Submitted by VCS CYO Director Kelly Alfieri

The Roadrunner Championship Meet was this past weekend at Liberty High School. Congratulations to the 25 third and fourth graders from our Valley Catholic CYO track team who competed in this championship meet. There were over 550 athletes entered from 22 CYO teams in the Portland area.

Congratulations to Andy Alfieri, Valley’s one meet champion!  He won the shot put with a team and personal record throw of 26-8.5″.
Click here for full meet results.

Below are the top individual and relay results for our athletes competing in the meet.

Relays
60m Shuttle Relay: 7th place (Arnav Chawla, Joe Ierardi, Andrew Jeong, Galen Dunlap)
4 x 100m Relay: 6th place (Sebastian Hughel, Connor Bly, Brad Elmgren, Andy Alfieri)

3rd Graders
Olivia Silenzi: 1500m (Ninth), 800m (15th)
Connor Bly: Long Jump (11th), Relay (Sixth)
Bayard Whitcraft: Shot Put (10th)

4th Graders
Andy Alfieri: Shot Put (First), 200m (Second), 100m (Fourth) Relay (Sixth)
Sebastian Hughel: 1500m (12th), Relay (Sixth)
Brad Elmgren: 800m (16th), Relay (Sixth)

Andy Alfieri won first place for shot put.

CYO Track is available to boys and girls in third through eighth grade. You will find the registration link on the CYO/Camp Howard website.

Practices begin next Monday, March 19, from 5 – 6:30 p.m.
The regular practice schedule is:
Monday/Wednesday: 5-6:30pm
Friday: 4:30-6 p.m.

Athletes meet in the play court for warm-ups and move to the track about 5:30 p.m.
Please be prompt in picking up your child at the end of practice.

COACHES are needed!  Please consider volunteering to help coach. We especially need help with third and fourth grades. A background in track is not necessary to volunteer; you will receive help and support from the more experienced coaches. Just having additional help managing the large group of younger athletes is critical. The divisions are broken down into three age groups:

The developmental meet schedule is:
April 14, 21, 28, May 5

Championship meets are:
May 12 (Roadrunners only)
May 19-20 (Cubs/Cadets who qualify)

Please contact Kelly Alfieri if you are interested in volunteering.  Thank you!

Olivia Silenzi--still trying for more!

Congratulations to our Valley Catholic CYO Swim Teams for their first-place overall finish in the CYO Championship Meet!! The season recently concluded with some exceptional results. Finishing first in their individual team divisions were the cub boys, cadet boys and cub girls. Cadet girls finished fourth.

Valley has won the overall championship eight out of the past nine seasons and 15 times since 1990.

Valley had seven swimmers with individual victories in their events and one relay win.

Individual Winners:

• Olivia Silenzi (3rd grade, Polliwog): 50m Free *new CYO record, 25m Breaststroke
• Iseult McMahon (6th grade, Cub): 100IM, 100m Free, 25m Fly
• Lara Spurgeon (6th grade, Cub): 25m Free, 50m Free
• Teddy Senecal (6th grade, Cub): 100IM
• Sean Calkins (8th grade, Cadet): 100IM *tied the CYO record, 100m Free
• David Spurgeon (8th grade, Cadet): 50m Free, 50m Breaststroke, 200m Free
• Joshua Yadao (7th grade, Cadet): 50m Fly

Relay Wins:

200 medley relay (Cadet boys): Albert Buchalski, David Spurgeon, Samuel Yates, Sean Calkins

For more detailed results, click on the following links:

• Polliwog Championships
• Division 1 Championships
• All-Star Meet

CYO Lacrosse is offered for first- through eighth- grade boys and girls.

First- and second-graders will play at Jesuit on Saturday afternoons—both practices and games—starting on April 14 and lasting until early June. For an informational flyer, click here.

Third- through eighth-graders will begin practices on March 12th, with games beginning on March 31 and lasting until early June.  For an information flyer, click here.

Sign ups are going on now at cyocamphoward.org - click on lacrosse!

Registration for CYO track is now open on the CYO/Camp Howard website.  Practices will begin March 12.

This sport is offered to boys and girls in third to eighth grade.  For more information, see the flyer.

Coaches are needed!  Please consider volunteering your time to coach.  Help is needed in all areas: sprints, distance and field events.   Please contact CYO Director Kelly Alfieri if you are interested.  There are some certification requirements, so the sooner the better.

Practice Times are as follows:

Mon/Wed/Thurs/Fri
Polliwogs (K-3) 3:00-3:45pm (Session #1)
Cubs/Cadets (4-8) 3:45-4:30pm (Session #2)
Tues Polliwogs (K-3) 2:15-3:15pm (Session #1)
Cubs/Cadets (4-8) 3:15-4:15pm (Session #2)

There will be no Dryland Training this year.

Meets run from October through January. Download the Meet Schedule here.

For more information, please refer to this form.

(Originally published Sept. 16, 2011)

Top Finishers

• McCall Phillips (Grade 6) – Second Place, 800m
• Chris Rapp (Grade 6) -  Third Place, Long Jump
• Noelle Mannen (Grade 5) – Third place, Turbo Javelin
• Rachael Frankovic (Grade 6) – Fifth place, Shot Put
• Natalie Schur (Grade 6) – Seventh place, Shot Put
• Kate Nguyen (Grade 6) – Eighth place, High Jump
• 4 x 100 relay(Cubs) – Third place (James Mitchell, Michael Boss, Chris Rapp, Carson Crawford)
• 4 x 400 relay (Cadets) – Third Place (JD Menkens, Michael Alfieri, David Boss, Robert Mitchell)
• 4 x 400 relay (Cubs) – Seventh Place (Nathan Silenzi, Jack Grasberger, Sam Karlin, Michael Boss)

CYO needs your help in planning for the coming fall seasons so that they can plan the schedules and find out how many teams there will be. We need to determine how many coaches are needed and we need to start planning schedules.

CYO Athletic Director Kelly Alfieri has requested that you email her directly if you’re planning to participate as a coach or if your student will be playing in either of the following sports in the fall of 2011:

• Volleyball: Girls in grade 3-8
• Hot Shots Basketball: Co-ed teams in 1st and 2nd grades

Registration for CYO Football is now open. Contact Marc Franck with any questions about the program. You can register on the CYO website here!

Submitted by CYO Athletic Director Kelly Alfieri

Parent Meeting – Wednesday, March 16, 6:30 p.m.Â
Meet in the HS cafeteria.

In addition, he also competed in the CYO All-Star swim meet. He broke two records in two events in that meet.  He set a new record in the 100IM (which is a combination of all four swim strokes) and shattered the 100 free by over two seconds.

Readers may recall Nathan from his Cross Country success earlier this year.

Eighth grader Marisa Jack also set a new All-Star record, breaking the previous time in the 50 fly.

Article submitted by Kelly Alfieri

Four Catholic Youth Organization teams of both boys and girls placed high in their respective tournaments during this basketball season, capping a very positive hoops year for the VCES Eagles. The eight-game regular season began with a jamboree and ended with two weeks of tournament play, which started February 24 and concluded March 6.

Following a 7–1 season, coaches Eric Grasberger and Jim Lucas led the fifth-grade boys to a championship game. They performed superbly on offense and defense throughout the game and finished with a 33–24 victory to be named citywide champions among 30 total teams.

The fifth-grade girls took second in their tournament, also following a strong 7–1 season under coaches Doug and Melinda Mannen. Their championship game came down to the wire, with a final score of 25–22.

The third-grade boys, coached by Phil Alfieri and Mark Tait, finished third in their tournament bracket. They went 5–2 (with one tie) during the regular season and 2–1 against tournament opponents, blowing out St. Ignatius 30–11 in their final game.

The third-grade girls also placed third in their tournament, following a division-leading 7–1 finish over the regular season under coaches Hung Nguyen and Marc Larson. They had a 2–1 tournament record and ended the season with a 13–5 victory over Portland Christian.

Congratulations to all the players for their winning seasons, and a special thanks to the coaches for their time and effort with the Eagles! To view a video of the fifth-grade boys’ championship game, go here.

With three age groups, there are different needs that have to be accommodated for each level, so the more coaches the better. Please consider helping even if you do not have a strong background in track & field. If you know a non-Valley parent, someone you work with, a former athlete, etc. who might be interested in coaching please encourage him/her to consider this great volunteer opportunity.

Contact Kelly Alfieri if you’re able to help coach.

Congratulations to the Valley Catholic CYO Swim Team. They won the championship again! The Valley Catholic team has over 90 swimmers from kindergarten through eighth grade. The team is a compilation of many west-side Catholic schools including St. Matthew’s, St. Pius X, Holy Trinity, and St. Cecelia’s, as well as some from local parishes.

There are three sub-teams that make up the Valley Catholic teams. Kindergarten through the 3rd grade make up the Polliwogs. The Cubs are fourth graders through sixth graders and seventh and eighth graders are the Cadets. The Polliwogs won their championship. The Cub and Cadet girls took first as well and the Cub and Cadet boys took second. Good job VC swimmers!

Girls and boys programs will be offered on both the East and West side of Portland for boys and girls at 1st & 2nd, 3rd & 4th, 5th & 6th, and 7th & 8th.  CYO is open to all interested players.  Information is available on the CYO Web Site.  If you have any questions please email CYO Camp Howard Lacrosse Director Emily Dorney.

The spring Lacrosse season runs from Spring Break in March through June.  CYO teams will play other local area teams and leagues.  Games will be scheduled after CYO track meets for students who are planning on participating in both sports this year.  Students will need to provide their own equipment which is detailed on the Web site.

If you are interested in coaching please indicate during registration on the CYO Web site or email CYO Camp Howard Lacrosse Director Emily Dorney.

If you have any questions please contact Emily Dorney or Pam Kirwin.

At this national meet, Nathan represented both Valley Catholic and Nike’s Bowerman Athletic Club. His mother Lesley reports, “For me, I am just really proud and happy he was able to have such a wonderful experience. It kind of brought “goose bumps” when we first arrived at the course to see hundreds of the best young athletes in the country and my son was one of them.”

She added, “I can hardly wait to see where he goes with his running now that he has more than just a couple of races under his belt.”

Nathan’s take on the whole experience was that he was really nervous, but he said, “It was so cool to be running not just any old race, but at nationals – running with the best in the whole country!”

We can’t wait to see what you do next, Nathan!

This article below was originally published Dec. 10, 2010

Valley Catholic’s own Nathan Silenzi, a 5th grader at VCES, was not entirely satisfied with Cross Country Club ending at a specific time. So like any competitively-driven athlete, Nathan joined the local Nike sponsored youth team of Bowerman Athletic Club. All of this additional training and competition resulted in a great showing, Nathan ran in the State Junior Olympic Meet on Saturday, Nov. 13, placing sixth in his age group. With that finish, he was qualified for the Regional Junior Olympic meet which includes teams from the Northwest and Alaska.

Not letting a little thing like the best from other states sway him, he competed again on Nov. 20, and placed 16th in his group. This allowed him to qualify for the National Cross Country meet held in Hoover, Alabama, which takes place on Sat. Dec. 11. The top 20 athletes automatically qualify for this national competition. Nearly 3,000 youth athletes will be competing in the National meet.

For a 10 year-old athlete, this has been quite an accomplishment, especially when you consider Nathan has ran in seven Cross Country meets. His first five were with the Valley Catholic Cross Country Club.

The Junior Olympic Cross Country program culminates every December with youth from all across the country. You can read more about about the championships on their Web site.

Way to make us proud, Nathan!

Mens Results
3,000 Meters CHAMPS

• 19 Nathan Silenzi 12:23.34
• 39 Tripp Dearborn 12:59.22
• 56 Matt Biggi 13:23.65
• 88 John Dolan 14:20.03
• 96 Ryan Howerton 14:31.02

It’s time to register for the upcoming CYO Basketball season open to all girls and boys in grades 3-8. Roster spots are guaranteed only to those players who register by the deadline. The registration link is on the CYO Web site. The fee for the season is $110. If a new uniform is needed, an additional cost of approximately $40 will be charged.

Practices will begin the week of Nov. 22. Please refer to the calendar on the CYO Web site for regular season game and tournament dates. Actual schedules will not be available until early December. Please register as soon as possible so we will know who intends to play and how many coaches will be needed.

The registration link is for basketball is on the CYO Web site. The fee for the season is $110. If a new uniform is needed, an additional cost of approximately $40 will be charged. There is a small inventory of used uniforms and there may be opportunities for uniform swapping as well.

Practices will begin the week of Nov. 22. Please refer to the calendar on the CYO website for regular season game and tournament dates. Actual schedules will not be available until early December. Please register as soon as possible so we will know who intends to play and how many coaches will be needed.

Volunteer coaches are needed. If you are interested in coaching a basketball team this year, please contact Kelly Alfieri for a coaching application and a list of requirements that must be completed prior to becoming certified to coach. The Valley Catholic CYO Athletic Board will determine coaching assignments.

The clinics will take place on Mondays and Wednesdays, at 3:10 p.m. to 4:05 p.m. in both the Eagles Gym and Valiants Gym.

Clinic dates are: 

• Oct. 18, 20, 25, 27 
• Nov. 8, 10

Valley Catholic High School’s head coaches John Innes (girls) and Jeff Gallagher (boys) will be putting on a series of basketball clinics, assisted by some of their varsity players. This is a great opportunity to get into the gym and prepare for the upcoming season. There is no need to RSVP. Drills will be skill and age appropriate. You are welcome to come to all six sessions, or just the ones that fit your schedule.

CYO Athletic Director Kelly Alfieri  will escort students from the elementary school play court to the Athletic Center immediately after school. Please be prompt in picking your student up at 4:05. If you have any questions please email Jeff Gallagher.

Please understand that this is a swim team that participates in swim meets and it is not considered swimming lessons.  Swimmers from outside of Valley Catholic are welcome to participate.  Please invite anyone you know who might be interested, to join the team.

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PRACTICES DAYS/TIMES (more coaches are needed!!)

Practice Location:  Valley Catholic (the pool is next to the play court)

Mon/Wed/Thurs/Fri:
Polliwogs  (K-3)       3-3:45 p.m.   (Session #1)
Cubs/Cadets (4-8)     3:45-4:30 p.m.   (Session #2)

Tues:
Polliwogs  (K-3)        2:15-3:15 p.m.  (Session #1)
Cubs/Cadets (4-8)      3:15-4:15 p.m.  (Session #2)

Sat or evening practices:  TBD

Polliwogs generally practice 2 days per week and are more focused on learning, whereas the Cubs/Cadets practice 3 days and are more focused on competition. You may choose the days that best fit your schedule, but you are asked to commit to those days as much as possible.

FIRST REGULAR PRACTICE OF THE SEASON:  Monday, October 11

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*EVALUATION/TRY-OUT

For NEW SWIMMERS ONLY:  Monday, October 4, 7 p.m. (See above for practice times.)

    *This is for all swimmers new to the Valley swim program.  Swimmers will be evaluated by the coaches to determine if they have the necessary skill level to participate on the swim team.  You may wait until after this evaluation to register.

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MANDATORY PARENT MEETING: Wednesday, October 6 at 7pm, location TBD – click HERE for details.

Attendance is required at this pre-season parent meeting.  You will meet the swim coaches and receive important information for the season.  The scheduling of volunteer hours will be explained by the volunteer coordinator.  There is a new on-line scheduling system the swim team is implementing and you will learn those details.

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MORE SWIM COACHES NEEDED! – click HERE for details.
Have you ever considered coaching?? No experience is necessary.  You will receive some training from the experienced, returning coaches and really what is needed, is someone to help encourage the kids and keep them moving and safe.  We can work with your availability to design a schedule that works for you.  Please consider this great opportunity.  If you are interested or have questions, contact CYO Director Kelly Alfieri.