By Jeremy Mcdonald

Jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com

The Salem Sports and Breakfast Club honored South Salem’s Gitte Lonigan (Girls Corss Country), Sprague’s Amity Rogers (Girls Soccer), Sprague’s Drew Rodriguez (Football) and South Salem’s Daschel Smith (Football) for the Week of September 16)

Here’s the Press Release:

The Salem Sports and Breakfast Club Les Schwab Athlete of the Week from West Salem Girls Cross Country is Gitte Lonigan.



Gitte, a sophomore for the Titans, came through with a top 5 finish at the highly competitive Ash Creek Invitational at Western Oregon University. She ran a 19:01.6 to help lead the girl’s team to a 3rd place finish.. She currently sits 3rd in the Central Valley Conference in both the 3k and 5k and is also currently ranked 8th in 6A for the 5k and 11th in the state.



From Coach Dalton Lindsey, “I had the pleasure of meeting Gitte the summer before 6th grade. Gitte shows up to practice every single day with a smile on her face eager to improve herself and her teammates. Since her freshman year, she has been a leader not only to the girls but the rest of the team. Everyone on the team loves having Gitte around and she has the ability to change anyone’s mood for the better. Her being around and wanting to be better pushes her teammates to raise their performances as well. Gitte has never complained or whined about a workout and she loves taking constructive criticism, as she knows it will only make her better. She has matured so much over the last year in terms of trusting herself and her abilities when it comes to workouts and races. Gitte led our girl’s team last year to the highest GPA in the state (4.0) and she carries her academic success alongside her athletic success to this day.”



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The Salem Sports and Breakfast Club Les Schwab Athlete of the Week from Sprague Girls Soccer is Amity Rogers.



Amity is a junior and captain for the Olys who are currently 2 and 2 on the season. In the Oly’s second game of the season she scored 3 goals against McMinnville in Sprague’s 4-0 win. She followed the McMinnville game with another goal against #6 Southridge – a tough 2-1 loss. Amity also has two assists on the season. In Thursday’s 5-1 victory over McKay, Amity again scored 3 goals.



From Coach Francisco Martinez Cruz, “As a teammate, Amity is a good example and role model for her teammates. She is mature and always positive for the team. She motivates and encourages her teammates on and off the field. She is one of the captains and a really good leader. Not only does she support the varsity team, but she also encourages the JV team by going to their games and encourages other varsity players to go to the JV games to support them.”



Amity was an Athlete of the week last year as well.

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The Salem Sports and Breakfast Club Les Schwab Athlete of the Week from South Salem Football is Daschel Smith.



Daschel is a senior for the undefeated Saxons. Last Friday he had himself a game. Playing against Sunset he threw 40 times, completing 31 for 510 yards. Five of those 31 passes went for touchdowns. He also ran for another.



In week 1, versus Liberty of Renton, Washington Daschel went 26 of 36 with 2 TD passes and another TD rushing.



After two weeks of the season, Daschel has completed 57 of 76 – 75% for 907 yards and thrown for 7 TDs and rushed for 2 more.



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The Salem Sports and Breakfast Club Les Schwab Athlete of the Week from Sprague Football is Drew Rodriguez.



Drew is a senior for the Olys. In Sprague’s first two games – a 21-19 loss to Liberty and a big 56-14 win over Beaverton – Drew has 9 catches for 213 yards. That’s just under 24 yards per catch! Of those 9 catches, 6 have been for touchdowns.



Against Beaverton he had 5 receptions for 158 yards and 4 TDs. Against Liberty he caught 2 touchdown passes and also had an 82 yard fumble recovery for a TD. So he actually was responsible for all 3 TDs versus the Falcons.



According to Coach Jay Minyard, Drew “has put in a ton of time, effort, blood, sweat, and tears to earn his offer. He has spent countless hours training and playing 7 on 7 in the off-season and is now the first 4 year starter that I have had in my career as a high school coach. His leadership and football knowledge has helped us tremendously in our first game, and the staff and I anticipate that we will be leaning on Drew to continue to be a great leader throughout the rest of the season.”



Drew is committed to Colorado State University next fall.



Drew was honored as an Athlete of the Week for football last season as well.