Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (May 13, 2016)
SPORTS FRIDAY, MAY 13, 2016 HERMISTON Sports shorts Russia, Kenya track teams could miss Rio Olympics MONTREAL (AP) — Together, Russia and Kenya won 27 medals at the last Olympics in track and fi eld. Their total at the next one could be zero. The Olympic hopes of the powerhouse teams from both countries took serious blows Thursday after the World Anti-Doping Agency delivered stinging rebukes to attempts to clean up their drug-addled programs. Among those whose participation in Rio is in jeopardy include 800-meter world-record holder David Rudisha and both the men’s and women’s winners of last month’s London Marathon, Eliud Kipchoge and Jemima Sumgong. Russia has a stable of champion race-walkers and champions in fi eld events, including world-record pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva. 1B FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @EOSPORTS Tovey recognized for coaching excellence Hermiston assistant wrestling coach wins national award By MATT ENTRUP East Oregonian Staff photo by Sam Barbee In this Nov. 25, 2015 fi le photo, Hermistonl assistant wres- tling coach Doug Tovey, left, discusses strategy with head coach Kyle Larson during a practice at Hermiston High School. Tovey was named the National Wrestling Coaches Association Scholastic Assistant Coach of the Year for the 2015-16 season. In nearly three decades of coaching both in head and assistant positions, Hermiston wrestling’s Doug Tovey has had plenty of time to craft his philosophy on what it takes to build a winner. “I think that I’ve learned from the really successful coaches that I’ve worked with is that you have to coach hard,” he said. “You have to really get out and hustle as coaches. When you’re tired and worn out from practice and traveling, it’s easy to sit on the wall. And that’s when you have to coach hard.” That’s the type of coaching commit- ment that helped Hermiston build one of the most successful and respected high school programs in the western United States over the last 15 years, one that has now produced two National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) Scho- lastic Coaches of the Year. Tovey was named the NWCA’s Assis- tant Coach of the Year after winning the award at the state and regional level. “I don’t know what to say,” he said. “I didn’t know they gave the Assistant Coach of the Year at the national level.” Tovey, who had also won Assistant Coach of the Year at the state and regional level when he was at Roseburg High, joined the Bulldogs in 2012 and remained on staff when Kyle Larson was elevated to head coach for the fi rst time. Coincidentally, Larson’s father See TOVEY/2B HERMISTON Day ties course record at Sawgrass PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Jason Day putted for birdie on every hole Thursday and made half of them for a 9-under 63 that tied the course record FACES and gave him a two-shot lead at The Players Championship. Day played alongside Jordan Spieth, who was Day playing for the fi rst time since losing a fi ve-shot lead on the back nine at the Masters. Spieth had another poor fi nish at the TPC Sawgrass to post a 72 on a day that felt like hard work. He missed a 3-foot putt and took double bogey on his last hole. He was 3 over on his last fi ve holes. Masters champion Danny Willett opened with a 70. Day only missed three greens — all of them just off the putting surface. “No, because I love my family and I’d rather walk.“ — Ricardo Lockette Former Seattle Sea- hawks wide receiver when asked at a retire- ment press conference on Thursday whether it was a tough decision to make. Lockette, 29, appeared in three Super Bowls, winning one, with the Seahawks during a career that began as an undrafted free agent in 2011. Lockette suffered a severe neck injury in a game against Dallas last season and remains with just 50 percent rotation in his surgically repaired vertebrae. THIS DATE IN SPORTS 1952 — In an Appalachian League game, Ron Necciai of the Bristol Twins strikes out 27 batters while pitching a 7-0 no-hitter against the Welch Miners. 2005 — Tiger Woods misses the cut at the Byron Nelson Championship to end his record of 142 consecutive cuts made over the last seven years on the PGA Tour. Needing a par on the 18th hole at Cottonwood Valley, Woods misses a 15-foot putt. He taps in for a bogey and a 2-over 72, leaving him at 1 over for the tournament. Contact us at 541-966-0838 or sports@eastoregonian.com Staff photo by Kathy Aney Scout Reagan, of Hermiston (middle), races to fi rst in the 100 meter run Thursday during the Columbia River Conference Track and Field Championships with a time of 12:56 seconds. Bulldogs shine at district fi nals Hermiston girls win title, boys finish in a close second place By ERIC SINGER East Oregonian Just one year ago, the Hermiston Bulldogs girls track team fi nished up the District Meet with a distant fourth place fi nish with a mere 38 points. At the 2016 District Meet on Thursday evening at Kennison Field, it was a completely different story for the Bulldog girls as the team dominated the events on their way to hoisting the District Champi- onship trophy with 107 points. “No words can describe it,” said Hermiston coach Emilee Strot. “We’ve had some girls step up big time and they’ve come together as a team and they worked really hard all season long and all offseason to get here ... I’m ecstatic.” The Bulldogs fi nished with a 40.5 point cushion on second place Pendleton, and earned 14 selections Portland Trail Blazers guard Da- mian Lillard reacts after scoring a basket against the Gold- en State Warriors during the second half of Game 3 of an NBA basket- ball sec- ond-round playoff series Saturday, May 7, 2016, in Portland, Ore. AP Photo/Craig Mitchelldyer Staff photo by Kathy Aney Hiram Maciel, of Hermiston, will head to the state after taking sec- ond in the high jump Thursday during the Columbia River Confer- ence Track and Field Championships. to the State Meet on May 20-21. Hood River Valley fi nished in third place with 63 points and The Dalles fi nished in fourth place with 27.5 points to round out the leaderboard. One reason for the Bulldogs turn- around was the success of numerous underclassmen, highlighted by freshmen sprinters Scout Reagan and Elsa Torres. Reagan sprinted her way to a district title in the 100 meter dash with a personal record time of 12.56 seconds and also was a part of the 4x100 relay and 4x400 relay teams with Torres that both qualifi ed for state with a second and fi rst place fi nish respectively. Afterwards, Reagan said she still has a hard time wrapping her head around the way her freshman year has turned out. “It’s really crazy,” she said, “This whole program is so awesome and I’m just so happy.” The girls capped off the night with sophomore Maddy Juul winning the Athlete of the Meet award after taking home titles in the shot put and javelin. Pendleton’s Delaney Clem was named the Athlete of the Meet for running events, as Clem earned another spot at state with a win in the 1500 meter run after claiming the 3000 meter title on Wednesday. Clem, a senior, was ecstatic with her performances and said that plenty of emotions were running through her head during her 1500 meter performance on Thursday. “Honestly I kept thinking ‘it’s senior year and I’ve trained four hard years for this and my coach (Nicole Stewart) has put in so much time so I was thinking that this was for her,” Clem said. “It’s my last districts I can’t end it in second place I have to win it for her.” Pendleton also earned titles with Keagan Utter taking fi rst in the discus and Hailey Kendrick taking fi rst in the pole vault. In total, the Pendleton girls punched eight tickets to the state meet. On the boys side, Hood River See TRACK/2B Pro Basketball Lillard and Trail Blazers look to bright future Young core hungry for more after taste of success in 2015-16 By ANNE M. PETERSON Associated Press PORTLAND — Damian Lillard’s thoughts were already turned toward next season on the fl ight back to Port- land following the Blazers’ fi nal playoff loss to the Warriors. He pondered how the team’s surprising success would impact the tightknit group. “I started getting worried already. I was sitting on the plane like, we had some success this year, it was unex- pected, it was no pressure. People are going to expect a little bit more, and I started to get worried about too many pats on the back,” Lillard said. “But we don’t have those kind of guys. We’ve got hungry guys, we’ve got humble guys that work hard. We had a taste this season as a young group of how well we could do, and what it takes.” He has added reason for that optimism: Many of the Blazers said Thursday they’d be sticking around this summer to work out together. The Trail Blazers’ theme this season emerged over time as the team kept surpassing expectations. It wound up on the T-shirts that were left on seats for fans during the playoffs: “Never Doubt Rip City.” They even adopted the hashtag (hash)NeverDoubt. But the motto could have just as easily been “Band of Brothers.” “Guys care about winning and we care about each other, and I don’t think See BLAZERS/2B