Page 2B SPORTS East Oregonian Friday, October 23, 2015 HERMISTON: UCLA upsets TigerScots waiting PRs pouring in at No. 20 Cal on district opponent end of season for Lady Bulldogs College Football Associated Press PASADENA, Calif. — With UCLA’s season seemingly teetering on the brink of collapse, Josh Rosen calmly propped it back up with a passing performance that put the freshman’s name in the Bruins’ record book. Rosen completed a school-record 34 passes and threw two of his three touch- down passes to Devin Fuller, and UCLA got back on track with a 40-24 victory over No. 20 California on Thursday night. Rosen passed for 399 yards in another splendid game for the standout rookie, and Thomas Duarte had career highs of 10 catches for 141 yards for the Bruins (5-2, 2-2 Pac-12). 5RVHQ ZDV VPRRWK DQG FRQ¿GHQW LQ another big Pac-12 game, going 34 for 47 without a turnover. CBC Volleyball East Oregonian in both of their regular season match-ups with 3-2 scores each time. Which ever team wins will have ATHENA — Since 2010, the Weston-McEwen TigerScots have its hands full with the TigerScots, turned in six-straight seasons of as Weston-McEwen swept all four at least 20 wins, as the TigerScots matches with the Mustangs and HDUQHGZLQ1RDJDLQVW6WDQ¿HOG Rockets this season. Weston-McEwen coach Shawn on Tuesday. The season turned in by the Tiger- White knows that even amidst his Scots (20-8, 8-2 CBC) earned them teams’ success, what happens during the No. 2 seed in the Columbia Basin the regular season won’t really Conference district tournament, matter come Saturday. “We just need to work on staying which will be played at Culver on aggressive and keep working on Saturday. Their opponent is still yet to be just getting better each day,” he said decided, as the TigerScots are set to following Tuesday’s match. The winner of Weston-McEwen play the winner of Pilot Rock (11-12, 4-6 CBC) and Heppner (12-12, 5-5 and Pilot Rock/Heppner will then CBC) which is slated to start at 12 proceed to play the Culver Bulldogs (26-3, 10-0 CBC) 30 minutes after p.m. Heppner defeated Pilot Rock the conclusion of the match. PENDLETON: Bylenga on pace for state runner because I had that the aspiring collegiate runner experience.” A hard month of training tried anything she or her following the state meet and a coaches could come up with JRRG¿QLVKDWWKH)RRW/RFNHU to ease the pain — lightened Regionals in December workouts, cross-training, West UHQHZHG KHU FRQ¿GHQFH aqua jogging, even maternity though, and Clem went on to wraps. place eighth in the 3,000 and None of it worked, but it 10th in the 1,500 that spring wasn’t the treatments that DWWKH26$$WUDFNDQG¿HOG were the issue. Clem had championships. been misdiagnosed. Back to full strength for Three weeks before the her senior season, Clem is district cross country meet of hoping to lead an entire team her junior year, Clem found of Buckaroos to the state out she’d been competing meet as they prepare for this DOO VHDVRQ ZLWK DQ LQÀDPHG weekend’s district champi- appendix that would need to onships at Sorosis Park in be removed immediately. The Dalles. “Doctor (John) McBee “I haven’t really hit the saved the day and did an time I’ve wanted to yet this amazing surgery,” Stewart year, so I’m hoping to get said. “There was so much to state,” she said. “And scar tissue around (the hopefully I bring my girls appendix) it took 45 minutes with me.” longer than they thought it She’s still looking to get was going to take.” back to the form that got The timing of the surgery, her a personal record in the which also required a 5,000 meters of 18:45.95 her one-week recuperation, didn’t sophomore season, but her leave Clem much time to get 19:31.1 at last week’s Kyle herself ready to compete at Burnside Wildhorse Invite districts. She still managed to was the second-fastest by a reach the state championships CRC girl this season. She ZLWK WKH ¿QDO DWODUJH EHUWK DOVR ¿QLVKHG WKDW UDFH from the Columbia River seconds ahead of any of the &RQIHUHQFHEXW¿QLVKHGWK district’s other top runners. With the cutoff for indi- — 25 spots lower than she YLGXDO VWDWH TXDOL¿HUV VHW DW had as a sophomore. That placing, along with seventh place, Clem’s fourth- her inability to run a single straight appearance at the race quicker that 20 minutes Lane Community College that season, took a toll on course that hosts the state meet appears inevitable. &OHP¶VFRQ¿GHQFH The margin for error will “It’s weird, when that pain (in my side) went away be much slimmer for the rest I wasn’t used to not feeling of the team. Only the top two that pain. So it was weird to district placers will advance feel other pain, like, ‘Is that to compete at state, and it’s an injury? I don’t know.’ a race that’s expected to be So I probably didn’t go my decided by just a few points. “Ever since freshman hardest for a while,” she said. “I feel like I’m a better year state has always been a Continued from 1B goal of ours and it’s always been so close,” said senior Chyenne Carey. “Each year we’re really close and this year I feel like we’re closer than ever. And what it will come down to at the race is who wants it more. Which team wants it more. I feel like we’re in a really good place mentally where we just want it and we’re just going to do our best and try whatever we can to make it there.” Fellow senior Kaleigh Waggoner agreed that this group has never been more prepared to make a run at state. “I think that we’ve been peaking at the right times and , WKLQN WKDW ZH¶YH GH¿QLWHO\ been working harder and getting better throughout the season,” she said. “I think there’s been moments where we’ve all had a bad day or we’ve all had a bad race, but we’re at the moment now when we’re so focused and so ready for this race. “We’ve never been this ready before and that feels really good. I think the whole district is kind of in antici- pation of who is it going to be, the top two? So that’s really cool and it’s also really nerve-racking.” Stewart said the girls are doing all the right things in practice, but the competition is better this year too. “These girls are doing more miles than we’ve ever had a Pendleton team do before, and they’re doing it at a faster pace than they’ve ever been able to do before, but unfortunately so is the whole state,” she said. “I couldn’t ask any more out of this team, I’m super proud of their effort. We’ll just have to see if our best day is good enough with everybody else’s best day.” The Pendleton boys are also trying to overcome a YHU\ FRPSHWLWLYH ¿HOG WR reach the state meet. The qualifying criteria is the same, and the Buckaroo boys are also led by a three-time VWDWHTXDOL¿HU Senior Nolan Bylenga’s best time this season is 16:33.8, and the only CRC UXQQHUWR¿QLVKDKHDGRIKLP at the Wildhorse Invite was Hermiston’s Josiah Nieder- werfer. A self-proclaimed statis- tics nut, Bylenga watched his competition closely this season as times were posted online, but even he has no idea how Saturday’s race will turn out for himself or his Buckaroo teammates. ³,W FRXOG GH¿QLWHO\ EH close, we’ve been improving like crazy these last couple meets,” he said. “We’ve put in so much hard work, and I think whatever happens — we could come out running huge PR’s — and I think it will be a good race, and I want to see what happens.” Stewart thinks Hood River will be the team to beat, though. “Hood River is the strongest boys’ team in the league by far, they’re very impressive,” she said. Pendleton’s boys had their streak of three-straight state berths snapped last season. The last time the girls took a team to state was 2011. The district meet will begin at 10 a.m. for the girls and 10:45 a.m. for the boys. ——— Contact Matt Entrup at mentrup@eastoregonian. com or (541) 966-0838. HELIX: Life in small town revolves around sports month of the year where we don’t have sport going on,” actually did realize it, it feels said Jackson, “so it’s mostly really good. And now having shopping, going to dinner, the opportunity to win and DQGRIFRXUVH1HWÀL[´ being able to win as a team 0RUH VSHFL¿FDOO\ WKH\ and grow together and grow enjoy frequent trips for Thai ourselves along with it is food and road trips to the rewarding.” Tri-Cites for shopping extrav- The season turned in by aganzas, as well as numerous WKH*UL]]OLHVHDUQHGWKHPWKH nights spent at one of their No. 2 seed in the Old Oregon houses for some board games. League district tournament “If we do anything outside and No. 8 ranking by the of school it’s always going 26$$¿QLVKLQJLQDWLHZLWK to be us three and other Powder Valley atop the OOL people along with us,” said standings. Flerchinger. “When you lose like we did The growth of their (earlier in their careers) it just friendship throughout high isn’t fun,” said Flerchinger. school has been something “But this year I’m so excited. that Parker has enjoyed to Every day at practice we’re watch for the past four years. so loud, we have so much fun “They’ve gone to school together and it’s just a great together forever, so it’s really time all around.” fun to watch them,” she said. For Mize, the turnaround “I love all my kids and it’s for her began when she always fun to watch them ¿QDOO\DFFHSWHGWKHQDWXUHRI grow and move on and know volleyball being a team game that they’re going to do great and not individually. things.” “I know my freshman year Moving on is something I was only really concerned that the three friends have about myself and what I had began to think about, as their to do,” she said. “But this senior year of high school year I’ve focused much more creeps to an end. on making my teammates As of now, they all have better, encouraging them, and plans to go to college — they helping them with something just don’t have a clue where. “I want to go to a bigger even off the court.” When the three seniors college and either study are not on a court or running physical therapy or speech around a track, they are often pathology,” said Flerchinger. times still found in the same “I want to go to a big school and hopefully make a differ- place. “We live in Helix, so we ence there.” For Mize, she is mostly don’t really have a lot to do in Helix,” said Flerchinger with undecided on whether she a wry smile. “But we do a lot would like to go to a big of stuff together. We’re not university or stay a little closer to home with some the partying group.” private schools or commu- So what do they do? “We only have like one nity colleges. However, she Continued from 1B does know that she wants to study elementary education. And for Jackson, she has plenty of options athletically, having received several track DQG ¿HOG VFKRODUVKLSV IURP different colleges. But before the post-high school life begins, they still have games to play. 7KH *UL]]OLHV DUH VFKHG- uled to play Echo (16-7, 8-4) on Saturday at 9 a.m. in La *UDQGHIRUWKHVHPL¿QDOVRI the OOL district tournament. The two teams met twice during the regular season ZLWKWKH*UL]]OLHVGRPLQDWLQJ both matches with 3-0 wins. Echo is another team that turned things around in 2015, improving from a 9-13 record last season to 16 wins this season. Because of that, Parker knows that her team should not expect a third easy win over the Cougars when Saturday comes. “Anything can happen in the tournament,” she said. “We’re not overlooking anybody and we’re going to go in and play our game. The kids know when they get in their rhythm they are tough to beat and we’re going to try and maintain that.” Parker does believe her team will have an advantage in the match, having made it WRWKHGLVWULFW¿QDOVLQ “They know what it takes and they’ve been focused so far this week in practice,” she said. “I just think they’re ready to play a game again.” The winner of Helix and Echo will then play again at 1:30 against the winner of Joseph and Powder Valley for the district title. BIG SKY TOURNEY The 2015 season was a spectacular debut for Ione coach Brandi Orem. The Cardinals ran through the Big Sky League this VHDVRQ¿QLVKLQJZLWKD mark in the league and an 18-6 overall record. It was quite the turnaround for a team that turned in just nine wins in 2014. The season led them to an appearance in the Big Sky district tournament, where they will play the Condon/ Wheeler Knights on Saturday at 12 p.m. at The Dalles. As Ione trended upwards from where they were last season, the Knights went the opposite direction. Condon/Wheeler won 20 games a season ago and advanced to the second round of the OSAA playoffs. The 2015 season started off looking like a disaster, as the Knights won only two of WKHLU¿UVWHLJKWPDWFKHV%XW once Big Sky League play began, the Knights found a rhythm as they went on to win RI WKHLU ¿QDO PDWFKHV WR ¿QLVK RYHUDOO DQG 9-5 in the Big Sky. Condon/Wheeler ended up in a play-in game against Mitchell/Spray on Thursday, and defeated Mitchell 3-0 to advance to Saturday. Ione and Condon/Wheeler faced off twice during the regular season and the Cardi- nals won both times with 3-1 and 3-0 scores. The winner of the match will advance to play the winner of South Wasco County and Dufur later in the day. Continued from 1B get this title, this state title.’ We still believe that we will, but we didn’t think it wouldn’t be this much of a challenge because we came in thinking this is literally the best team we’ve ever had,” Blackburn said. “We’re just not having the season we wanted to have. I think it’s just a mental issue and a health issue.” After handily winning LWV ¿UVW PHHW RI WKH \HDU the Runner Soul XC Fest at Sandstone Middle School, Hermiston went to Hood River where the Eagles easily beat the Bulldogs, compiling 34 points to Hermiston’s 42. ,W ZDV WKH ¿UVW WLPH +HUP- iston hadn’t won the Skip Sparks Invitational. Senior Donell Rome said that meet was the gut check they needed. “As soon as that meet was over, awards were coming and it was like, ‘Oh, second. Hermiston’s never gotten second here,’” he said. “We were just like, ‘It’s time to get going. Hood River’s there, they’re not fooling around. They just put three in front of our No. 1. We’re ready for it.’” Since then, Hermiston has run in some very competitive meets. The %XOOGRJV ¿QLVKHG IRXUWK DW the CRC Preview at The Dalles, then placed 20th and 14th at the Bob Firman Invitational in Idaho and the Richland Invite, respec- tively. But then Hermiston won the Kyle Burnside Wildhorse Invite last week. Senior Josiah Niederwerfer set a season best at 16 minutes, 26.6 seconds. He hopes the effort can bleed into the rest of the group, which hasn’t quite crescen- doed the same way. “That was the point,” he said. “Hey guys, it’s time to start doing this. We’re cutting back, it’s time to start really making it happen and speeding it up and running where we can be, because we’re all capable of running with each other and being in front.” If seniors Hayden Earl, Castellanos, Rome and sophomore Isaac Sanchez FDQ¶W ¿QLVK DV VWURQJO\ DV they did last season, when Hermiston ran away with the CRC title, they could be in jeopardy of not winning WKH FRQIHUHQFH IRU WKH ¿UVW time in its history. Rome said they’ve thought about the streak, but they haven’t talked about it. They don’t want to apply any undue pressure to themselves. “There’s always pres- sure,” Niederwerfer said. “We’re pressured to not lose our streak.” “When we get pressure put on ourselves … we don’t compete well under pressure,” Rome added. “First meet of the year, no pressure. We knew the teams who were coming, ZHFDPHLQFRQ¿GHQW7KH thought has crept in that we could lose this. But I think that it’s not an option. It’s either you win or you don’t, and we want to win.” On the girls side, however, expectations have been shattered. Led by VHQLRU 6R¿D *LVSHUW ZKR struggled in the beginning of the season but has tossed out back-to-back PRs, said WKHJLUOVDUHFRQ¿GHQWWKH\ can make it to state after last season’s disappointing fourth-place conference ¿QLVK It started when Crystal Delgado came on as the full-time girls coach. She ERQGHGWKHP*LVSHUWVDLG with more group sessions such as team dinners, and they even have a constant group text so they’re always in communication with each other. For a sport that relies on pack running and support, the closeness gained by the Bulldog girls has been a boon to the steady improve- ment this season. “She has really blended XV LQWR D IDPLO\´ *LVSHUW said. “We know that we have each other’s backs and we want to do it for them as much as ourselves.” But the girls aren’t just happy to be here, as they say. They expect to perform. *LVSHUW LVQ¶W WKH RQO\ Bulldog girl to post a PR recently. She’s one of nine Bulldogs — varsity or otherwise — to PR, and Laura Zepeda added a season-best at Richland. The other nine all set PRs at Wildhorse. Sophomore Sidney Tovey, who is coming on strong with back-to-back PRs, as well, could make a difference as the No. 6 Bulldogs runner. Melany Solorio is dealing with a minor leg injury and wasn’t at practice on Thursday, but she should be healthy enough to run Saturday. ³, KDYH FRQ¿GHQFH WKH\ can make it (to state),” Blackburn said. “I know they can make it. There’s some nervousness, because it’s in their hands. “The girls have clicked this year.” The district meet begins at Sorosis Park in The Dalles at 10 a.m. for the girls and 10:45 a.m. for the boys. ATHLETE OF THE WEEK JOCELYN GUARDADO Junior Umatilla Soccer Guardado recorded hat tricks on back-to- back days to help the Vikings remain in the playoff hunt with 3-3 ties against Riverside and Portland Christian. Two of her goals against Portland Christian were in the game’s final 10 minutes with the last coming unassisted in the 80th. P ROUDLY S PONSORED B Y : • General Orthopedics • Sports Medicine • Arthroscopy • Foot & Ankle • Hand Surgery • Joint Replacement • Workman’s Comp Injuries Advanced Orthopedic & Sports Medicine Institute 620 NW 11th St., Ste. 201, Hermiston www.hermistonortho.com 541-289-7075