Late football coach Kitchell’s spirit lives on

Players still heed coach's words.

Players still heed coach's words.

The spirit of Dave Kitchell lives on in the Coach Kitchell Summer Football Competition. Kitchell was the beloved, strong-willed defensive coordinator for the Ashland Grizzlies football team before passing away shortly after a second-round state playoff game in 2007. He was 51, a victim of cancer.

To give an idea of his strength, Kitchell, who had recently returned from treatments on a tumor on his liver, called Grizzlies head coach Charlie Hall at practice on the Thursday before that playoff against Corvallis. He also called the next night to give game-night affirmation, as he’d been doing for 20 years. Both times, Hall put his cell on speakphone so the whole team could hear Kitchell’s strong voice — it belied his condition. Ashland won, 14-7, on Friday night. Kitchell passed away two mornings later.

The Grizzlies continued to play as they went through the healing process.

At Thursday’s event, teams from throughout the region took part in passing contests, a tug of war and a truck push. A reader sends in that it was “lots of fun.”

There are plenty of photos on the Ashland Footall Club Facebook page.

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Kids baseball camp was big hit

It sounds like the free baseball camp for kids the past couple days at U.S. Cellular Community Park was a great success. I had a chance to meet a couple of organizers for the South Valley Baseball Camp Wednesday and Thursday, and the M.I.T. Sports Group folks were taken aback by the level of participation despite relatively little time to put it together. I believe they put the number at about 170 kids.

Jerry Waller and Bill Van Dusen were among those who came up from Southern California to put it on. It was free for kids ages 6 to 14, but $20 donations were welcome. The group, backed by the Kimmel Family Foundation, is to make a matching donation to Medford youth sports for every participant. They also left behind equipment they brought, including a pitching machine.

Waller and Van Dusen raved about the facility and the ease in working with Rich Rosenthal of Medford Parks and Recreation. They also were thrilled to get instructional help from Southern Oregon Riverdawgs manager Chris Wolf and his players.

Watch for it to return next year.

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Ultra-runner Shelton on Sports Chat Friday

Jenn Shelton, an acclaimed ultra-marathon runner who lives in Ashland, will be the guest Friday when the Mail Tribune’s live, unscripted and interactive sports chat returns for a 13th week. Shelton will speak with Mail Tribune sports reporter Dan Jones at noon.

Log on to www.mailtribune.com/mtsportschat to watch or participate. We’ll take questions and comments live.

Shelton won this year’s 10-mile Pear Blossom Run in a personal-best 59 minutes, 50 seconds. Last Saturday, the Virginia Beach, Va., native captured the Deseret News Marathon title in Salt Lake City, Utah. Her time in the 26.2-mile run was 2:54.23.

Shelton said she’ll next compete in the 33rd annual Mt. Ashland Hill Climb Run on Aug. 7. The 13.3-mile event begins in downtown Ashland and climbs to the Mt. Ashland summit. The run has the second most elevation gain of any continuous hill climb in the continental United States.

Shelton was written about in author Christopher McDougall’s best seller “Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen.”

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C. P. Flyer is at it again

The C.P. Flyer is at it again on the streets of Central Point. Kayleigh Tyerman, who is going to be a sophomore cross country and track and field athlete at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo this coming school year, is getting in plenty of work, it appears. We’ve crossed paths when I’ve been on morning walks and she’s in training. My 15-minute mile pace (OK, maybe 16), pales next to what seems to be a four-minute pace for her. We almost collided while coming to a blind corner from different directions this morning.

Tyerman, a two-time state track champion and two-time state runner-up in cross country, was a big success her first year at Cal Poly. She was Big West Conference freshman of the year in cross country, placing second in the league meet, and placed second in the conference in the 1,500 in track last spring. She looks ready to build on those efforts.

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Class 3A hoop state tourneys move to Coos Bay area

The Oregon School Activities Association sent a release saying it has uprooted the Class 3A boys and girls basketball state tournaments in order to move them to the Coos Bay area. Marshfield and North Bend high schools will host the tournaments beginning in March 2011 following a vote of the OSAA Executive Board.

The vote was nine to one in favor of the move. It’ll be a two-year commitment. Marshfield previously hosted the A-2 boys tournament from 1959 through 1970.

Willamette University in Salem has been the only basketball site for Class 3A, which was created in 2006-07 when the six-classification system was instituted.

OSAA executive board member and Marshfield principal Greg Mulkey, who abstained from voting, eased concerns of additional travel for competing schools with the Coos Bay and North Bend communities’ plans for discounted lodging, pre-sold tickets and the area’s overall enthusiasm to host the event. 

“It’s the nicest old gym in the state of Oregon,” Mulkey said of 3,200-seat “Pirate Palace” at Marshfield High School.  “North Bend, with its recent renovation and 2,000 seats also is one of the state’s top facilities. Both gyms will provide great atmosphere.”  

Rather than the one-facility/four-day format of other OSAA tournaments, the 3A quarterfinals through finals will be held over three days at two facilities. 

“Our community is very excited about this opportunity and will provide a wonderful experience for the student-athletes, coaches, parents and fans,” Mulkey said.

The 2011 OSAA / U.S. Bank / Les Schwab Tires 3A Basketball State Championships are scheduled for Thursday through Saturday, March 3-5.

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Mustangs go for 12th state championship

The Medford Mustangs lead the way was American Legion baseball teams in the AAA and A ranks begin state tournament play this week. The Mustangs open the AAA tourney at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday at Kiger Stadium in Klamath Falls against The Barbers of Madison in Portland. The eight-team tourney, featuring four Area 4 teams, continues through Sunday, with the winner advancing to the Northwest Regional in Spokane, Wash.

Medford (34-8) won the Area 4 title with a 13-3 record and will be going after its 12th state championship. It had a string of two straight state titles end last summer but went on to both host and dominate the Northwest Regional, then finished second in the World Series.

For more on the Mustangs’ prospects, check out Kris Henry’s story in Wednesday’s paper.

The A tournament gets started a day later, Thursday, at Swede Johnson Stadium in Eugene. Ashland takes on La Grande at noon and Central Point faces Roseburg at 3 p.m. The eight-team event ends Monday.

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Allred misses out on Natinowide field

Jason Allred took a stab at Monday qualifying on the Nationwide Tour today. Despite shooting a 2-under-par 68 at Yankee Hill Golf Club in Lincoln, Neb., he didn’t make the field. Allred tied for 20th place. Two courses were used, with seven players from each site making it into the Cox Classic field in Omaha, Neb., later this week.

Allred is expected to play a limited schedule through the season before attending Q School late in the year. He gets a bye through the first stage because he finished in the top 50 of the U.S. Open last month, tying for 47th place.

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Duck hoops apparently losing Armstead

Oregon’s basketball team takes another hit as the coaching transition from Ernie Kent to Dana Altman continues.

Here’s the latest from KVAL.

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Wheating runs blistering 1,500

Andrew Wheating, who completed his Oregon career this past spring, just ran the fourth fastest 1,500-meter time in American history. Read about it here.

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Centennial Golf Club tourney director Daggitt on MT Sports Chat Friday

Centennial Golf Club has a few big events coming up in August, and tournament coordinator Chris Daggitt, a former North Medford High player, will be in our, umm, studio Friday at noon. He’ll be the guest of sports reporter Dan Jones on Mail Tribune Sports Chat. The interactive show welcomes input from viewers. To watch or participate, log on to www.mailtribune.com/mtsportschat.

Daggitt will talk about the Sasquatch Open Pro-Am Aug. 2-3. He’s lined up 23 regional club pros to participate and continues to beat the streets for a few more. Proceeds from that will help pay for local juniors to enter the American Junior Golf Associaton tournament at Centennial Aug. 16-19.

The junior tourney is the only AJGA event in Oregon this year. The top juniors in the country play on the circuit. A Junior Am will kick off the week on Monday, Aug. 16. There are plenty of openings and proceeds go to hosting the three-day tournament that follows. A field of 132 is expected.

The Rogue Valley Stroke Play Championships finish off the month’s activities. It will be Aug. 28-29.

To participate in any of the events or to learn more, call Centennial at 541-773-4653.

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