Wednesday, April 22, 2015 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Equestrians bring home the gold
The third and final meet
for the Central District
Oregon High School
Equestrian Teams (OHSET)
was held last weekend
at the Deschutes County
Fairgrounds. The Sisters
team rode in fine form, col-
lecting more than their fair
share of medals and buckles.
Junior Cammi Benson
claimed five gold med-
als, a feat never before
accomplished in the Central
District. She also won the
Individual Performance High
Point buckle for the season.
She qualified for state com-
petition in all five of her
events: Hunt Seat English
Equitation, Showmanship,
Horsemanship, Reining, and
Working Rancher.
Team Co-captain Ellie
Chandler brought home
another three gold med-
als, and qualified for state
in Equitation Over Fences,
Dressage, and Saddle Seat
English Equitation. She also
won the Individual Versatility
High Point buckle, which is a
combination of performance
events and timed events.
Sisters Head Coach Yvette
Chandler said, “Ellie and
Cammi both had a stellar
season, and brought home
eight gold medals between
them. Both of them train year
’round, not just during the
high school season, and it
really paid off in being con-
sistent. Add to it that they
won two High Point buckles
is just the icing on the cake!”
Freshman Liberty Harig
added to the Outlaws’ medal
count with a bronze medal
in Saddle Seat English
Equitation. This also quali-
fies her to compete at the
State championships. Coach
Golf teams continue
to improve
By rongi Yost
Correspondent
photo by Julie benson
sisters’ ohsEt competitors turned in strong performances.
Chandler was thrilled, say-
ing, “As a freshman, Libby
qualified for state in her first
year; not an easy task.”
In the team events, the
Canadian Flag team of Ellie
Chandler, Chawndra Craig,
Rylee Hurtley and Tessa
Georges claimed the silver
medal in Team Canadian
Flags, qualifying them for
state.
Coach Chandler was
happy with the district
results. “A couple of the girls
who I thought would qualify
for state did, but a number
of us were pleasantly sur-
prised by the results in Team
Canadian Flags. A Silver
medal means that both of our
seniors will now be going to
state, too.”
Rylee Hurtley also quali-
fied to compete in the state
championships in Barrel
Racing, placing fifth overall
for the season.
The Sisters team placed
second in the medium team
category this year.
Coach Chandler said, “I’m
really proud of the entire
team. Everyone contributed
Running like the wind...
photo by Jerry baldock
sisters graduate Brandon pollard matches his all time pr in the
1,500 at the Elite run of the oregon relays at hayward Field.
to the team points. We were
the smallest team in the
medium division, and it’s
tough when we’re compet-
ing against big schools like
Redmond and Summit.”
The third district meet
includes an emotional spe-
cial presentation of seniors,
where all the seniors from
the 19 teams in the Central
District are recognized.
While a short biography is
read, each senior rides into
the arena and is recognized
for their accomplishments
in OHSET. This year, the
Sisters team had two seniors:
Team Co-captain Chawndra
Craig and Tessa Georges.
The state championships
will be held at the Deschutes
County Fairgrounds in
Redmond, May 14-17. The
top athletes from eight dis-
tricts and 135 schools around
Oregon will gather to com-
pete in the largest annual
equestrian event in the state.
9
The boys golf team played
under tough, cold, and windy
conditions in an eight-team
tournament held at Bend
Country Club on Monday,
April 13.
Summit took the tourna-
ment by storm and claimed
championship honors with
a team score of 309. Bend
was runner-up at 311, and
Hermiston finished third at
323. Sisters recorded a team-
total of 413.
Austin Lake and Devin
Robillard both carded a 98
for the Outlaws. Robillard’s
98 was a career-best. Devin
improved on his short game
and only had two three-putts
in the round. Robillard fin-
ished his round with a great
par four on the No. 18 hole
by chipping in his fourth shot
from off the green.
“Devin is improving
weekly, and his short game
is the key,” said Coach Bill
Mitchell.
Kade Owen carded a 105.
Owen shot a 49 on the front
nine for his best nine ever.
“Kade had three three-
putts,” said Mitchell. “We
want to eliminate all three-
putts, but this is easier said
than done.”
Ben Saba finished at 112
and Steen Johnson shot a 125.
“This was probably the
best team effort we’ve had
in the last couple of years,”
stated Mitchell. “We need
to keep working toward our
goal of everyone breaking
100, and as a team we’d like
to break 400. We had 413, so
we are close!”
Mitchell told The Nugget
that a day later Austin Lake
had an unfortunate mishap at
school and broke his arm in
two places.
“It’s going to be very dif-
ficult to replace him, particu-
larly because he’s been our
best player,” said Mitchell.
On the girls side, Emily
Christen played at Tokatee on
Wednesday, April 15.
Christen lowered her score
for a career-best 102. Emily
shot a 48 on the front nine,
but added a few strokes on
the back nine to finish with a
58. She started the back nine
great, and shot bogey golf for
the first five holes, but from
there her game unraveled a
bit.
“Those five holes were
her best stretch of golf she’s
played by far,” said Mitchell.
“She had her goal of breaking
100 in sight, and then nerves
got the best of her. She was
still right there and was so
close.”
The boys will play in
a tournament at Meadow
Lakes on Friday, April 24.
The girls will not play next
week.
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