Join us for our Track Awards Dessert this Wednesday, May 23  at 7:00 p.m. in the VCHS Cafeteria!

http://valleycatholic.tandemcal.com/index.php?type=view&action=event&id=16464

Charisma casting call!
Dancer Evaluations
June 2, 2012, 12:30 to 4 p.m.
Valiants’ Gym

Coach Jessica, Coach Megan and the State Champion Charisma dancers
invite you to join them for Season 2012-2013
as we go for a fourth consecutive State Championship.
We look forward to meeting you!

About Dancer Evaluations: The award-winning Valley Catholic Charisma dance team is currently looking for new and returning members to form Team 2012-2013. Previous formal dance training is not required for membership. If you are “coachable,” committed, and willing to work hard at practice sessions and on your own, you can become a member of the Charisma. Our dance evaluation process is low-key—we want an opportunity to meet you, give you an opportunity to meet us and to get a feel for what dance team is like. The Dancer Evaluations are just that—evaluations of individual dance skill levels.  We need this information so we can place dancers in appropriate classes at dance camp (should they attend), and we need to have an idea of everyone’s skill level so we can start designing our dance routines for next season.

Eighth-graders who will be incoming freshman and all Valley Catholic high school students are welcome to participate. Team size is only limited by participation numbers. We have many open spots available—one of them can be yours! We look forward to seeing you at our Dancer Evaluations on June 2, 2012, 12:30 to 4 p.m. in the Valiants’ Gym.

Sign Up for Dancer Evaluations: Please email Coach Jessica or contact her via her Facebook page to let her know of your interest. Information packets are available at the school office, or can be sent to you via email. Information is also available on the Charisma Facebook page.

About the Charisma: While we do perform at football and basketball games and promote school spirit, we are not cheerleaders or a rally squad. We are a two-season sport that competes during fall and winter terms. The three-time defending State Champion Charisma Dance Team is a competitive athletic team that participates in sanctioned state-wide competitions leading up to the OSAA State Dance/Drill championships in March.  The Charisma dancers have earned three consecutive 3A/2A/1A State Championships: 2010, 2011, and 2012. We have placed in the top two at State for the last five years.

To receive the most up to-date Charisma news, “like” The Valley Catholic Charisma Dance Team on Facebook.

Thunderbird Dance Camp July 10-13: The Charisma dance team is attending Thunderbird Dance Camp July 10-13, 2012 at the University of Portland. If you are considering joining the Charisma, dance camp is a very good place to start. You will learn basic skills, some fun dance routines, try drill down, and get a feel for what dance team is all about. Thunderbird offers classes for all skill levels and a fun camp experience. For more information, check out the Thunderbird Dance Camp website. Please email Coach Jessica as soon as possible if you are interested in attending camp as we need to provide a preliminary head count.

Missed the Spring Evaluations?  Can’t Go to Camp? Don’t worry if you miss out on our spring dancer evaluations, or if you can’t make it to camp. There will be another opportunity to join us in the fall. If you participate in another fall sport, you can still join the Charisma after your fall sport or activity completes. If this is your situation, please discuss this with the coaches in advance.

Talk to us! Please don’t be afraid to ask questions. We want you to understand what being a member of the Charisma means. We want you to be informed. We want you to understand the commitments. We want you to enjoy your dance team experience!

How to Contact Us:
Email Coach Jessica
Visit Coach Jessica’s Facebook Page
Visit and “like” the Charisma Facebook Page

Congratulations to the team and coach Peter Morgan on a season very few could have expected from such a young program.

It’s been a terrific spring for all Valiant teams. Below is a brief overview of the season. More details can be found within the spring sports area of our website under each individual sport. Here’s where we stand:

GOLF
Our golf teams finished their seasons yesterday. The boys–Greg Ong, Mitchell DeSantis, Jacob Kachmarek, John Woodruff, and Ryan Schmidlin–qualified as a team for the State Tournament at Quail Valley. This was the first State Tournament for all our golfers except Greg, who was playing in his fourth. He shot two fine rounds of 76 and 78 and finished 4th among individuals.

Lindsie LaBonte qualified as an individual, shot an 84 in the first round (at Eagle Crest), which put her in 11th place after the first day, and came back with a 78, her lowest round of the year, to finish 7th as an individual.

Congratulations to all our golfers and to coach Aaron Harris on one of the best golf seasons in school history.

TENNIS
In tennis Kaitlyn Lomartire, who two years ago won the State Championship, and Connor Picken have qualified for this weekend’s State Tournament at the University of Oregon.

BASEBALL
Our baseball team plays Warrenton at Valley Catholic tomorrow for a State berth. If we win the first game we’re in; a second game will not be played. If we lose, we play again for the berth.

SOFTBALL
The softball team yesterday beat Corbett 8-5 in a loser-out game and plays Ranier tomorrow in a loser-out, winner-to-State game.

TRACK
Our boys’ track team just won their first District Championship in school history. The girls also ran well, finishing a close 2nd after five consecutive District Championships. We will send fifteen athletes to the State Meet at Western Oregon University this Friday and Saturday.

Here are our qualifiers (athletes must place 1st or 2nd to qualify on place; they may also qualify if they meet automatic standards; asterisks denote District Champions):

Girls:
• Claire McLoughlin-100 meters, 4×100 relay
• Mikaela Bernards-100 meters *, 200 meters *, 4×100 relay, 4×400 relay
• Mckenzee Cleveland-400 meters *, 800 meters, 4×100 relay, 4×400 relay
• Maddie Bernard-100 hurdles, 4×100 relay, long jump
• Rachel Feldhaus-pole vault *
• Addie Flemmer-4×400 relay
• Meg Rapp-4×400 relay

Boys:
• Josh Cole-400 meters, 4×400 relay *
• Anthony Alfieri-800 meters
• Andy Holstrom-1500 meters, 3000 meters, 4×400 meters *
• Connor Garcia-1500 meters, 3000 meters, 4×400 relay *
• Cooper Roach-1500 meters, 3000 meters, 4×400 relay *
• Aidan McLeod-4×400 relay *
• Dylan LeMay-110 hurdles, triple jump
• Reachana Chan-pole vault *

LACROSSE
Our lacrosse team ended their most successful season with a pair of fine wins over Central Catholic JV’s (5-0) and Southridge JV’s (4-1). The Southridge win demonstrated how much we improved-they’d clobbered us early in the season. Congratulations to the team and coach Peter Morgan on a season very few could have expected from such a young program.

A LITTLE MORE ATHLETIC NEWS
We’re thrilled to have hired Miguel Guante as our boys’ soccer coach. Miguel was Arizona State High School Player of the Year and a perennial All West Coast Conference midfielder at the University of Portland; he played for the Puerto Rican National Team and the American National U-17 and U-18 teams; he was selected after his junior year at UP in the first round (8th overall ) of the 2006 MLS Supplemental Draft by FC Dallas and then played for the Portland Timbers. Miguel holds a B.A. in Spanish from UP.

All head-coaching positions for next year are now filled except volleyball’s. We hope to make a volleyball announcement in the next few days.

The Dairy Farmers of Oregon Academic All Stars for spring athletics and activities were announced recently; Valley Catholic students shined across the board. Each Valley Catholic program that qualifies for the Dairy Farmers Awards earned at least a 3.0 grade-point average for their program. All teams that earn a 3.0 GPA or higher are awarded 25 points for their school in The Oregonian Cup standings. Through the completion of the winter season, Valley Catholic was in first place for this year’s Oregonian Cup standings for all 3A schools in the state.

Valley Catholic had team GPA’s above 3.0 for the following groups: Baseball, Softball, Boys and Girls Golf, Boys and Girls Tennis, Boys and Girls Track, Band, Choir, and Orchestra. The groups listed in bold were among the top GPA’s for any 3A school in their activity.

As we announced a few weeks ago, Joel Sobotka has been hired as the new AD and boys’ basketball coach. Joel was on campus last week to be introduced to some of our students and staff. He will begin work on campus June 1. Jeff Gallagher has completed his work at Valley Catholic and is pursuing other opportunities. Kelly Alfieri will be handling the AD duties during this transition period.

Congratulations to the following athletic teams and music programs for making the top-10 list for the
Dairy Farmers Academic All-State Spring Awards in Oregon this spring:

Girls’ Golf – 2nd place
Girls’ Tennis – 6th place
Girls’ Track – 8th place

Band – 2nd place
Orchestra – 2nd place
Choir – 4th place

This program, sponsored by the Dairy Farmers of Oregon, recognizes outstanding achievement in the classroom. The boys and girls team in each OSAA-sanctioned activity with the highest team grade point average (GPA) earns the Academic All-State Award. Each member of a winning team receives a much-coveted “got milk?” sweatshirt, commemorative pin and a certificate. The school receives a plaque in honor of its team. Members of top-10 schools in each activity at each classification are also recognized with a commemorative pin by the Dairy Farmers of Oregon and the OSAA.

Our golf teams finished their seasons yesterday.

The boys—Greg Ong, Mitchell DeSantis, Jacob Kachmarek, John Woodruff, and Ryan Schmidlin—qualified as a team for the State Tournament at Quail Valley. This was the first State Tournament for all our golfers except Greg, who was playing in his fourth. He shot two fine rounds of 76 and 78 and finished fourth among individuals.

Lindsie LaBonte qualified as an individual, shot an 84 in the first round (at Eagle Crest), which put her in 11th place after the first day, and came back with a 78, her lowest round of the year, to finish seventh as an individual.

Congratulations to all our golfers and to Coach Aaron Harris on one of the best golf seasons in school history.

Submitted by VCHS Principal Ross Thomas and Track and Field Coach Tommy Manning

Congratulations to our boys’ track team, who just won the first District Championship in school history. The girls also ran well, finishing a close second after five consecutive District Championships. We will send 15 athletes to the State Meet at Western Oregon University this Friday and Saturday—a record number for Valley to send to the State meet!

Also, congratulations to our boys’ 4×400 relay team for setting a new school record. Aidan McLeod, Cooper Roach, Andy Holstrom, and Josh Cole teamed up to run a time of 3:30.95. That time takes them to the top of the list among all 4×4 teams in VC history and puts them in the top three in the state right now.

Here are our qualifiers (athletes must place first or second to qualify on place; they may also qualify if they meet automatic standards; asterisks denote District Champions):

Girls:

• Claire McLoughlin (junior): 100 meters, 4×100 relay
• Mikaela Bernards (sophomore): 100 meters*, 200 meters*, 4×100 relay, 4×400 relay
• Mckenzee Cleveland (sophomore): 400 meters*, 800 meters, 4×100 relay, 4×400 relay
• Maddie Bernards (senior): 100 hurdles, 4×100 relay, long jump
• Rachel Feldhaus (senior): pole vault*
• Addie Flemmer (sophomore): 4×400 relay
• Meg Rapp (junior): 4×400 relay

Boys:

• Josh Cole (sophomore): 400 meters, 4×400 relay*
• Anthony Alfieri (senior): 800 meters
• Andy Holstrom (senior): 1500 meters, 3000 meters, 4×400 meters*
• Connor Garcia (senior): 1500 meters, 3000 meters, 4×400 relay*
• Cooper Roach (sophomore): 1500 meters, 3000 meters, 4×400 relay*
• Aidan McLeod (senior): 4×400 relay*
• Dylan LeMay (senior): 110 hurdles, triple jump
• Reachana Chan (senior) pole vault*

*District Champions

Full results from the district meet can be found here.

Ong, competing in the OSAA Class 3A/2A/1A Boys State tournament for the fourth consecutive year, carded a 78 at Quail Valley Golf Course in Banks.  His two-day total of 154 (+10 for the tournament) earned him a tie for fourth place in the individual competition.  Meanwhile, LaBonte, competing as the lone Valley Catholic representative in the OSAA 4A/3A/2A/1A Girls State Tournament at Eagle Crest Resort in Central Oregon, improved from her Monday score of 84 to post a 78 in Tuesday’s final round.  Her two-day total of 162 was good enough for a 7th place overall individual finish.

The Valley Catholic boys team placed 10th overall by shooting a combined 372 in the final round and a two-day team total of 752.   The 2nd round scores for the Valiants included Ryan Schmidlin (87), Jacob Kachmarek (111), John Woodruff (106)  and Mitchel DeSantis (101).   St. Mary’s (Medford) won the team title with two-day total of 631.

Ong took advantage on the longer holes Tuesday, recording a birdie on three of the four Par-5 holes on the course.  During his four years at Valley, Ong has finished T-41 (2009), T-8 (2010), T-12 (2011).  Kevin Murphy of Rogue River claimed the 2012 Individual Title with a two-day total of 141.

LaBonte put the rest of the state on notice that she will be a factor in the next two years with her strong showing to conclude her sophomore year.  Last year, competing as an individual, she tied for 26th place with rounds of 95-93 for a two-day total of 188.  This year’s two-day total of 162 demonstrates the marked improvement in her overall game.  Her round on Tuesday started slow with a double bogey 6 on the opening hole.  However, Lindsie quickly rebounded with a birdie on the second hole and played steady golf the rest of the way.  Freshman Kaitlin Collum of Henley was the Girls Individual Champion with a two-day total of 144.  Kaitlin’s twin sister Kylie finished in fourth place.  Molalla won the 4A/3A/2A/1A team title with a two-day total of 720.

The Valiant boys team sits in 10th place overall after the first round with a team score of 380. Freshman Ryan Schmidlin shot an 86 on Monday, which included two birdies. The other Valiants in action included sophomore Jacob Kachmarek (108), freshman John Woodruff (112) and senior Mitchel Desantis (110). Tomorrow in the final round, the Valiants will tee off just after Noon at Quail Valley as they attempt to move up the team standings.

In the girls 4A/3A/2A/1A State Golf Tournament at Eagle Crest Resort, sophomore Lindsie LaBonte is tied for 11th place after a first round 84. LaBonte, competing in the State Tournament for the second consecutive year, carded three birdies in her round at Eagle Ridge Golf Course at Eagle Crest Resort in Central Oregon. The lone Valley Catholic competitor in the tournament, LaBonte will look to improve her standing during tomorrow’s second round. She tees off at Eagle Ridge at 8:54 a.m. on Tuesday.

2012 VCHS Girls’ Tennis Team. Back row, left to right: Morgan McDougal, Sophia Anderson, Tori Kemper, Coach Laura Unger, Jordan Heselwood, Momoe Seta, Tin Tin Luu. Middle row: Chelsea Ozuna, Karina Karlin, Kaitlyn Lomartire, Danielle Lomartire, Sarah Karlin, Tori Johnson. Front row: Megan Co, Momoko Mayumi, Becky Peng, Joy Lin, Allyza Concepcion, Kelli Hoang. Not pictured: Lavanya Backshi.

Submitted by VCHS Girls’ Tennis Coach Laura Unger

The VC girls’ tennis team did an excellent job in districts, getting six teams past the first round:  Kaitlyn Lomartire (junior); Tori Kemper (senior); Lavanya Bakshi; Danielle Lomartire (freshman) & Megan Co (sophomore); Jordan Heselwood & Tin Tin Luu (both freshmen); Momoe Seta (sophomore) and Sarah Karlin.

In their second match of the day, Danielle Lomartire & Megan Co played an intense match against a team from Tillamook High School. Lavanya Bakshi also played an intense match in her second round against an athlete from Riverdale that lasted well over two hours. The two that went on to playing in the third round are Tori Kemper and Kaitlyn Lomartire in singles. Kemper put up a great fight against the number four seed from Riverdale High School and Lomartire won her third round and will be representing us at the State Tournament in Eugene on May 18 and 19. After placing 2nd in districts, I believe Kaitlyn is completely ready to take on a new challenge in just a short week.

First of all I want to send out a big congrats to all the players! What a great way to end the season with the effort and great sportsmanship shown out there on the course in both the girls’ and boys’ District Tourneys. I’m really proud of both teams for competing and representing their school well.

2012 Girls' Golf Team, from left: Lily D'Amico, Caroline Francis, Coach Aaron Harris, Lindsie LaBonte, Angela Dunham and Angel Zhang

Girls
The girls played their hearts out there at Mt. View Golf Course. A third-place finish at Districts is really a great finish for such a young team! Our four sophomores—Lindsie LaBonte, Caroline Francis, Angie Dunham, and Lily D’Amico—played hard on a very challenging course. Angie and Caroline improved tremendously from last season. This was Lily’s first season and she played great! I had a few coaches say to me, “That girl has a great swing!” I look forward to seeing this team grow and compete over the next few seasons. Great job girls!

I would like to congratulate Lindsie LaBonte on her performance. She finished tied for second place overall at Districts and qualified for State for the second year in a row. We all wish her luck next week in Redmond at the Eagle Crest golf course, the site for this year’s State Tourney.

2012 Boys' Golf Team: Back row, left to right: Jason Sage, Jeff Williams, Kristof Osswald, Coach Aaron Harris, Alex Baek, Conner Williams, and John Woodruff. Front row, left to right: Ryan Schmidlin, Greg Ong, Brandon Vennes, Nick Tomich, Nick Zhou and Jacob Kachmarek

Boys
The boys played a wonderful two days out at Quail Valley Golf Course. The sun was out, but on day two the wind really picked up. The true teeth of that course showed during the second round. I thought the boys really withstood a tremendous challenge. Congrats to them for taking second place at Districts and clinching a berth as a team to this year’s State Tourney.

Mitchell DeSantis (senior) and Jacob Kachmarek (sophomore) came back for a second Districts tourney and played some really good golf in that tough wind. Our two freshmen played great as well. Ryan Schmidlin finished sixth overall, and John Woodruff stepped up late in the year and played varsity, which is always a big accomplishment any year, but especially as a freshman. Special congrats go to Greg Ong (senior) who took second place overall at Districts.

For further coverage on the boys’ golf team, read the article posted by Beaverton Valley Times.

State is at the same course, Quail Valley, so I look forward to seeing how our guys can do at a course they are very familiar with.

2012 Boys' Tennis Team, back row, from left: Leo Jiang, Leo Chien, Nick Konen, Jordan Runstein, Ben Stager, Connor Picken, Luke Douville, Hero Minami, and Wilfred Gao. Front row: Chris Johnson, Kevin Cho, Craig Fan, Phi Lam, Jihoon Lee, David Rogers and Arthur Kim. Not pictured: Mitchelll Kovalev and Ravi Nayyar

Submitted by Boys’ Tennis Coach Michael Kilbury

Out of the eight teams that we sent to districts, seven of them won a first-round match. We have not won this many first-round matches since I have been coaching the boys. This is a great measure of success for our team.

We had three teams that won second-round matches and went on to the quarter finals, which is the qualifying round for state.

In the singles bracket, we had Craig Fan (sophomore) and Connor Picken (senior) advance to the quarters. Craig lost to the number two seed, Andrew Salvador, who advanced to the finals. This put Craig out of the tournament but certainly is a nice showing for a sophomore.

Connor won his quarter-final match by defeating a player from Oregon Episcopal School (OES). He then lost in the semi-finals to Andrew Salvador. He played for third/fourth on May 9 against Alex Emerson from Roosevelt but lost the match in three sets. Overall he finished fourth in State.

The third team to make it to the quarter finals was Nick Konen and Ben Stager, Valley’s number one doubles team. They fought hard but eventually lost 7-5 in the third set to a strong team from OES. This knocked the senior duo out of the tournament without a state finals berth. This was a hard loss for these guys, but both players represented their school with pride and great sportsmanship.

This can be said of all of VC’s players during the tournament—win or lose, they all played with respect for the game, their opponents and their school.

VC Girls Tennis team has had an exciting season considering the circumstances. The rain didn’t hold us down and we pulled out an overall team record of 5-4. With very few practices, and many new young athletes, I would say we had a successful season. Junior Kaitlyn Lomartire, our number one singles player, had a season record of 8-1 and is seeded number one for the District Tournament. Senior Tori Kemper, our number two singles player, also had a stellar season with a record of 7-2 and is seeded at number five for the District Tournament. Those participating in the District Tournament are:

• Singles – Kaitlyn Lomartire, Tori Kemper, Tori Johnson, and Lavanya Bakshi
• Doubles- Danielle Lomartire and Megan Co, Jordan Heselwood and Tin Tin Luu, Momoe Seta and Sarah Karlin, and Sophia Anderson and Chelsea Ozuna

Boys

The 2012 Valiants are playing their best tennis of the season going into our district tournament.

The Valiants opened their season on March 12 with a 4-4 tie vs. league opponent Delphian. On May 1, the Valiants beat Delphian 7-1. The team has worked hard throughout the season and improved their skill set and match toughness. Both Catlin Gable and OES are in our league and have strong teams.

The Valiants’ number one doubles team, Ben Stager and Nick Konen, beat Catlin’s number one doubles team in three sets. This is a great win for seniors Ben and Nick and will help them get seeded at the district tournament. Senior Connor Picken, who is the Valiants’ best player, nearly defeated Catlin Gabel’s number one and prior State Champion, but ultimately lost in three hard-fought sets (see Beaverton Valley Times article). Craig Fan, who plays number four singles for Valley, has suffered only one loss this season and has had great wins over both OES and Catlin Gable this season. We have seen moments of brilliance from players Jordan Runstein and JiHoon Lee this season and I expect more solid play from these guys and their teammates as we enter the last week of the regular season. The Valiants had their last home match of the year vs. Riverdale on May 2.

Connor is the number three seed and has a great draw to the semis, which would qualify him for state.  Nick and Ben are also number three seeds and have a pretty decent draw as well; they will have to beat an OES team or a good Riverdale team to qualify, which they should do.  Most of our kids drew into a spot where they should win a round or two.  This is the first year I can remember that we don’t have many kids playing Oregon Episcopal School (OES) or Catlin Gabel the first round.  Craig Fan drew an OES competitor for his first round, but he has already beaten him this season.

The track and field seniors were honored May 2. Back row: Stephen Pierce, Reachana Chan, AJ Bernards, Anthony Alfieri, Connor Garcia, Dylan LeMay, Dan Hernandez, Andy Holstrom, Aiden McLeod. Front row: Maddie Bernard, Jasmine Bush, Rachel Feldhaus, Catherine Lo. Not pictured: JP Rivera

Submitted by Dean of Students Dale French 

Eleven members of the VC Track team traveled to Willamette University on Saturday, April 28 for the Meet of Champions hosted by Cascade High School. The Meet of Champions brings together the top track & field athletes from the 4A/3A/2A/1A classifications. Athletes must qualify in their respective events in order to gain entry into this competitive meet.

Girls

On the girls’ side, Makaela Bernards continued her impressive season with a 16th place finish in the 100 meters and followed it up with a 15th place finish in the 200 meters in a personal best of 28.16. Bernards joined senior teammate Maddie Bernard in the 100 meter hurdles. Bernard posted a season best 17.27 in the hurdles with sophomore teammate Makaela Bernards closely behind her in a time of 17.57. Their times were good enough for a respective 9th and 13th place. Maddie would also go on to finish 11th in the triple jump with a leap of 31-01.75.

Perhaps the most impressive performance of the day came from sophomore Makenzee Cleveland. In the 400 meters, Cleveland knocked 4 seconds off her season best, posting a time of 60.6, good enough for 4th place and the top finisher in the 3A classification. An hour later Cleveland toed the line for the 800 meters. Her time of 2:26 placed her 4th in the meet and remains the 3rd fastest time run in the state of Oregon in the 3A classification this year.

Cleveland would join sophomore Addie Flemmer, Makaela Bernards, and Maddie Bernard in the 4×400 meter relay. In her second time running the event, Addie Flemmer posted a four second improvement with a split of 69.1. With Bernard and Bernards’ sub-70 performances and Cleveland’s 61.0 split, their combined time of 4:28 was good enough for 10th place overall in the event and a season best.

Boys

The boys’ team fared equally as well. Sophomore Josh Cole led the way with an impressive showing in three running events. His time of 23.57 was good enough for 13th place in the 200 meters and his 51.98 in the 400 meters placed him 9th. His 51.98 ranks him second in the league for the 400 meters. He also remains in the top 10 at the state level in the event.

The 800 meters was perhaps the most surprising event of the day. Aidan McLeod and Anthony Alfieri, initially on the alternate list, were able to gain a last-minute entry into the race. McLeod led the way in his heat, taking charge with a lap to go and posting a lifetime best of 2:03, fast enough for a podium appearance. Alfieri also ran a competitive race, closing hard and finishing in a personal best of 2:08.1.

In the 3000 meters, Connor Garcia, Cooper Roach, and Andy Holstrom found themselves up against Alex Dillard, one of the best runners in the state of Oregon among all classifications. Holstrom led the way for the Valiants finishing in 3rd in 9:13. Garcia was two seconds behind Holstrom in 4th place at 9:15. Roach finished 6th in 9:21, a seven second PR for the sophomore. Dillard would go on to run 8:51 to garner him Athlete of the Meet honors. In the 3000, Garcia, Holstrom, and Roach hold 3 of the top 5 times in that event in Oregon.

Thirty minutes after a grueling 3000 meters, senior Andy Holstrom joined sophomore Josh Cole and seniors Anthony Alfieri and Aidan McLeod in the 4×400 relay. Cole’s 52.1 anchor leg cracked VC into the top eight in the event. Their overall time of 3:37 was two seconds shy of a PR and the second best performance for the VC squad in that event this year. The 4×400 meter group should compete for a top-two performance at the district meet and berth at the state track meet.

The Valiants closed out their regular season Wednesday, May 2 at home against Clatskanie, Rainier, and DeLaSalle North Catholic. Both the boys and the girls won their three dual meets and captured the regular season district title for both boys and girls. In addition we honored our departing seniors Catherine Lo, Maddie Bernard, Andy Holstrom, Connor Garcia, Danny Hernandez, Anthony Alfieri, Aidan McLeod, Stephen Pierce, Dylan LaMay, Jasmine Bush, AJ Bernards, Reachana Chan and Rachel Feldhaus. Unfortunately, JP Rivera could not be recognized for his contributions of the years as he is an Outdoor School counselor this week.

The Valiants travel to Jesuit Friday for the Twilight Relays and the district meet is scheduled for Friday and Saturday of next week.
At the district meet, the top two performers in each event will qualify for the state track & field championships at Western Oregon University. Athletes can also qualify for the meet by hitting a qualifying standard.

Joel Sobotka, who has spent the last six seasons at the University of Portland as an assistant coach to Eric Reveno, has accepted the position of Athletic Director and boys basketball head coach at Valley Catholic School in Beaverton, Ore. Sobotka will continue his duties with Portland through the end of May before transitioning to his new position in June.

Read the full article here.

Joel Sobotka joins Valley Catholic High School as its Athletic Director/Boys Basketball Coach in June 2012

Dear Valiant Families,

We are very pleased to announce today’s hiring of Joel Sobotka as Valley Catholic’s new Athletic Director and Head Boys’ Basketball Coach. Joel’s name will be familiar to many of you. For the last six years he has been lead assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at the University of Portland. Before coming to UP, he was an assistant for two years and then head coach for four at Portland State University. For three years during his head-coaching tenure at Portland State he served as college and NBA analyst for 1080 The Fan.

Here’s a little more detailed information about Coach Sobotka’s career:

• Joel played basketball and baseball at Horizon High School in Scottsdale, Arizona and graduated from Arizona State with a major in Management.
• His first coaching job was as an assistant at Eastern Oregon University. He then became an assistant at Arizona State before accepting a position at Portland State under head coach Ritchie McKay. When Coach McKay left in 1998, Joel was named PSU’s head coach and, at 28 years old, became the youngest Division I head coach in the nation. He served for four years as the Vikings’ head coach before leaving to accept an Assistant General Manager position with the Harlem Globetrotters in 2003. While with the Globetrotters, he managed an $8-million budget and coordinated logistics for all domestic and international tours . . . useful experience for an athletic director.
• He then spent three years at Cal State Northridge before moving to University of Portland where he’s been Eric Reveno’s top assistant, recruiting coordinator, and post coach (the Pilots no doubt receive plenty of post coaching: Coach Reveno started at post for Stanford). In 2010 he was honored as one of the top two assistant coaches in the West Coast Conference.
• Joel has also been generous in community-service work: he was on the board of directors that helped found the Oregon/Southwest Washington Chapter of the ALS Association, an organization he still serves; for three years he volunteered as Camp Director for Chris Dudley’s Camp for Kids with Diabetes; he has also worked with the Beaverton Special Olympics Youth Games, and he was selected by Oregon State Senator Ron Wyden to serve with the Backboards and Blackboards program, which educates children on academic and basketball goals and opportunities.

Joel will finish his work at UP on May 30th and begin his athletic director’s and coach’s duties at Valley in June. We are thrilled to add to our staff a person of Joel’s great experience and accomplishment.

Ross Thomas
Principal
Valley Catholic High School
rthomas@valleycatholic.org

The team won first place at the OASS (Oregon Association of Synchronized Swimming) held in February. At the West Zone Championships held in California in March, their Combo Routine won first place, their Trio Routine was 2nd place & Junior Team Routine was 5th place.

The U.S. National Championships for Junior & Senior Synchronized Swimmers is the toughest competition in the nation with great teams competing from all over the country. Ria and the MAC Synchro Team represent Oregon.

We wish Ria and her team the best.

PORTLAND – It was nearly 11 p.m. before the Charisma dancers heard what they’d been waiting for all season. But finally, as their theme music played over the PA system at Veterans’ Memorial Coliseum last Thursday night during the awards ceremony, the dancers knew they had just earned another State Championship and made team history. The Charisma’s score of 78.19 easily outdistanced second place Amity at 69.64 and third place Santiam of Mill City’s score of 66.31. Grant Union from John Day just missed out on a trophy with 64.64, while Bandon earned a 61.44 and 1A Portland Lutheran received a score of 58.28.

Members of the 2012 Charisma team are: Norimi Funatsu, Captain Molly Hoffman , Karina Jaroch, Captain Leah Klaas, Danielle Lomartire, Captain Patricia Nguyen, Mariah Stokes, Serena Stoiantschevsky, Captain Clarissa Tolan, and Naoko Yamawaki. The team is coached and choreographed by Jessica Anderson and Megan Hoffman.

“Megan and I were so pleased with the way the girls danced on Wednesday night. It was their best performance of the year. Everything was just the way it was supposed to be, even the fishhook formation that had been a bit off all season. It just all came together at the right time at the right place. And then when they danced on Thursday they were even more brilliant. Back-to-back perfect performances at State—it just doesn’t get any better than that!” said Coach Jessica Anderson. “It was magical.”

The Charisma’s elegantly eerie contemporary-style “Ghost of a Girl” routine was danced to “The Lonely” by Christina Peri and “Stay” by Jorane and featured a voice-over inspired by the Hughes Mearns poem “Antigonish.” The Charisma were introduced with the words “Dance your reality in a world beyond the obvious. Can you see me? Am I invisible because you ignore me?” followed by the sound of footsteps.

“We rocked the house this past week. I couldn’t have asked for a better team,” said senior captain Leah Klaas.

The Charisma dancers become the first team in their 1A/2A/3A division to earn three consecutive dance championships since the OSAA instituted the six-class system in 2007, and become the first three-peat team among the small classification schools since Santiam did so in 1993-1995.

“The girls on this team have been so consistent all season, but they really stepped it up for State. Charisma 2012 is a team that understood their challenges and worked together to achieve their goals. They have been an absolute pleasure to coach,” said Anderson. “Megan and I are so proud of our dancers.”

The Charisma will lose seniors Hoffman, Klaas, and Stokes to graduation and Norimi Funatsu and Naoko Yamawaki will return home to Japan. “State is always bittersweet because it is the last time the dancers will perform Ghost of a Girl and it’s the last time that the 2012 Charisma is together as a team. It is so hard to say goodbye to them at the end of the season, especially this team since they were so connected. Thank goodness so many Charisma alumna come back to support us whenever and however they can,” said Anderson.

The coaches are already thinking about and planning for season 2013. “Even with all the chaos of State, or maybe because of it, my creativity seems to be on overdrive. I get some of my best ideas for the next season during the State Competition,” said Anderson. “Of course our goal is to keep improving and to keep on winning dance championships. But over the last year our competition has been working at closing the gap. We can never become complacent and take our success for granted. Each season we must start from scratch and work hard to remain at the top,” said Anderson.

The Charisma will have five returning dancers for next season and are actively seeking new members to fill at least five, if not more, open spots on the roster. The Charisma is scheduled to attend the Thunderbird Dance Camp in July and prospective members are encouraged to participate in dance camp and to get a feel for what dance team is all about. The coaches will provide more information about evaluations and information on joining the Charisma as it becomes finalized.

“Being on dance team gives these student athletes an opportunity to express their creativity, challenge themselves to set and achieve goals and learn life lessons,” said Anderson. “The Oregon dance team community is such a positive environment. The coaches of the DDCA are all committed to making competitive dance team accessible and beneficial to all the dancers who participate,” said Anderson.

The Charisma dance team has become recognized for developing well-trained dancers that are competitive at every level while maintaining high academic standards. While the success achieved by the Charisma is apparent from the championship banners hanging in the gym and the awards in the trophy case, the coaches would like to see participation numbers increase.

“I would really like to see the dance program at Valley Catholic grow and evolve. We lose 50% of our team nearly every year. I’d like to reduce that number to no more than 25%. We would welcome a larger team in the future. Valley has the largest student population of any of the schools in our division, yet we are almost always the smallest team on the floor, while tiny Portland Lutheran with a student body of less than 100 has a team of 13. Amity danced more than 20 and will have 11 seniors on their roster next season. There are so many more competition opportunities for elementary school, middle school, and JV dance teams now. There is even a championship competition for middle school and JV teams each year in April. Those feeder programs can really enhance a school’s varsity team. I would love to see dance participation numbers increase to the point that Valley Catholic would also have competitive JV and middle school teams in the near future,” said Anderson. “The Charisma make magic on the dance floor with our usual ten dancers, but I dream of how we could be even more innovative and more creative if we had even a slightly larger team to work with.”

The Charisma dancers and coaches “thank everyone who supported the team this season on our quest to make team history with a third straight championship. Dance has a very long season and we couldn’t do it without the support of the school, parents, fans, community, and alumna dancers.”

Sophomore captain Patricia Nguyen commented “Even with all the countless hours of practice, we couldn’t have done it without the support from our coaches and family. We love you!”

Complete results of the 2012 OSAA Dance / Drill State Championships can be found on the OSAA website along with archive video of every performance from each team during the four day state competition at OSAA.TV.

Keep up to date with all the Charisma news by liking the Valley Catholic Charisma Facebook page. Students interested in joining the Charisma for season 2013 should contact the coaches or a current team member.

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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!

Charisma is ready to "defend the ship."

Submitted by Lori Anne Anderson for the Charisma

It’s finally State week and the Charisma Dance Team will be performing their final two competitive dances of the season on Wednesday, March 14 and Thursday, March 15 at Portland’s Memorial Coliseum. Performances start at 5 p.m. each night with doors opening at 4:30 p.m.

The ‘wow’ moments have been added to Ghost of a Girl. The routine has been practiced to the point of perfection. All that’s left are the two final performances and all the hustle and bustle that surround a State Championship competition. It’s two full days of team bonding, floor practice, photo ops, Grand Finale practice, socializing with teams from around the state, and—for the Charisma—sharing a team room deep in the labyrinth of the Coliseum with Stayton and Glencoe.

The dancers will have a full day of team activities before they even start getting ready for their Wednesday night performance. The atmosphere at the Coliseum will be different this time around. In past years, the Charisma have danced near the top of the performance order, at or around 5:00 p.m., and the stands have not been full in the arena. But not this year. With the Charisma being one of the final teams to dance, the stands should be near capacity in anticipation of the announcements of the final round performance order, the dancers to be named to the All-State team and the winners of the scholarship awards that will be revealed at the end of the evening.

The Charisma, Stayton Highlights, and Parkrose Elite are the three defending State Champions that will put their titles on the line as State opens. All of them ended the regular season ranked number one in their respective divisions and all are favorites to repeat. For the first time, the 4A division has been split into large and small team divisions. Crook County is highly favored to take the 4A small team division. There are many fine teams for spectators to enjoy throughout the evening while waiting for the Charisma to perform.

“This is what we have been working for all season. At State, records, rankings, trophies, and Score Tracker don’t matter. We have to prove ourselves for the State judges. The girls have shown that they are ready for this challenge. It’s time for them to dance to ‘defend the ship,’” said Coach Jessica Anderson. It’s the dream shared among all the teams—to dance well at State and come home with the big prize.

Only half of the Charisma dancers have been to state before. “We have two dancers that are four-year members, and three of our sophomores were here last year. We are depending on our returners to mentor our newest dancers” said Anderson. “The energy surrounding State is unbelievable. It can be overwhelming the first time you feel it and experience it, but we are confident that our team is ready for this situation. We want their State experience to be amazing. We want to make team history.”

Charisma fans are reminded to purchase their tickets on the west side of the arena. Reserved seat tickets are $13 and are available at the door each evening. Public transportation is strongly encouraged, especially for Thursday night since the Rose Garden is hosting the NCAA basketball playoffs. Parking at the Rose Quarter is limited and may not be available on Thursday unless you have already purchased a pre-paid parking pass. The OSAA suggests that spectators consider off-site parking at 7th and Multnomah on March 15.

Updates from State will be posted to The Valley Catholic Charisma Dance Team Facebook page and the OSAA website.

Photo caption: Charisma dancers Clarissa Tolan, Mariah Stokes, Leah Klaas, Karina Jaroch, Molly Hoffman, Norimi Funatsu and Naoko Yamawaki in action at Liberty on Saturday.

Submitted by Lori Anne Anderson for the Charisma

HILLSBORO – The Charisma dancers may have been edged out by the Scappoose Vision dance team for the first place trophy on Saturday, but after earning their highest score of the season, the Charisma dancers and coaches agree that it was a great day at Liberty. The Astoria Pizazz was third followed by the Molalla Indianettes and the Banks Lady Braves– all teams from the 4A division. The Westview Wildthings from Beaverton took first place in the 5A/6A division with a 77.56 and Portland’s Parkrose Elite’s score of 85.89 won the Show division. The Charisma’s 80.06 ranked them sixth overall out of 29 teams for the event behind Scappoose and the top four show teams.

“Of course, everyone likes to win, but what matters right now are the points and the judges,” said Coach Jessica Anderson. “Our scores are going in the right direction. We have been showing consistent steady improvement each time we compete. We are ranked number one in our division as we head into the State Championships. However, anything can happen at State and we must continue to work hard and be as prepared as possible. We want, and need, two perfect performances at State to complete our season. We have just a few more practices to make Ghost of a Girl shine.”

Even though Liberty High School is just down the road from Valley Catholic, the Charisma dance team had one of their longest competition days of the season. They arrived at Valley well before dawn then made their way to Liberty for their 6:45 sound check/floor practice time. The day ended with awards at approximately 10 p.m. It was close to 11 p.m. when the Charisma dancers finally arrived back at Valley Catholic.

Molly Hoffman, a senior and one of the team captains, commented, “I really enjoyed my last competition before state. I wouldn’t have wanted it to have worked out any other way. The team made friends with lots of other teams and it seemed like the most fun competition I’ve had in all four years of being on dance team.”

The Charisma have only competed head-to-head once this year with teams from the 1A/2A/3A Division that they will face at State. “We expected to see more teams from our division ver the course of the season, but that just didn’t happen this year,” said Anderson. “We were supposed to compete with both Bandon and Santiam back in February at the Stayton competition. However, Bandon was involved in a traffic accident on their way to Stayton that injured two of their dancers so they withdrew. We chose to go to Parkrose and Liberty because of their proximity, while the rest of our state division went to competitions in Eugene and Salem because those venues are closer for them. While we like being challenged by teams from the 4A, 5A and 6A, we may rethink our competition schedule a bit for next season so we can interact more with teams in our division,” said Anderson.

The Charisma will participate in a dance exhibition event on Saturday, March 10 at Glencoe High School in Hillsboro. Admission is $5 and doors open at 3:30 p.m. Several local high school, middle school, and club teams are scheduled to perform at the exhibition. A dance team assembly for the Charisma is scheduled for Monday, March 12 at Valley Catholic.

The Charisma Dancers begin their quest for a third consecutive OSAA Dance and Drill Championship at Memorial Coliseum on Wednesday, March 14. Reserved seat tickets are $13 and are available at the door each evening. The Charisma performs to the west side of the arena.

After a couple of disappointing near-misses in past championship games, the Valley Catholic sixth-grade girls’ basketball team came through with a big win on Sunday night, downing Christ the King, 40-25, for the CYO “City” title. The team blended six girls who had prior experience on the team, including five who have been together all four years, with three newcomers. All nine girls worked together beautifully, emphasizing teamwork and sportsmanship and a love for great defense and fast breaks. Over the course of the undefeated CYO season, the team featured very balanced scoring, with every player scoring in almost every game.

In the CYO tournament, the Valiants beat St. Matthew in a high-scoring semifinal, 47-39, in which the winning team built a big lead, and then had to hold off a furious 4th-quarter rally. In the final, a 9-2 second quarter edge proved to be too much for Christ the King, and the Valiants were able to hold on to the lead with some clutch free-throw shooting down the stretch and secure their gold medals. Last year, the team went home with a second-place trophy.

Team members (with number of years on the team in parentheses) are: Casey Kavanaugh (1), Erin Lang (1), Noelle Mannen (4), Izzy McMahon (2), Taylor Menkens (4), Nandini Naidu (4), Diana Nistler (4), Megan Voigt (1), and Tanvi Yeccaluri (4). The team was coached by Melinda and Doug Mannen.

Submitted by VCS Parent and CYO Boys’ 6th Grade Baskettball Coach Eric Grasberger

Valley Catholic’s sixth-grade boys won the CYO “City” title for the second year in a row, defeating St. Pius 61-58 in an electrifying game on Valley’s home court. The game featured top CYO talent on both sides. Multiple three-point shots, particularly from the St. Pius squad, full-court pressing and half-court traps made for a fast-paced game. After an unbelievable shooting streak by St. Pius in the third quarter, Valley was down 18 points and needed a momentum shift. Aggressive full-court defense and fast-break basketball provided that shift, as Valley scored 22 points in the fourth quarter to edge out St. Pius. St. Pius has a talented center, great guards and excellent coaches. They defeated every other team in the league during the regular season and in the tournament. Both squads had multiple players with double-digit scoring.

The boys’ roster is: Ben Dinh, Michael Gadda, Jack Grasberger, Max Imponenti, Sam Karlin, Jess Lucas, Teddy Senecal, Alex Uong, Alex Wan.
Coaches: Eric Grasberger and Jim Lucas
Sam Karlin scored 28 points, Alex Wan 11 points