SPORTS
THURSDAY, MAY 19, 2016
HERMISTON
Sports shorts
Nyquist draws as
Preakness favorite
BALTIMORE (AP) —
Kentucky Derby winner
Nyquist will start from the
No. 3 gate
Saturday
in the
Preakness
as the
overwhelming favorite in the
11-horse fi eld.
Unbeaten in eight races,
Nyquist was installed the
3-5 morning-line choice at
Wednesday’s draw.
The selection was
justifi ed, according to Hall
of Fame trainer Bob Baffert,
who will saddle new shooter
Collected.
Baffert says of Nyquist:
“I’d probably be surprised if
he didn’t win. He’s going to
be tough to beat.”
Starting from the 13th
post position in the Derby,
Nyquist won the 20-horse
race by 1 1/4 lengths over
Exaggerator.
Exaggerator has the best
odds behind Nyquist at 3-1.
The race is scheduled for
3:30 p.m. on Saturday.
1B
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Coleman continues pipeline to Corvallis
Becomes third former
Bulldog on Oregon
State’s wrestling roster
By ERIC SINGER
East Oregonian
The day of Feb. 28 proved to be a life-
changing evening for Bob Coleman.
Facing off against Central’s Tanner
Swinehart in the 170-pound 5A wrestling
championship, Coleman was deadlocked
in 2-2 battle for the bulk of the match, but
with 40 seconds left Swinehart earned a
takedown for two points and the victory.
The heart-breaking loss forced a change
in the way Coleman approached the sport
and his mindset in competition that led to
success as a senior.
“I went from being scared to wrestle
people to looking forward to a good
match and looking forward to being able
to wrestle top-level opponents,” Coleman
said. “You look forward to the big matches
and when you get to wrestle them and
come out with wins it really becomes fun
and that’s where I started to notice I wanted
to wrestle in college.”
Coleman will now have the oppor-
tunity to compete against that top-level
talent he seeks as the senior signed his
National Letter of Intent with Oregon State
University under a partial scholarship on
Wednesday afternoon at Hermiston High
School. He said that he is disappointed
to watch his high school career come to
a close, but is excited that his next step is
now complete.
“Financials I’d have to say (is the
biggest),” he said. “It’s a big school and I
See COLEMAN/2B
Staff photo by Eric Singer
Hermiston senior Bob Coleman, center, signs his Na-
tional Letter of Intent with Oregon State University as
his father Craig, left, and mother Janna, right, watch
on Wednesday at Hermiston High School.
Locals looking for strong fi nish
Boys Track & Field
Pendleton runners,
Hermiston thrower
on verge of program
records
Crosby lifts
Pittsburgh over
Tampa Bay 4-2
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) —
Sidney Crosby, Phil Kessel
and Chris Kunitz scored
third-period goals, helping
the Pittsburgh Penguins beat
the Tampa Bay Lightning
4-2 in Game 3
FACES of the Eastern
Conference
fi nals
Wednesday
night.
Carl Hagelin
snapped a
scoreless tie
Crosby
late in the
second period and Matt
Murray had 26 saves for the
Penguins, who took a 2-1
lead in the best-of-seven
series.
Game 4 is Friday night at
Amalie Arena.
Crosby’s power-play goal
restored a two-goal lead
midway through the fi nal
period.
Tyler Johnson and
Ondrej Palat scored for
the Lightning. They have
lost two straight after
winning the series opener in
Pittsburgh.
“Whatever the
results will be, we
will do everything
to provide a level
playing fi eld for
all the athletes
around the globe
and in this way
to protect the
integrity of the
competition of the
Olympic Games
in Rio“
— Thomas Bach
International Olympic
Committee President
speaking on the latest
allegations of state-
sponsored doping by
Russia after retests of
doping samples from the
2008 and 2012 Games
have revealed that 31
athletes so far tested
positive for doping. The
IOC is awaiting the full
fi nal results before
handing out
punishments, but Bach
said entire national fed-
erations, heavy fi nes and
lifetime bans are on the
table. He declined to say
whether Russia would
be banned from the Rio
Games in August.
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1910 — Cy Young, the
career leader in major league
victories, wins No. 500
as the Cleveland Indians
defeat Washington 5-4 in 11
innings.
Contact us at 541-966-0838 or
sports@eastoregonian.com
By MATT ENTRUP
East Oregonian
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
Nolan Bylenga, of Pendleton, heads for the fi nish line on May 12, 2016 during the 4x400
meter run at the Columbia River Conference Track & Field Championships for fi rst place.
Seventeen hundredths may seem like an insignif-
icant amount of time, but for the Pendleton 4x400
boys’ relay team it’s everything.
That’s how close the team came to breaking the
school record with their district-championship time
of 3 minutes, 23.97 seconds in Hermiston last week.
Comprised of four seniors, the team will get one
last shot at the record on Saturday as the OSAA
State Championships wend to a close at Hayward
Field in Eugene.
The 5A 4x400 boys’ relay will be the second-to-
last track event of the entire four-day meet, which
begins Thursday with 3A-1A schools. Pendleton’s
team of Garison Alger, Nolan Bylenga, Grayson
Hughbanks and Andrew Porter enters the meet
ranked fi rst in the state.
“We didn’t all necessarily run our best splits
(at districts) but the time ended up really well,”
said Bylenga, who will also run on the Buckaroos’
4x100 team and in the 800 meters. “I think mainly
it’s just hand-offs. We’re trying to get the spacing
out right, you have to adjust to how fast the person
is coming in.”
The Bucks are confi dent they’ll bring home a
school record even if they can’t live up to that No. 1
ranking. Hermiston was second at the district meet
but a distant eight seconds off Pendleton’s pace.
Redmond enters the state meet with a qualifying
time of 3:24.86.
“Redmond’s got a very good looking team right
now, so that’s who we’re thinking about how we’re
going to race,” Bylenga said. “It’s going to be a
dogfi ght I think, but either way I think both teams
should probably be under a school record.”
Bylenga is also ranked second in the 800 by
just two seconds to Bend’s Caleb Hoffman, and
Hermiston senior Hayden Earl is just three seconds
behind Bylenga. That race will also hold its fi nals
on Saturday.
“It’s kind of my last chance to do everything,
See BOYS TRACK/2B
Girls Track & Field
Dawgs taking larger pack to state this year
Hermiston girls hope
numbers translate to
team trophy
By MATT ENTRUP
East Oregonian
Last year when the Hermiston girls
track team went to the state meet, they
were able to do a lot of things this
year’s team won’t — things like sitting
in the same booth at a restaurant, for
instance.
The Bulldogs’ state-bound contin-
gent ballooned from three in 2015, to
11 this year coming off their Columbia
River Conference championship. The
larger pack of Dawgs will have a
chance at a state trophy, something
they couldn’t have dreamed of a year
ago.
“Honestly at this point I have no
idea, I’m just so excited from where
we came from last year, so anything we
do at state I’m going to be extremely
happy with,” said second-year head
coach Emilee Strot. “The kids have
already met my expectations, state’s
just going to be a bonus to that.
“You never know, honestly, when it
comes to the state meet. Eighth-place
through fi rst place earns you points
and every point matters. If we have a
couple heavy hitters, then we could go
home with a trophy.”
Sophomore Maddy Juul in shot
put and freshman Scout Reagan in the
100-meter dash are two of the Bull-
dogs’ highest-ranked athletes going
in at sixth and fi fth, respectively. But
senior Macey Foley, who qualifi ed
in three event, is a testament to how
quickly things can change.
Prior to the district meet of her
junior year, Foley fractured her ankle
during a triple jump exercise, effec-
tively ending her season. She said
that’s added some nervous anticipation
during the last few weeks.
“I just made sure I took care of
any injuries, even if they were just
little things,” she said. “I’ve been very
careful this year, because I didn’t want
to do that again.
“I’m just really excited this year.
Last year our girls weren’t as strong,
we didn’t have as many come out. All
the girls, they’ve worked their tails off
this year and they deserve it so I’m just
hoping for the best for state.”
See GIRLS TRACK/2B
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
Hermiston’s Scout Reagan passes to Elsa Torres during
the 4x100 relay Saturday at the Willamette Falls Invi-
tational in Oregon City.