SPORTS Saturday, October 24, 2015 East Oregonian Page 3B MILTON-FREEWATER Prep Football Mustangs, TigerScots on course for title clash Pioneers East Oregonian two touchdowns on six carries. Fredy Vera still managed to HEPPNER — The Heppner average 4.67 yards a carry, but Mustangs turned in another was limited to 42 total on nine very impressive four quarters tries. Heppner will try to wrap up for another blowout victory in Columbia Basin Conference another CBC title when it travels to Weston-McEwen next week play on Friday. The Mustangs held Irrigon’s for a 7 p.m. game. ,UULJRQZLOO¿QLVKWKHUHJXODU vaunted offense to 165 yards and season at home ran up a huge Pilot lead by halftime • Report scores and stats to against (541) 966-0838 or Rock. They’ll before winning sports@eastoregonian.com need a win plus a 61-14. little help to earn Heppner (8-0, 4-0 CBC) led 41-0 when the a state playoff berth. two teams headed to the locker WESTON-MCEWEN 36, rooms, and has outscored the CULVER 6 — At Culver, the CBC 229-39 this season. Mustangs coach Greg Grant TigerScots maintained their said the team is doing it the collision course with Heppner old-fashioned way with solid for the league crown with a road defense and a strong offensive win on Friday. Details were not reported. line, and that continued Friday. The TigerScots (6-2, 3-1) “Defensively we were sound again, and I was pleased have won three in a row and have again with how the offensive allowed just 18 points total since line played. They continue to opening the CBC season with a ORVVWR6WDQ¿HOG improve,” he said. The TigerScots host Heppner Weston Putman led the defense with 10 tackles and LQWKHUHJXODUVHDVRQ¿QDOHQH[W ¿YH RWKHU SOD\HUV UHFRUGHG DW Friday at 7 p.m. OHDVW¿YH/RJDQ*ULHEKDGWZR STANFIELD 62, PILOT interceptions and Putman had ROCK 6 — At Pilot Rock, the another. The offensive line paved the Tigers bounced back from their way for 424 rushing yards, of ¿UVWORVVRIWKHVHDVRQLQELJZD\ which C.J. Kindle took the lion’s on Friday, and did it without their share with 195 on 12 carries. He top offensive weapon. Thyler Monkus twisted his had a long of 58 and scored two ankle at the end of a 24-yard run touchdowns. Grieb added 86 yards on RQ6WDQ¿HOG¶V¿UVWRIIHQVLYHSOD\ six carries with a touchdown, and didn’t return. Coach Davy Salas said he’ll 7RPP\ %UHG¿HOG KDG \DUGV on eight carries and two scores, be back next week, though. “We didn’t feel the need and Kaden Clark and Caden Hedman each scored on the to risk it,” he said. “He was limping around pretty good, but ground. Clark was 1 for 5 passing for it was more of a just a cautionary thing.” 12 yards. In his absence quarterback Irrigon (5-3, 1-3) was led on offense by Austin Rice with 48 Dylan Grogan went off for 114 yards on 13 rushes, with Adrian yards on 15 carries and reached Gutierrez adding 31 yards and the end zone three times. He also passed for two touchdowns going 2-of-4 for 54 yards. Makiah Blankenship added 110 yards on 12 carries with two touch- downs, Justin Shelby chipped in two touchdowns on three carries for 56 yards, and Justin Keeney ran nine times for 32 yards and a score IRU6WDQ¿HOG “I was a little worried about the hangover from last week,” Salas said of the Tigers’ lopsided loss to Heppner. “But the kids responded well.” Pilot Rock (0-7, 0-4) was led on defense by Braydon Postma with 12 tackles and Chris Weinke added nine. Seniors Gunner McCall and Patrick Roe connected for the Rockets’ only touchdown in their last home game with McCall throwing a 55-yard pass to Roe. 6WDQ¿HOG ¿QLVKHV WKH UHJXODU season by hosting Culver at 7 p.m. next Friday. The Rockets wrap up their season at Irrigon at 7 p.m. UMATILLA 35, RIVER- SIDE 24 — At Boardman, the Vikings stormed into Friday’s rivalry match-up and the Pirates were never able to climb out of WKHKROHWKH\GXJZLWKIRXU¿UVW half turnovers. 7KH 3LUDWHV ¿QLVKHG ZLWK 440 yards of offense, but trailed 35-12 at the half and were too inconsistent to come back. ³8PDWLOOD ZDV ¿UHG XS DQG ready to go and we just let the ÀRRG JDWHV RSHQ´ 5LYHUVLGH (2-5, 0-2) coach Dave Boor said. Felipe Olvera led Riverside with 151 total yards and Ricardo Mendoza rushed for 73 yards on 14 carries. Umatilla (5-3, 1-1) statistics were not available at press time. The Vikings can secure a playoff berth in next week’s VHDVRQ¿QDODJDLQVW9DOHDWSP Riverside closes out the season at Nyssa at 7 p.m. (MT). DUFUR 50, IONE 14 — At Ione, the Cardinals (2-5, 1-4 SD4) got quarterback Jason Juarez back from his shoulder injury, but it wasn’t enough against a stout Rangers (6-2, 3-2) defense. Ione coach Stan Weiper said the Cardinals were looking to mount a comeback and pulled within 36-14 in the fourth with plenty of time to play, but their next drive ended near the end zone on a fumble that Dufur scooped up and returned for a touchdown. Dufur quarterback Derek Frakes also had a couple big plays, scrambling for a long WRXFKGRZQ DQG WKHQ ¿QGLQJ D receiver at the back of the end zone on fourth down. Juarez scored one of Ione’s touchdowns on an 11-yard run and Alessandro Panozzo had the other with an onside kickoff return, his third of the season. Ione was also without starting running Henry Padberg (knee) for the second straight week, and won’t get him back for next ZHHN¶V VHDVRQ ¿QDOH DJDLQVW South Wasco at 7 p.m. in Ione. PINE EAGLE 54, ECHO 6 — At Pine Eagle, the Cougars (2-6, 0-4) limped into the offseason with a lopsided loss in )ULGD\¶V6SHFLDO'LVWULFW¿QDOH No details were reported. (FKR ORVW LWV ODVW ¿YH JDPHV RI the season. BAKER 60, MAC-HI 0 — At Milton-Freewater, the Bulldogs (4-4, 2-1) wrapped up second place in the Greater Oregon League in Friday’s UHJXODU VHDVRQ ¿QDOH 'HWDLOV were not reported. 0DF+L ¿QLVKHG fourth and out of playoff conten- tion. punch ticket to state meet La Grande, Ontario win team WLWOHVDW*2/GLVWULFW¿QDOV East Oregonian BAKER CITY — Mac-Hi senior Elise *ULI¿WK SXQFKHG KHU WLFNHW WR D VHFRQG straight Class 4A cross country state championships on Friday with a third-place ¿QLVKDWWKH*UHDWHU2UHJRQ/HDJXHFKDP- pionships. *ULI¿WK FURVVHG WKH ¿QLVK OLQH LQ minutes, 28.92 seconds among a fanned-out WRS¿YH La Grande junior Heather Keniry won in a time of 21:03.84, and her sophomore teammate Kendra Blake was second in 22:02.32. /D *UDQGH MXQLRU 6LHUUD 6PLWK ¿QLVKHG VHFRQGV EHKLQG *ULI¿WK LQ IRXUWK (22:43.88) and Ontario sophomore Alioz 0DVRQURXQGHGRXWWKHWRS¿YHLQ *ULI¿WK ZLOO EH MRLQHG DW VWDWH E\ KHU Pioneer teammates who ran for a second- SODFHWHDP¿QLVKEHKLQG2QWDULR La Grande won the boys’ team title with 25 points with Ontario second with 35, but Ontario senior Collin Ball took the indi- vidual title in 17:47.62. La Grande senior Dean Ricker was second in 17:48.25. Mac-Hi junior Kaleb Marsh was the top Pioneer in 13th (20:27.59). 2QO\ WKH WRS WZR WHDPV DQG WRS ¿YH individual advance to the state meet on Saturday, Oct. 31 at Lane Community College in Eugene. ——— GOL District Championships Girls’ Teams 1. Ontario 2. Mac-Hi 31 37 Boys’ Teams 1. La Grande 2. Ontario 3. Mac-Hi 25 33 81 MAC-HI PIONEERS — (Girls) 3, Elise Griffith, 22:28.92; 10, Brianna Hernandez, 24:23.37; 12, Autumn Cousineau, 25:17.54; 15, Laura Romero, 27:13.47; 17, Mindy Harmon, 28:10.93. (Boys) 13, Kaleb Marsh, 20:27.59; 14, Deazen Zerba, 20:59.84; 18, Collin Green, 21:40.8; 19, Isael Ibarra, 22:59.64; 20, Rigo Ponce, 23:07.48; 21, Evan Kain, 26:06.43; 22, Sam Miller, 26:54.83 DISTRICT 5: 9LNLQJV¿QLVKSDLQIXOO\VKRUWRI¿UVWWHDPVWDWHEHUWK week), so I’m improving. If title with a time of 16 minutes I have another good week of training I should be up there ÀDW Not long into the 5,000- with him at state.” Scott could have cruised meter race, Cardenas and in for an easy second as he Scott had shaken even the PRVWGHWHUPLQHGIURPD¿HOG led Union’s Alex Graffunder of 117 runners and made it a by a good 75 meters, but he could be seen checking his two-horse race. When the pair crossed wristwatch as he headed for the footbridge over McKay WKH¿QLVKOLQH “I try not to check toward Creek and began a set of the start because then that’s loops around the softball all I’m thinking about, but ¿HOGV6FRWWZDVVWLOOQHVWOHG in snuggly on Cardenas’ left when I’m off in no-man’s land I want to make sure I’m hip. “I was starting out slower, still on pace, which I was,” he it was like an easy race today. said. “Right after the second I was trying to relax,” said mile is where I started to Cardenas, the defending state slow down a little bit so I had to kick it up a little bit there.” champ in 3A/2A/1A. There’s only one more Cardenas took it to a higher gear as they completed the chance for Scott to catch ¿UVW ORRS KRZHYHU DQG E\ Cardenas during his high the time the course led them school career, but his intense back across the footbridge pursuit doesn’t fuel feelings for the home stretch he was of animosity. In fact, it’s just at least 50 meters ahead and the opposite. “We’ve known each other going strong. “I was trying to push it quite a long time and we’re just a little bit as the race pretty good friends,” Scott went on,” Cardenas said, said. “He’s a man of few “and when we got across the words but he’s a great guy bridge again to push it even and a great guy to run with.” They’ll have to serve as de PRUHDQG¿QLVKVWURQJ´ “I’ve kind of been trying facto teammates one last time to analyze how he runs at the 3A/2A/1A state meet at races since the start of the Lane Community College in year,” said Scott, who ran a Eugene on Saturday, Oct. 31. Cardenas’ Vikings 16:24.64. “I thought maybe it was that he just went out at ¿QLVKHG LQ WKLUG SODFH a fast pace and holds it there, just seven points from the but he kind of starts out easy SURJUDP¶V ¿UVWHYHU VWDWH and then increases his speed. I berth. Vikings freshman think I stayed with him closer than I did at Wildhorse (last Zayne Troeger and senior Continued from 1B Armando Mendoza each ran personal bests to be the next KLJKHVW ORFDO ¿QLVKHUV LQ eighth (17:42.01) and ninth (17:45.32), respectively, but RQO\WKHWRS¿YHLQGLYLGXDOV received at-large berths. “We had a lot of good come out of it as far as people improving, and we did get better,” said Umatilla coach Josh Ego. “This sport, all it takes is one or two guys to have an off day and you get nipped like we did by seven points for us. But my outlook on this, this is a great learning experience for what cross country is. Every man counts, everybody counts. If each one of our guys would have passed two more guys we would have got it. Some- times understanding that takes a race like today.” “I’m pretty proud of how all the guys ran today,” Cardenas said. “I think they all ran personal bests. You know we gave our everything but we ended up coming short by seven points. Our district is the hardest district to get out of and get to state.” He said it’ll be a small consolation having Scott at the starting line in Eugene. “It’s always nice because in the past I’ve been on a team with him going to nationals and it’s like a brotherhood with me and him,” Cardenas said. “It’s just nice to have him there.” Also advancing to the state meet from the boys ¿QDOV DV D ZLOG FDUG ZDV Burns junior Daniel Letham LQ¿IWKSODFH Weston-McEwen and 6WDQ¿HOG WLHG IRU ¿IWK LQ the team points with 170, and the Tigers were paced by junior Carlos Flores in 12th (17:54.01) and freshman Elias Esquivel in 14th (18:00). It was a disap- SRLQWLQJ¿QLVKIRUWKHMXQLRU who had state aspirations. “Carlos is a little disap- pointed, he probably could have run a better race, but he just had one of those days,” Jensen said. “It just wasn’t working for him. Not a bad race, but just not a typical Carlos race. He had a side ache and some issues with his ankle. “For Elias that’s a huge improvement. We were looking for him to break 18 minutes, and he did.” Vale was fourth with 132 points, Nyssa was second with 87 and Union was the runaway champion with 35, placing four in the top 10. Union’s girls won their team title by nearly as many points, scoring 29 to Enter- prise’s 64. Nyssa was third with 86, and was led by indi- vidual champion Delia Deleon with her time of 19:24.1. Rounding out the girls’ top ¿YHZHUH8QLRQ¶V(OO\:HOOV (19:42.46), Enterprise’s Dawn Mist Movich-Fields (19:44.25), Union’s Alisa Fox (19:51.7) and Enter- prise’s Isabelle Tinglestad (20:05.59). The highest placing local was Umatilla senior Aleesha Watson in ninth with a new personal record of 20:57.98. Weston-McEwen freshman Katie Vescio was 20th DQG 6WDQ¿HOG freshman Chelsy Lemmon was 22nd (22:20.83) to lead their squads with PRs. Although none of the local teams advanced a girl to state, Jenson said it was a fast race that was a great way WR¿QLVKWKHVHDVRQ “My girls were absolutely impressive today, they just ran their hearts out,” he said. “They all PR’d and they all PR’d in a big way. We’re looking toward the future and I challenged them today. I said, ‘Hey, make that future start today and see what happens.’” ——— District 5 Championships Girls Teams 1. Union 2. Enterprise 3. Nyssa 4. Burns 5. Culver 6. Umatilla 29 64 86 100 105 142 Boys Teams 1. Union 2. Nyssa 3. Umatilla 4. Vale T5. Weston-McEwen T5. Stanfield 7. Burns 8. Heppner 9. Enterprise 10. Elgin 11. Helix 12. Grant Union 35 87 94 132 170 170 198 213 219 245 248 270 Girls’ Top 5 1. Delia Deleon (11), Nyssa 19:24.10 2. Elly Wells (12), Union 19:42.46 3. Dawn Movich-Fields (12), Ent. 19:44.25 4. Alisa Fox (9), Union 19:51.7 5. Isabelle Tinglestad (11), Ent. 20:05.59 Boys’ Top 5 1. Fabian Cardenas (12), Um. 16:00.42 2. Hayden Scott (11), WM 16:214.64 3. Alex Graffunder (10), Union 16:54.45 4. Jeremy Baxter (10), Union 17:05.71 5. Daniel Letham (11), Burns 17:14.85 UMATILLA VIKINGS — (Girls) 9, Aleesha Watson, 20:57.98; 45, Katelyn Lorence, 25:19.49; 52, Sonia Lemus-Cis- neros, 26:06.63; 56, Fernanda Hernandez, 26:44.58; 65, Cameron Sipe, 30:08.51. (Boys) 1, Fabian Cardenas, 16:00.42; 8, Zayne Troeger, 17:42.01; 9, Armando Mendoza, 17:45.32; 37, Salvador Alvarez, 19:07.13; 44, Trey Dohman, 19:33.89; 49, Bradley Bensen, 19:41.81; 75, Aiden Ibarra, 21:25.01; 89, Tony Contreras, 22:08.07; 95, Austin Menzes, 22:42.81; 111, Noah Short- er, 24:58.08; 116, Dylan Hodge, 29:13.13 WESTON-MCEWEN TIGERSCOTS — (Girls) 20, Katie Vescio, 22:00.75; 41, Adrienne Olson, 24:22.03. (Boys) 2, Hayden Scott, 16:24.64; 29, Tanner Sater, 18:45.29; 48, Lawson Denny, 19:41.03; 55, Gavin Smith, 19:56.24; 56, Kellen Fairchild, 20:03.65; 73, Khai Robert- son, 21:20.61; 76, Martin Wenzel, 21:34.28; 97, Kamryn Dalrymple, 22:52.02 STANFIELD TIGERS — (Girls) 22, Chelsy Lemmon, 22:20.83; 25, Anna Lemmon, 22:33.38; 26, Bailey Watson, 22:36.67; 30, Jennifer Garcia, 22:48.34. (Boys) 12, Carlos Flores, 17:54.01; 14, Elias Esquivel, 18:00.0; 19, Uber Hernandez, 18:20.99; 61, Hugo Hernandez, 20:29.02; 85, Cody Griffin, 22:02.7; 90, Tony Flores, 22:09.73; 107, Fernando Ramirez, 24:27.32. HELIX GRIZZLIES — (Girls) 42, Me- caila Espey, 24:44.79; 66, Kyla Roberts, 30:23.38. (Boys) 40, Gavin Newtson, 19:15.46; 41, Bradey Cope, 19:17.41; 64, Allan Holden, 20:48.18; 65, Caiden Marks, 20:51.07; 67, Colton Reynolds, 21:03.33; 77, Cody Dunn, 21:35.18l 86, Justin Williams, 22:03.33; 91, Jacob Sprenger, 22:12.72; 112, Erik Jones, 25:55.84. HEPPNER MUSTANGS — (Boys) 11, Hunter Nichols, 17:51.51; 21, Trent Smith, 18:52.76; 47, Skyler Palmer, 19:39.42; 60, Hayden Qualls, 20:17.4; 93, Gibson McCur- ry, 22:19.52; 104, Reno Ferguson, 23:31.71; 105, Jimmy Adams, 23:33.77 NIXYAAWII GOLDEN EAGLES — (Boys) 46, Lennox Lewis, 19:38.41 CONDON/WHEELER KNIGHTS — (Girls) 50, Amy Weddle, 25:48.80; 55, Kae- la Reser, 26:35.24; 61, Sydney Bettencourt, 27:23.48. (Boys) 94, Dima Anglin, 22:20.1. ——— Contact Matt Entrup at mentrup@eastoregonian. com or (541) 310-7626. ENTRUP: Coaches agree District 5 too large, too competitive for scant representation Continued from 1B podium that end up taking WKHZRUVWVHOILQÀLFWHG beatings, and as I watched the 3A/2A/1A District 5 Championships on a gorgeous fall afternoon in Pendleton I couldn’t help but think it’s a shame most of those young athletes wouldn’t get a chance to do that one more time this season. It’s not that I like seeing the kids suffer, it’s just obvious how much this means to them. Take the Umatilla boys team for example. The Vikings were shooting for WKHSURJUDP¶V¿UVWHYHUWHDP berth at state on Friday and came out literally putting their best foot forward. Nearly every member of the varsity team ran a personal record time, and three ¿QLVKHGLQVLGHWKHWRS It was a great effort that earned the boys third place with 94 points — just seven behind second-place Nyssa. To me that’s a team that should be considered among the upper tier in the state. Yet, due to the OSAA’s limited number of available VWDWHTXDOL¿FDWLRQVWKH Vikings will have to wait for WKDW¿UVWVWDWHEHUWK Only the top two teams get to race at the state meet from District 5, historically one of the most competitive among Oregon’s small schools. That’s just not right. Districts 1-3 get to send their top three teams to state this year, so what gives? I’m not the only one wondering. “I don’t know all of the politics behind how that stuff is decided,” said Umatilla coach Josh Ego. “We are one of the larger districts with only two teams allowed. I don’t know who makes that decision. It seems from our perspective, considering we often have three or four teams that would be top 10 contenders (at state) that would sway things.” Extending the cutoff to three teams for Districts 4-6 would add at most 21 more UXQQHUVWRWKHVWDWH¿HOG which already tops out at 100 plus. A mere drop in the pan if you ask me. Furthermore, in today’s Class 5A Columbia River Conference championships in The Dalles — a four-team race — the top seven individuals will get to advance to state. Consider MXVWWKHWRS¿YHSODFHUV from the 17-team District 5 got to advance and then try to explain to me how that makes sense. Sure Class 5A has one less district than 3A/2A/1A, but I think I’ve already established that the more the merrier when it comes to this brutal sport, and if the OSAA is going to force the ERWWRPWKUHHFODVVL¿FDWLRQV to compete against each other the least it could do is make a few more state berths available. Even extending the cutoff to seven at Friday’s race in Pendleton would have only added one more girl and no boys to the state mix thanks to Union’s dominance of the top 10. But Vale junior Brooke Kaaen probably would have appreciated it DOOWKHVDPHDIWHU¿QLVKLQJ sixth overall with a time of 20:28.16. And it’s not like I’m advocating making the state meet an open. Top seven is still pretty exclusive FRPSDQ\LQD¿HOGRI which is how many girls entered Friday. I know the OSAA has its reasons for setting the state limits where they are — my hunch is money, or lack thereof plays a big part since teams that travel for the postseason receive some reimbursements for the costs — but to be honest I didn’t really have time to contact them for their input when writing this article so for now those reasons remain a mystery. Whatever they are, like most OSAA policies I’m sure they will be revisited at season’s end and hopefully the powers that be will be feeling generous when they are. It seems like a slightly H[SDQGHGVWDWH¿HOGZRXOG be an idea most could get behind. I know there’d be no grumbling from the coaches. “We need to split our conference up because it’s too big, it’s got too many great teams and even when we were smaller we were the toughest district in the state,” 6WDQ¿HOGFRDFK(ULF-HQVHQ said. “Now we’re like twice as strong and twice as big. We’ve got 12 full teams on the boys’ side and we only get to qualify two for state? We need to go to OSAA and say, ‘This is nuts, we need to qualify more teams or you need to split us into two districts.’” “It seems to me it would make sense that you want to get the best teams there (at state),” Ego said, “and every year if you’ve got three or four teams that could be in the top 10, and only two of those teams are going, it seems kind of silly.” I can think of another adjective to describe it, but it’s probably a word I could only get away with printing during the week of Round-Up. ——— Contact Matt Entrup at mentrup@eastoregonian. com or (541) 966-0838.