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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Valley&State Backpage O&E Sports Archives Classifieds Faith&Beliefs Obituaries Revels June 19, 2004 A year of records, stars By Joe Zavala Ashland Daily Tidings There were huge upsets, fantastic finishes, spectacular plays, clutch performances and agonizing losses, but when it comes to sports the 2003-04 school year will probably be remembered most in Ashland for the end of two eras. Jim Nagel joined Ashland High in 1983 and led the football program to three state championship victories in 20 years before announcing his retirement as athletic director - he stepped down as football coach in 2002 - earlier this year. Southern Oregon University running back Dusty McGrorty broke every major career rushing Satsuki Doi | Ashland Daily Tidings Southern oregon university running back dusty mcgrorty is trying to earn a roster spot with the St. Louis Rams after helping the Raiders go from mediocre to perennial contender. In four spectacular seasons at SOU, McGrorty set every major school rushing record, including marks for total career rushing yards and career rushing touchdowns. record at SOU last fall before signing an NFL free agent contract with the St. Louis Rams in April. The duo will go down as two of the most important and celebrated sports figures in Ashland history, even as they attempt to add to their respective resumes elsewhere - Nagel will be the quarterbacks coach at Linfield College next fall, while McGrorty tries to become the first SOU alum to play in a regular season NFL game. There were other highlights: o Ashland High senior pitcher/outfielder Chad Hegdahl led Ashland at the plate and on the mound, earning first-team all-conference honors in the process, as the Grizzlies advanced to the playoffs for the fourth consecutive year. o SOU senior heavyweight Wes Balensifer overcame an untimely battle with food poisoning to win his first NAIA national wrestling title. o The SOU volleyball team qualified for nationals after another victorious run through the regional tournament. o Led by Andy Wright and David Morgan, the Ashland High boys' cross country team placed fifth at the Class 4A state meet. o Ashland High senior hitter Chelsea Van Lehn bumped and spiked her way to Southern Oregon Conference player-of-the-year honors, becoming the second straight Grizzly to capture the league's top award (Marla Morin won it in 2002). o SOU senior outside hitter Kristina Matchett finished her Raider volleyball career as the holder of SOU game (16), match (40), season (669) and career (2,291) kill records. o Grizz girls' basketball players Hilary Huyett and Alysse Carlson both were honored as first-team all-SOC selections in a league-wide coaches vote that also singled-out Grizz junior post Abeni Hill. Following is a roundup of the best the 2003-04 school year had to offer at both Ashland High and Southern Oregon. Top teams When it came to Ashland sports, the Southern Oregon University volleyball team was the cream of the crop in 03-04. The Raiders won the regional tournament and advanced to the NAIA national championships for the third year in a row before falling just short of a berth in the finals bracket. When the dust settled, SOU had completed arguably the most successful season in team history: The Raiders finished 24-8 overall, captured the school's first Cascade Conference championship since 1991, won at least 20 matches for the seventh year in a row and qualified for the postseason for the 16th straight year. Southern rose to No. 11 in the national polls - NAIA volleyball is 255 teams strong - and tied for 13th at the 20-team national tourney. "Although our 1-3 record (at nationals) doesn't reflect it, I thought we played the program's best-ever volleyball the past two days," Raider coach Paul Elliott said after SOU's run came to an end. "We were neck-and-neck with three storied programs." Raider volleyball fans will see a different team in '04 since three of the squad's top performers - Sara Tatom, Lindsey Aitchison and Matchett - have used up their eligibility. Ashland High athletics was also at its best during the fall, thanks to outstanding performances by its volleyball and boys' cross country teams. Behind Van Lehn's polished all-around game, the Grizz volleyball team advanced to the Class 4A state quarterfinals, where they pushed defending champion and second-ranked Gresham to the limit before losing a three-game barn-burner. Ashland couldn't recover in time to beat sixth-ranked Sheldon for a spot in the fourth-sixth-place match and ended the tournament without a trophy. "We didn't completely accomplish everything that we wanted to, but all is not lost," Grizz head coach Josh Rohlfing said. "I feel this is one of the best teams, as a whole, I've had as far as character and being a team." The AHS boys' cross country team came through when it counted most and surpassed expectations at state thanks to superb performances by Wright and Morgan, both juniors. Wright took seventh in 15 minutes, 35 seconds, finishing ahead of two SOC runners who beat him the week before at districts. Morgan took ninth in 15:40. If there was an award for best club sport team, the AHS girls' snowboarding team would probably win it. The Grizzlies captured their second straight state title in April behind the leadership and skill of seniors Emma Kurtz, Ella Street, Lily McCabe and Steph Elliott. The best of the rest: o The SOU men's basketball team won 19 games, an 11-win improvement over the previous season, and advanced to the Cascade Conference semifinals before losing to eventual NAIA national champion Oregon Tech. o The SOU softball team repeated as Cascade Conference champs and set a program record for victories (40) before falling to eventual national tournament finalist Simon Fraser in the regional finals. o The Ashland High water polo team downed Sandy to snare third-place in the state tournament. Senior Michael Stout had five goals and senior Arron Nelson had four in the 14-7 win. o The Ashland High girls' golf team finished seventh overall at state a week after easily clinching the SOC district title. o The Ashland High girls' tennis team capped its undefeated conference season with a team co-championship at the Southern Oregon Conference district tournament. o The Ashland High baseball team overcame a midseason slump to sneak into the Class 4A state playoffs, then shocked Dallas in a subtournament game that saw the Grizzlies overcome a four-run deficit in the bottom of the seventh. Ashland lost to Redmond two days later. o The Ashland High girls' basketball team lost a 52-51 heartbreaker to Tigard in the second-round of the 4A playoffs. o The SOU football team won five of its last six games after an 0-3 start to finish above .500 for the fifth consecutive season. Top Athletes Few athletes come to symbolize a team's rise from mediocrity to perennial contender as perfectly as the Raiders' McGrorty. When the 6-foot, 225-pound Warrenton native first carried the ball for SOU in '00, the Raiders were 13 years removed from their last playoff appearance. By the time McGrorty took his final handoff Nov. 15 at Eastern Oregon, the Raiders were aiming for their third straight playoff appearance. SOU didn't make the NAIA national championships in McGrorty's final season, but did end up ranked in the top-25 for the third straight year, an accomplishment McGrorty may be chiefly responsible for. McGrorty's numbers are mind-boggling and some of his records, especially the career rushing yards mark, will likely stand for decades. The three-time All-American capped his Raider career with 5,414 rushing yards (No. 4 all-time among NAIA players), 79 touchdowns (No. 2 all-time), 10 school records and eight regional records. In his final collegiate game, McGrorty rushed a school-record 46 times for a career-best 303 yards. Hegdahl's golden arm and powerful bat made him one of the leading candidates for the SOC player-of-the-year award, but his gaudy stats weren't enough to beat out the best player (Rob Folsom) on the SOC's second-best team (North Medford). Hegdahl batted .517 in league play with 16 RBIs, 12 doubles and 20 runs scored. His slugging percentage in league play was .817. He also excelled on the mound, where he carried a 2.29 ERA in SOC contests with 56 strikeouts and a 5-3 record. "He can do it all," Ashland head coach Jason Robustelli said of Hegdahl. "You can stick him anywhere in the lineup and he shines all the way." Grizz volleyball coach Josh Rohlfing could use the same words to describe Van Lehn, who seemed to be everywhere for the Grizzlies. Van Lehn boasted a .387 hitting percentage to go with a team-high 176 kills in SOC play. She also led Ashland in serve receive and was second in blocks and digs. "Coming into the season we, had a lot of expectations for Chelsea," Rohlfing said. "She is a more complete player than anyone I've ever had." Matchett was an equally dominating force in the SOU volleyball lineup. She set NAIA records by notching at least 10 kills in 125 of 130 career matches and posting 48 20-kill-or-better performances. She also finished No. 4 all-time at SOU for digs (1,052) and was the first non-track female athlete in SOU history to become a three-time All-American. Balensifer also earned a place in SOU lore by becoming the first heavyweight wrestler in school history to win it all. The senior from Warrenton was the national runner-up as a freshman but had failed to place in his sophomore and junior seasons. He made his final opportunity count, posting a 4-2 victory over Simon Fraser's Mohammed Abdul-Latif in the finals. The win also enabled the three-time All-American to finish the season 42-2 and tie SOU's season victory record. "Last year I kind of fell apart," Balensifer said of his junior year. "This year, every time I got on the mat I asked myself, 'Do you want to go out on top?' If I wouldn't have won the title I would have felt like my wrestling career was a failure." The best of the rest: o Ashland High junior golfer Stephanie Johns finished third at the state meet. Johns, the top golfer in the SOC, finished the two-day event with a 10-over 154. o Nelson proved to be one of Ashland High's best all-around athletes by excelling in a sport every season - water polo in the fall, swimming in the winter and baseball in the spring. Nelson advanced to the state swim meet, where he took fifth in the 50-meter freestyle and sixth in the 100 free. o Ashland High sophomore star-in-the-making Kayla Moyse qualified for the Class 4A girls' tennis tournament for the second year in a row. o SOU sophomore Shea Washington led the Raiders in both points (18.8) and rebounds (9.0), and was one poll point away from becoming the school's first-ever Cascade Conference player-of-the-year. o Grizzly junior striker Fabian Garcia-Flores led the AHS boys' soccer team to the 4A state playoffs and, along with his brother Jose, earned first-team all-SOC kudos. o SOU junior shortstop Kara Ray became only the second Raider softball player to receive NAIA All-American recognition after leading the Cascade Conference in batting average (.406) and setting school season records with league-leading totals for hits (71) and runs scored (45). o SOU junior pitcher Miranda Gillaspie earned Cascade Conference pitcher-of-the-year honors after finishing the season with a league-best 1.97 ERA and 23-7 record. 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