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S PORTS www.hoodrivernews.com Hood River News, Wednesday, May 20, 2015 A7 Scottie Ziegner to represent HRV boys tennis at state championships Eagles place third of seven teams at district tournament in Bend; girls season comes to an end at districts By BEN MITCHELL shutting out Hermiston’s Skyler Grigg in the second round and then defeating Summit’s Capping off the team’s first-ever Columbia Nick Berning, 6-1, 6-0. Ziegner lost to Sum- River Conference title earlier this month, the mit’s Carter Quigley in the semifinals (1-6, 4- HRV boys tennis team had a good showing 6), who would end up winning the entire sin- gles bracket. Ziegner then bat- during last week’s 5A Special Dis- tled to defeat another Summit trict No. 1 Championships in Bend, netter, Cole Younger, whom he which saw the Eagles take third shut out in both sets. overall and No. 1 singles standout Ziegner got revenge for his Scottie Ziegner finishing high teammate, Cooper Holzman, enough to represent the team at the who had been defeated in the state championships. second round by Younger, 6-1, 6- Coach Jon Hiatt has heaped much 2. Holzman, however, who was deserving praise on his athletes unseeded, got the upset in first after matches this season, and the round when he defeated The district tournament was no excep- Dalles’ Will Coy (6-1, 6-3), who tion. was seeded fifth. HRV’s Will Fer- “We had three doubles and two SCOTTIE ZIEGNER rick, whom Hiatt said played singles players playing (in the “awesome” during the tourna- championship rounds) on Saturday; this is where we always want to be,” he said. ment, also had a tough match, losing to even- tual champion Quigley in the quarterfinals “Overall, I am pleased with how we did.” In singles competition, Ziegner, who re- (0-6, 1-6). In doubles, Victor Garibo and Patrick Hu- ceived a third seed, cruised through his first two matches in the championship round, mann, who were seeded seventh, ended up News staff writer finishing sixth overall in the tournament, losing to Hermiston’s WadeKemper/Snell (no first names given) in the fifth-place match. Also competing for HRV at districts were Alden Sova in singles competition and the duos of Brandon Campos/Miguel De La Rosa, Jorge Calderon/Hugo Sandoval, and Cole Shepherd/Sawyer Bogard. Ziegner will travel to Portland Thursday for the state championship tourney, which will be held at the West Hills Racquet Club, starting at noon. Girls tennis season ends at districts The girls team has struggled to win match- es throughout the season, and the district tourney was no different, with the Eagles’ five points resulting in a seventh-place finish out of seven teams. “Our goal all season long was to become the best team we could possibly be going into districts,” explained coach Jaime Rivera. “While there were certainly hurdles we had to jump over, in my opinion we accomplished our goal as evidenced by our improved team culture and the respect we showed each other, win or lose.” No one qualified for state, although in sin- gles, Olivia Newcomb was one win away from fifth place, which would have earned her a spot as an alternate. Team leader Maddy Graham came away the victor in two matches, and then lost to Pendleton’s Matilde Cianci in the championship quarterfinals. Graham and Newcomb faced off in the con- solation semifinals, with Newcomb coming away the winner, who then lost in the next round to No. 1 seed Autumn Layden of Sum- mit. In doubles, Madison Mooney and Vanessa Olivas also won two matches overall, then lost in the first round of the championships but advanced to the consolation semifinals. Other athletes competing for HRV includ- ed Ann Evans and Annelise Acosta in singles and the pairs of Camaryn Chambers/Tia Semmes, Bianca Badillo/America Flores, and Nikki Paulus/Crystal Flores in doubles. HRV track and field wins first-ever CRC title at District Championships Photos by Mike Weber HRV TRACK AND FIELD dominated the Columbia River Conference Track and Field District Championships last week, with both the boys and the girls team taking first overall thanks to numer- ous great performances from athletes. At left, junior Lauren Robinson competes in the 1500-meter run on Friday on the way to a second-place finish; at right, senior Mason McDowell clears the last of the high hurdles during the Friday finals to take first place in the event. By MIKE WEBER won district titles in four events (100, 200, two relays), but this year I switched to high jump instead of being in the 4x400. It’s super exciting to be going to state again for the The final day of the Columbia River Conference Track and Field District Champi- fourth straight year. The state meet is always my most favorite meet of the year. I’m onships turned out to be an historic day for the Hood River Valley Eagles, who won their ready to go and I hope to repeat as state champ in the 100 and 200 and I would like to win first ever CRC title. The Eagles, guided by coach Donnie Herneisen, won the boys and a state title in the high jump too, so that’s my goal this year.” Eight Eagle girls qualified for state, including juniors Lauren Robinson girls district championships Friday at The Dalles High School. (1500, 3000), Marlie Bloomster (300 hurdles), as well as freshman Audrey “It was very special to win the district titles this year,” said Herneisen. Marble, Caitlyn Fick, Kassidy Davidson and Chloe Clark. Marble, Fick, Vi- Horizon Hawks “Winning on either side would’ve been a great accomplishment, but it is uhkola and Mattson combined to lead HRV to the district title in the 4x400 track and field extra special to have won on both sides this year. In every previous year, we relay (4:15.88). HRV totaled 93 points in team scoring to take the title, with always finished second to Hermiston’s boys and girls teams. Last year was a teams also had a Pendleton (88 pts.) getting second place. much closer competition on the girls’ side than in years past, but Hermis- great showing at “We challenged the girls on Thursday at practice and told them we were ton’s depth really helped them pull away from us. The tables flipped a bit this their district champi- going to need some heroes to step up,” said Herneisen. “There were plenty season.” onships. Turn to to choose from after Friday’s competition. We had so many kids step up and HRV has 11 boys and eight girls that will advance to the state meet (May Page A8 to read score points in the three, four and five spots such as (Marlie) Bloomster, 22-23 at the University of Oregon’s Hayward Field in Eugene), led by senior the story. Sophia Marble, Terri Hewitt, and (Caitlyn) Fick just to name a few. Even Jestena Mattson (100 meters, 200, high jump), junior Sebastian Barajas (dis- though we won quite a few events, lots of kids earned a whole lot of points cus, shot put) and junior Parker Kennedy (pole vault). The trio are each with top-five finishes. Those were the heroes we needed to get the team ranked No. 1 in their events. A number of Lady Eagles won individual CRC titles, including three-time district win.” The Eagle boys contingent of state qualifiers is led by two-time CRC champions Bara- champion Mattson, who won the 100 (12.36 seconds), high jump (school record of 5 feet, 7 inches), and the 200 (24.59, breaking her own school record). Senior Emily Viuhkola jas (shot put, discus), Kennedy (100, pole vault), juniors Parker Irusta (200, long jump) was a two-time individual district champ with victories in the 400 (66.77) and 800 and Justin Crosswhite (1500, 3000). “I’ve had so much fun at districts and after winning the 3K on Wednesday, it felt good (2:26.68). Mattson is the defending state champ in the 100 and 200. “It was really super fun for me today,” said Mattson, who has earned an athletic schol- arship to attend Fresno State University in California in the fall. “In other years, I’ve See TRACK, Page A8 For the News RILEY VAN HOOSE slides into third base during Friday’s game against The Dalles. Van Hoose had a two- run single and scored a run himself to help HRV get a victory over the Riverhawks. Photo by Ben Mitchell Photo by Ben Mitchell MAKENA ZELLER slides in order to beat a tag at first base during Friday’s game against The Dalles. Zeller led the team in RBI, with two, thanks to a two-run single she hit. HRV softball fights to the final inning against TD, faces St. Helens in play-in By BEN MITCHELL News staff writer As far as making the playoffs were con- cerned, neither team had anything to play for during Friday’s HRV and The Dalles game, but that didn’t stop the two teams from putting on a show for the packed bleachers at the Westside Elementary softball fields. The two teams jockeyed for position at the outset of the game, which saw five lead changes, but ultimately resulted with HRV falling to The Dalles, 9-6, thanks in large part to a three-run rally by the Riverhawks in the seventh inning that received no response from the Eagles. Going into Friday’s game, neither The Dalles (7-5 Columbia River Conference, 15-10) nor HRV (4-8 CRC, 11-15 overall) could move up or down in the CRC, with The Dalles a shoo-in for the first play-in spot and HRV guaranteed the second play-in spot. Pendle- ton, ranked second in the state, took the league several games ago, as the Buckaroos had not lost any of their 12 CRC games this season. The Dalles came out of the gate fast in the top of the first inning, scoring four runs, but HRV answered equally in the bottom of the same inning, scoring four runs of its own. Zoe Munn and Kaylin Winans scored the first runs for HRV, both off passed balls and Breanna Weekly and Jenni Packer scored off a Makena Zeller single, which came from a line drive hit to right field, to make it 4-4. The Dalles regained the lead by a run in the top of the second, then pushed it out again in the top of the third to go up 6-4. In the bottom of the same inning, HRV came within one thanks to a double from Winans Please see BATTLE, Page A8 HRV baseball’s sweet season gets the cherry on top with a win over TD By BEN MITCHELL News staff writer With the CRC title firmly in HRV’s hands, the Eagles were only playing for pride in Fri- day’s game against The Dalles, who unlike HRV, had a lot to lose — namely the final play-in spot in the Columbia River Confer- ence. The Riverhawks (4-8 CRC, 10-15 overall), lost both the game and the chance to edge Hermiston for the final play-in spot, falling to HRV (9-3 CRC, 17-8 overall), 5-3, despite ral- lying in the final innings of the game. As they’ve done so often this season, the Eagles grabbed control of the game before their opponents had a chance to put up any runs. After a scoreless first inning, Chase Lariza provided HRV with its first run, scor- ing on a single from Ryan Ward, who hit a ground ball down the third-base line in the bottom of the second. Skyler Hunter scored as well that inning, making it 2-0, HRV. Both teams were quiet scoring-wise for the next two-and-a-half innings until the bottom of the fifth, when Kellan Duffy and Patrick Harvey scored off a single from Riley Van Hoose (line drive to center field) to extend HRV’s lead to four. Van Hoose would then score the final run for HRV a couple plays later, thanks to a ground ball hit by Dallas Buckley, who was able to reach first base on an error by The Dalles’ third baseman. The Dalles pushed back in the final two in- nings, scoring two runs in the top of the sixth and another run in the top of the sev- enth to make things a bit interesting, but re- lief pitcher Kam Walker stayed composed on the mound, giving up two hits and a run (none earned) while striking at one batter in Please see WIN, Page A8
