As the rain picks up and the darkness arrives earlier each day, that can only mean winter is near. And as such, that means fall sports have come to a close for the Tigard Tigers.
The Tigers fielded teams across a variety of sports and had plenty of standouts along the way.
Here’s a look back at some of those who were honored for their success throughout the fall:
Cross Country
Perhaps the best showing for any individual team in the fall came from the Tigard girls cross country team, which earned a sixth-place finish at the Oregon State Cross Country Championship earlier this month at Lane Community College.
Sophomore Sophia Service gave the Tigers their fastest time, finishing the 5,000-meter race in 18:36.53. That placed her 13th out of nearly 150 racers.
She was followed by senior Leah Heidt and junior Sydney Joule, who placed 37th and 38th, respectively.
Senior Meadow Baxter placed 47th, sophomore Ruby Veal set a personal record with her time to earn a 79th-place finish, and senior Makaila Rust and Nevi Larsen also qualified for the state championship meet and competed for Tigard.
On the boy’s side, Tigard’s only qualifier for the state meet was junior Paul Hretcanu, who finished with the fastest score in the Three Rivers League Meet to earn a spot in the state meet. He finished 15th in the state meet.
Boy’s Soccer
Both the boys and girls soccer teams reached the playoffs, but lost their opening-round matchups.
The boy’s team fell behind early on the road against Sherwood, giving up three goals in the first half.
They got a jolt of life early in the second half, when senior James Cure out-raced a few defenders and floated a shot over the goalie less than eight minutes into the second half to get Tigard on the board.
The Tigers played with a new sense of urgency in the second half, orchestrating a number of scoring opportunities, but were struggling to find the back of the net. Tigard broke through for another goal with just under 16 minutes left, when the Tigers scored on a free kick.
Unfortunately, that’s the closest Tigard would get. With around seven minutes to go, Sherwood netted an insurance goal to go up 4-2 and held on for the win.
It’s the first time the Tigers have reached the playoffs in consecutive years since 2018-2019. They also wrapped up the regular season with a win over rival Tualatin, marking the first time Tigard has beaten the Timberwolves since 2019.
Head Coach David Bello was named Three Rivers League Coach of the Year for the season, in which the Tigers went 8-4-3.
A trio of Tigard players were selected for the All-Three Rivers League First Team: junior Ulises Trujillo Lopez, sophomore Hunter DeSanno, and junior Walt Mendenhall. It’s the second straight year as a first-team selection for Lopez, while DeSanno and Mendenhall both moved up. DeSanno was an honorable mention last year, while Mendenhall was voted to the all-second team.
Junior Gavin Goodrich, senior Kelvin Dwyer, and senior Zander Martin were all selected for the All-Three Rivers League Second Team.
Cure, senior Deacon Fogerson, senior Daniel Oller, senior Porter Sarmento, and senior Ian Phillips were all picked as all-league team honorable mentions.
Girls Soccer
The Tigard girls soccer team faced a tough task in the playoffs, with a trip to Grant High School to take on a top-10 ranked team. Making things even more difficult was that it was absolutely pouring throughout the game.
Grant picked up the playoff win, 4-0.
Junior Ella Naser was the team’s sole All-Three Rivers League First Team selection. Junior Brianna Burum, junior Mia Sadek, senior Harlyn Tischhauser, and freshman Miriya Kira were all named as honorable mentions for the all-league teams.
Last season, Naser was named to the all-league second team.
Football
It was a year without many wins for the Tigard football team, but there were plenty of positives throughout the program, both on the field and in player engagement.
Head Coach Todd Crist said earlier this year he hopes the Tigers turn into a coach-run, player-led program. He thinks they’re on their way, especially with some new additions to the program this past year.
When the Tigers are kicking off, the players on the sideline all raise their helmets in the air. At the start of the fourth quarter, the team holds up four fingers. They have also added sticker helmets this year, which are selected for making impactful plays, as determined by a rubric.
“Those are all from the kids,” Crist said. “Those are the players coming up with stuff that builds excitement and energy around the program.”
Tigard finished the year at 1-8, with its lone win coming in a 59-66 drubbing against Roosevelt.
Crist said that regardless of the score or his team’s record, he felt like the players stayed invested and worked hard.
“We’re fortunate enough to have a team that just responds regardless of what the scoreboard says,” he said. “All we ask is to do your best and give percent. Choose faith over fear, and things will work out. And they’re rallying together, and so you can’t complain about that.”
After the season, plenty of Tigers picked up all-league honors, as well. Senior fullback Liam Allender was the lone All-Three Rivers League Team selection on offense.
Senior Ryan Frye and sophomore Taison Cepeda were named to the all-league second team at tight end and running back, respectively.
Junior quarterback Aris Dimick was in his second year as a starter and was voted a team captain by his teammates, and his play earned an honorable mention for the all-league teams.
Junior wide receiver Jaxon Lee and junior running back Jackson Morris were also named honorable mentions for the all-league team. And the Tigers had a ton of offensive linemen earn honorable mentions for the all-league teams. The Tigard linemen to earn the recognition were senior offensive tackle Ruedi Graf, senior offensive tackle Braeden Krizan, senior offensive guard Mason Gilliland, and senior center Ryan Weigel.
On the defensive side of the ball, Tigard had a few players picked to all-league teams.
Gilliland was named to the All-Three Rivers League Second Team for his play as a linebacker. Senior Liam Allender was also named to the all-league second team in the outside linebacker position.
Senior defensive lineman Jaden Del Cid-Mendez was named an honorable mention for the all-league teams, along with Morris as a defensive back and senior defensive linemen Luis Machorro and Graf.
Tigard also had a few players earn honors for their work on special teams. Junior kicker Brady Hendricks was named an honorable mention for the All-Three League teams as a placekicker, and senior Nico Cepeda was an honorable mention for all-league honors as a kick returner.
Volleyball
The Tigard volleyball team had a hot start to the year, winning three of its first four games. Things got a bit harder as the season went on, especially once league play started.
Although the Tigers had a few rough stretches, they ended their season on a positive note, with a 3-1 win against Lake Oswego.
Senior Hailey Gustafson was named to the All-Three Rivers League Second Team for her performance as an outside hitter this year. She had 221 kills and 20 blocks on the year.
Fellow senior Jacquelyn Godard was also named to the second team, despite missing a good chunk of the season. She finished the year with 130 kills and 23 blocks.
Addy Witt, senior libero, was named an honorable mention to the all-league teams after posting 231 digs, 51 assists, and 45 aces on the season.
Sophomore Lorelai Taddeo was also an honorable mention for the all-league teams. She had 72 digs and 26 aces on the season.
