By Jeremy McDonald
Jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com
On October 17, the Salem Sports and Breakfast Club honored West Salem’s Johi Diaz (Girls Soccer), Blanchet’s Kenzie Lazarus (Girls Soccer), Salem Academy’s Bella McGraw (Volleyball), South Salem’s Briella Mathis (Volleyball), West Salem’s Andres Hagen (Boys Cross Country), Blanchet’s Christian Orozco (Boys Soccer) and West Salem’s Kysen Ramirez (Football) at this past Friday’s meeting.
Here’s the Press Release:
The Salem Sports and Breakfast Club Les Schwab Athlete of the Week, from West Salem Girls Soccer, is Johi Diaz.
Johi, a senior and captain, is a midfielder for the Titans who are 4-6-1 overall, and have a conference leading 4-1 record. Johi was key to helping the team maintain possession of the ball and create quality opportunities toward goal last week. She had an assist and a goal in the 4-2 win over South to take the conference lead. She also had an assist in the 1-nil win over Sprague.
This is Johi’s second AOTW honor for girls soccer.
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The Salem Sports and Breakfast Club Les Schwab Athlete of the Week, from Blanchet Girls Soccer, is Kenzie Lazarus.
Kenzie, a junior and captain, plays forward for the Cavaliers who are 8-2-2 on the season, 5-1-2 in district, and #13 in Oregon’s 3A/2A/1A. Kenzie leads the team in goals scored with 15, plus 3 assists on the season. She has had two hat-tricks in two of the wins this season, a season where the Cavaliers have outscored their opponents a combined 45 – 9.
Kenzie is also a 4.0 student, captain of the team, and, according to Coach Tina Pearson, “… a hardworking player both in games and practices. Kinzie leads by example, always looking to improve her shot and bring energy to each game weekly.”
This is Kenzie’s first AOTW recognition.
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The Salem Sports and Breakfast Club Les Schwab Athlete of the Week, from Salem Academy Volleyball, is Bella McGraw.
Bella, a senior, plays middle blocker for the Crusaders who are 14-5 overall, 11-2 in the PacWest Conference, and ranked #10 in Oregon’s 3A. Bella had a big week this last week as the team didn’t drop a set in three matches. Bella took on the opponent’s top hitters, disrupting their rhythm with 25 aggressive attacks, and converting 9 of them into kills with a .36 hitting percentage. From the service line, Bella was steady and aggressive, recording 1 ace with zero service errors and a 2.20 serve rating.
According to Coach Kara Copeland, “Her presence at the net shutdown big swings and her key blocks turned momentum for the Crusaders…Bella’s leadership, consistency, and ability to perform under pressure makes her a cornerstone of our team. She’s a player we look to when we need a block or a big hit and this week, she delivered on both sides of the ball.”
This is Bella’s first AOTW honor.
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The Salem Sports and Breakfast Club Les Schwab Athlete of the Week, from South Salem Volleyball, is Briella Mathis.
Briella, a senior and captain, is an outside hitter for the Saxons who are 19-4 for the season, 8-2 in conference, and #3 in Oregon’s 6A. Briella leads the team in offense this season with 233 kills so far. This past weekend at the West Linn Tourney she led the team with 33 kills on the day while also picking up 18 digs and 4 aces. In the 3-set win over McNary last week she had 16 kills, 8 digs, and 3 aces. In the South Salem 3-1 win over #1 ranked Sprague, at Sprague, Briella had 18 kills on 36 attacks with no errors to hit .500 on the night. She also added 8 digs and 3 blocks. As of last weekend, her career statistics have her at 1,253 kills which is 13th all-time in Oregon volleyball history. “She will likely move into the top 10 in the next week.”, according to Coach Matt Leichty.
This is Briella’s third AOTW honor for volleyball.
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The Salem Sports and Breakfast Club Les Schwab Athlete of the Week, from West Salem Boys Cross Country, is Anders Hagen.
Anders is a senior for the Titans. Anders opened the season with a personal best of 9:26 in the 3000 meters, second overall in the conference, and has continued to shine in the 5000, running 16:29 at the Marist Invite to help secure a team win. He then dropped his PR by 10 seconds to 16:19 at Nike Portland where he placed 8th overall, leading the boys team to another win. This past weekend at the Rose City Invite, Anders again shattered his personal best, running a conference leading time of 15:55 while leading the boys’ team to their third team win of the season.
Coach Lindsey Dalton says, “His strong performances and ability to rise in big meets have been instrumental in the team’s early success this season.”
This is Ander’s first AOTW recognition.
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The Salem Sports and Breakfast Club Les Schwab Athlete of the Week, from Blanchet Boys Soccer (and Football), is Christian Orozco.
Christian, a senior, plays center-midfield for the futbol team, and is a wide-receiver, safety, punt returner, punter, and kicker for the football team. The Cavaliers are 1-3 in the PacWest Conference on the grid-iron; 10-2-1 for the season, 7-0-1 in conference, and ranked #1 in Oregon’s 3A/2A/1A on the pitch. Christian is a captain and mid-fielder on the conference-leading soccer team, leading his team in both goals (10) and assists (5) on the season. In last week’s 24-20 football win over Amity, Christian had 2 interceptions and the game winning TD reception.
Coach Benje Orozco says, “His leadership in games has helped our boys soccer program currently first in our league. He at times will play in the goal to help his team. He will do whatever is asked of him to help his teams to success.”
This is Christian’s first AOTW honor.
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The Salem Sports and Breakfast Club Les Schwab Athlete of the Week, from West Salem Football, is Kysen Ramirez.
Kysen, a senior, is an offensive and defensive lineman for the Titans who are 6-1-0 for the season and ranked #11 in Oregon’s 6A. In the past two games, he has graded out at almost 97 percent efficiency. He has 7 “pancakes” on the season and is part of an offensive line that has not given up a sack in the seven games this season while allowing the Titans to average over 32 points per contest.
According to Coach Josh Beckett, “Kysen is the best offensive lineman we have ever had…[He is the] leader of our offensive line [who] played the last part of the previous season with a torn ACL [and is] one of our best defensive lineman.”
This is Kysen’s first AOTW honor.
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