McKenzie Sports Report – September 24

McKenzie Varsity Sports Schedule This Week

The McKenzie Varsity Volleyball team hosts Triangle Lake on Tuesday, September 22, at 6:00 pm. The Eagle team travels to Mapleton on Thursday, September 24 and that match starts at 6:00 pm. McKenzie travels to Crow on Tuesday, September 29, and the match begins at 6:00 pm. The McKenzie Cross Country teams travel to Lebanon on Friday to participate in the Champs Invite (1A, 3A Only) meet. The meet will be held at Cheadle Lake Park in Lebanon. A Girls 3,000 meters Middle School race starts at 3:00 pm followed by a Boys 3K MS race at 3:30 pm. A Girls and Boys 3,000 meters Junior Varsity race starts at 4:00 pm. The Girls 5,000 meters Varsity race starts at 4:30 pm and the Boys 5,000 meters race will begin at 5:15 pm. The Eagle Varsity Football team travels to Crow on Friday with kickoff scheduled for 7:00 pm.

McKenzie’s Conrad Drake Finishes 9th

At Northwest Classic

Lowell’s Theo Waters Wins Top Honors

A couple of small middle school athletes stamped a big mark at the Northwest Classic sponsored by the Steens Mountain Running Camp meet held at Lane Community College on Saturday, September 19. Lowell 8th grade runner Theo Waters finished the 3,000 meters race 1st in a field of 247 competitors representing 34 teams and clubs from around Western Oregon. Waters’ winning time was an excellent 9:40.70 minutes and a Personal Best. Harrison Landauer, a 7th grade athlete running unattached finished second in 10:14.60 minutes, also a PB time. McKenzie’s Conrad Drake, an 8th grade athlete, finished the race in 9th place with a time of 10:57.20 minutes, just off his Personal Best of 10:51. 60 minutes, which he established on August 29 at the JC Rust Buster. Eagle 8th grade teammate, Isaac Mitchell-Chavez, finished the race in 198th place with a time of 17:36.40 minutes for a PB time. McKenzie 6th grader Kenneth Cain finished his race in 24:07.50 minutes, which placed him 242nd. The race featured runners from 3rd grade through 8th grade.

Zyla Drake Sets Personal Best At NW Classic,

Finishes 22nd in 21:36.40 minutes

Eugene Christian’s Scarlett Garber Takes 4th

McKenzie junior Zyla Drake finished 22nd out of 116 cross country runners last Saturday at the NW Classic Girls 5,000 meters 1A/2A/3A/4A meet held at Lane Community College. Fellow Mt. West League competitor Scarlett Garber of Eugene Christian toured the course in a Personal Best time of 20:00.60 minutes, good for 4th place. Drake’s time of 21:36.40 eclipsed her previous PB time of 21:36.9 minutes set a year ago, September 10, 2025, at the Country Fair Classic meet. Oregon Episcopal runners tapped out the top three finishes in the race. Abby Wilson took home 1st place honors in 18:59.80 minutes, Andy Bryant finished 2nd in 19:02.00 minutes and Kate Vasanth finished 3rd in 19:09.40 minutes. The top three finishes earned Class 3A Oregon Episcopal 1st place in the team race, with a low score of 35 points. Cottage Grove finished 2nd with 93 points and Phoenix was third at 105 points. McKenzie and Eugene Christian do not field complete teams and thus do not figure in team scoring.

Eagle Soph Cylas Sughroue Finishes

62nd At NW Classic

McKenzie’s Cylas Sughroue toured the NW Classic 5,000 meters course at LCC in a Personal Best time of 18:51.40 minutes and finished 62nd out of 168 1A/2A/3A/4A cross country athletes. Sughroue’s previous best time of 18:57.10 minutes was set on October 30, 2025 at the 3A/2A/1A, SD4 District Championships held at the Valley of the Rogue State Park. Sughroue’s time was the 3rd best Class 1A time in the NW Classic. Jacob Thomas of Eugene Christian finished 46th in 18:26.20 minutes and Sage Kyllonen of Cascades Academy of Central Oregon finished 53rd in 18:42.50 minutes. Marist senior Corbin Sage won the NW Classic with a time of 15:22.30 minutes and Henry Stone of Siuslaw took 2nd place with a time of 15:54.50 minutes. Knappa High School won the team scoring with a low of 61 points followed by Siuslaw in 2nd with 86 points. Marist finished 3rd with 116 points.

McKenzie Blanks Gilchrist In League Opener, 32-0

Eagles Even Season Record at 2-2

The McKenzie Eagle Six-man Varsity Football team entertained the Gilchrist Grizzlies last Friday, September 17, and on a pleasant Fall evening in the Cascades, along the iconic McKenzie River, the Eagles easily dismantled their win-less East Cascade opponent, Gilchrist, 32-0. With the win, the Eagles improved their overall season record to 2-2, and more importantly, won the 1A(6)-SD3 Special District 3 League opener for both teams. The Eagles are currently tied first with North Lake and Days Creek, all at 1-0. North Lake defeated Crow 25-12 at North Lake and Days Creek defeated Powers on the road, 31-27. McKenzie tests the Cougars of Crow this coming Friday, September 25, their Homecoming, and we’ll hope it’s the Eagles crowing at the end! McKenzie doesn’t furnish a detailed box score of their games, so in a general sense, they were led by their senior running back Rhys Hamlow, who scored most of the touchdowns and had a big night on the defensive side of the ball as well. Other defensive standouts were Liam Acevedo, Silas Jones, Avery Thoms, and Jacob Norlund.

Eagles Netters Split In The Coast Range

McKenzie Loses To Alsea and Perrydale, Defeats Eddyville

McKenzie’s Varsity Volleyball team followed the same road map, pretty much, last week, as they traveled to Corvallis with a turn down the Alsea Valley on Tuesday, September 15, and returned back to Corvallis, home of the Beavers, on Thursday, September 17, and down the Yaquina River Valley to Eddyville Charter. Both schools are about half-way between Philomath and the Oregon Coast, difference is one has to circle around Mary’s Peak to the South to arrive in Alsea and around the North to land in Eddyville. The contests are usually followed up with a fine dinner back in Philomath, often times at the Dairy Queen. Many of you might remember. The Tuesday travel to Alsea, home of the Wolverines and co-leaders of the Mountain West League, is always a tough venue to visit. Truth to be known, the Eagles showed up and played hard for the most part, but came up a bit short on victories. Alsea defeated McKenzie 25-17, 25-18, and 25-8, in three straight sets and said enjoy your dinner back in Philomath. The Wolverines have always been great hosts. But hang onto your hat. McKenzie also shared quality court time with another visitor to Alsea that eve, the Perrydale Pirates, who stole the opening match with a 3-0 non-league victory over the Eagles, 25-9, 25-14, and 25-11. Perrydale sits atop the Casco League undefeated currently. Assuming a positive perceptive, twilight in the Alsea Valley was good for experience looking forward for Eagle Head Volleyball Coach Rachel Mark and her young crew. As mentioned, the Eagles packed their bags, Thursday for the trip back up the I-5 and onto Highway 20, making real sure they headed west to Eddyville (Newport) instead of taking a right turn and landing east in Boston, Massachusetts. That’s a solid reason why you hire and trust your own bus drivers. Once arriving at Eddyville Charter, the Eagles of McKenzie worked at getting their game legs on and their priorities straight. Those two activities took longer than anticipated and resulted in an opening set loss to the Eddyville Charter Eagles, a hard fought affair, but a 20-25 loss for the visitors nonetheless. Give credit to Coach Mark as she re-shared her script for the match and her team caught the message, loud and clear. McKenzie won the next hotly contested set, 25-22. The fire was lit and the Eagles of Finn Rock kept it stoked, wrapping up a second set win, 25-19. Momentum sounds sweet when it’s singing for you, and McKenzie heard the harmony, finishing the night in Eddyville with a set and match (3-1) winning effort, 25-11. For the record, that makes the hot fudge sundae in Philomath that much sweeter. For the week, McKenzie finished up in fifth place in the Mountain West League standings with a record of 4-3. Mohawk and Alsea are tied at the top, 6-0, while Crow and Triangle Lake reside and tied in third at 4-1. No McKenzie stats were available at press time.