One thing college scouts can count on is finding classy and skilled athletes at RAL. This year, one exceptional athlete, J Nusbaum, is keeping the college sports tradition alive.

 On February 3 in the RAL auditorium, Nusbaum officially signed the letter of intent to play football at MSU Northern With a three fourths football scholarship.

Nusbaum played an extraordinary season of high school football which earned him first team all league defensive back and first team all league kick returner along with first team all state defensive back and state honorable mention wide receiver.

“The reason I chose MSU Northern is, just by watching one highlight film,  they made me a scholarship offer immediately,” Nusbaum said

 Nusbaum is following a prestige class of athletes. Last year , two students  received sports scholarships to four year universities: Scott Shelton received a full tuition scholarship to Central Washington University for football, and Bailey Harris received a full ride scholarship to UW for softball.

“So few people get the chance to compete in college sports so I feel that it is an honor to be asked to play anywhere,” Nusbaum said.

J Nusbaum knows that playing at a higher level will not be easy and there is a lot of hard work ahead of him. He plans on hitting the weights  hard this off-season to get bigger, faster, and stronger.

“If I can really get my weight up and maintain my grades, I will be good to go,” Nusbaum said.

J plans on majoring in education and  becoming a middle school or high school teacher. Also, he wishes to get a degree in coaching and become a head football coach someday.

Over 200 students, friends, and family members attended J’s signing ceremony. Athletic Director Ty Morris spoke about his memories of J over the past four years. Following him, head football coach Eric Bertram spoke of J’s ambition and accomplishments and the importance of his teammates. After the speeches a highlight film of J’s senior year was shown and preceding that, the signing of the letter of intent.

It was a close loss as the RAL girls’ basketball team fell to the Monarchs 30-40 here at the Lumberdome on Feb 8.

A slow start was the downfall for the Jills.  They were behind 5-12 at the end of the first quarter and 11-20 at halftime.  Though outscoring the Monarchs in the fourth quarter, the Jills couldn’t pull out a victory.

“Defensively, I felt the girls played extremely well.  They played very physical and aggressive,” said Mr. Ott, girls’ basketball head coach.

The Monarchs’ strong defense prevented the Jills from getting shots up, as well as their dominating rebound stats.

Sadie Petersen 12 led RAL with 12 points and Tirzah Coalman 12 put up six.  Petersen was the high scorer of the game; no Monarch scored more than six points.

In the previous Civil War game, the Jills were narrowly defeated by the Monarchs 40-39.

Of the first loss, Mr. Ott was “happy with our effort.  It was a disappointing loss to a cross-town rival, but I was proud of how the girls played.”

This loss may have been the nail in the coffin for the Jills’ playoff dreams.  Only Jill victories in their final three games of the season can guarantee that the Jills clinch fourth place in league and the district pigtail playoff game.

In the final league games of the season, the Jills faced off against Ridgefield on Feb 11 and were just edged out 59-55 after double overtime.  The game was neck and neck until the very end when the Jills were outscored 4-8 in the second overtime. 

Petersen lead the Jills with 21 points, Coalman had 15, and Christina Driscoll 12 had 11 points.

Also, RAL fell to Hockinson 29-47 on Feb 15.  Petersen and Coalman both added nine points and Driscoll added six.  Coalman also had 13 rebounds, Tara Haas 12 had eight rebounds and Miranda Wilson 12 had seven.

“I was disappointed that we didn’t make the playoffs, but I feel like out team worked hard all season and never gave up,” said Averie Bogner 12.

Overall, the Jills worked extremely hard in league play as they strived to make the playoffs.  With eight seniors graduating this year, next year will be a new beginning for the team.

“I guarantee we will beat them next year, too”, RAL Coach Lindsey said after the rivalry wrestling meet of RAL vs. Mark Morris held a t RAL. A bold statement, but after eight straight years of defeating  the Monarchs, who dares to doubt the RAL wrestlers can go for number nine?

The night kicked off by introducing the alumni of both schools. With alumni present, the last meet of the regular season, and with the cross-town rivalry match on the line, the Jacks couldn’t have had a better night for senior night. The seniors, whom included Zac Williams, Danny Irby and William Yordy, each won their matches.

 The Jacks finished their great season by defeating the Monarchs 45-26 in a well fought battle all the way to the last bout. The Jacks won 10 out of 12 matches with Tanner Ackerly (9), Christian Hudek (11), Jared LaFrance (11), Yordy (12), and Williams (12) all winning by pin.

“Overall, all the guys got after it and did a great job,” Lindsay said. “Those who won, and those who lost, both did good”

The Jacks finished with a winning season this year in league. They walked all over Hockinson finishing 60-12, beat Ridgefield 51-25, and the only defeat was against Washougal in which they came up short 35-36.

“I’m glad I took up wrestling last year and continued it this year. Overall the season was a good one”, Danny Irby(12)  said.

“I do feel like I have also improved from last year”, Irby said.

After placing 2nd in league, the Jacks set off to districts where many of their wrestlers also continued onto regionals. In regionals  William Yordy, Zac Williams, Josh Johnson, and Jacob Collins all placed and qualified for the state tournament on Saturday February 20th at the Tacoma dome.

Collins will be the only Jack with his first state appearance, all the other Jacks have visited the Dome for the final tournament before.

“ I hope to go deep into the bracket this year. I have focused all season for state” Johnson said.

“This is where it counts,” Yordy added.

The Girl’s Bowling season come to an end with 15 wins to 3 losses. Their highest score was 2124 points which was around the same as last year. They placed 4th in Districts.

They didn’t quite qualify as a team for State but two of the bowlers made it through, Harley Dahlquist 12 placed 7th and Kelsey McNeal 11 placed 13th out of 150 bowler’s altogether. This is the first time in four years that the RAL Girl’s Bowling team hasn’t gone to state as a team. Prairie placed first in districts and MM placed second, two of their toughest opponents.

“Our toughest opponent was MM,” Sarah Williams 12 said. The team had a strong year and almost completed all of their goals. The team goal was to place at least 3rd in Districts but they fell short of their goal by only one placement down.

“Our goal was to at least place 3rd, we didn’t make it but we were close,” Sarah Williams said. “We were close but didn’t quite make it because only two of our bowlers went to State,” Varsity Coach Jackie Slechta said.

The team came out even against MM, having won the first game and lost the second game against each other with a score of MM with 2068 and RAL with 1957. Strength of the team throughout the year was teamwork and the only weakness was they had a slow start due to the loss of their seniors and training of new freshman.

“It was like a whole new team,” Kendrah Hessler 12 said. Skills the team improved on were picking up spares and also picking up 7’s and 10’s, which are the two hardest pins to pick up.

 “They had a very strong year, we started out thinking it was going to be a .500 team and on the last game we were fighting for first place,” Slechta said. This year was a rebuilding year for the bowling team due to the lose of their five seniors.

Super Bowl forty-four was an intense match up on the grid iron between the New Orleans Saints and the Indianapolis Colts who both had the best records in the regular season.

The two clashed on February 7^th in Sun Life Stadium, Miami Gardens, Florida, which is the home to the Miami Dolphins.

All together the Colts have won two Super bowls in 1970 and 2006 ,and have been a playoff contender every year since 2000. The Saints on the contrary have never been to a Super Bowl.

After Hurricane Katrina devastated the city of New Orleans in 2005 and caused damage to the Louisiana Superdome, the New Orleans Saints were not able to play any home games for the entire 2005 NFL season.

Ever since then, the Saints organization has been going through a rebuilding process and now our Super Bowl Champions.

Two of the biggest names at the quarterback position went head to head. Drew Brees and Peyton Manning are two of the best quarterbacks in the NFL, if not the best.
      Going into the game the Colts were the favorites, according to espn.com, but the Saints beat the odds, beating Indianapolis 31-17.

Garret Hartley, the kicker for the New Orleans Saints punched in three field goals throughout the game. All were more than 45 yards out. After a Hartley field goal the Colts went three and out putting the ball back in the hands of Brees.

Brees capped a 59 yard drive and took the lead in the 4^th quarter. With two minutes left in the game Manning had one more shot to take the lead but threw a interception that was ran back by Tracy Porter.

Drew Brees was awarded the Super Bowl MVP with a performance of 32-39 of passing and 288 passing yards, 2 touchdowns and no interceptions after he hoisted the trophy in shock.  The city of New Orleans streets exploded with happy fans who needed and wanted a championship badly after the disastrous hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Life has been really tough for the Louisianans and this momentous victory has lifted their spirits just in time for Mardi Gras.

The RAL swim team battled their way to win twice in a double-dual swim meet versus Hudson’s Bay and Fort Vancouver on Jan 7.

There were many close races and photo finishes as the Lumberjacks narrowly defeated Hudson’s Bay 73-71 and dominated Fort Vancouver 87-35.

Bill Davenport 11 earned victories in the 100 Butterfly in 1:05.01 and the 100 Breaststroke in 1:10.85.

“Although I’ve already made my state time in the 100 Breaststroke, I’m hoping that more of the other swimmers, like the sophomores, will make state times or place in districts,” Davenport said.

Collin Meharg 11 took second in the 500 Freestyle with a state qualifying time of 5:18.88, bettering his previous time by over ten seconds.

“I’m happy about making the state time, but I would have beat the guy if I wouldn’t have screwed up my fifth turn,” Meharg said of his 500 Freestyle race.

Though the team has few wins, they did succeed in breaking a school record in the boys’ 200 Freestyle Relay on Dec 11 in the meet against Aberdeen.  The previous record was set in 2005.

Not only did they break that record once, but broke their own current record in the relay again.  In the meet against Hudson’s Bay and Fort Vancouver, they set the new record of 1:42.22, three seconds better than their previous record.

The record breaking team consisted of Bill Davenport, Collin Meharg, Ryan Hunter 10, and Tima Pisarchuk 11.

“I’m just hoping that the relay team will make it to state this year and improve in state placing from last year,” Davenport said.

There were more impressive races at the Kentridge Invite on Jan 7.

“Bill Davenport bettered his own personal best time in the 100 Breaststroke and bettered his own state qualifying time set earlier this season,” the RAL/MM head swim coach Richard Carr said, “and Ryan Hunter lowered his personal best time in the 500 free by over 3 seconds.”

It looks like the boys’ swim team has many good things to come, as well as impressive state appearances.

The Hawks did their best, but in the end, they were no match for the Jacks. RAL picked up the victory even after having to forfeit three matches.

When it came right down to it, the Jacks really showed what they could do.

“It’s really hard to say who our best wrestler has been this year,” Mr. Dollemore, coach of the wrestling team, said. “We have had so many outstanding performances by all the athletes this year that it would be impossible to pick just one.”

The Jacks were trying to assert their dominance from the bottom position during the match with the Hawks.

“We’ve been trying to work on scoring from the bottom position more,” Dollemore said. “It not only gives us points, but it’s also symbolic, showing that no one can keep us down.”

The Jacks have always had a strong program for wrestling, and in the last three years in the Greater St. Helens District, RAL varsity has only lost three league matches.

“I think this year’s going to be better,” D.J. Smith 11 said, “We’ve all been working on new techniques and new takedowns, and it’s really improved us as a team.”

When asked who the toughest opponent would be this year, Dollemore said, “Washougal has been our toughest dual meet in the past; we faced them for the league title last year, and I expect the same will happen this year.”

Dollemore believes that the Jacks will be ready for Mark Morris this year, as the Jacks have been working all year to improve their wrestling.

“I worked all summer on getting in better shape and practicing new takedowns,” Smith said.

The Jacks like to live by rules like: “I understand that in order to be the best, I have to beat the best,” and “In order to be a champion, I have to be able to score off the bottom; no one can hold me down!”

The Jacks are 2-1 in league right now, and they have their sights set on the league title.

“I decided to turn out for wrestling because all my friends were doing it and I was inspired by Dollemore,” Smith said.

The Lumberjills started off this season with high hopes and eight returning varsity players to the team.

Although the Jills finished off their pre-season play at one win and seven losses, they ended their tough schedule with a 20 point win over Fort Vancouver on Jan 8 to boost their morale.

“The reason for all of the losses is our team is not clicking. We cannot get the offense going,” guard  Christina McDonald 12 said.        

This year, the Jills’ overall record as of January 18th is 2-9 0-2 (in league), but they still have a chance for state. In league, teams play each other twice so if our Lumberjills are able to rally together for the last part of their season and beat the teams they’ve lost to previously, hopes will still be alive.

“I’ve noticed that our team practices extremely hard everyday. There have been some definite improvements from the beginning of the year and that is from all of the hard work,” JV player Jose Ingram 11 said.

Having different captains every game proves that the Jills are full of leaders and team charisma. This great aspect will help the Lumberjills complete their district and state goals in February.

“One aspect our team has is experience and with this experience comes a team confidence. When we play with this confidence throughout the game, we play much better,” Coach Ott said.

The Jills showed this team confidence in both their wins against Fort Vancouver and Scappoose. They beat each team by more than 10 points and showed outstanding talent. If our girls can harness this talent and use it in every game they will be sure to succeed.

The Jills play rival Mark Morris on Feb 8 at the Lumberdome.

 The 116^th Civil War game between the Jacks and Monarchs was crazier and closer than ever.
         This game for both teams is a lot different then past years, with two teams consisting of mostly seniors who have played with or against each other since they first started dribbling a basketball.
         “Ever since I can remember, my friends and team have been really competitive with the seniors on the Monarch’s [team] and it is a huge rivalry,” Levi Welch 12, a RAL basketball player said.
         Most of Longview was crammed into the Lumberdome, or “Ghetto Dome” as Mark Morris fans call it, Thursday, Jan 14.
  The Jack fans came into the game in style, busting through fog and bobbing their heads to “Back in Black” by ACDC. That shocked the Monarch fans, and the two went back and fourth with each other all game.

        The 116^th game was a scrappy, close one that crowned the Monarchs. The Jacks lost 53-58 at home, but led going into halftime. Angelo Folz- Edwards led the Jacks in scoring with 17,  and for the Monarchs Sean Atkins led with 24. At halftime, the Jacks led 29-27, but couldn’t keep it up in the fourth quarter and were out-rebounded through out the game. But RAL shots were hitting from all over the court.

      “I feel like going into the next game we have confidence and things to work on but overall the game should be a good one to watch. We need to be able to out-rebound them and out-hustle them.” Russel Lengyel 12 said.

      Mark Morris now leads the series 83-33. The Jacks’ last win came in 2004. But, the last couple of years have been different because of the Monarchs many transfers. This year, most of the players from both teams come from Longview, which means its more of a rivalry except for one player from Sequim for the Monarchs.

    R.A. Long meets up with Mark Morris again on Feb 9 at Ted Nat court. The Jacks will be working hard and preparing in practice for another intense rivalry game where they hope to defeat the Monarchs. Overall, the Jacks had a tough non–league schedule to start the season and competed with 4A teams to prepare them for the regular season. Their record so far is 7-8 and 3-2 in league.

After 58 wins and 24 losses last season and a brief playoff outing against the Houston Rockets the Trailblazers are ready for a Championship this 2009-2010 season.

After the additions of free agent Andre Miller from the Philadelphia 76ers and rookies Dante Cunningham, Jeff Pendergraph, and Pat Mills the Blazers are looking at another playoff caliber basketball team.

 Last year, two young players were aggravated with injury, small forward Martell Webster who only played five minutes last season and Center Greg Oden who missed his whole rookie season in 2008 and missed 24 games last season, this year they’re healthy and ready to go.

Greg Oden was the NBA’s number one draft pick in 2007. The young mans performance in his first two NBA seasons has been sub-par for a number one draft pick.  However this year Oden is looking strong, confident, coordinated and fresh. 

The city of Portland is very excited for this season, because of the veteran play from All-Star Brandon Roy who averaged 22.6 points a game last year and looks to have another big year to lead his team to the finals.
  Also, the new player Andre Miller who was finally added to the starting line-up instead of coming in off the bench looks to have a big year. Miller averaged 16 points and 5 assist a game with the Philadelphia 76ers.
  Nate McMillan the head coach of the Blazers since 2005 decided to change the lineup after the first five games were not played well. The starting lineup now is Miller, Steve Blake, Roy, LaMarcus Aldridge, and Greg Oden instead of Miller coming off the bench and Martell Webster starting.

  Even though the season has just begun, Brandon Roy, LaMarcus Aldridge, Greg Oden and Andre Miller were selected to be included on the ballot for the 59th NBA All-Star game.
  The Portland Trailblazers are a young team who look to have a bigger and better year in the 2009-2010 and to win the finals which hasn’t been done since 1977.