S PORTS
www.hoodrivernews.com
Hood River News, Saturday, January 17, 2015
A7
‘Skate
and
destroy’
Gorge Roller Girls ready for season opening double-header next weekend
More info: www.gorgerollergirls.org
By ADAM LAPIERRE
News staff writer
Back bigger and better than ever,
the Gorge Roller Girls are gearing
up for their first bout of the 2015
season, and if momentum amassed
over the last couple years is any in-
dication, next weekend’s double-
header should be an exciting way
to spend a Saturday night.
In their third year since being
formed, The Gorge Roller Girls
now have enough players to field
two full teams. The B-team, called
the Mountain Maidens, will open
the Jan. 24 bout-night with a
matchup against the Air Raid
Roller Girls from Hillsboro, start-
ing at 5 p.m. The A-team, called the
GRG All-Stars, will follow at about
7 p.m. with a bout against the
Shanghaied Roller Dolls out of As-
toria. Action will be at The Dalles
Armory (402 East Scenic Drive),
doors open at 4 p.m. Tickets are $10
general admission, $5 for students
and seniors six and under free. Due
to limited seating, advance pur-
chase is highly recommended; as of
this weekend more than half of the
200 available tickets were already
sold.
Go
to
www.gorgerollergirls.org to pur-
chase tickets online.
With a new, smaller home venue
this season, spectators will get an
up close and personal view of the
action. Being at the armory, rather
than a school like previous seasons,
also allows for beer sales.
“Fans will literally be right next
to the track,” said Kimbo Slice,
NDI fundraiser
The Gorge Roller Girls have part-
nered with Next Door, Inc. for the
Jan. 24 bout; money made through a
raffle that night will go to NDI’s Big
Brothers Big Sisters program.
New skater intake:
Do you think you have what it
GRG marketing coordinator. “It’s
an intimate setting, which should
be pretty exciting for spectators.”
Slice, who goes by the name Kim-
berly Cannon for her day job, has
been with the Roller Girls for al-
most two years and says, like her-
self, many of the girls who started
the sport as fresh meat — as new-
comers are labeled — are now com-
petent skaters who bring depth and
athleticism to the team.
“I feel like we’ve progressed
tremendously,” she said this week.
“I, for example, didn’t even know
how to stand on my skates when I
started. We’ve improved leaps and
bounds in a pretty short amount of
time.”
In addition to a healthy group of
new skaters, the team also has a
new coach, who goes by the
moniker Scarlene and brings sever-
al years of experience from the
Portland-area derby scene.
“We’ve really learned a lot from
her in the last few months,” Can-
M ONEY!
CrossFit Hood River athletes and instructors
(from left) Regan Huckaby and Karen Mc-
Cadam brought home the bacon last week-
end for their performances in the CrossFit Fort
Vancouver Invitational. The invite-only com-
petition brought the Northwest’s most elite
CrossFit competitors (15 pairs of men and 15
pairs of women) to the Clark County Event
Center for the contest. The CFHR duo finished
third overall, which earned them medals,
bragging rights and a nice cash prize.
Submitted photo
M AT T IME
Hood River Valley High School wrestler
Monque Yanez works for a pin last weekend
at the Kelso Girls Wrestling Tournament.
Yanez and five others represented HRV
wrestling at the two-day tournament; she
picked up a fall with this move and finished 1-
2 overall. Jessica DeHart went 3-1 to finish
second at 105, Sarah Sullenger was 1-2 at
110, Beatrice Najera was 0-2 at 120, Joanna
Endow was 1-2 at 130 and Payton Rigert was
3-1 at 155 to finish second.
Submitted photo
takes to be the next derby star, or
just want to join the camaraderie
and fun of one of the fastest grow-
ing womens’ sports in the nation?
Gorge Roller Girls are hosting a new
skater intake event this Sunday, Jan.
18 at 1 p.m. For the location and
more information, send an e-mail to
gorgerollergirlsjoin@gmail.com.
non said. “Yo-Duh (former coach)
was great, especially in helping us
with our fitness level, but having a
new coach with that amount of
derby experience has been huge for
us.”
Among the many skaters to keep
your eyes on next weekend, stand-
outs include the speedy team cap-
tain, Ginger Binger, who has
proven to be a formidable jammer
over the last three seasons. Also a
three-year team member, Helda
Contempt has improved dramati-
cally since she started and is now
one of the top blockers on the All-
Star lineup. Another key blocker to
watch out for is Faye Spounder,
who is also president of the GRG’s
501c3 nonprofit organization. New
to the GRG lineup this season is
out-of-stater, Kesassin, who should
be an exciting addition to the
team’s offensive prowess.
To prepare for the start of the
season, which runs from now
through June, the girls have been
Team photos submitted, above photo by Adam Lapierre
GORGE ROLLER GIRLS 2015 lineup includes two squads of local ladies. At top
is the A-team, called the Gorge Roller Girls All-Stars; below that is the B-team,
named the Mountain Mavens. In action above is team captain Ginger Binger,
jamming her way around a Medford opponent about to hit the deck during a
home bout last spring as Hood River Valley High School.
practicing twice a week in the off-
season and four times a week
through the winter.
“It’s an exciting time for the
team,” Cannon said. “We have ex-
perienced skaters who continue to
Kegler’s
Corner
By JEFF OLSON
David Gibeaut
tops action
Team of the Week
David Gibeaut, +136 (784)
Rick Nishimoto, +134 (785)
Milo Prideaux, +112 (766)
Chris Voyles, +109 (763)
Tim Furlong, +109 (760)
The holidays are over now
and we’re back with a full
slate of league action at
Hood River’s Orchard Lanes.
We had more new faces make
our latest Team of the Week,
topped by David Gibeaut. He
put together a solid and con-
sistent three-game series in
the Tuesday Nite Mixed
(TNM) lea gue that was
capped by a nifty scratch 204
game. David, who is new to
league bowling here, fin-
ished up his evenings work
136 pins over his average,
tops for all league bowlers
last week!
get better and better and a lot of
new skaters who are eager to climb
the ranks and prove themselves on
the track. We haven’t lost a home
bout yet, so expect us to come out
hard next weekend.”
David just edged out leg-
endary Rick Nishimoto for
top honors by a mere two
sticks. Rick blasted out a big
scratch 277 game and fin-
ished up 134 pins over his av-
erage for his series. The pow-
erful right hander has long
been a household name in
Hood River bowling and has
racked up numerous big
award scores in his career on
the boards.
Milo Prideaux, who is also
a relative newcomer to Hood
River bowling, grabbed the
big hitter slot on the big five
this week after firing a nice
scratch 224 game that pro-
pelled him 112 pins over his
average for his set in the
Monday night Industrial
league.
Our clean-up man this
week is power player Chris
Voyles, who also found the
going to his liking in the In-
dustrial, where he notched a
fancy scratch 267 game and
673 series that was 109 pins
over his average. Tim Fur-
long anchors our fab five this
week after also ending up 109
pins over his average in the
Industrial, finishing like
Silky Sullivan stroking solid
scratch 227 and 211 games on
his way to a fine 631 set.
There were also lots of
near misses. All-star Bryan
Mason had a fantastic week
on the maples, pummeling
the pins in the TNM with a
superb scratch 733 series and
also in the Fraternal, with an
even better 740 set. He was
103 and 107 pins over his av-
erages respectively.
Not to be outdone, Ryan
Crowther was also 107 pins
over his average in the TNM.
Carl Casey cuffed the sticks
in the Industrial to the tune
of a scratch 660 series that
was 105 pins over his average
and Bonnie Ter nahan
bowled just as well in the
Tuesday mor ning ladies
Workshirkers league, where
she was also 105 pins over
her average after logging a
scratch 540 series. Finally,
Kevin Rogers topped his av-
erage by an even 100 pins in
the Wednesday afternoon se-
nior Colts & Fillies league.
Other scratch highs from
our top notch shooters this
past week included pro Jeff
Miller, who tossed a scratch
279 game and 724 set in the
Industrial; smooth Gordon
Sim, who stroked a nice
scratch 710 series in the
TNM; and stylish Jeremy
Bloom, who posted scratch
706 and 702 sets in the TNM
and Fraternal.
Great bowling everybody!