By Jeremy Mcdonald

Jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com

The Salem Sports and Breakfast Club honored South Salem’s Kayleigh Carpenter (Volleyball), the Saxon Football team’s defensive Unit, West Salem’s Lauren Duke (Girl’s Soccer), McKay’s Kyrin Fuimaono (Football), North Salem’s Erick Gonzalez (Football), West Salem’s Avery Meier (Girls Cross Country)

Here’s the Press Release:

The Salem Sports and Breakfast Club Senior Athlete of the Year for Volleyball, from South Salem, is Kayleigh Carpenter.

Senior Athletes of the Year are sponsored by The Gatti Law Firm.

Kayleigh was an outside hitter for the 11-11 Saxons. #16 South made it to the second round in the playoffs before facing top ranked Jesuit. South finished league play strong with a 3-1 win over Central Valley Conference champion and #8 ranked Olys. Kayleigh had a big night, hitting .486 with 22 kills to go along with 18 digs and 2 aces. A consistent leader, she averaged over 14 kills and 12 digs per match all season. Kayleigh was a team captain and a four-year letter winner.

Kaleigh was an Athlete of the Week for the 2021 season. She will be attending Boise State University next year and playing volleyball.

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The Salem Sports and Breakfast Club Les Schwab Athlete(s) of the Week is the South Salem Football Defense.

The #9 Saxons are 8-1 overall and 6-1 in league. Over the last 5 games they have outscored their opponents 216 to 65, allowing fewer than two touchdowns per game. In the renewed Mayor’s Cup game versus North Salem they held the league’s leading rusher to just 14 yards on 11 carries (1.3 yards per carry), and the Viks to just 42 yards on 31 carries (1.4 yards per carry).

The Saxons go into tonight’s Round 1 game versus #8 Sherwood having won their last five games.

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The Salem Sports and Breakfast Club Les Schwab Athlete of the Week, from West Salem Girls Soccer, is Lauren Duke.

Lauren is a senior and captain for the Titans, whose season ended with a 9-2-4 overall record and a 6-1-1 record in conference. At midfielder, Lauren balanced between being a defender and attacking offensively. Statistically it’s sometimes hard to quantify defense in soccer, but it is noteworthy that West outscored its opponents 52-18 this season, giving up just over one goal allowed per match while accumulating five shutouts. Sealing the league championship in a 2-1 win over South Salem, Lauren scored West’s first goal at the end of the first half.

Lauren will be continuing her soccer career at Boston College next season.

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The Salem Sports and Breakfast Club Les Schwab Athlete of the Week, from McKay Football, is Kyrin Fuimaono.

Kyrin, a junior and captain, plays safety and is the quarterback for the Scots who ended their season at 3-6.

McKay finished the season strong with wins over Corvallis and West Albany. In last week’s 20-14 win over the #13 Bulldogs, Kyrin completed 18 of 28 for 271 yards and a touchdown. He also helped his cause from the other side of the ball with 6½ tackles (one for loss) and a fumble recovery.

Kyrin was also an Athlete of the Week for 2021.

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The Salem Sports and Breakfast Club Les Schwab Athlete of the Week, from North Salem Football, is Erick Gonzalez.

Erick, a senior, plays defensive back and wide receiver for the playoff-bound 5-4 Viks. In the 31-6 win over West Salem Erick had two interceptions, returning one for a touchdown. In addition, he had three pass break-ups. On the offensive side of the ball he had four receptions for 45 yards and has seven receiving TDs on the year.

Erick was also an Athlete of the Week for the 2021 season. He hopes to continue playing football at the collegiate level next year.

The Vikings open Columbia Cup play tonight at Newberg.

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The Salem Sports and Breakfast Club Les Schwab Athlete of the Week, from West Salem Girls Cross Country, is Avery Meier.

Avery, a 9th grader, is completing her first high school cross country season. She concluded her regular season with an impressive run at the Central Valley Conference championship meet, finishing 1st with a time of 18:16.4, a personal record. Her time currently puts Avery at the top of the CVC, 7th in 6A, and 10th in the state of Oregon. Avery was voted Girls Athlete of the Year in the CVC by the coaches. She is also now the fastest 9th grader in the state with her performance. Avery led the Titan girls’ team to their first conference championship. West also qualified for state as a team for the first time since 2013.

Avery and the West Salem team will be competing in the OSAA State Championship meet at Lane Community College tomorrow in Eugene.