La Salle offers anything from soccer to equestrian, from volleyball to skiing and snowboarding. Over the course of the fall, winter, and spring seasons our Falcons have been competing to the best of their abilities, scoring many points and breaking personal records. 

With the 2022-2023 school year wrapping up, here’s a look back on how our 18 sports programs did this year. 

Volleyball: The “Lady Falcons” ended the 2022 volleyball season with a league record of 14-2. In the playoffs, the team made it past round one, defeating Summit High School in three sets. This brought them to the state tournament where they were defeated by Crater High School in three sets and lost to West Albany High School by three to two sets in the consolation bracket. Out of 32 teams in the 5A division, the team finished the season ranked 6th. Junior Emma Koppy said her “favorite memory was going to the state tournament” this season. 

Boys Soccer: During the fall 2022 season, the boys soccer team had a league record of 7-1-0, with one tie against Centennial High School during league play. The team made it all the way to the semifinals in the 5A state soccer tournament, beating Crescent Valley High School 3-1 in round one and Centennial High School 3-2 in the quarterfinals. They eventually fell to McKay High School in overtime with a final score of 1-2 during the semifinal game. They ended the year ranked 3rd out of 31 teams in the 5A division. Freshman Cooper Eldon said that one of his favorite parts of the season were practices and getting rides home from upperclassman afterward because “it increased friendships with people that I don’t normally think I would really hang out with” he said.

Girls Soccer: La Salle’s girl’s soccer team finished this year with a league record of 7-1. They made it past round one in the playoffs beating Springfield High School 3-0. However, in the quarterfinals, they lost against Summit High School 1-2. Out of 31 teams in the 5A division they were ranked 9th in the league. For next season, junior Sydney Spotts hopes that “everyone has a ton of fun,” she said.

Football: This season, accompanied by fans every Friday night, the football team won their first game since spring 2021 against Parkrose High School 39-17. Their league record was 2-3 and they ended the season ranked 28th out of 32 teams in the 4A division. “We went on a team beach trip in the summer, and I say that was my favorite part of [the season],” says sophomore Paul Skoro.

Cross Country: This season, the girls cross country team was invited to state and placed 10th. Overall, the girls team got 4th in the OSAA 5A State Championships. Additionally, the boys team got 4th in the 5A-1 NWOC Conference Championships. “I think it went really well, I think it was awesome, we had a lot of fun.” junior Tyler Smith said.

After the cross country state meet, there was only a three-week break until the winter sports started with basketball. 

Boys Basketball: The boys basketball team ended the year with a league record of 14-2, and were the NWOC League Champions. In the 5A division, the team was ranked 7th out of 32 teams. They beat Central High School 46-35 in the first round of playoffs, qualifying for the 5A state tournament at Gill Coliseum in Corvallis, but lost their first matchup against Crescent Valley High School in the quarterfinals 42-46. In the consolation bracket of the state tournament, the boys triumphed against Woodburn High School 45-43 and lost to North Eugene 46-64, finishing the tournament in 6th place.“[I] couldn’t ask for too much better,” junior Grant Ellison said. 

Girls Basketball: The girls basketball team dominated the court this season, having a league record of 12-2. In the state tournament, the team made it all the way to the semifinals. They beat Corvallis High School in round one of the playoffs 52-40. This qualified them for the state tournament which took place at Gill Coliseum. They beat Silverton High School in the quarterfinals 38-36 and lost to Crescent Valley High School in the semifinals 33-45. They ended up earning 3rd place after playing Crater High School and winning with a score of 55-50, concluding the season ranked 7th out of 31 teams in 5A. Sophomore Lindsey Kapanoske enjoyed playing this last season with the seniors, and her hope for next year is to “have a good connection like we did this year,” she said.

Swimming: Both the girls and boys swim team made it to state this year. The boys team finished in 13th place and the girls finished in 17th. Senior Aidan McCarthy qualified for the 50m freestyle, 200m free relay and 400m free relay along with seniors Nik Jelusic and Charlie Dougherty and freshman Keenan Geyer. Sophomores Kayla Chapman and Rowan Mozena, and juniors Rachel Yaskovic and Gabby Wolfe competed in the 200m medley. Dougherty says his favorite memory from this season was state because “you basically go with all your … swim friends and hang out for the whole day,” he said.

Ski/Snowboard: This year, several members of the ski and snowboarding team qualified for the state championship. Senior Elias Kean, junior Ryder McCoy-Hansen, and freshmen Liam Kean and Henry Perrin all qualified for state in the giant slalom, a longer and faster race than the slalom. For the slalom, seniors Stefano Au and Elias Kean, along with junior McCoy-Hansen, and freshman Liam Kean all qualified to compete. The team made it to state and were ranked 3rd out of eight schools. The season was “a lot of fun,” Elias Kean said.

The spring sports season is packed full with multiple different sports competing. Eight of La Salle’s 18 sports compete outdoors during this time. 

Baseball: The boys baseball team made it all the way to the quarterfinals in the state playoffs this year despite being ranked as the 16th-seeded team. The Falcons beat the number one ranked team Summit High School 6-4, in the first round. In their next game, they lost to Ashland High School 1-11. Beating Summit was sophomore Torsten Hersom’s favorite memory because “It was super cool” he said. “We got to travel down there the night before and stay in a hotel and it was a super nice bonding experience.” Overall, the team has a league record of 7-10 and finished ranked 15th out of 32 teams. 

Softball: The softball team has ended their season with a league record of 11-5. They made it to the quarterfinals by beating Corvallis High School in round one with a score of 2-1. In the quarterfinals, they lost to Dallas High School 0-9.  They are currently ranked 9th out of 31 teams in the 5A division. Freshman Sydney Trapp made the winning catch of the round one game and it was her favorite memory from the season.  

Track and Field: In the 2023 season the track and field team made their way to state. At the OSAA 5A State Championships, the girls team finished 7th out of 31 schools. Junior Jasmine McIntosh placed 2nd in the 100 meters and during prelims set a new school record of 12.51, and also placed 4th in the 200 meters. Seniors, Madeline Obuchowski placed 2nd in pole vault, along with Emma Gall who tied for 4th, and Katherine Sunderland who placed 10th. Junior Natalia Gonzalez placed 6th in high jump and sophomore Leia Papajack finished 13th in Javelin. In the boys shot put, sophomore Manu Tanzambi placed 10th. Freshmen Cooper Eldon and Jayden Gilbert and juniors Aidan Melbinger and Milan Cieslak finished 11th in the 4×100 relay. Sophomore Madeleine Delaney has a personal goal for next season to “just to get better basically; PR in more events,” she said.

Boys Tennis: Boys tennis has several players qualify for state once again this season. Junior Aidan McBride competed in singles and juniors Eldon and Breslin Nichols competed in doubles. As a team, they got 5th place in the OSAA 5A state competition. Senior Charlie Buckman said that this year he didn’t have a specific favorite memory, but that it was nice that he could “definitely see my improvement from last year,” he said.

Girls Tennis: The girls tennis team placed second overall at the OSAA 5A state competition. Sophomore Kennedy Harris and senior Megan Snyder both competed in singles, along with seniors Gabbi Tassinari and Sophia Hauer and senior Avery Richards and junior Bella Hanna-Barofsky who competed in doubles. Kennedy Harris won the bracket, giving her a second consecutive state championship win. Hanna-Barofsky’s favorite memory was the Roseburg tournament because “I really got to connect with my teammates and it was just a really fun tournament for us,” she said.

Boys Golf: For the majority of Mondays this season, the members of the boys golf team have been competing. They traveled down to Eugene, Oregon for a multi-day state tournament. The team finished 3rd in the overall team competition, and senior Will Koch won the individual competition, placing first for the second year in a row. Junior Lucas Hungerford’s favorite memory from this past season was going down to the state tournament, and for next season, his “goal is to get back to state,” he said. 

Girls Golf: The girls golf team has competed on the majority of Tuesdays this season, ultimately leading to them qualify for the state championship at the end of their season. During state, they placed 3rd. Senior Haley Hawkins’ favorite memories from the season have consisted of spending time with her golf friends “just being chill and relaxed and just playing the game and having fun, no stakes,” she said.    

Equestrian: The La Salle equestrian team members have been working hard this season and qualified for state. In state, they made the top 10 in the majority of their events. “My coaches and my teammates are all really supportive and it’s just kind of like a big family,” freshman Addie Offerdahl said.

La Salle’s cheer team made a comeback after a few-year hiatus. 

Cheer: Even though the cheer team did not compete this year, they were at many games for other sports cheering on the Falcons. Freshman McKenna Morgan’s favorite memory going down to Gill Coliseum “to cheer for the girls and boys basketball in Corvallis,” she said. In the 2023-2024 season, the team will also start to compete along with cheering on other La Salle teams. 

As the 2022-2023 school year comes to an end, many accomplishments and memories have been made across each sports team. For information regarding this past year’s schedules, rosters, and information on next year’s sports seasons, check out the OSAA website.