BASEBALL

In 2006 Coach Thomas returned to Valley Catholic after teaching English and serving as assistant varsity boys basketball coach at Archbishop Murphy High School in Everett.  Pat teaches History and English at VC and is a varsity assistant for the girl’ basketball team, which he helped lead to four consecutive state tournaments.  Coach Thomas graduated from St. George’s School in Spokane in 2001, where he was a multi-year all-conference baseball player and cross-country runner and started for the 2001 Dragons basketball team that played for the Washington State Championship.  In his senior year he was named Co-Athlete of the Year.  He earned a B.A. in History at Whitman College, where he was a starting pitcher and two-year baseball captain, and a Master in Teaching from Pacific University.  As an assistant baseball coach in 2010 Coach Thomas helped lead the Valiants to the West Valley League Championship and an appearance in the OSAA State finals.  In 2011, as head coach, Pat guided the Valiants to a second-place finish in the conference and to their fourth State tournament appearance in five seasons.  The 2011 Valiants placed four players on the all-conference team, and two of his players earned all-state honors.

Before coming to Valley Catholic as principal in 2002, Ross Thomas spent 21 years at St. George’s School in Spokane, where he coached over forty seasons of high-school baseball, basketball, and cross country. His teams won seven State Championships and six State 2nd places. He appeared in Sports Illustrated’s “Faces in the Crowd” for his basketball team’s Washington state record of 114 consecutive league wins. He left St. George’s with another league win streak alive at 67 games, and his JV team was undefeated in league in his last 13 years. In 1999 he was named Washington State Cross Country Coach of the Year and in 2011 was inducted into the Washington State Cross Country Coaches Association’s Hall of Fame. He led four baseball teams to the final eight in State, and three of the last four teams he coached earned 18-2, 19-1, and 20-0 regular-season records. As an assistant baseball coach in 2010 Coach Thomas helped lead the Valiants to the West Valley League Championship and an appearance in the OSAA State finals.

SOFTBALL

Emily Keagbine (Valley class of 2007) won 12 varsity letters at Valley, where she was a star softball, basketball, and soccer player and 2007 Athlete of the Year.  She was State Player of the Year in softball and led the Valiants to the State Championship. She was also 1st-team All-League in basketball and led the Valiants to the State Championship title game. Emily was also an All-Conference soccer player: she may be the greatest athlete in Valiants’ history.  Her career in college got even better:  she was the 2011 1st-Team All-American shortstop (there’s only one) and led Linfield to the softball National Championship.  She was one of the nation’s best defensive players at any position and one of the nation’s top hitters—her 17 homers was 4th in the country.  Emily returns to campus in 2012 as head softball coach; she will be assisted by two All-American Linfield teammates, Kayla Hubrich and Claire Velaski.

Kayla Hubrich was a 1st-Team All-American outfielder and another of the Linfield stars behind their 49-3 National Championship season: Kayla finished 11th in the nation in runs scored. Her high-school career was very similar to Emily’s: both were all-conference players in softball, basketball, and soccer; both won twelve varsity letters, and each was her high school’s Athlete of the Year (Kayla at Hillsboro High School). Kayla was captain of all three sports at Hillsboro and Most Inspirational Player in both basketball and softball.

Claire Velaski had the best record—25-2—in the nation in 2011 and pitched most of Linfield’s innings in both the regular season and the NCAA Tournament. Claire’s 25 wins set an all-time Linfield record, and she was named to both the 2010 and 2011 NCAA All-Tournament teams. Claire, as Emily and Kayla, was a high-school star in more than one sport: at Beaverton High School she earned six letters in softball and basketball. She was Beaverton’s softball captain and Most Valuable Player as a senior.

TENNIS

Michael Kilbury is entering his seventh season as Boys Tennis Coach at Valley Catholic. Michael brings 15 years of teaching experience to Valley Catholic. He grew up in Little Rock, AR, where he played USTA and high school tennis before going on to play college tennis at Rhodes in Memphis, TN. Having worked as a teaching pro, Michael is USPTA certified and has taught at various clubs, recreation centers and camps around the US. Each season Coach Kilbury has sent at least one competitor to the OSAA state championships. 2011 saw the Valiants capture a 3rd place team trophy at the OSAA state championships. Michael works as a counselor at Maryville Hospital on campus and lives in Portland with his wife, Meg, and their two children.

TRACK & FIELD

Coach Lommen came to Valley Catholic in the fall of 1991 with the school’s first class of boys. He is in his 35th year of coaching track, soccer, football, basketball, and cross country. Before coming to Valley Catholic he coached at Warrenton High School, Fremont High School, and Urrbrae High School in Adelaide, Australia. In high school he was a two-time District Champion in the mile and 2 mile and held six school and county records at one time. He also played football and basketball throughout high school and competed for many years in soccer, cross country and road racing. He graduated from Pacific University where he ran track. He has coached State Champion boys and girls in the Shot Put, High Jump, Javelin, 400m, 800m and 5000m. Coach Lommen was inducted into his high school’s Hall of Fame in 2007 for his track career and coaching. In 2008 he was the West Valley League Girls Coach of the Year. Coach Lommen has helped the girls’ track and field team to four consecutive league championships (2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011). In 2011 Coach Lommen was named as Coach of the Year for the Lewis and Clark League, while guiding the boys and girls to a dual meet conference championship, a girls league championship, and a girls 3rd place trophy at the OSAA state championships.

Tommy Manning took over the boys cross-country program in 2008 after a stellar high-school and collegiate career and is now also head track coach. Coach Manning is a graduate of Jesuit High School, where he earned eight varsity letters in track and cross-country and in 2000 helped lead the Crusaders’ cross-country team to the 4A State Championship. He was also track State Champion in the 1,500 meters in 2001. He went on to compete in both track and cross-country at Georgetown University (Division I, Big East Conference), where he earned All-American honors in the 800 meters and the Distance Medley Relays. In addition to coaching, Mr. Manning teaches History and Government at Valley Catholic and serves as the Chairman of the Social Studies Department. In 2009 he was named West Valley Conference Cross Country Coach of the Year. In 2010 he led the Valiants team to a district championship and 2nd place at the State Championship Cross Country Meet—the highest finish ever for the program.  Two juniors on that team, Andy Holstrom and Connor Garcia, finished 6th and 7th as individuals. In the spring of 2011 he helped guide the Valiants to their fourth consecutive girls' conference championship (2008-2010 in the WVL and 2011 in the Lewis and Clark League) and a dual league championship on the boys' side. These achievements helped earn Coach Manning Coach of the Year for track in the Lewis and Clark League. His girls' track team went on to capture a 3rd-place trophy at the 2011 State Championships. Coach Manning was named Valley Catholic's Coach of the Year for the 2010-2011 athletic season.

Eric Berge ran four years of varsity cross-country and track for Gonzaga University, representing the Bulldogs in the West Coast Conference cross-country championship all four years. In 2003 and 2004 Gonzaga finished 2nd in the WCC and competed in the NCAA Division 1 West Regional Championship. Coach Berge was a member of the 2004 WCC All-Academic team. He was a teammate of Valley colleague Tommy Manning at Jesuit High School in Portland, when the Crusaders won the cross-country State Championship in 2000. Coach Berge serves as head coach of the Valiants’ girls cross-country team and as an assistant in the track program. In 2008 and 2009 Coach Berge guided Valiant cross country teams to consecutive 4th place finishes at the OSAA State Championships; in 2010 he was named District Coach of the Year while leading the Valiants to a 2nd place finish at the State Championships, highlighted by Austin Lundin’s winning the individual state championship. Coach Berge's work with the cross-country and track programs helped earn him the 2010-2011 Valley Catholic's Coach of the Year award.

Marcia Bomber attended La Salle High School, where she was a state competitor in the shot put, discus and 4x100m relay. She graduated from Portland State University in 2002 with a BS in Biochemistry. She walked on as a track and field athlete at PSU as a freshman and was awarded a scholarship for the next three years. She held PSU records in the weight throw and the 4x100m relay. This will be her 9th year as an assistant coach at Valley Catholic. Coach Bomber, who works with Valley sprinters and throwers, has helped the Valiants girls’ team to four consecutive league championships.

GOLF

In the spring of 2011Coach Harris joined the Valley Catholic coaching staff as head boys and girls golf coach. A self proclaimed “golf addict,” Coach Harris is looking forward to many years of success at Valley Catholic: the Valiants are coming off of their most successful season. Coach Harris was an assistant golf coach at Beaverton High School (his alma mater) from 2005-2007. During this time he also directed several youth golf camps in the Portland area. Aaron played on the varsity golf team at Walter State College in Tennessee in 1999 and 2000. He has also worked closely with several area media groups as a producer, promoter, and on-air talent. In 2011 he helped lead Lindsay Harmon to her fourth consecutive state medal when, after back-to-back State Championships, she finished 2nd at the OSAA state championships.

Lacrosse

Coach Morgan came to Valley to begin a Valiant lacrosse program.  In that first season, he led the Valiants to five consecutive wins to end the season.  Peter played professionally in the National Lacrosse League from 2001 to 2011. His professional career included a stint from 2005-2009 with the Portland Lumberjacks, whom he led to the western conference championship in 2008.  He was named to the all-star team in 2009 and became the franchise leader in goals scored. The last two seasons he spent with the Washington Stealth. Coach Morgan is a graduate of Simon Fraser University, where he was captain of the basketball team from 1999-2001. Coach Morgan encourages anyone with an interest in America’s fastest growing sport to participate next spring.