I grew up in Bend and have watched, coached, played and covered for the media lots of Central Oregon high school sports. Here are the best I’ve ever seen.
Football Offense – Cory McCaffery, Sisters (I saw McCaffery play several times and I’ve never seen anyone who busts more long touchdowns.)
Football Defense – Joel Skotte, Mountain View (So big, strong, fast and hard hitting!)
Boys Soccer – Matt Tompkins, Redmond
Girls Soccer – Katie Emerson, Bend
Boys Basketball – Maarty Leunen, Redmond (6-foot-9 point-forward… dominant!)
Wrestling – Austin Northup, Mountain View (I haven’t watched a ton of wrestling and the “Austinator” was one of my best friends in high school, so I watched him wrestle several times)
Boys Cross County – Travis Neuman, Summit (I’ve never seen anyone in CO run the times that he has this season)
Girls Cross County – Abby McAllister, Bend
Boys Tennis – Paxton Deuel, Summit (singles state champion)
Girls Tennis – Laura Krull, Summit (singles state champion)
Boys Track – Jesse Thomas, Mountain View (I never watched Ashton Eaton in high school.)
Girls Track – Kellie Schueler, Summit (the best Oregon track runner ever?)
Baseball – Joe Dusan, Bend (I never saw Jacoby Ellsbury play in high school)

TEAMS
Football – Mountain View 2011
Volleyball – Crook County… I forget which year. Wow! They’ve really got something going there.
Boys Soccer- Mountain View 1999 (state champs)
Girls Soccer – Bend 2008 (18-0 and state champs)
Boys Basketball – Redmond 2003 (state champs)
Boys Cross County – Mountain View 1995 (I was on this team but didn’t run at state… I wasn’t fast enough Led by Jesse Thomas, Jake Ortman and Scott Miller, this was a fast crew. They won state by 36 points.)
Girls Cross County – Summit 2011 (I’ve never seen a team this dominant in XC… and I’ve seen some good ones!)
Boys Tennis – Summit 2009 (OK, so I coached this team… but I really think this was the best CO boys tennis team I’ve seen. Freshmen Paxton Deuel and Adam Krull, state dubs champs Josh Guyer-Tyler Walsh, plus Conor Hegewald, Nate Haldeman, Sterling Dillingham… they were good!)
Girls Tennis – Bend 1994
Boys Track – Summit 2011
Girls Track – Summit 2011 (112.5 points!)
Girls Golf – Sisters 2008 (I covered them at state and they were dominant! State champs)

I’d love to hear your thoughts! I didn’t put up a selection for every sport, because I didn’t have one that came to mind. So please share your picks.

This is what I’d consider a pretty straight forward ranking system. No complex equations that consider how many points you score (meaning you can take your foot off when you’ve got them down 35-0 @ half), and no opinion. Just wins and who you lose to. Also, it keeps things going based on the year before. For example, if you win state and then you are undefeated the next season you should be ranked No. 1.

Formula
• Finish previous season (this sets the criteria for unbeaten teams)
1 Sherwood, 2 Marist, 3(t) Mountain View, 3(t) Crescent Valley, 5(t) Corvallis, 5(t) Jefferson, 5(t) Lebanon, 5(t) Churchill, 9(t) Franklin, 9(t) Bend, 9(t) Liberty, 9(t) Ashland, 9(t) Parkrose, 9(t) Lebanon, 9(t) The Dalles-Wahtonka, 9(t) Wilsonville.
• Rank/Record of opponents lost to

Class 5A Football rankings
1 Sherwood 6-0
2 Marist 6-0
3 Bend 6-0
4 Mountain View 5-1 (lost to #1 Sherwood 1.000)
5 Corvallis 5-1 (lost to #2 Marist 1.000)
6 Ashland 5-1 (lost to #2 Marist 1.000)
7 Lebanon 5-1 (lost to #3 Bend 1.000)
8 Wilsonville 4-2 (lost to Lebanon and Sherwood .916)
9 Willamette 5-1 (lost to Ashland .833)
10 West Albany 5-1 (lost to 6A Thurston .667)

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Here are the most popular posts of the past month:
• Bend Basketball Trick Shots
• 2010 Oregon high school XC preview
• Jesuit girls XC train in Central Oregon
• 2010 Oregon prep volleyball preview

The votes have been counted and The Source’s “Best of” best athlete in Central Oregon is Max King. With runner-up Chris Horner. King and Horner are both world-class studs! King is the King of running races in Central Oregon and beyond and all Horner has done this year was finish as the top American in the Tour de France. Here are a few more athletes that have to at least be put into the discussion:

Who I missed (8-16):
Adam Craig
Ryan Trebon
Tommy Ford
Ben Watts

Original list:
Max King – He’s fast… and he has a really cool name!
Chris Horner – Best cyclist in the USA? … pretty much!
Jacoby Ellsbury – Major League Baseball player from Madras.
Ashton Eaton – One of the top track athletes in the world.
Maarty Leunen – Professional basketball player from Redmond.
Torin Koos – Olympic nordic skier living and training in Bend.
Carl Decker – X-Games Rally Car driver and one of the best Mt. Bikers in the USA.
Lars Flora – Olympic nordic skier living and training in Bend.
Jesse Thomas – The Mountain View grad is killing it in triathlon.

Who did I miss?

And those are just the guys! I’ll put up something on the girls soon.

Summit’s Kellie Schueler still has her senior season of track ahead of her and she’s already won more state titles than the majority of high schools. Seriously! The Stanford-bound runner has put up numbers, times and records that put her at a level that most high schools would be jealous of.
• 12 individual State track titles (going for 16)
• 3 team State track titles (going for 4)
• 2 team State cross county titles

Add to the above that coaches, teachers and students all think she is an amazing person, let alone athlete and you can see why she’s been featured on the pages of Sports Illustrated and has been named Gatorade’s athlete of the year for Oregon. Schueler was kind enough to answer a few questions for Central Oregon Athlete.

COA – How long have you lived in Bend?
KS – Since I was two years old.

COA – When did you start racing?
KS – I did the Little Foot Run starting in Kindergarten, but didn’t start racing at the Junior Olympics for track until I was 7 or 8 .

COA – What are some of your track goals this year?
KS – Finish the season without hurting myself, complete my goal of 16 state titles, be the first girl to win the 100, 200, 400, and 800 at the Oregon State meet.

COA – Do any of the boys at Summit ever challenge you to races?
KS – Yes, Pat Madden, who doesn’t stand a chance (most of the time).

COA – What has been the highlight of your running career so far?
KS – Winning a gold medal for the 4×400 at the Pan American Jr. Games last summer in Trinidad.

COA – Do you have any running heroes?
KS – Kara Goucher.

COA – What is your favorite workout in Central Oregon?
KS – 1000 repeats at Juniper.

COA – What do you like to do other than run?
KS – Sew, hike, attempt to surf, cook, learn, ride horses, adventure.

COA – Anything else to add?
KS – A thank you to anyone and everyone who i’ve competed against, thank you for supplying the competition that has helped me to develop as an athlete.

We hear so much about the bad in sports, when in fact sports is such a positive part of this world. So here @ COA we are going to post the occasional article under the category “Good People in Sports.” It’s an attempt to increase the positive and to give credit where credit is due… which is basically what Central Oregon Athlete is all about!

OREGON
INDIVIDUALS
• Annamarie Maag, Jesuit – Back-to-back state 6A titles, ends the decade on top and starts the next one right there.
• Brianna Anderson-Gregg, Philomath – 3 3A state titles.
• Kimber Mattox, Bend – When she wasn’t playing soccer, she was dominating in cross country. 2004 state champion.
• Ilsa Paulson, Sherwood – Back-to-back 3A titles.
• Taylor Wallace, Henley – Back-to-back 4A titles, fastest time of 2007.
• Peyton Schutte, Jesuit – She may never win an individual title, but that doesn’t mean she’s not one of the fastest of the decade. 2nd in state as a junior, 5th as a sophomore and 12th as a freshman and all three teams crushed at state.
• Ashley Baldovino, Lakeview – 3 small school state titles and one runner up.

OREGON TEAMS
• Jesuit 2009 – They won 8 of 10 state titles and 2009 was their best squad… oh yeah, and all seven of them are back next year.
• Crater 2007 – 5A champs scoring just 16 points.
• Summit 2009 – 21 points @ state to win 5A. 3rd best score of all time!

CENTRAL OREGON
INDIVIDUALS
• Alyssa O’Connor, Summit – 3rd in state as a freshman. Battled back from several injuries. 3rd in state as a senior.
• Emily McMahon Mountain View – 3rd in state as a junior.
• Kimber Mattox, Bend – When she wasn’t playing soccer, she was dominating in cross country. 2004 state champion.
• Kellie Foley, Crook County – 2008 Class 5A state champion. Didn’t run in 2009.
• Kellie Schueler, Summit – 4th in state as a senior. 5th in state as a junior. 10th in state as a sophomore.
• Michelly Foley, Crook County – 2007 Class 5A state champion. Didn’t run in 2009.
• Megan Fristoe, Summit – 2009 Class 5A state champion.

CENTRAL OREGON TEAMS
• Summit 2009 – 21 points @ state. 3rd best score of all time!
• Mountain View 2000 – Class 4A (big schools) state champions.

This is a series that will appear everyday until January 1st, looking at the best of this past decade.

Football Jesuit 2006 – Based on their undefeated record and 56-7 championship game win, it’s hard to say anyone was better.
Volleyball Gresham 2001 – A perfect 29-0 en route to the state championship.
Boys Soccer Jesuit 2001 – This is based purely on their 5-0 championship game win.
Girls Soccer Lincoln 2008/2007 Sheldon 2004 – So many undefeated teams… hard to choose.
Boys Cross Country Central Catholic 2003 – The 46 points they scored at state isn’t even close to being a record, but that was one fast year all around and CC was LOADED! Galen Rupp won the state meet with a 14:55. The rest of the team; Stephen Oliver (15:31), Scott Wall (15:33), Kenny Klotz (15:55), Luke Wiltshire (16:19), Ricky Chapman (16:38) and Sam Torrey (17:04). That’s fast.
Girls Cross Country Jesuit 2009 – They won the last 8 state titles of the decade and the 2009 squad was the best of all… so far! Look out for the 2010 team.
Boys Basketball Jefferson 2000 – The only large school division team to go undefeated in the decade. Featured; Jon Tinnon, Brandon Brooks, Michael Lee and Aaron Miles.
Girls Basketball Oregon City – Pick from one of their 5 state championship teams.
Wrestling Hermiston 2009 – 303 points at State, an all-time state record.
Boys Swimming Summit 2004 – Scored an amazing 224 points at State. You have to go back to 1983 to find the last team to score over 200 before the Storm did it.
Girls Swimming Westview 2008 – Scored 202.5 points at State. The most since 1975.
Boys Track Churchill 2001/Sandy 2003 – The Jordan Kent led Churchill and Tommy Skipper led Sandy teams each scored 59 points in the old Class 4A alignment.
Girls Track Summit 2008 – Scored a whopping 112 points to win the Class 5A meet. The most by any 6A/5A/4A team all decade.
Boys Tennis Jesuit 2008 – Scored 28 points. Would be one of the toughest teams ever in a dual match.
Girls Tennis Jesuit 2007 – Scored a mind-blowing 43 points. Won the next year with 23 points. 43 is practically unbelievable.
Boys Golf Tualatin 2004 – Shot a state record 568 (-8).
Girls Golf Lakeridge 2000 – 638, best score of the decade.
Baseball Crater 2000 – 27-3 is the best record of any large school state champion in the decade.
Softball Canby 2001 – 28-2 is the best record of any large school state champion in the decade.

CENTRAL OREGON
Football Mountain View 2007/Bend 2007 – The best showings from Central Oregon came in the same year as the Cougars and Lava Bears each reached the Class 5A state semifinals.
Volleyball Crook County – With four-straight state titles, it’s hard to say which one of them is best.
Boys Soccer Redmond 2003 – Ken Marshall’s team’s only loss of the season was a 1-0 overtime defeat in the big school state finals.
Girls Soccer Bend 2009 – State champions. The 16-0-2 Lava Bears outscored their opponents 82-7 on the season.
Boys Cross Country Summit 2005 – 2nd in state in a very fast year.
Girls Cross Country Summit 2009 – Third best score at state of all time!
Boys Basketball Redmond 2003 – State champions.
Girls Basketball La Pine 2009 – Class 4A state champions. Amazing turnaround in a program that had struggled for years.
Wrestling Crook County 2007 – Second only to IMC rival Hermiston at state.
Boys Swimming Summit 2004 – Scored an amazing 224 points at State. You have to go back to 1983 to find the last team to score over 200 before the Storm did it.
Girls Swimming Mountain View 2001 – Large school state champions.
Boys Track Summit 2005 – Large school state champions.
Girls Track Summit 2008 – Scored a whopping 112 points to win the Class 5A meet.
Boys Tennis Summit 2009 – First boys team to win state tennis in Central Oregon or IMC history.
Girls Tennis Bend 2009/Summit 2007 – Both teams took 3rd at state.
Boys Golf Redmond 2001 – Large school state champions.
Girls Golf Bend 2002 – Large school state champions, 647 = second best score of the decade.
Baseball Summit 2005 – Unheralded Storm team reached the state semifinals before losing to state champion Sprague.
Softball Redmond 2001 – Reached the semifinals at state.

Bend High’s Ring is 5A’s top player
The Lava Bears’ Mackenzie Ring is named the best in the state after leading Bend to a state title – The Bulletin