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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TuESDAY, MARcH 5, 2019
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Gary Henley | Sports Reporter
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SPORTS
IN BRIEF
Seahawks use
franchise tag on
defensive end Clark
RENTON, Wash. — As
Frank Clark continued to
impress in the final season of his
rookie contract, the Seattle Sea-
hawks kept saying he would be
part of their long-term plans.
The Seahawks stayed true
to that, but for now it’s just for
the 2019 season. Seattle used
the franchise tag Monday on
Clark, keeping the former sec-
ond-round pick and top pass
rusher from hitting the free-
agent market.
Clark will be due $17,128,000
this season if the sides do not
come to an agreement on a long-
term deal by July 15 and he plays
under the franchise tag. Both
sides have indicated a desire to
keep Clark in Seattle for more
than just one more season.
“Frank and I, we have a great
relationship. The communica-
tion has been great. There’s a
strong level of trust between
the two of us,” general manager
John Schneider said at the NFL
combine last week.
Clark proved his worth as an
elite pass rusher with a career-
high 13 sacks in 2018, the first
season he didn’t have veterans
Michael Bennett and Cliff Avril
helping him get to the quarter-
back. They were the most sacks
by any Seattle player since 2007
and put Clark in line for a mas-
sive payday should he hit the
open market.
But Seattle decided not to let
that happen, using its franchise
tag for the first time since 2010,
when it was used on kicker
Olindo Mare. Seattle used the
non-exclusive franchise des-
ignation on Clark, meaning he
could sign with another team but
Seattle would get two first-round
picks from his new team.
Oregon women
sixth in AP women’s
basketball poll
NEW YORK — Baylor
remained the unanimous No. 1
choice in the Associated Press
women’s basketball poll.
The Lady Bears, who have
been atop the rankings for six
weeks, received all 28 first-
place votes from a national
media panel Monday. The Lady
Bears have the longest win-
ning streak in the country, 19
games, and closed out the regu-
lar season Monday night at West
Virginia.
UConn, Louisville, Notre
Dame and Mississippi State fol-
low Baylor. All four teams are
done with the regular season
and start their conference tour-
naments later this week. Ore-
gon, Stanford and Maryland
remained Nos. 6, 7 and 8 as the
first eight teams in the poll are
unchanged.
North Carolina State moved
up a spot to ninth and Iowa two
spots to 10th.
Zags, Cavaliers remain
1-2 in AP Top 25
Gonzaga remained at No.
1 after extending the nation’s
longest winning streak to 20
games. Virginia stayed at No.
2 after winning both its games
last week.
The Bulldogs received 42 of
64 votes in the men’s college
basketball poll released Mon-
day after finishing an unde-
feated run through the West
Coast Conference. The Cav-
aliers had 21 first-place votes
and No. 4 Duke, which fell a
spot, had the remaining one.
North Carolina and Tennes-
see both moved up two spots,
to Nos. 3 and 5.
Every other team switched
positions and No. 25 Central
Florida moved into the poll for
the first time since 2010-11.
Gonzaga (29-2) capped off
a 16-0 run through the West
Coast Conference by rolling
over Pacific and Saint Mary’s
to earn the No. 1 seed in this
week’s WCC Tournament.
— Associated Press
Photos by Nancy Taylor
LEFT: Lily Schaelling works on the bars, under the watchful eyes of teammate Karli Gantenbein. RIGHT: Annie Rehnert’s routine on the
bars, on her way to the best all-around score.
Infinity gymnasts post
season-best scores
By GARY HENLEY
The Daily Astorian
thletes for Astoria’s Infinity Gym-
nastics Academy were on the road
again recently, taking part in the
Anne Patterson Classic at Umpqua Valley
Gymnastics in Roseburg.
The IGA gymnasts were in competi-
tion with each other, in the girls’ all-age
silver Xcel and bronze Xcel divisions.
For the silver team, Audrey Steele had
the top all-around score of 36.675, with
the best scores in the vault (9.50) and bars
(9.775), and a 9.0 in the floor exercise.
Steele finished just ahead of teammate
Annie Rehnert, who scored a 9.0 or above
in three out of four events, including the
top score in the floor (9.250), with the
same score in the vault and bars.
Her 36.6 all-around score was a per-
sonal season best.
“Annie’s hard work and athleti-
cism has helped her continuously prog-
ress,” said Kayla Stubbs, one of the IGA
coaches.
Infinity’s Calista Valdez was third,
with a 36.5 all-around, followed by Ade-
laide Maher (35.975), Jocelyn Steele
(35.775), Maevri Bergerson (34.975) and
Alexis Valdez (34.775).
A
Infinity Gymnastics coach Kayla Stubbs, left,
with the medal-winning Annie Rehnert.
With coach Kayla Stubbs looking on, Lily
Schaelling competes on the balance beam.
In the bronze Xcel division, Infinity’s
Lily Schaelling won her first all-around
title with a 35.70 score.
“She had an awesome 9.4 bar routine
and placed first in three out of the four
events,” Stubbs said. “Lily has continu-
ously improved at each competition since
the start of the season.”
Schaelling was followed in the scoring
by teammates Sofia Shipley (35.3), who
took first in the vault (8.75) and second
in the balance beam and floor. Karli Gan-
tenbein (33.9) and Kalista Giles (32.750)
rounded out the IGA scores.
Pizazz wowz crowd in latest competition
By GARY HENLEY
The Daily Astorian
The Astoria dance team Pizazz
took second place in a competition
Feb. 23 at Sprague High School,
and took second in a dance-off
Saturday at Liberty High School
in Hillsboro, as the group gears
up for state competition.
Pizazz compiled 81.18 points
Saturday to finish .2 points
behind Valley Catholic (81.38),
making it the second time in as
many dances that the Astoria
team topped 80 points.
On Feb. 23, Pizazz finished
with 83.45 points, just behind
Stayton’s 84.03 in the Class
1A-4A division.
In the four divisions that com-
peted (1A-4A, 5A, 6A and Show),
Pizazz had the third-highest over-
all score.
Pizazz is comprised of eight
dancers, which is small com-
pared to the two teams that scored
higher, who have triple the num-
ber of dancers, according to
Emily Madsen, who coaches the
team along with Caroline Wright.
The competition theme this
year is “Welcome to Our Tribe,”
featuring the song “The Chain”
by Fleetwood Mac.
The team will compete in the
Justin Grafton
Astoria’s dance team, Pizazz.
OSAA state championship com-
petition March 16 at Portland’s
Memorial Coliseum.
This year’s Pizazz team has
just one senior — head captain
Nara Van De Grift, along with
junior co-captains Aliyah Grant
and Liz Varner, sophomores
Makenzie Brady, Isabella Clem-
ent and Skylar Sturtz, and fresh-
men Hope Womack and Madison
Yeager.
Pizazz has won multiple state
championships, the last in 2015
in the 4A small school division.