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
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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