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48 °F Forecast | Road Cams Thursday, January 27, 2005 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Wellness Connection Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Real Estate Guide Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People Volunteer Opportunities Moving to Southern Oregon? MARKETPLACE Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Classifieds Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend April 27, 2004 Wilson nets tennis ride to Santa Clara Prep Notebook By DON HUNT Mail Tribune North Medford High tennis standout Tyler Wilson couldn’t pass up the California sunshine when he signed a letter-of- intent last week to attend Santa Clara University. Wilson, the No. 3-ranked player in the Pacific Northwest for males 18-and-under, will receive more than half of the $38,000 annual cost to attend the private university just south of San Jose. He was being recruited by a host of schools — Oregon, Boise State, Penn State, Purdue, William and Mary, Virginia and Texas — in addition to Santa Clara. "I’m really excited about going there — I can’t wait," Wilson says. A number of factors went into Wilson’s decision, not the least of which was the sunny and warm climate that Santa Clara offers. The other two schools he was seriously considering were Oregon and Boise State. Advertisement "I love the sun and to be able to play outdoors 90 percent of the time," he says. Wilson also likes the size of Santa Clara — it has 9,000 undergraduate students — its reputation for being strong academically and its membership in the West Coast Conference. "Pepperdine, Loyola Marymount, San Diego — those schools are all in that conference," says Wilson, who plans to major in biology and eventually become a dentist. "And I know they play Stanford. "It just seems like a great place academically and athletically, and it’s the right size for me." Wilson has ratcheted up his game over the past year thanks to a much-improved serve that has been clocked at 114 mph. "Tyler has always had good ground strokes and played consistent tennis, but now his serve is a big weapon and he takes advantage of it," North Medford coach Larry Fields says. "Earlier this year, he finished a match with four straight aces, and he got the final one on his second serve." Wilson has spent numerous hours serving hundreds of balls at the Rogue Valley Swim and Tennis Club and the Southern Oregon Tennis Club. "My serve is probably my best weapon right now," he says. "If you can get four good serves in during each game, it sends a message to your opponent that he’s going to need four good returns. "Plus, if you’re serving well, you get a lot of free points and it just puts more pressure on the other guy." Wilson lost to Jesuit’s Rick Mortera in the quarterfinals at the Class 4A state tournament last year and is hoping for a rematch in 2004. "He’s had my number a little bit, and I’d like to play him and change the outcome," Wilson says. "I’d really like to win a state title. But having my college situation figured out is the most important thing for me right now. It really takes the pressure off." THE NEW FOOTBALL coaching staff at Crater High has wasted no time in rejuvenating interest in football and other sports at the Central Point school. The Crater High Booster Club announced last week that it has raised a little more than $30,000 (out of $52,000 needed) to install a state-of-the-art weight-training center. The boosters have scheduled a fund-raising rally called "Project Touchdown" for May 7 at 6 p.m. at the high school field. The barbecue and raffle fund-raiser is open to the community. New head football coach John Beck will introduce his staff at the get-together, and Crater officials will honor outgoing athletic director Dan Speasl. Former Crater coaches and star athletes will also be introduced. The following day — May 8 — the boosters will put on a golf tournament at Stewart Meadows and a car wash at the Central Point Albertson store. Other projects planned at the school include a new team room and coaches office that Tom Malot Construction has offered to build, a new press box at the stadium, a new concession stand and new stadium lighting and painting. Three new practice fields have also been secured in the new Silver Creek sub- division thanks to a donation from Brett Moore Construction. STAN GOODELL HAS been entering road runs for the past 40 years and had never failed to reach the finish line until the latest edition of the Boston Marathon on April 4. Temperatures in the high 80s, along with 90-percent humidity, caused the 50-year-old Goodell to pass out on the 23rd mile of the 26.2-mile event. "I wobbled my way to an aide station on the side of the road, fell over a table and passed out," says Goodell, who took over the Hidden Valley High School track program this spring. "I woke up in the emergency room." Goodell, a national caliber masters runner, completed the Boston Marathon in 1996 and ran a marathon qualifier in three hours and 14 minutes — a per-mile pace of 7:40 — last October. "You think you’re tough enough to get through something like that, but when your body shuts down, there really isn’t anything you can do," Goodell says. "It humbled me." TOM WELTER, executive director of the Oregon School Activities Association, gave us another reminder recently that high school sports rarely serve as an avenue to college scholarships. Welter, speaking at the OSAA’s state of the association meeting earlier this month, shared an NCAA report that revealed the low percentages of high school athletes who earn athletic scholarships: men’s basketball (2.9 percent); women’s basketball (3.1); baseball (5.6); football (5.8); and men’s soccer (5.6). The report also listed percentages of prep athletes who ultimately earn professional contracts. For men’s basketball, it was three in 1,000; women’s basketball, two in 1,000; football, nine in 1,000; men’s soccer, eight in 1,000. Moral of this story: teach your kids to work hard on the academic front, where scholarships are far more prevalent. Reach reporter Don Hunt at 776-4469, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback ADVERTISERS A D V E R T I S E R S SPECIAL SECTIONS Auto Finder Job Finder Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Opportunities Student Loan Consolidation Conference Calls - $50/Month Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker, Trunk, Footlockers