Announcer (00:01): Highlighting the amazing stories from inside the North Clackamas School district. This is the Proud To Be NCSD podcast, hosted by longtime principal and current community relations director, Curtis Long.

Curtis Long (00:14): Well ask any North Clackamas high school student athletes or thespians or musicians or choir performers and they'll tell you the season or the culminating performance doesn't always conclude with a storybook ending. An actor occasionally misses a mark, a singer or musician misses a note. Injuries happen on the field or court and rarely does a cast or ensemble or athletic team finish the season as the best in the entire state. But on this final two-part edition of the Proud To Be NCSD podcast before Spring Break, we're celebrating an NCSD team whose season wrapped up less than two weeks ago with the most storybook ending anyone could ever write.

Radio Play-By-Play (00:51): Now back to Mogul, the senior point guard dribbles it across will South Medford foul no they won't Davidson with it in the front court, the Clackamas Cavaliers. For the first time in the history of this school, they'll cut down the nets at the Chiles Center.

Curtis Long (01:06): Yes, our main characters in this story are the magical members of the Clackamas High school girls basketball team, who weren't the top ranked team in Oregon entering the state tournament, but ended their story book season as state champs. But this is a story that started back in November and December...a journey these teammates will always remember...sophomores, juniors, seniors, a team from all different classes...their love for each other showed by making extra passes...the wins piled up and a championship seemed achievable. Even the radio announcer said

Radio Play-By-Play (01:37): For the next two years, this Clackamas team's gonna be unbelievable

Curtis Long (01:39): The clock ticked down and the calves were champs of their sport and their coach?

Radio Play-By-Play (01:44): Corey Landolt has to feel good. She's emotional at center court!

Curtis Long (01:47): Yes, we'll use this two-part podcast as this story's epilogue...the coach and two players are here...so let's have a dialogue. A season that ended with lots of happy tears...the girls basketball state champions are the Clackamas Cavaliers. Here to talk about the ups and the downs and all the hard work...Coach Corey Landolt and seniors Rhyan Mogel and Eliza Buerk.

Curtis Long (02:09): Coach Landolt, Rhyan, and Eliza, take us back to those final few seconds ticking down on the clock. Corey, you were clearly emotional, but I want to hear from each of you what was going through your mind when you first realized we just won the state championship game?

Korey Landolt (02:23): Well, I think for me it was just a kind of a, an ending to such a long season and such a great season with these two and their teammates and just, you know, just really feeling that sense of relief of a goal accomplished and just like a sense of sheer proudness of the team and and these kids that performed.

Curtis Long (02:44): How about for you two, Eliza, Ryan? What was it like seeing those seconds tick off?

Rhyan Mogel (02:48): Uh, I think Korey had a good word, which was just a relief. I think there was like a lot of pressure on ourselves just like knowing that we had such a big opportunity for each other and for the school and the community. And then like when the last seconds like ran out the clock, it was like, all right, we just, we got it done.

Eliza Buerk (03:05): And for me it kind of signified like the end of one chapter in the beginning of a new one. Like I've been playing with Rhyan for almost a decade and like that was our last game together and for us to kind of be able to go out on top was incredible. And obviously like looking forward to the next chapter, but still like just being able to kind of have, like Rhyan said, like the last few seconds wind down and just this sense of, okay, well like we did it. You know, there's no question now. Like we thought that we were the best team in the state, but we just proved that and now nobody can tell us that we aren't.

Curtis Long (03:31): Let's let our listeners learn a little bit more about each one of you. So Rhyan and Eliza, you just said you've been playing together for a decade. You're the only two seniors on the team. Tell us a little bit about the basketball side of you, what position you play, how long you've been playing, and then maybe something outside of basketball that maybe people won't know.

Rhyan Mogel (03:47): I started playing, I lived in Canby and my mom coached my team. So that was what I started with for kind of my younger years. And then in fifth grade I started playing for Northwest Stars, which is my first team, my first club team. And that's where when I started playing with Eliza, I'm from Idaho, so that's where I'm originally from. All my family lives there and so I feel like people might not know. I kind of have like a little bit of a country side. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, like my cousins are kind of into horses and stuff like that, which is how I was when I was little. So kind of non basketball related. It's just something I've, I have interest in.

Curtis Long (04:23): So when did you come to Oregon?

Rhyan Mogel (04:24): Um, I was young but it was in 2008. We moved to Canby first and then to Oregon and that's where I've lived most of my life.

Curtis Long (04:32): Well Eliza, how about for you? Tell us a little bit about your basketball background and then something maybe we wouldn't know outside of basketball.

Eliza Buerk (04:38): Sure. Basketball has always been a little bit of a family affair for me. My dad played in college, my mom played in high school. All my siblings played in high school as well. So I was always just like watching my older siblings games and most of the time, honestly, just zoning out or like playing on my mom's phone, but just being around it from such a young age really like fostered an interest in it. And I started playing rec and maybe second or third grade. And then again, my first club team was, uh, Northwest Stars with Ryan in fifth grade. And from there it just kind of took off. You know, I started actually paying attention to my siblings games and actually kind of taking an interest in what they were doing and off the court. Something that some people may not know is that I'm like a mental health advocate. I am the, uh, editor of the self-care section of Althea Magazine, which is a women's sports centric magazine out of Eugene.

Curtis Long (05:24): Like what you're hearing so far on this state championship edition of the Proud To Be NCSD podcast? Coming up after Spring Break, we'll take you through that hard fought state championship game that saw both of our two senior guests play key roles down the stretch.

Radio Play-By-Play (05:38): Called in by Clackamas and a foul on South Medford Rhyan Mogel, the five nine senior, she'll shoot one and one on the other end. 37 seconds left.

Curtis Long (05:47): By now, you know how this game ends. But tune in after Spring Break to hear more from behind the scenes of the first state basketball championship in Clackamas High School history. In the the meantime, North Clackamas wishes all of you a safe and relaxing Spring Break. Want to catch up on more amazing stories from around our school district? How about a day in the life of an NCSD kindergarten teacher?

Kindergarten Teacher (06:07): You have to go home and empty out your pockets and find one little bead and a piece of a leaf that you are given and something from a necklace. And you have to realize that that's what makes it so special. We find it really endearing.

Curtis Long (06:21): Or the 2023 Oregon Regional Teacher of the Year from Alder Creek Middle School?

Regional Teacher Of The Year (06:26): Every teacher in the district I think loves the students that they work with. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And that's part of what you're talking about when you asked me and talked about that last day and how hard it is. Yeah. Because in some ways every year we're losing people that we love Uhhuh <affirmative>. I mean, they're fine. They're growing, they're where they're supposed to be, but there is a loss in that. Yeah. And I don't think I could do what I do if I didn't love the students. Right. We do so much more than teach.

Curtis Long (06:52): Throughout your spring break, search our district website or any of your favorite podcast providers for the Proud To Be NCSD podcast. And we'll be back during the first week of April

Kindergarten Teacher With Class (07:04): 5, 6, 7, 8. See you tomorrow. Don't be late. Yay. Yay. It is a great day.

Curtis Long (07:12): We'll talk to you then. Thanks for listening to The Proud To Be NCSD podcast. In North Clackamas, we know that education is a community effort and we're so thankful that you and your family are a part of our community. Until next time, remember, there are always great things to see wherever you go in NCSD.