudos on getting a free pass

to the playoffs. The only reason the Jets made the postseason is because the Indianapolis Colts gave them a freebee in Week 16, then beat an unmotivated Cincinnati Bengals squad. Sure,they came back and beat Cinci in the opening round of the playoffs, but it was an exception to the rule.

Mark Sanchez becamethe fourth rookie quarterback since 1950 to start and win a playoff game. Don’t expect this to become the norm. In fact, trusting the Jets is just as smart as believing Ronnie will follow his own rules.

“Rule number one: Never fall in love at the Jersey Shore,” he said. Similar to the drunk guy’s face Ronnie pummeled in a recent episode, he broke his rule within the fi rst week.

When it comes to the Jets,

and the NFL as a whole, here’s the only rule that matters: Don’t trust a team that can only run the ball and not throw down fi eld.

Relying primarily on the ground game is so three years ago.

■ Arizona CardinalsIt’s no secret that quarter-

back Kurt Warner leads an explosive offense, but it’s just as obvious that their defense is ripe for the pickin’.

Heck, Vinny knows how to act in every scenario.

“They’re pretty cool, ya know, they’re some girls that are just gonna come here, strip off their clothes and jump in the jacuzzi,” he said. “Then there are some girls that are respectful, that you have to just actually treat like girls, human beings."

Well put. Arizona's offense may jump out to a lead, but their humanly defense is freshmeat.

■ Dallas CowboysPertaining to waking up

with a hangover, the 4-foot-9 “Snooki” can relate with the’Boys: “When I woke up I was like, ‘What did I do last night? Like, what did I do? I (exple-tive) up. Story of my life.”

Dallas won its fi rst playoff game since 1996 when they destroyed the PhiladelphiaEagles, a team they beat for the third time this season. America should be waiting for quarter-back Tony Romo’s inevitable postseason implosion.

Story of his life.


The Ridgeline Middle School girls basketball team was fl irting with perfection, but the third time wasn’t a charm.

Coming into Tuesday after-noon’s game against Eatonville, the Storm (7-1) had defeated them twice this season, just not this time, losing 24-19.

“We just couldn’t make any baskets,” said fi rst-year coach Todd Stancil. “We worked hard the entire game, but we couldn’t get any easy buckets to fall.”

Stancil said the team missed about 10 two-foot shots and were well below their 45 points per game average.

Sometimes teams just have bad offensive nights, and this was one of them. But Ridgeline hasn’t lost any confi dence.

Stancil said this is the fi rst time they had been undefeated this late in the season.

Since the team has been playing together for years, they understand the game.

“It has little to do with my coaching,” Stancil said of the team’s success. “I’m sure I help, but the girls have been around the game for a long time. That makes a big difference for this level as far as how successful you become in high school.”

Having team chemistry is a

major factor of Ridgeline’s suc-cess. Oftentimes players antici-pate what their teammates are going to do and communicate without words.

“It’s very obvious if you watch them, they know what the other girls are doing,” Stan-cil said. “They know what their teammates will do before it happens.”

“They enjoy playing togeth-er and really enjoy the game.”

Guard Mckayla Tyler, for example, is an “all-around good player” who has often been a focal point during Ridgeline’s run.

“She really understands the game,” Stancil said. “She’s a smart player who doesn’t make a lot of mistakes. Every aspect of her game sets her apart as far as where she’s at,” Stancil said.

The season is far from over, but if Ridgeline keep up the pace, it would be special.

“I defi nitely feel fortunate and lucky to coach a team of their talent level my fi rst year there,” Stancil said. “Again, it’s not all me. These girls had a lot of good coaching before I ever got to them.”

“On paper it makes me look good, but the bottom line is they were good long before me.”

C2 Nisqually Valley News, Friday, January 15, 2010

Precious PetsPrecious Pets

2010

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All photos will be published in the Nisqually Valley News

Friday, Feb. 26, 2010. Entry fee is $10 per photo.

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Behold the Power of Pets!

NationalNationalPet MonthPet Month

Who can resist the power of an animal friend? Face it — pets have their owners wrapped around their little paws.

Whether they are furry, feathered or finned, pets have the wonderful ability to brighten almost any day.

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Send a favorite picture of your “Precious Pet” to enter to win in one of these great categories:

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TITLE: Players know their roles

Continued from page C1

RMS having historic season

HUEY: Don’t player hate – congratulate


GIRLS: Remain focusedContinued from page C1

WIN: Home court awaitsContinued from page C1

BOYS: Nine games leftContinued from page C1


After discussions throughout last offseason, Yelm soccer coach Mark Tate said he knew Daniel Gonzalez needed to be on the fi eld. And going by the num-bers, it was the right move.

Gonzalez, a sophomore forward, has netted seven goals and fi ve assists this month — 18 goals and 10 assists over-all — and earned the Nisqually Valley News’ Athlete of the Month for April.

Gonzalez’s success is a major factor in the team’s 11-2 record.

Yelm will need more players to con-tribute than just Gonzalez to succeed in

the postseason, but with-out him, things would look bleak.

Gonzalez was the goalie last season, and according to Tate, he was one of the best. But sometimes change is for the better.

“Goal scorers are ex-tremely hard to fi nd,” Tate said. “There are some very good teams that can’t win games because nobody will step up and put the ball in the back of the net. With


After suffering a 4-1 league de-feat to North Thurston last Thursday, Yelm’s tennis team had a role rever-sal and toppled White River 4-1 in a nonleague match on Monday.

Sophomore Emma Leimback, Yelm’s No. 1 singles, improved her season record to 8-2 with a 6-3, 6-3 victory.

“She’s a competitor,” Yelm coach Mike McClellan said. “It does not take a lot to get her fi red up. … I don’t know what got her going, but it does not take much to get herself motivated.”

Lauren Prater, who normally plays doubles, played No. 2 singles. Prater wasn’t challenged in facing an

opponent from junior varsity, win-ning 6-0, 6-0.

Yelm’s No. 1 doubles team — Kaedra Ball and Kathlyn Barbero — had an off day, falling 6-2, 6-3.

“They played horribly and were never in the game,” McClellan said. “They couldn’t hit anything. It was just not pretty, especially after beat-ing North Thurston.”

“It surprised me. Hopefully they will bounce back.”

For Michele Niemann and Krista Riezinstein, their road to victory wasn’t very smooth. After making it through two tough sets, they capped off the victory at 7-5, 5-7, 6-0.

When Yelm faced North Thur-ston, however, the competition was much tougher.

Ball and Barbero won the team’sonly match at 7-6, 6-1.

The duo is 2-0 in league.Barbero only recently joined the

team because she competed in Jazzline. “I knew what she was capable of,”

McClellan said. “They are a little in-consistent, but hopefully they’ll makea strong team.”

Unfortunately for the No. 1 team,inconsistency is what thwarted themat White River.

Yelm’s No. 2 doubles — Prater and Riezinstein — lost in three sets:6-2, 4-6, 6-2. Jessica Detlefsen andKatie Schneider lost a tie breaker andfell 7-6, 6-2.

Leimback lost her second match


Windy, sometimes rainy weather wel-comed anglers during the April 25 fi sh-ing season opener.

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife reported checking 5,410 anglers with 12,497 trout from 121 lakes statewide. At Lake McIntosh in Tenino, for example, 113 anglers were checked and 101 trout were caught.

For Rainier High School senior Eric Lordier and friend James Johnston of Chehalis, opening day was the culmina-tion of a long-awaited spectacle.

Lordier and Johnston began fi shing at midnight.

“We wanted to get started as early as possible,” Johnston said.

Lordier said he had been fi shing at McIntosh for two or three years.

“There are lots of fi sh here,” Lordier said. “You never get skunked.”

Bites can sometimes be few and far in-between, but that didn’t seem to matter.

“We just like to sit around and talk,” Johnston said. “We’re enjoying ourselves.”

At one point Lordier was reeling in alunker, but when the fi sh got about seven feet off shore, there was a lot of tensionand the line snapped. Lordier said he was furious.

“It was about a pound and a half,” hesaid. “I should have went in after it.”

Eleven hours into the day, they had caught fi ve fi sh and were working on anhour and a half dry spell. But no worriesbecause they weren’t leaving until theylimited out — fi ve fi sh per angler — andsubtle rain was an off anf on affair.

But Lordier is OK with the rain, “be-cause a lot of people leave,” he said.

What does the NFL Draft, singer Amy Wine-house and “The Godfather: Part III” have in common?

If any of those train wrecks are viewed, the fol-lowing reactions may occur: boredom, disappointment and depression.

The point is the NFL Draft sucks. Watching it is

worse than listening to a looped explanation from Ms. Teen South Carolina on why one-fi fth of Americans cannot locate the U.S. on a world map.

The fi rst round took 6 hours and 8 minutes last April. This year’s draft, which took place last weekend, shortened the time to draft in the fi rst round to 10 minutes.

Ooh! Ah! Five minutes shorter per selection and the fi rst round still took three and a half hours to complete.

The draft doesn’t make sense. The NFL season concluded three months ago and each team has been planning ever since. Obviously it takes an enormous amount of time to evaluate players, but by the time the draft rolls around, shouldn’t it be pretty cut and dry on who to select?

Draft by team needs or take the best player available. Rocket scientists need not apply.

Why does it take up to 600 seconds to make a decision that has been analyzed day and night since before the Super Bowl ended? It shouldn’t. When each team is on the clock, they have a pretty good idea of what to do. Even if the draft isn’t unfolding as planned, they expect the un-expected. If players A, B and C are gone, every team has a backup plan.

Sure, teams often make trades in their respective war rooms, but it’s not as if they’re facing a nationwide dilemma.

And sometimes the clock continues to tick even when a decision has already been made. Last year, the Miami Dolphins had its No. 1 pick signed fi ve days before the draft. Yet, for some unknown reason, it took several minutes to announce the pick.

Speaking of mind-numbing, the live cover-age is nauseating. Hearing NFL Draft expert Mel Kiper analyze players is like watching info-mercial salesman Billy Mays promote “Mighty Putty.”

Similar to Mays’ loud voice, it’s tough to focus on Kiper’s insight because of his gel-in-fused hair. However, if there was one reason to watch the draft, Kiper would be it. Even thoughhe’s kind of annoying, he usually knows what

ECTION SECTION CCNisqually Valley News • Friday, May 1, 2009WWW.YELMONLINE.COM

SPORTS SPORTS

Billy Mays here for the NFL DraftMIND OF MR. PERFECT By Tyler Huey

See HUEY, page C2

Fishing season opens amid wintry weather

Photo by Tyler Huey

Chehalis resident James Johnston, left, and Rainier High School senior Eric Lordi-er wait for a bite Saturday morning at Lake McIntosh in Tenino.

Yelm’s tennis team shows improvement

See TENNIS, page C2

Photo by Tyler Huey

Emma Leimback improved her record to 8-2 with a 6-3, 6-3 win Monday. Above, Leimback struggled last Thursday, falling 7-5, 6-1 to North Thurston. As of Tuesday, Yelm’s overall record is 2-8.

ATHLETES OF THE MONTH

Gonzalez’s all-around game merits honor

See GONZALEZ, page C2

Gonzalez


Rainier High School’s baseball team is just that — a t-e-a-m. With a 12-3 overall record and second place stand-ing in league, things are looking up for the squad.

But if there was a player who de-served to be singled out, sophomore Mitchell McComb fi ts the bill. Not only is he becoming nearly unhittable on the mound, he bats third. And since Mc-Comb is 4-1 — three of his four wins came in complete games — with a 1.97 ERA, he earned the Nisqually Valley News’ Athlete of the Month for April.

“When he’s on the baseball fi eld, he’s just comfortable,” Rainier coach Mark Mounts said. “That is the envi-ronment in which he’s most comfortable. One of the reasons why he’s been successful is the group that is with him.”

McComb said when his nerves are in check is when he excels the most.

“I’m just comfortable at the plate,” McComb said. “If the team was doing

Stellar pitching leads McComb to success

See McCOMB, page C2

McComb

bad it would be more stressful, but the stress level is so low and because everyone’s doing well. My number one and two hitters, Cody Schneider and Dalton De-lio, make it much easier to hit well.”

When it comes to pitching, McComb’s maturity is coming through. Early on, McComb was constantly having high pitch counts, Mounts said. But McComb has lowered his pitch count and stopped nibbling with some hitters.

“Mitchell realized how he

can exploit other teams, espe-cially on the mound,” Mounts said. “He knows what other teams can’t do. He’s getting bet-ter and not trying to hide things … and makes adjustments re-ally quickly.”

One of McComb’s best ef-forts came last week against Rochester, the defending 1A state champions. Rainier won 7-1 in large part due to McComb, who threw a complete-game fi ve-hitter and struck out 11.

Mounts said constantly throwing strikes was the key.

“Rochester hadn’t faced a guy like that yet,” Mounts said.

“My guys (McComb and Tyler Schaff) throw strikes. McComb said, ‘Here’s the ball, now hit it.’ They didn’t. Coming after them is a huge deal.”

McComb, as well as his teammates, experience success off the fi eld too.

“Academically, it’s nice to have a player you don’t have to worry about,” Mounts said. “In my seven years coaching, I’ve been worried when grade checks come up.”

“What I like about Mitchell, and the other kids, is that aca-demics are not an issue. It’s just another way he leads.”


McCOMB: Teammates and development play role in success

Daniel on the fi eld, I feel like there is a possibility that we can score at any time.”

Gonzalez can possess the ball with ease and is diffi cult to defend because of his speed.

Gonzalez isn’t one to gloat, nor is he one to speak highly of himself. He prefers to lay low and speak about the team.

Concise statements are his forte.

“We’ve been practicing hard and just playing our game,” he said. “We’ve been playing really well.”

When it comes to scoring goals, Gonzalez said a lot of it had to do with teammates put-ting him in good positions.

“I am a fi rm believer that scoring goals is more mental than anything,” Tate said. “Goal scorers are usually people that are not afraid to make mistakes and they have an internal drive to want to score. Most people that can score goals think that they can do it each time they touch the ball.”

But there is more to Gon-

zalez than being a prolifi c goal scorer. He has an all-around game that is diffi cult to fi nd.

“I’m not just a scorer,” Gon-zalez said. “I help the team by dropping back and helping in the midfi eld.”

Coaches often say special players have “it” or a “feel” for the game. At a young age, and judging by his on-fi eld play, Gonzalez may have both.

“Daniel has the ability to take over games,” Tate said. “I have seen him track players down, steal the ball from them, dribble past three defenders and hit incredible shots.”

At times, Gonzalez’s speed has even allowed him to get by defenders at the 50-yard line, out-run the last defender and score.

“There are not a lot of play-ers that can dominate like that,” Tate said.

There are also not a lot of players who have the potential to play college soccer, and pos-sibly a higher level afterward.

Gonzalez is in a class few can attain.

“I think the skies are the limit for Daniel,” Tate said.

of the year to Lena Maconson, 7-5, 6-1.

Maconson made the state tournament last year.

McClellan said the main reason Leimback lost the match is because Maconson made fewer unforced errors.

“Maconson was more consistent,” McClellan said. “Emma played really well. It was just a couple here and there and the set’s over. It’s just the way the game goes.”

Leimback knew her op-ponent competed at state after being told so during a break between sets.

“It was kind of scary,” she said, noting that wasn’t the reason she lost. “It wouldn’t have made a big difference (if I would known she competed at state or not).”

“Nerves don’t really get the best of me.”

Leimback said she lost be-cause she got tired in the sec-ond set and made too many un-forced errors.

But for not having played singles until this year, Leim-back has adapted well.

“She’s shown some good maturity for a young player,” McClellan said. “She’s gone in matches where she should beat the person, fell behind and found a way to come back. She has the ability to adapt to the other person and come up with winning shots.”

“Emma picks up on weak-nesses and tries to exploit them.”

As of Tuesday, Yelm is 2-8 overall and 0-2 in league.

he’s talking about.Kiper is well-known for

criticizing the Indianapolis Colts for drafting linebacker Trev Alberts fi fth overall in 1994. When told of Kiper’s remark, Colts general manager Bill Tobin said, “Who the hell is Mel Kiper? My mailman knows more about the draft than he does.”

But Kiper, just like the en-tire draft, is far from perfect.

Here’s an idea: give every team fi ve minutes to make a selection in round 1, three

minutes in round 2 and two minutes in rounds 3-7.

A new announcer next year wouldn’t hurt, either:

“Hi, Billy Mays here for the 2010 NFL Draft, the easy way to fi x, fi ll and seal virtually any team’s need fast and make it last. The 2010 NFL Draft is not a snoozefest, but a super-pow-ered epoxy that can be molded to any organization for an ever-lasting bond. Ordinary drafts are a depressing bore. With the 2010 NFL Draft, just watch for a few minutes, see the selec-tions and let the future unfold.”

Wishful thinking at its best.

C2 Nisqually Valley News, Friday, May 1, 2009

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GONZALEZ: Ability to take over the game


YHS equestrians ready for state

Photo provided

TENNIS: Leimback shows maturity beyond her age


HUEY: With a few tweaks, 2010 draft could be great


Yelm’s equestrian team has 11 riders qualified for the state tournament. Riders going to state are pictured at right. From left, top row: Hollin

Wisehart, Erika Smith, Shelby Peck, Samantha Cooper, Ashley Heltemes, Ceylon Keelsar,

Sarah Adkins and Amanda Wright. Front row: Ceara Maxwell, Roberta Woronowica and Tawny Gallegos.

C2 Nisqually Valley News, Friday, April 24, 2009

discus record (143-6) and get fi rst in league.”

Sophomore Katy Dawson helped the girls with a strong performance, placing fi rst in the 3,200-meter run at 14 minutes, nine seconds.

Dawson said she hopes to drop that time to 12:30 by the end of the season.

She also placed sixth in the 1,600 and ninth in the shot put.

This was Dawson’s fi rst meet of the year since she is also on the equestrian team. Dawson said she has always preferred the two-mile run.

Henry said she excels be-cause of her drive.

“She pushes herself and keeps pushing when she’s tired and wants to be done. She fo-cuses through everything.”

In the 3,200, Dawson stayed with the pack until the fi nal lap.

“I know how to consume en-ergy,” Dawson said. “In the mile I don’t pace myself. … In the two-mile coach Henry told me to keep up with them and sprint at the end.”

“I guess I am just faster than them.”

Other top performers were junior Milena Seymour, who took fi rst place in the 300-meter

hurdles; freshman Zoie Daniels was second in the 800 and third in the 400; senior Kyle North was second in the triple jump at 40 feet; junior Ryley Reese was second in the long jump at 17-04.05.

Freshman Trenton Green placed second in the pole vault at 11 feet, as did senior Jimmy Soto in the javelin at 135-03.

TRACK: Mounties place2nd, 3rd at league meet


Photo by Tyler Huey

Jimmy Soto competes in the 4x100 relay and readies to take the handoff from Kyle North. Soto also placed fifth in the 200-meter at 25.01 seconds.

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HUEY: Squared circlemeans large trampoline


If last week’s sunshine was a precursor of things to come, lo-cal little leaguers are in for an enjoyable season. The Nisqually Valley Basin Little League held its opening ceremonies Satur-day at Prairie Elementary.

Throughout the event a si-lent auction fund-raiser was held that goes to the end of theyear all-star program. The fi nal numbers won’t be available for another week, but League Presi-dent James Punzel said more than $1,000 was raised.

The ceremony marked theleague’s 26th anniversary. After the 16 teams and coaches were introduced, the fun was readyto begin. T-ball played two in-ning jamboree games and the 7- to 14-year-olds participated in the national Pitch, Hit and Run skills competition. PHR pro-vides players an opportunity to demonstrate their pitching, hit-ting and running abilities.

The players can advancethrough four levels of compe-tition. Top achievers advancefrom local to regional competi-tions, then go to Safeco Field.

The National Finals are held

July 12-14 at the MLB All-Star Game in St. Louis, Mo.

The top players were the overall winner in their age group: Layne Moergeli (7- to 8-year-olds), Joey Hawks (9-10), Brandon Rochester (11-12) and Austin Reise (13-14). With the win, those four advance to sec-tionals in Olympia in late May.

The pitch portion tests how accurately a players can throw strikes from 45 feet to a “strike zone” target. Any pitch that hits the target is called a strike.

The hitting program tests a competitor’s ability to hit a base-ball from a tee at home plate to-ward center fi eld on a straight line. Hits were measured for distance and accuracy.

In the run portion, each play-er’s speed is timed in a sprint covering 160 feet from second base, touching third and cross-ing home plate.

But now it’s time for the real games to be played.

“Our goal is they have fun and get good solid baseball fun-damentals,” Punzel said. “We’re trying to grow the program in Yelm. They’re good kids and we want to develop them as players and citizens.”

Little League holdsopening ceremonies

Photo by Keven R. Graves

League President James Punzel, left, judges the pitching compe-tition as Jay Geiger prepares to throw a strike.

Everybody has guaranteed something at some point in his or her life. But oftentimes, what-ever was guaranteed doesn’t come true. That wasn’t the casefor McMahon.

My friends and I noticed whenever he guaranteed some-thing was going to happen dur-ing an event, it did. Of coursewe knew matches were scripted, but it was uncanny nonetheless,because something like 10 or 15 of his guarantees came true.

Thus, my friends and I invent-ed the Vince McMahon guaran-tee. When we knew something to be true, a Vince McMahon guarantee solidifi ed our belief.

Unfortunately, over the years all of us have used that claim without merit, but it’s still hu-morous at times to bring back adecade-long inside joke.

Speaking of jokes, that is the other memory McMahon’s in-terview reminded me of.

When I was about 15, my friends and I used to have wres-tling matches. But instead of awrestling ring, our squared cir-cle was a large trampoline.

One time I was in a match against Elliott, and while he lifted me in the air to perform a powerbomb, I started fl ailing my arms. In doing so, I acci-dently hit Elliott in the nose andbusted him wide open. He was

pissed off and challenged me to a fi rst-blood match — the fi rst person to bleed loses.

After I accepted, Elliott threw me down, sat on my back and repeatedly smashed my head with a folding chair seat.

Pain set in. Elliott eventual-ly gasped. I felt the back of my head. It was covered in blood.

I went to the bathroom, rinsed my hair and threw away by favorite T-shirt because it was covered in blood.

Now I was mad. I got that shirt at a Blockbuster Video grand opening. Though it was corny — “Kick back. Curl up. Make it a Blockbuster night.” — it was also an uncanny un-dershirt. Most necklines get loose over time, but this shirt’s neckline seemed to get tighter with each wash.

The funny thing is a couple of years later Elliott revealed the truth about that day. Little did I know, Elliott had a tube of fake blood.

He said he wanted to use it at some point, and when I made him bleed he had an idea.

So that blood on my head and T-shirt? Yup, fake blood that he poured right before hit-ting me.

Oh well, we’ll joke about that day when I’m one of the best men at his wedding this summer.

I Vince McMahon guaran-tee it.



It’s been a tough season for Yelm High School’s baseball team.

Tuesday’s game against Tim-berline was no different as Yelm fell 10-1.

But the thing is, Yelm (4-11 overall, 0-8 league) continually shoots themselves in the foot.

“We’re not talented enough to come back from a huge defi -cit,” Yelm coach Stacy Roe said. “We need to stop beating our-selves at some point and step up. (Tuesday) was a prime ex-

ample.”Despite allowing six runs,

pitcher Chris McEldry threw a solid game. Only two of his runs were earned, and he had four strikeouts.

“Chris has the respect of ev-ery coach in our league,” Roe said. “They’re very impressed with his poise and mound pres-ence.”

Yelm trailed 4-1 in the sixth inning. McEldry immediately allowed a single, hit a batter and walked the next to load the bases with no outs. Roe called a timeout, talked to McEldry and

calmed him down. McEldry then got a grounder to third base with a force out at home plate, followed by a strikeout.

But the next batter, Tim-berline’s Elijah Firestone, hit a grounder to second base to end the inning … but it went under-neath the infi elder’s glove for a two-run error.

The fl oodgates opened from there.

“I’m disappointed that no-body has responded and done something positive,” Roe said. “Right now we need to be will-ing to stop the bleeding.”

Yelm baseball team falls again

Documents

Mind of Mr. Perfect