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Year’s Best (clockwise from far left): Brianne Rowley’s bat was a big reason the Eagles were in contention on the final day of the season; Jacquie Mattson tied her own school record in becoming Oregon’s first 6A high jump champion; Leo Castillo set a new HRV record this year to help give Rich Hedges a year to remember in his final season as coach; Cameron Root teamed with Bobby Cofrances to form an unstoppable scoring combo that carried the Horizon Hawks to the 1A state basketball playoffs for the first time; Diego Diez and Ceasar Hernandez celebrate a goal in the Eagles’ win over McNary in the first round of the boys 6A state soccer playoffs; Alex Titus wrestled Oregon City’s Scott Shugert (in red tights) for an epic semifinal win in the 6A state wrestling tournament; the rushing attack of Alex Rose gave the Cascade Locks Pirates a weapon they could rely on in their first season back on the gridiron since the 1980s.

December 28, 2007

By BEN MCCARTY
News staff writer

Hundreds of games, a seemingly infinite amount of practices. One moment to shine. Over the 365 days that made up 2007, there were many great stories in the high school sports scene, but a few stood out from the rest. Some are historic, others are part of the record books, and a few just kept fans riveted to their seats.

7 HRV softball refuses to go down without a fight – Not much was expected of the Eagle softball team last spring. They entered a rebuilding season having lost the core of their state playoff team the year before. Instead they won four straight in the final weeks of the season to force a one-game playoff for the Mount Hood Conference’s final playoff spot, where they finally fell to Gresham in extra innings.

6 A fitting sendoff – In coach Rich Hedges’ final year before retirement, the HRV boys cross country team boasted three of the top 15 runners in school history – Leo Castillo, Yonny Castillo and Alex Van Slyke. Both Castillos qualified for state, where Leo finished 11th and Yonny finished 110th.

5 Eagle soccer goes deep into state – The HRV boys soccer team showed that it could compete with the rest of the state, routing McNary in the first round, and rallying to beat South Eugene in overtime before falling to Westview in the quarterfinals.

4 Titus takes on all comers – HRV heavyweight Alex Titus rolled through most of his regular season matches, often ending them in a matter of seconds.

In the state semifinals he beat Oregon City’s Scott Shugert in an epic, double-overtime match to move onto the finals, were he eventually lost to Milwaukie’s Jimmy Haman.

3 Mattson clears the competition – HRV high jumper Jacquie Mattson tied her own school record of 5’05” to win the first 6A state high jump championship, outpacing McNary’s Meagan Hingston, who came up short on her final attempt to equal Mattson’s height.

2 First time for everything – The Horizon boys basketball team, which was happy to just finish with a couple of wins a few years ago, secured its first state playoff berth by winning the Big Sky District Tournament and then took Columbia Christian to the brink in front of hundreds of screaming fans at Hood River Valley High School before dropping a 40-37 nail-biter.

1 Football take two in Cascade Locks – After almost 20 years away, high school football returned to Cascade Locks. The Pirates lost their home opener to South Wasco 52-6, but the fans didn’t mind, they were just happy to have the sport back. The Pirates went on to win two games and stayed close in several other contests. The Pirates take the next step for their program when they enter 1A special district 3 for league play next fall.