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Meunier to coach one more time for Comets By Greg Stiles Mike Meunier thought the spring of 2000 was his last as Crater High�s softball coach. Well, like North Medford�s Larry Binney, who thought 1999 would be his last go around on the diamond, Meunier is back for a curtain call. Meunier did an about-face last summer when Larry Baker, who was in line to move into the varsity post, resigned and moved to the South Pacific. "I was planning on going on vacation during spring break this year," admits Meunier, a former Crater baseball player. "That changed my mind quite a bit." Without teaching openings, there weren�t a lot of options late in the summer when Crater athletic director Dan Speasl asked Meunier to stay on for another year. The school district didn�t want to hand the program off to just anyone and Meunier, who took over the program in 1992 after a short but successful tenure at Eagle Point, shared the sentiment. Make no mistake, Meunier, 34, loves coaching. But the growing year-round demands ate more and more into his family life. "It�s not like you have to talk me into this job," he says. "If it was a Feb. 20-June 1 job, I�d do it for the next 20 years. "In 11 years, the time commitment has almost doubled. A lot of it though is the out-of-season stuff. It�s too much to come home and see the kids an hour a night and a little on Saturday or sometimes not at all." So after June 1, Meunier hopes to leave behind the fund-raising � for equipment and summer teams � open gyms and working with pitchers throughout the winter. The job was posted in November and a new coach is expected to be on board by June 1. "Me staying another year allows us to bring in someone who will stay 10 years as opposed to a couple of years," Meunier says. Although he figures to coach an Amateur Softball Association 10-under team when his youngest daughter plays in a couple of years, Meunier will happily watch from the stands. "I�ll still be around," he says, "but you�re not going to see me pushing a rake on President�s Day weekend, while my own yard looks like garbage." CRATER�S JODY MCLEOD and Ashland�s Jackie Woods will take part in this weekend�s Northwest Shootout Oregon-Washington all-star basketball game at the Chiles Center in Portland. The girls play at 6 p.m. and the boys tip off at 8 p.m. The Oregon squad, led by former Pacific University women�s coach David Olmsted, practiced four times in two days at the Multnomah Athletic Club and the Beaverton Hoops facility last weekend. McLeod reports she liked working alongside Westview�s 6-foot-5 Kara Braxton, the 2000 player of the year who is headed for the University of Georgia. "She�s an amazing player and blocked shots like crazy," says McLeod, who has been practicing in the high post. "It�s nice to be on her team and not have to worry about guarding her." McLeod is scheduled to visit Idaho State soon on a recruiting visit. She says she�s looking forward to representing the state with so many players she�s opposed in the past. "We did a lot of scrimmaging," she says. "I�m a little sore." McLeod was this year�s Southern Oregon Conference player of the year. Woods, who has signed with Loyola-Marymount University in Southern California, was the 2000 player of the year. Woods, who played on an Oregon all-star team put together by Oregon State assistant coach Stephanie Norman that won a national tournament in North Carolina last year, says she�s played with all but three or four of her teammates before. "They�ve selected a bunch of very good girls," Woods says. Oregon City�s Lisa Faulkner and Kelli Spencer, Springfield�s Talisha Rath and Chelsea Wagner, Carrie Buckner of Crescent Valley, Haley Harguth of Beaverton, Michelle Oakland of Redmond, Becky Bracelin of City Christian and Jamie Medley of Gaston round out the team. Grants Pass� Ian Elseth is on the boys squad. UNIVERSITY OF PORTLAND women�s basketball coach Jim Sollars plans to visit Ashland�s Hanna Seltzer and South Medford�s Kellie Thomas today. Both could end up playing with former North Medford standout Ashlee Giles, who just completed her sophomore season with the Pilots. Seltzer was a starter for three straight state tournament teams and will be making an official visit to the Portland campus on Thursday "I talked to Ashlee this past summer and she really loves it up there," Seltzer says. Apparently, Portland has kept an eye on Seltzer, and when another top prospect signed elsewhere, she was on top of the Pilots� list. "I saw them play against Cal-Poly when we were on our way to Alaska," Seltzer says. "I like their style of play. I�m looking forward to seeing the campus and meeting the team." Seltzer relishes the thought of taking the floor against Woods, who will be playing for another West Coast Athletic Conference school. "That�s going to be so weird," she says. "LMU is talking about moving her to the wing. What if we had to guard each other. Not to see each other for a long time and then to see each other in a gym with different uniforms. We�ll be able to trade notes on different teams." Thomas is taking a wait and see approach. South Medford�s career scoring leader drew Portland�s attention during the Class 4A state tournament. "I hadn�t even looked into Portland," she says. WOODS WON�T BE defending the Class 4A shot put championship she won with a 43-foot, 2-inch toss last May. "My track days are over," Woods says. "Track never was a passion for me." "I want to get a job and earn some spending money. And I need to work on my ballhandling skills because I might be moved out to (the wing) next year." Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.