Prep notebook: Second annual Dig for the Cure takes aim at prostate cancer

Published 4:04 pm Monday, October 20, 2008

The specific cause changed but the Dig for the Cure’s positive goal remains.

Everett High School will host the second annual Dig for the Cure volleyball match tonight. The Seagulls, 6-3 overall, play cross-town rival Cascade (2-7) at 7 p.m. in the Western Conference North Division contest at Norm Lowery gymnasium. It is a fundraiser for prostate cancer research.

Last year the inaugural Dig for the Cure match benefited breast cancer research. Around 400 fans saw Everett beat Cascade 3-0 at Cascade High. Heather Burglund, Everett’s head volleyball coach, changed the focus to prostate cancer for 2008. The idea came to her during a grocery store trip in July. Burglund noticed little blue ribbons were being sold to raise awareness about prostate cancer.

“With further research I realized that a phenomenal amount of men are affected by this cancer, but I so rarely hear about it,” Burglund wrote Friday in an e-mail.

According to the Prostate Cancer Foundation Web site, “prostate cancer is the most common non-skin cancer in the America” and one in six American men “will be diagnosed with prostate cancer, making men 35 percent more likely to be diagnosed with prostate cancer than women are to be diagnosed with breast cancer.”

Everett and Cascade volleyball athletes will wear blue jerseys tonight in honor of the cause. Fans can buy commemorative T-shirts at the door for $10, with $7 going to the Prostate Cancer Foundation.

“It is a great way for our athletes to be part of something bigger than themselves and they feel great pride in doing so!” Burglund wrote in the e-mail. “I am very proud of my players, parents and assistant coaches and the Cascade players and coaches for their support and help with this event.”

Oak Harbor hires coach

Tyson Van Dam is Oak Harbor High’s new head baseball coach. The 2001 Oak Harbor graduate played baseball at Edmonds Community College and the University of North Carolina at Pembroke. Van Dam takes over for longtime Oak Harbor coach Jim Waller, who resigned after 30 years.

E-W’s defensive dynamos

Excellent defense was a huge reason why Edmonds-Woodway beat then-fourth-ranked Kamiak Oct. 14 in a Wesco South volleyball match. Alex Storino, a 5-foot-5 senior, played particularly well, diving all over the court to make several of her team-high 22 digs. “She’s just getting better and better. She’s really, really starting to read well and make that adjustment to get into the spot,” E-W head coach Mike Pittis said of Storino, who is closing in on the single-season school record for digs.

The E-W volleyball team isn’t the school’s only squad known for dominant defense. The Warriors’ football team completed its third-consecutive shutout victory Friday, beating Mountlake Terrace 23-0.

Free college recruiting info

Jack Renkins of Recruiting Realities will discuss college sports recruiting in two free presentations: 7 p.m. Nov. 3 at Cascade and 7 p.m. Nov. 4 at Jackson. For more information about Renkins go to www.RecruitingRealities.com.

Mike Cane, Herald Writer