Athletics Blog

Yesterday morning I had the honor of recognizing Coach Coleen Davis for her 35 years of coaching tennis and teaching at OES. We honored Coleen with the OES Athletic Impact Award, which is only given to a select few who have had a huge and lasting impact on our student athletes and programs. We stood under the district and state championship banners that are hanging from the rafters at SPARC thanks to the immense success of the tennis programs during Coleen’s tenure at OES. Attending the presentation were her husband Scott, her mentor Kris VanHatcher, her assistant coach Lindsay, and all of the district participants, coaches, and parents. During the award ceremony, I mentioned her 10 state championships, her numerous league Coach of the Year honors, her state Coach of the Year honors, and her National Coach of the Year honor. These accolades show the bounty of successes she has had as a coach, but they don’t define her. What defines this fiery devoted coach from Sandy, Oregon is the way she develops athletes into tennis players and young women into the best versions of themselves. She makes her athletes commit to one another and be part of something bigger than themselves. OES tennis has reaped the benefits of Coleen’s coaching for more than 35 years. Although we will be able to fill her position, we will forever be in her debt for the legacy that she leaves behind, a program that has been forever improved under her strong leadership. Coleen has been a true pioneer in the sport of women’s tennis in the state of Oregon and has been the voice of passion in making sure girls’ tennis was on the map not only at OES, but in the state of Oregon. Coleen, on behalf of the athletic department and the whole OES community, I say a huge thank you!

Missy Smith, Kris VanHatcher, Coleen Davis, Scott Davis, Lindsay Bennett. Photo courtesy of Dennis Sullivan

Aardvark Sports Corner Highlights

Girls Tennis had a great week of districts, qualifying two doubles teams and one single to the state tournament next Friday and Saturday in Corvallis. Doubles partners Sophia D. ‘23, and Marin R. ‘24 advanced after finishing second. Doubles partners Kaleia T. ‘23 Ava D. ‘24 finished 4th and Nicole A. “22 finished second. 
 
Boys tennis also qualified two doubles teams and one single for state next week in Corvallis. Doubles team Rand F. ‘24 and Maxwell T. ‘23 and doubles team Richard ‘24 and Ethan T ‘24 qualified. Singles player Cameron G. ‘22 finished 4th and also qualified.
 
Boys golf took home the district title after a two-day combined score of 583, 7 under par at Quail Valley. Henry E. ‘22, Ethan T. ‘22, Matthew C. ‘23 and Alex T. ‘24 all finished in the top 5 to earn first-team honors, and Ronit M. ‘22 finished 8th to earn second-team honors. The boys will be competing for a state championship on Monday and Tuesday at Quail Valley.

Boys Lacrosse had a successful week getting the win on the road at Hood River 11-7 and the home win vs. Ida B. Wells 12-9.  The boys will host Lincoln on Friday night at 7 pm and will celebrate senior night.
 
Girls Lacrosse is getting primed for playoffs with a convincing victory over Cleveland 17-8.  The game Friday night vs. Ida B. Wells was canceled.  The Varks will be back in action vs. Hood River this week at home. 
 
Track and Field will take 30 athletes to districts this week in Clatskanie. The Varks are primed and ready to compete. Tyler E. ‘22 is coming off a huge race last week where he took down his nemesis in the 1500M with a 4:16 time.