After a rough start to this year’s winter sports season with the long lasting teachers strike and week off due to the ice storm, the Riders are back with this year’s winter’s sports teams and dominating in games and meets.
Our Rough Riders men’s basketball team, led by head coach Jamarr Lawson, is currently number one in PIL and the third best team in the state of Oregon. Player Terrence Hill Jr., is the number one high school player in the state. Having only lost two games over the season, it is safe to say that they had a phenomenal season. It was exciting to see our coaches and student-athletes prepare for the state playoffs, and watch the team make a run for the state title. They made it to the state championships, the final game against Central Catholic. It was a sold out and emotional game at the Chiles Center, ending with a score of 76-85 the Riders claimed their spot as second in state. After struggling to recruit enough players, the women’s basketball teams are on the court and working hard. They are one of the youngest teams in the PIL, with nine underclassmen on the roster. Our Unified Special Olympics Basketball team has practices in the auxiliary gym on Flex B days. Anyone can join the team and Coach Furtado has information on game days and uniforms. Unified Basketball hosted their first home basketball this year on March 4th against Mcdaniel. With our cheer team and Band there to support. They took home a win
The wrestling girls and boys teams have had a struggle this year after losing six seniors who were state-tournament athletes, but have made a quick recovery. The girls’ team includes players who have already earned top-ten state rankings. As for the boys’ team, they will be competing at Districts this week, in which we are looking to have a strong showing by returning wrestlers from last year.
Our swim team is on a roll after starting their season late, they resumed practices and started meets swiftly when the strike ended, with some new swimmers and best times being set for others. When the ice storm hit, the swim team was one of the most impacted, losing their practice space at Matt Dishman Pool and having to cancel two meets they made a tremendous comeback finishing in PIL districts with a swimmer who qualified for state in the 50 and 100 freestyle. Head Coach, Derrell Wheeler was also named PIL Coach of the Year.
Both Cheer and Dance are wrapping up their season by participating in upcoming competitions. Our Cheer program attended the Tualatin Last Chance Cheer Competition and won 1st place for their Stomp and Shake routine. Our Dance Team has competed in several competitions and have placed in each one. Next year we will be offering a Dance class, as an elective, here at Roosevelt which will be another great opportunity for students to connect and grow their love for Dance.
The season is set to end February 26th, 2024. Our Athletic Director, Willie Williams says “Overall, I think the winter season is going well! There have been a few bumps in the road this season due to the PPS work stoppage and the historic ice storm which has accounted for about 5 missed weeks of practice/competitions. Nevertheless, Roosevelt Athletics is thriving and trying to achieve our goals. It has been a tough season, however, our student-athletes and Coaches are showing up day in and day out continuing to get better. Many times in life, you are judged on how you respond to adversity and that’s what I love about sports, it teaches you life lessons. I think that our coaches did a great job instilling important values such as teamwork and dedication within the Swim team. I am beyond proud of what’s happening with wrestling and the waves that they are making statewide. The wrestling program is improving year after year and is attracting more students to the sport. I admire our Girls Basketball program and their resiliency as they navigate through the season. I’m impressed by how well the boys basketball team plays together and their activism in the community. Our Cheer program has grown tremendously under the helms of our coaches as they are committed to building the program and ultimately seeing Roosevelt Cheer reach new heights. And lastly I am extremely proud of our Dance Team and the strides that they have made this year.” Information on Sports games, teams and tryouts for the spring season can be found on Oregon School Activities Association, Trivory and The Roosevelt High School website, www.pps.net/roosevelt.
