(more…)

One of the biggest athletic and administrative changes over the summer was Chris Harris leaving Yreka High School to become the new principal at Jackson Street Elementary, and the hiring of Steve Van Ert as the new athletic director and assistant principal at YHS.

Harris did a fantastic job at YHS and I was sad to see him move on. But, I was also very happy to see Van Ert move into his spot. My experience with Van Ert while he was at Dunsmuir was always positive, and I think he’ll do a great job at YHS.

Below are the questions and answers from an interview we did via email that should shed some light on Van Ert’s beliefs and way of doing things, as well as provide some background information for those who don’t know him.

Q: Where did you grow up/spend your youth?

A: Redding; Enterprise High grad

Q: Colleges attended and degrees earned?

A: Bachelor of Science in Biology from Chico State /teacher credential, admin credential and Master of Arts in Education from Simpson University

Q: Coaching background, where, what, and when?

A: 6 years Head Track Coach, 5 years in football (JV 1 yr, V Off. Coord 1yr, 3 yrs Head Coach: 17-16 after an 0-10 first year of rebuilding) at Dunsmuir High School. (more…)

So, here’s the story. Way back in the fall of 2009, after Kevin Jorgensen won the Northern Athletic League varsity 5,000m cross country race and was third in sections, I gave him an Impact Player Award—sort of. I gave him his T-shirt, but never did the story. Believe it or not, I was waiting to get a photo of Kevin, and eventually so much time went by that it seemed a good idea to wait for track season.

I told Kevin that when he won the league in track, I’d do the Impact story. I was actually expecting him to come up big in the 1600m or 3200m. That would make sense for a cross country champ, right?

Nope, instead he wins the NAL 800m title and the North Section crown, apparently preferring to get his races done a bit quicker.

At sections, Kevin didn’t just win, he dominated. His time of 1:57.04 was nearly four seconds faster than the second place finisher. As impressive as that was, Kevin did something even better. (more…)

After a less than impressive preseason, the Yreka Miners baseball team is sitting on top of the Northern Athletic League with a record of 5-0. Watching the turn around, I’ve been thinking there’s definitely a Miner deserving of an Impact Player Award, but which one? I could think of at least three or four possibilities. So, I decided to consult with Miner Coach Jason Frietas.

When I asked him about which player he thought deserved the Impact Award the most, Frietas asked, “This is the one with T-Shirt and article and everything?”

“Yes,” I said.

Frietas didn’t hesitate, “Zach. He’s my leader. He’s Mr. Everything. He comes early and stays late.”

So, Zach Salverstro it is, and the stats back up Frietas’ statement.

Salvestro is either first or second for the Miner starters in every offensive category. He’s either first or tied for first in runs scored, hits, extra base hits, home runs, and on base percentage. Salvestro is second or tied for second on the team in batting average, RBI, walks, slugging percentage, and steals. Defensively, he has the third best fielding percentage, while playing multiple positions.

The numbers say it, and with the coach’s recommendation, it’s clear that Zach Salvestro is an Impact Player. (more…)

It’s not hard to find players that can put up big numbers playing on winning teams that dominate opponents. And, lots of players can put up big numbers against weak opponents. It is much rarer to find a player who plays on a team that doesn’t have many wins, yet he consistently performs against both the good and the bad teams. One of those players is Yreka Miner Daniel Fisher.

Fisher had a slow start this season, scoring minimal points in the first four games. Then, in the fifth game against Henley, he scored 14 points. He has been in double figures every game since, except one. He scored eight points in Yreka’s 53-39 win over Bonanza.

Fisher leads Yreka in both scoring (13.9 ppg) and rebounding (8.3 rpg). He is second in the Northern Athletic League in rebounding and third in scoring, on a team that is 5-11 overall.

Those stats alone might be good enough to earn an Impact Player Award. However, what sealed the award for Fisher was his overtime performance in Yreka’s 63-59 win over Lassen last Friday night.

Fisher scored the first eight points of the third OT period, and eight of nine Yreka points in the period. At one point, he led Lassen 8-0 in the third OT. What’s more impressive is how he scored.

The points didn’t come on clean breakaways. They didn’t come by standing outside the arc and waiting to hit a 3-pointer. Nope, they were mostly down and dirty working man’s points in the paint. Of the eight points in the third OT, four came on put backs and three came via a 3-point play the hard way. The other was on a freebie. (more…)

She hasn’t even started her senior year at Yreka High School, but Alana Hall has already completed her senior project—an incredible trip to Uganda. Hall, the daughter of Mary Ann and Jon Hall, joined 18 other adventurers from the Mountain Christian Fellowship, based in Medford, Ore., on a 15-day journey that left San Francisco on July 4, traveled through three countries, and returned to the states on July 19.

Along the way, Hall had the opportunity to go “dune bashing” in a Toyota Land Cruiser in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and tour the headwaters of the Nile River in Uganda. The group also had a stop-over in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

While Hall had the opportunity to see many sights, the trip wasn’t about being a tourist. It was about bringing education and joy to orphaned children living in the green and lush village of Jinja, Uganda, located on the shores of Lake Victoria.

Hall and the group arrived in Jinja after a six-hour bus ride from the airport in Entebbe, Uganda. While it took them several days to get used to the 10 hour time change, it appears that it didn’t take long to form a bond with the children. That bond was one of the highlights of the trip for Hall.

“The most fun part of the trip was spending time with the Ugandan children,” said Hall.

During their time in Jinja, the Mountain Christian Fellowship team worked with the Aids Orphan Educational Training organization (AOET). According to AOET’s website, it is, “(a)n independent, indigenous, non-governmental organization with the prime mandate of providing an education—formal and/or vocational—to desperately poor, neglected and forgotten orphans whose parents have died of AIDS. AOET assists children with AIDS and widows that have lost their spouses to AIDS and most of them (are) HIV+ themselves.” (more…)

I admit it. I’m not usually as impressed by athletic proficiency in individual sports as I am in team sports. There’s something about people working together to achieve a goal that I find really appealing. However, there are exceptions. One exception is an athlete that is excellent at more than one individual event, especially if those events happen to be grueling—grueling like distance running.

When it comes to middle and long distance running, one of the best in Siskiyou County is Yreka High School junior Kevin Jorgensen. Jorgensen won the 800m and 1600m races at the Northern Athletic League championship meet, last Friday. He also finished second in the 3200m.

Jorgensen’s top time this season for the 800m is 1:58.60, second best in the North Section. He has the fourth best 1600m time in the section (4:33.06).

In the fall, Jorgensen competed in cross country, finishing fourth at the NAL championships in the 5,000m.

Personally, I have a rule about running. If there’s no ball, I’m not running. But, that doesn’t diminish my appreciation for the difficulty involved in distance running. It might be one of the few sports where you can finish last and still have accomplished something. Finishing last obviously isn’t an issue for Jorgensen, which makes him that much more impressive.

So, with that appreciation in mind, Kevin Jorgensen is an Impact Player Award winner. (more…)

It’s standard practice for high schools to require students to finish a senior project before they can graduate. The project a student chooses can cover just about anything imaginable, but generally has some value to the student’s future career plans, has a value to the community, or benefits the student’s personal growth. Tyler Moser, a student at Yreka High School, started with a senior project designed to help the youth group he belongs to, and wound up also helping another group of people in his community.

Moser’s original project was to do a fundraiser to help pay for members of the Decision Life Church 331 Youth Group to attend the Christian based DCLA Conference in Los Angeles this July. About 35,000 teens will attend the conference, which has the theme, “Be Love. Serve. Repeat.”

The fundraiser was based on collecting recyclables. Going door-to-door, Moser and other members of the group collected cans and bottles, which they brought to Yreka Transfer. Yreka Transfer kicked in an extra 10 cents per pound for the cans, and the group raised nearly $1000 for their trip.

Moser said that the motivation for his senior project was, “to give back to the youth group” that he has been a part of for three years.

During the collecting process, Moser’s mentor, Jamie Nowdesha, learned about how the collection of the pull tabs from the aluminum cans could benefit Siskiyou County residents that need dialysis.

“I went to the group and said, ‘Hey guys, let’s do this.’ They were totally for it, and just started ripping tabs. They were stoked,” said Nowdesha. (more…)

To the offense goes most of the glory. To the defense goes? Well, to the defense usually goes a pat on the back from the coach and an occasional acknowledgment from the media and fans. Yet, as the sports cliché goes, “Defense wins championships.” And, strong defense wins me as a fan.

As I was driving to the Yreka Miners semi-final soccer match against Winters, I knew I was going to issue an Impact Player Award. There was no doubt that more than one Lady Miner deserved it. I just didn’t know which one to choose.

As the game unfolded, my choice kept changing, but during the last 15 minutes or so of the match a clear choice emerged: Christina Korcek.

Christina has been a force on defense all season, but her incredible effort and willingness to sacrifice her body to preserve Yreka’s one-point lead late in the match sealed the deal. After the final whistles, Christina could hardly walk and despite the win she was too weary to muster much of a smile (until picture time).

I can’t tell you how many full speed collisions she endured, or how many times I thought she wasn’t going to get back up. What I can tell you is that Christina typifies the Lady Miner soccer tradition of maximum effort and hard-nosed defense, especially during the playoffs. (more…)

One of the most important positions on a soccer field is the center-midfielder. The center-mid needs to be able to pass, shoot, and play defense, as well as act as a “quarterback” on the field. Great conditioning is a must.

Because of its importance to both defense and offense, the center-midfielder has a major impact on how a game is played and the success of the team. For the Yreka Miners, Ross Perry plays the center-midfield position.

In Northern Athletic League play, Perry leads the Miners in goals and is second in assists, as well as third in steals. Perry takes the majority of free kicks, and penalty kicks for the Miners.

Add it all up and it equals an Impact Player Award for Yreka Miner Ross Perry.

The Impact Player Award is given on a monthly basis and goes to Siskiyou County high school athletes, male or female, that have had a significant impact on the success of their team. I select the players based on my own observations, often in consultation with the player’s coaches.

A total of four awards are given each month and are not school specific; they can go to a player at any school that Siskiyou Youth covers. Winners receive Impact T-shirts that were designed by Golden Grotto. The T-shirts and award are cosponsored by Siskiyou Youth and NorCal Classic Hits radio 102.3/101.7.