Document text
Tornado stirs up all-state acclaim Beick named top 4A coach Class 4A Volleyball ALL-STATE FIRST TEAM Elsa Lubisich, West Linn, 5-9, sr. Ali Mostue, North Medford, 5-9, sr. LaToya Harris, Parkrose, 5-9, sr. Niki Hayhurst, McNary, 5-11, sr. Nikki Neuburger, Central Catholic, 5-8, sr. Libby Windell, Gresham, 6-3, sr. Jamie Carmichael, Sheldon 5-10, jr. _________________________ PLAYER OF THE YEAR Elsa Lubisich, West Linn COACH OF THE YEAR Ron Beick, North Medford By GREG STILES It's a rare year when a non-Mount Hood Conference school wins the Class 4A state volleyball championship. West Linn, of the Three Rivers, pulled it off last month, ending the Mount Hood's 12-year domination. Rarer still is a Southern Oregon Conference coach being tabbed coach of the year by his peers. That honor was accorded to North Medford's Ron Beick Tuesday after he guided the Black Tornado to third place in the state tournament. Four North Medford seniors were honored as well in balloting by the state's coaches. Ali Mostue, the SOC's player of the year, was named first-team all-state. Kristin Ferris was second-team and Mandie Horn and Lacey Dalton earned honorable mention. "When you're talking about an entire state, you never know how it's going to pan out," says the 42-year-old Beick. "As we tell the players, when teams do well, things come to you on an individual basis as well." North Medford made its mark throughout the season, with high placings during weekend tournaments that featured many of the state's top teams. "That's one area where teams learn if they are going to actually compete at the state level and how well they are going to do there," Beick says. Prior to this season, Beick recalls the Tornado gaining the finals of one tournament in the previous four years. "This was a team that finished in the top four in every tournament," Beick says. Beick was name coach of the year in the California Interscholastic Federation Southern Section when his Thousand Oaks team won a championship. The Southern Section has about 450 schools _ or roughly twice as many as Oregon. "For these girls, this is really the culmination of a lot of years of playing and training," Beick says. "Things like this just don't happen. It takes a lot of time and dedication. It's nice to have the girls rewarded and the same for myself." Champion West Linn had only two players on the all-state list, while runner-up Central Catholic had three. The only other SOC player selected was Roseburg senior Allison Courter, who was named to the third team. West Linn senior Elsa Lubisich was voted Class 4A player of the year. In the Class 3A ranks, Jamie Coldren of Marist was tabbed player of the year, while Toni Thomas of Philomath was coach of the year. Skyline Conference champion Lakeview put senior Katie Ruda on the first team and senior Erika Coon gained honorable mention. Rogue River senior Mindi Yost earned honorable mention as well. Today's Sports Index Mail Tribune Copyright� The Mail Tribune 1998, Medford,