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
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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.