The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current, September 06, 2018, Page 10A, Image 10

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    10A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2018
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DailyAstorianSports
Gary Henley | Sports Reporter
ghenley@dailyastorian.com
Athletes of the Week
SOPHIE
LONG
Astoria
ALEX
TEUBNER
Seaside
Photos by Gary Henley/The Daily Astorian
ompeting against 125 other runners in the Ultimook Nike Invitational
C
in Tillamook, Long opened her sophomore season with a fourth-place
individual finish in the varsity 5,000-meter race. She covered the course at
he senior did it all for the Gulls in their season opener Aug. 30 vs. Hen-
ley at Broadway Field. Offensively, he averaged just over 10 yards per run,
T
finishing with 221 yards rushing on 22 attempts. He scored six touchdowns,
Hydrangea Ranch in 21 minutes, 4.5 seconds. Coupled with a sixth-place fin-
ish from freshman teammate Lindsay Riutta, the Astoria girls placed second in
the team standings behind Tillamook, out of 13 scoring teams.
including a 47-yard sprint down the sideline with six seconds left in the sec-
ond quarter, and a 49-yard run in the fourth quarter. On defense, he inter-
cepted a pass for Seaside’s only turnover in the 55-13 win.
HOLE-IN-ONE
SPORTS
IN BRIEF
Back-to-back
homers by Cruz,
Span lead M’s
past O’s 5-2
Lorraine Brown of Warrenton,
following her hole-in-one.
AP Photo/Stephen Brashear
The Daily Astorian
Lorraine Brown of Warrenton
scored a hole-in-one Aug. 21 at
Seaside Golf Course. She aced the
par 3, 153-yard fifth hole.
Astoria hosts
alumni meet
The Daily Astorian
The Astoria High School cross
country team will host its annual
“Run with the Fishermen” alumni
classic, Saturday, Sept. 15 at Cof-
fenbury Lake.
The race begins at 5:30 p.m.,
from the lake’s parking lot in Fort
Stevens State Park.
A potluck in picnic shelter A
will be held after the race.
Astoria alumni and support-
ers are invited to watch or join
in the run, which will include the
school’s cross country team.
The scenic course is slightly
less than three miles and follows
the trail around the lake. For more
information, contact Astoria coach
Andrew Fick at 503-325-3911, or
email at afick@astoria.k12.or.us.
SCOREBOARD
PREP SPORTS SCHEDULE
TODAY
Volleyball — Astoria at Rainier, 6
p.m.; Seaside at North Marion, 7 p.m.;
Knappa at Ilwaco, 6:30 p.m.; St. Paul at
Jewell, 6 p.m.
Girls soccer — Astoria at St. Helens,
7 p.m.
Boys soccer — St. Helens at Astoria,
7 p.m., CMH Field
FRIDAY
Football — Stayton at Astoria, 7 p.m.;
Seaside at Marist, 7 p.m.; Knappa at
Toledo, 7 p.m.; Creswell at Warrenton,
7 p.m.; Powers at Jewell, 5 p.m.; White
Salmon at Ilwaco, 7 p.m.
Volleyball — Jewell at Damascus
Christian, 6 p.m.
SATURDAY
Volleyball — Astoria, Seaside at
Cascade tournament, TBA; Knappa at
Neah-Kah-Nie tournament, TBA
Girls soccer — Marshfield vs. Astoria
(at Newport), 11 a.m.; Estacada at Sea-
side, 3 p.m.
Boys soccer — Marshfield vs. Astoria
(at Newport), 1 p.m.
Seattle Seahawks’ Earl Thomas warms up before a game against the Atlanta Falcons in Seattle.
Seahawks safety Thomas
ends his lengthy holdout
By TIM BOOTH
Associated Press
R
ENTON, Wash. — Locker
No. 29 in the Seattle Sea-
hawks locker room was once
again occupied Wednesday after
being vacant the entire offseason.
Earl Thomas was back after end-
ing his lengthy holdout. His Instagram
post on Wednesday morning announc-
ing his return made it clear Thomas
wasn’t happy or satisfied. But he was
present, giving the Seahawks a major
boost heading into the start of the reg-
ular season.
“He’s been with us for so long.
He’s just been part of the fabric of what
we’ve been about,” Seattle coach Pete
Carroll said. “It’s an adjustment period
as he jumps in with us right now and
we’ll figure out how that works. ... I
don’t have any thought about what to
share with you right now because we
have to see what he does and how he
feels and all that stuff, but it’s great to
have him back.”
Thomas’ return to the Seahawks
facility was a welcome moment for
the team and ended a long offseason of
drama centered on whether he would
play out the final season of his con-
tract, receive the contract extension
he hoped for, or possibly be traded.
Thomas’ reaction to the lack of a reso-
lution was clear in his post: “The dis-
respect has been noted and will not be
forgotten.”
He’s not happy, but he wasn’t
about to sacrifice a $500,000 game
check or leave his teammates without
one of their most important defensive
leaders. Thomas wrote he’s never let
his “teammates, city or fans down as
long as I have lived and don’t plan to
start this weekend.”
But he was quick to add he’s got
plenty of good years remaining after
his current contract expires.
“Father Time may have an unde-
feated record but best believe I plan on
Shaquem Griffin set to start
1st NFL game for Seahawks
Associated Press
RENTON, Wash. — Seahawks
rookie Shaquem Griffin will start at
weakside linebacker when Seattle
opens the regular season at Denver
on Sunday.
Starter K.J. Wright is still recov-
ering from minor knee surgery and
coach Pete Carroll said Wednesday
that the earliest he would return is
Week 2 against Chicago.
Griffin, who had his left hand
UP NEXT: SEAHAWKS
• Seattle Seahawks (0-0)
at Denver Broncos (0-0)
• Sunday, 1.25 p.m. TV: FOX
taking him into triple overtime when it
comes to my career,” Thomas wrote.
Thomas did not speak with report-
ers Wednesday. Carroll would not
commit to whether Thomas would
play against Denver on Sunday in
the opener. Seattle received a roster
exemption from the league to allow
Thomas to practice.
Not surprisingly, Thomas seemed
to be universally embraced upon his
return, both as the longest-tenured
Seahawks player and for the on-field
boost he can give to Seattle’s over-
hauled defense. Doug Baldwin said he
ran up and gave Thomas a hug when
he saw him in a team meeting. Defen-
sive coordinator Ken Norton Jr. joked
he became a better coach.
Linebacker Bobby Wagner under-
stood the dynamics of Thomas’
situation.
amputated as a child, became one of
the big stories of the NFL offseason
with his performance at the scout-
ing combine. The former UCF star
was drafted in the fifth round by the
Seahawks.
Griffin got plenty of playing
time in the preseason and played
well with the exception of the sec-
ond game against the Chargers.
Griffin will also play alongside
his brother Shaquill, the starting left
cornerback for the Seahawks.
“I think football is football,
business is business. That’s coach
Carroll and John Schneider, that’s
business,” Wagner said. “At the
end of the day you can’t really hate
a person for wanting to provide for
his family. That’s how I look at it.
He’s been playing at a high level, he
wanted more money. That’s kind of
on them.”
Thomas is a three-time first-team
All-Pro and was the anchor for the
Seattle defense that appeared in con-
secutive Super Bowls, winning the
first. Aside from suffering a broken
leg late in the 2016 season, Thomas
has been a durable starter from the
time he arrived in the league. He
has missed just seven regular-season
games in his career.
His holdout was based on seek-
ing certainty for the long term. He
asked for a trade if Seattle wasn’t
willing to give him a contract exten-
sion. The idea of a trade, for now,
was squashed by Carroll on Wednes-
day when he said: “He’s a Seahawk.
He’s always been and will be one
forever.”
SEATTLE — Dee Gordon
says it’s too early for the Seattle
Mariners to be worried about the
wild-card math. He thinks they
should just concentrate on win-
ning games.
Nelson Cruz and Denard Span
hit back-to-back home runs, and
Seattle overcame sloppy infield
defense to beat the Baltimore Ori-
oles 5-2 on Wednesday night.
Despite winning a home series
for the first time since July 22, the
Mariners failed to gain ground on
Oakland in the race for the second
AL wild card. They still trail by
5½ games with 22 remaining.
Nike unveils
Kaepernick ad to
air during NFL
season opener
Nike has unveiled its first “Just
Do It” ad narrated by Colin Kaeper-
nick, a spot scheduled to air during
the NFL season opener tonight as
well as during the U.S. Open tennis
tournament and other major sport-
ing events.
The two-minute spot released
Wednesday highlights superstar
athletes LeBron James, Serena Wil-
liams and others, and touches on the
controversy of NFL players protest-
ing racial inequality, police brutal-
ity and other issues by demonstrat-
ing during the national anthem.
Kaepernick narrates the full spot
but first physically appears midway
through. As a camera pans to reveal
Kaepernick’s face, a reflection of a
United States flag is visible on the
facade of a building behind him.
Kaepernick says: “Believe in
something, even if it means sacri-
ficing everything.”
At the start of the ad, Kaeper-
nick says: “If people say your
dreams are crazy, if they laugh at
what you think you can do, good.
Stay that way, because what non-
believers fail to understand is that
calling a dream crazy is not an
insult, it’s a compliment.”
The former 49ers quarterback is
revealed as the narrator toward the
end of the spot.
President Donald Trump, a fre-
quent critic of protesting NFL play-
ers, tweeted Wednesday that Nike
is getting “killed” over the endorse-
ment deal.
“Nike is getting absolutely
killed with anger and boycotts,”
Trump tweeted. “I wonder if they
had any idea that it would be this
way? As far as the NFL is con-
cerned, I just find it hard to watch,
and always will, until they stand for
the FLAG!”
— Associated Press