Cross Country- VC competes well at Nike Pre-Nationals, travels to St. Helens this week
Andy Holstrom led the way for the Valiants at the Nike Pre-Nationals meet at Portland Meadows on Saturday. Andy finished in 7th place with a time of 16:50; the 5th fastest time in the state this year at 3A level and just 2 seconds off the school record. Connor Garcia was the second runner, with a personal best time of 17:21. The Valiants boys defeated league rivals Catlin Gabel and OES.

Sara Seiwald led the Valiants girls, finishing in 11th place with a time of 20:13; the 3rd fastest time in the state this year at 3A level. Hannah Moraes was the second runner for the Valiants in her cross-country debut, completing the course in 22:50.

Valley Catholic will travel to St. Helens on Thursday October 1st for a 4:00 pm start.

Football – Last second field goal lifts VC over #9 Sheridan
Valley Catholic opened up league play with a thrilling 24-21 win over Sheridan last Friday. The Valiants got two touchdowns from Ryan Foote and one from Dominic Barto to account for most of the scoring. Both Ryan and Dominic each ran for over 100 yards. With the game tied at 21 the Valiants took over on downs from Sheridan at our own 35 yard line. Colin Pulicella found Ryan Foote for a 48 yard reception- taking the ball down to the 17 yard line, with seven seconds left in the game. Michael Bayley was called upon to kick the game winning 34 yard field goal giving Valley the win.

Valley Catholic will host #5 ranked Dayton this Saturday October 3rd at 1:00 pm. The pep band will be performing throughout the game and the dance team will perform at halftime.

Girls Soccer – VC defeats OES in non-league returns to league play this week
Valley Catholic defeated OES last week by a score of 1-0 improving their record to 5-0. The Valiants have not lost a regular season match since October 20, 2006. Since that date VC has a regular season record of 25 wins, 0 losses, and 4 ties. The Valiants are currently ranked number one in the state in the latest coaches’ poll. VC returns to league play this week when they host Banks on Wednesday September 30th at 4:15 pm.

Boys Soccer- Valiants finish up non-league with a trip to Dayton
The VC boys’ soccer team enters this week with a record of 2-3-1. The Valiants defeated Delphian last Friday by a score of 3-2. Earlier in the week Valley dropped a home match to OES by a score of 2-0. The last non-league match for Valley will be this Tuesday September 29th at Dayton at 4:15 pm. The Valiants will be competing for their fourth trip to the state tournament in the last five seasons when league play begins at Riverdale on October 9th. In the latest coaches’ poll three league teams from Valley’s district were ranked in the top five in the state.

Volleyball- The Valiants defeat league rival Sheridan, then take home first place at Wilsonville
Valley Catholic is continuing to prove it is one of the best volleyball teams in the state, regardless of classification.

Last week the schedule called for a long road trip to Sheridan and playing in a very hostile environment, one in which Valley Catholic had never before had success. Then two days later, another road trip to Westside Christian.

Sheridan, carried largely on the shoulders of one or two good players, took the first set without too much difficulty. But, as Valley had already proven in weeks before, one loss did not mean the match was over.

In the second set Valley came out like a new team relying on the constant heat coming from both outside hitters, Tori Kemper and Linda Forst. With the offense firing and the defense scrambling for every ball, Valley found little difficulty in taking the second set.

The third set saw both teams falling into a solid rhythm and neither took a strong advantage at any point. The final points came on Anna Jesse’s serve and Valley won the third set 28-26.

After the marathon third set, Valley struggled to settle back into its rhythm and its offense faltered significantly. The fourth set ended quickly for Valley placing the team in a difficult position. The momentum had been lost and the final set allowed for little recovery time.

The last set appeared to be too much for Valley. The team struggled once again to find its rhythm and keep the ball off the floor on its side of the net. At 6-11 Valley appeared to have little left but the team’s experience in past five set matches proved invaluable. Blocks from Sam Kemper, Michelle Vinson, swings from Linda Forst and Tori Kemper as well as dig after dig from Melissa Lynn VC pulled even at 15-15. Tori Kemper’s kill down the line gave VC the 17-15 win in the 5th and deciding game

On Thursday Westside played error free volleyball and put pressure on the Valley players on every touch. Though the final match score was 3-0 Valley, it was a great accomplishment to face a good consistent team for a second travel match and prevail without dropping a set.

Over the weekend Valley traveled to Wilsonville for a tournament on Saturday. VC struggled against St. Mary’s in pool play, dropping both sets to the other team. But as the day progressed, so too did Valley’s focus and determination.

Valley took two sets from Wilsonville, and then split with McMinville to finish seeded second in the playoff bracket. As the draw progressed, Valley again played Wilsonville and McMinville beating them both in straight sets. The final contest was a rematch against St. Mary’s. Valley played a nearly error free first set which shut down St. Mary’s strong offensive threats. The second set was much closer and Valley, finally pulled out another victory with the final score of 29-27. Last year, Valley took second in the Wilsonville tournament. This year Valley remedied that with a championship…against a field largely comprised of 5A teams.

Valley Catholic Girls Soccer is poised and hopes to improve on its last Season where they journeyed to the State Finals.

The Valiants return nine team members from last year, and are favored to have a great season.

Read the full article here.

The Valley Catholic Volleyball team is mentioned in an Oregonian story published on Friday.  Valley Catholic is a favored team in the 3A division, coming off of their state finals match last year.

Read the full story here.

In a premier science competition for grades 5-8, a recent Valley Catholic 8th grade graduate, Nikita Gaurav, is one of 10 students in the nation awarded an all-expense paid trip to New York City for the final competition at the Discovery Education/3M Young Scientist Challenge in New York City Oct. 6. This is considered the premier science competition for grades 5-8. The winner will receive a $50,000 savings bond. She won this opportunity by putting together an educational short video on her science fair project. You can see her video and a Q & A session with Nikita here.

Valley Catholic Elementary’s 3rd grade teacher, Sr. Barbara Rose Sohler, attended the prestigious Mickelson ExxonMobil Teachers Academy at the Liberty Science Center in Jersey City, N.J. this summer. Sister was one of 200 highly-qualified third- through fifth-grade teachers from around the country selected to attend the intensive one-week, all-expense paid professional development seminar. There she discovered new, hands-on ways to excite students using experiments that demonstrate various math and science concepts including force, gravity and probability.

Professional golfer Phil Mickelson spoke to the teachers about the declining number of engineers in America and the need to capture students’ interest while they are young. According to Sr. Barbara Rose, Mickelson described the third through fifth grade years as the most formative time for a passion for math and science to emerge in those young people who will end up devoting their lives to the profession.

“I got to shoot rockets, drop eggs, bounce balls and swing pendulums,” said Sister. “And, they gave me lesson plans and directions for all of it!”

Sister applies for at least five grants a year and for the past 11 years has earned grants from teaching foundations such as Fulbright and the National Endowment for the Humanities to travel all around the world.

“When I apply for these opportunities, I research the topic and write about it. Then I write some more and re-write. My inspiration is to have the tools to instill something not taught in books in my class,” she said.

A panel of educators from the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) and the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) selected Sister to attend the Academy. The panel based their decision on her qualifications, dedication to inspiring students at an early age and her overall commitment to enhancing the teaching profession.

Valley Catholic High School welcomed three new staff members in its midst this fall — biology teacher Amy Lacks, personal counselor Kelsey MacIntyre and head volleyball coach Justin Denham.

Amy Lacks spent the last eight years teaching biology at the Drew School, an independent school in San Francisco. She has a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Duke and a Master of Science in Zoology with a specialty in Marine Biology from the University of Hawaii. She has also served as naturalist, science instructor and research assistant or technician at several marine institutes and laboratories in California, Florida, San Joaquin, Hawaii and New Zealand. Valley Catholic High School received the 2009 Siemens Award for the Best Advanced Placement Program in Oregon for Math and Science. Read the rest of this entry »

Valley Catholic School is always looking at the safety of all children and faculty on our campus. Please review our policy and information regarding the H1N1 virus. You can see it in our Parents’ Guide, or click here.

The Valley Catholic High School football team opened up their season with a 30-21 win over Blanchett last Friday. Quarterback Colin Pulicella was 9-21 with two TDs and three interceptions in the win. The Valiants face Salem Academy at home this Saturday at 2 p.m.

Read the full article from the Beaverton Valley Times here.

This fall is shaping up to be another exciting one. Several of our teams have strong groups returning and are looking to capture some league and state championships. Thursday night, our cross-country team competed at the XC Summit and Night Race at Wilsonville High School. Teams ranging from 1A to 6A will be in attendance this evening.

Tonight Valley Catholic will kick-off their third season of varsity football. The Valiants will play Blanchet at Willamette University at 7:30 pm. With a strong nucleus returning for VC there is a great deal of excitement and anticipation surrounding this season. Admission will be $6.00 for adults and $4.00 for students. The game will be played at McCulloch Stadium which is located about two blocks south of the campus. Here is a link to a campus map. The stadium sits on Market street near the bottom of the map.

All of our other fall sports begin competing next week, and updates will be sent out as the year goes on.

Please contact Jeff Gallagher for any questions.