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Page 2B SPORTS East Oregonian Thursday, June 9, 2016 Oregon looks to defend titles at NCAA track championships By ANNE M. PETERSON AP Sports Writer EUGENE — Oregon’s NCAA outdoor champion- ship sweep for both the men’s and women’s track teams last year was unprecedented. So it follows that the Ducks would like to add to their history with a dual repeat. But it’s not going to be easy. “We need our stars to be stars and we need our stars-in-waiting to show up,” Oregon coach Robert Johnson said. Despite the home-track advantage at Oregon’s Hayward Field, the Ducks aren’t atop the rankings heading into the champi- onship meet, which opened Wednesday and runs through Saturday. Oregon’s men — two-time defending cham- pions — are ranked No. 4 behind top-ranked Texas A&M, LSU and Florida. The Ducks have 17 entries in 12 events. Favorite LSU’s 10 entries on the men’s side are loaded in the 100, 200, 400, 110-meter hurdles and the relays. The Ducks have never won three straight men’s outdoor titles. Oregon’s women are ranked sixth, behind Arkansas, Kentucky, Texas, LSU and Texas A&M. “This is what everybody shoots for,” Razorbacks coach Lance Harter said. “It’s even-steven. No matter what anybody’s done throughout the course of the season, now it’s a matter of who can do it on a given day.” FORMAT: It’s the second straight season that the championships have been divided by days. Most of the men’s events take place on Wednesday and Friday, while the women compete on Thursday and Saturday. Events for the decathlon are part of the irst two days, while the heptathlon events are set for Friday and Saturday. It’s the fourth straight year the championship has been set at Hayward Field, which will also host the Olympic Trials in July. BACK TO THE TRACK: Devon Allen, receiver on Oregon’s football team and rising star in the hurdles, made a splash at the NCAA championships as a freshman. His time of 13.16 seconds set a meet record, besting Olympic gold medalist Aries Merritt’s mark of 13.21 set in 2006 for Tennessee. Allen was the irst freshman to win the national title in the event since San Jose State’s Dedy Cooper in 1976. Last year he was sidelined — from both the track and football teams — because of a knee injury. “It’s exactly the reason I came here. We’re the best in the nation in both sports; We played in the national championship (in football) the same year we won the national championship in track,” Allen said. “This is the best I could have done — college sports-wise. I’m really happy to be here and everything seems to be working out.” OLYMPIC DREAMS: The season isn’t over for many of the athletes, who will try to make the U.S. Olympic team for Rio next month at the Olympic Trials — which are also being held at Hayward Field. Oregon’s Allen is among those hopefuls, as is Texas sprinter Courtney Okolo, a three-time NCAA champion in the 400 meters. Earlier this year, Okolo became the irst college sprinter to go under 50 seconds in the race with a 49.71, the second-fastest time in the world this year. “I look at everything as a stepping stone to the Olympic Trials,” Okolo said Tuesday. ONE TO WATCH: Keep an eye on Arkansas’ Jarrion Lawson, who is taking part in the 100 and 200 meters as well as the long jump and the 4x100 relay. If Lawson does well in all his events, Arkansas could be in position for an 11th overall outdoor title. Lawson a three-time national champion, while also holding the school record in the 100. He inished third in the event at the outdoors last year. He’s also coming off a title in the long jump at the NCAA indoor championships. Arkansas won eight straight NCAA men’s outdoor titles from 1992-1999. AND YOU THOUGHT IT WAS JUST A FOOTBALL THING: The Ducks unveiled their new Nike-designed track uniforms, giving a nod to their 1960s heyday with a tie-dye pattern and the silhouettes of the program greats Steve Prefontaine and Bill Bowerman. Bowerman, the co-founder of Nike, coached the “Men of Oregon” to NCAA titles in 1962, 1964 and 1965. Pre won seven individual NCAA titles for the Ducks before repre- senting the United States in the 1972 Munich Olympics. He was killed in a car acci- dent in 1975 at the age of 24. NBA FINALS: Cavaliers opened up 20-point lead in irst quarter Continued from 1B the Western Conference inals. “We were soft,” said coach Steve Kerr. “When you’re soft, you get beat on the glass and turn the ball over.” Irving bounced back from two rough games out West, J.R. Smith made ive 3-pointers and Tristan Thompson did the dirty work inside, getting 13 rebounds for the Cavs, who improved to 8-0 at home and can even the series with a win in Game 4 on Friday night. The Cavs hardly missed Love, still suffering from a concussion sustained in Game 2. He wanted to play, but Love is still in the NBA’s concussion protocol and has not yet been cleared to return by league and team doctors. Coach Tyronn Lue started veteran Richard Jefferson and moved James into Love’s power forward spot, giving the Cavs a smaller lineup better equipped to run with the Warriors. The 35-year-old Jefferson gave the Cavs a huge boost in 33 minutes, scoring nine points with eight rebounds. Leading by eight at halftime, Cleveland took control in the third quarter when James and Irving combined on a play that symbolized the Cavs’ resurrection. Scrambling on his hands and knees after a loose ball near midcourt, James got to his feet and whipped a pass to Irving on the left side. Irving returned a lob to James, who leaped high and lushed it with his right hand, a basket that seemed to erase all that went wrong for the Cavs in California. Before taking the loor, James and the Cavs huddled in the hallway outside their locker room and prayed. James then gave his teammates some instructions. “Follow my lead from the begin- ning!” he screamed. “And do your job!” The Cavs listened, scoring the game’s irst nine points and opening a 20-point lead in the irst quarter. With their season on the line, this was the response Cleveland had to have, but the Cavs fell back into bad habits in the second quarter, rushing shots and not moving the ball. The Warriors took advantage, outscoring the Cavs 27-18 to pull within 51-43 at halftime. SAY WHAT? Kerr was startled when the opening question in his postgame news conference was whether he’s considering changes. “We just lost one game,” Kerr said. “Change the starting lineup?” TIP-INS Warriors: Shot just 9 of 33 on 3-pointers. ... Thompson left briely in the irst quarter with a bruised left thigh after he ran into a screen by Cleveland’s Timofey Mozgov. ... Kerr became emotional before the game when paying his respects to Sean Rooks, his former Arizona teammate who died Tuesday at the age of 46. ... Green has become Public Enemy No. 1 in Cleveland — and elsewhere. He smiled while being booed during pregame warmups. Cavaliers: James has 82 career 30-point games in the playoffs, third most all-time. Only Michael Jordan (109) and Kobe Bryant (88) have more. ... Smith nailed a shot from halfcourt at the end of the second quarter, but the shot came after the horn and was waved off. ... Lue said he doesn’t pay any attention to the all the outside second-guessing about his lineups. “I don’t care,” he said. “They (critics) should be coaches.” ... Legendary Browns running back Jim Brown sat courtside and gave the crowd a thumbs-up when he was shown on the giant scoreboard. Cleve- land Cav- aliers guard Kyrie Ir- ving (2) drives past Golden State War- riors forward Dray- mond Green during the second half of Game 3 in Cleve- land on Wed., June 3, 2016. AP Photo/ Tony Dejak WISE: U.S. Open takes place on June 16-19 at Oakmont Country Club Continued from 1B at Oakmont (Pa.) Country Club. The now former Oregon star will be wearing Callaway gear, as he did Monday, and relinquishing his amateur status. “I have bigger plans than just making the cut obviously,” Wise said. “That would be a great goal to have. Being somewhere near the hunt would be a dream come true. … “I better be on my game for that one.” The hero from the Ducks’ historic NCAA champion- ship, Sulman Raza, said he still needs to work on his long game and bunker play before it’s his turn to compete at the next level. The South Eugene High graduate inished 7 over in the sectional qualiier after making the clinching putts in Oregon’s semiinal win over Illinois and the dramatic championship win over Texas. “I was sitting at home just watching the golf videos and stuff, and it just like hit me suddenly. For about 10, 15 minutes I was pretty emotional,” Raza said of Oregon’s title run. “It’s a BULLDOGS: Arstein aims to change culture of Bulldog boys program Continued from 1B court,” he said. “Our goal is to be a great defensive team, and we’ve been good in the past, but we can do better. We want to get on the brink of being state champions, not just making the tournament.” On the boys side, Arstein is a Hermiston alumnus after graduating in 2001 and spent six years as a coach under Larry Usher during Usher’s tenure as boys head coach in the late 2000s. Arstein coached both the freshman and junior varsity teams before spending his inal year as a varsity assistant, but decided to step away from high school coaching for the past few years to spend some time coaching at the middle school level. But during this past season, Arstein developed the itch to get back into the prep sports scene and jumped at the chance to apply for the Bulldogs opening. “I missed the challenge and competition,” Arstein said. “I just wanted to try and get the program with someone that really wanted to be there and coach them.” He was oficially approved by the school board in April and since that time he has gotten well-ac- climated to the team and to the position, and currently has the program busy with summer workouts and tour- naments. Arstein said his Bulldog teams will “play a solid half- court defense with a good motion offense. We’re going to be an athletic group that can get the rim a lot.” He inherits a team that went 13-13 overall in 2015- 2016 and saw its season end in the play-in round of the Class 5A postseason. The Bulldogs lost four seniors from last year’s team, but return key players such as Chance Flores, Dayshawn Neal, and Andrew James. But what is Arstein’s main goal in Year 1 of his tenure? “We want to change the culture of the Hermiston program,” he said. “We want to get the kids’ experience and teach them how to compete at their best every single day.” ——— Contact Eric Singer at esinger@eastoregonian. com or (541) 966-0839. Follow him on Twitter @ ByEricSinger. little disappointing after something like that to come out today and play the way I did. There’s a lot of work to do.” Travis Howe of Charlotte, N.C., inished second at 7 under, and Matt Marshall of Carlton was 6 under to earn the third and inal U.S. Open spot from the ield of 55. Wise was 1 over after the front nine of the irst round before a sizzling 30 on the back nine with seven birdies. The powerful push put him in a tie for second place, one shot behind Marshall. “On the back nine my putter got hot, just like it did when I shot that 64 at NCAAs,” said Wise, who pulled away on the inal 18 with ive birdies and only one bogey. “I had nine putts on the back nine, which is just, you know, unheard of.” Oregon assistant Van Williams caddied for Wise on Monday and plans to join him at Oakmont. “If Casey gives him the week off,” Wise joked. That shouldn’t be a problem. Williams used to caddie for Casey Martin, Oregon’s coach, at some prestigious PGA Tour events, but never the U.S. Open. “I guess the next best thing to playing in the U.S. Open would be looping in it,” Williams said. “I think it will be a once- in-a-lifetime opportunity. I’m super pumped to do it. More than anything, another week to hang with Aaron. Aaron and I have become really good friends, like brothers. He’s just a joy to be around, and we have a blast doing it.” Martin won a sectional qualiier at Emerald Valley Golf Club in 2012, and Oregon senior Brandon McIver qualiied for the 2014 U.S. Open. Wise will carry on the recent tradition with plenty of momentum after producing some lifetime memories with the Ducks. “That’s no surprise to me. I never doubted for a second that the kid was going to come out and win this thing,” Sulman said of Wise’s latest performance. “His game is so good and he’s so conident with every aspect of his game. He just always wants to go out and win. He’s just so determined.” SCOREBOARD Local Slate LEGION BASEBALL Ashlee Hodgen Memorial Tournament Friday Milton-Freewater vs. Baker, 11 a.m. (at Bob White Field) Hermiston vs. La Grande, Noon (at BMCC Field) Baker vs. Hodgen Distributing, 1:30 p.m. (at Bob White Field) Meridian vs. Hermiston, 2:30 p.m. (at BMCC Field) La Grande vs. Sandy, 4 p.m. (at Bob White Field) Central Valley vs. Hodgen Distributing, 6:30 p.m. (at Bob White Field) Saturday’s Games Meridian vs. Sandy, 8:30 a.m. (at Bob White Field) Hermiston vs. Sandy, 11 a.m. (at Bob White Field) Meridian vs. La Grande, 11:30 a.m. (at BMCC Field) Milton-Freewater vs. Central Valley, 1:30 p.m. (at Bob White Field) Central Valley vs. Baker, 4 p.m. (at Bob White Field) Milton-Freewater vs. Hodgen Distribut- ing, 6:30 p.m. (at Bob White Field) Basketball NBA Playoff Glance FINALS (Best-of-7; x-if necessary) Golden State 2, Cleveland 1 (all games on ABC) Thursday, June 2: Golden State 104, Cleveland 89 Sunday, June 5: Golden State 110, Cleveland 77 Wednesday, June 8: Cleveland 120, Golden State 90 Friday, June 10: Golden State at Cleve- land, 6 p.m. Monday, June 13: Cleveland at Golden State, 6 p.m. x-Thursday, June 16: Golden State at Cleveland, 6 p.m. x-Sunday, June 19: Cleveland at Golden State, 5 p.m. WNBA EASTERN CONFERENCE W L Atlanta 6 2 New York 4 4 Chicago 4 4 Indiana 4 4 Washington 4 6 Connecticut 1 7 Pct GB .750 — .500 2 .500 2 .500 2 .400 3 .125 5 WESTERN CONFERENCE W L Pct GB Minnesota 8 0 1.000 — Los Angeles 8 0 1.000 — Dallas 3 5 .375 5 Seattle 3 5 .375 5 Phoenix 2 6 .250 6 San Antonio 1 5 .167 ——— Wednesday’s Game Washington 87, Dallas 79 Today’s Game San Antonio at Phoenix, 7 p.m. Friday’s Games Seattle at Connecticut, 4 p.m. Chicago at Indiana, 4 p.m. Minnesota at Atlanta, 4:30 p.m. 6 Hockey NHL Playoff Glance STANLEY CUP FINALS (Best-of-7) Pittsburgh 3, San Jose 1 Monday, May 30: Pittsburgh 3, San Jose 2 Wednesday, June 1: Pittsburgh 2, San Jose 1 Saturday, June 4: San Jose 3, Pittsburgh 2, OT Monday, June 6: Pittsburgh 3, San Jose 1 TODAY: San Jose at Pittsburgh, 5 p.m. (NBC) Baseball MLB AMERICAN LEAGUE East Division W L Pct GB Baltimore 35 23 .603 — Boston 34 25 .576 1½ Toronto 32 29 .525 4½ New York 29 30 .492 6½ Tampa Bay 27 31 .466 8 Central Division W L Pct GB Cleveland 32 26 .552 — Kansas City 30 29 .508 2½ Detroit 30 29 .508 2½ Chicago 29 30 .492 3½ Minnesota 18 40 .310 14 West Division W L Pct GB Texas 36 23 .610 — Seattle 33 26 .559 3 Houston 29 32 .475 8 Los Angeles 26 33 .441 10 Oakland 25 34 .424 11 ——— Wednesday’s Games Toronto 7, Detroit 2 Tampa Bay 6, Arizona 3 Baltimore 4, Kansas City 0 N.Y. Yankees 12, L.A. Angels 6 Houston 3, Texas 1 Washington 11, Chicago White Sox 4 Milwaukee 4, Oakland 0 Minnesota 7, Miami 5 Seattle 5, Cleveland 0 San Francisco 2, Boston 1 Thursday’s Games Houston (McHugh 5-4) at Texas (Perez 4-4), 11:05 a.m. L.A. Angels (Chacin 2-3) at N.Y. Yankees (Nova 4-3), 4:05 p.m. Baltimore (Wilson 2-5) at Toronto (Stro- man 5-2), 4:07 p.m. Miami (Koehler 3-6) at Minnesota (Santa- na 1-5), 5:10 p.m. Washington (Gonzalez 3-4) at Chicago White Sox (Gonzalez 0-1), 5:10 p.m. Cleveland (Tomlin 8-1) at Seattle (Karns 5-2), 7:10 p.m. NATIONAL LEAGUE East Division W L Pct GB Washington 36 23 .610 — New York 32 26 .552 3½ Miami 30 29 .508 6 Philadelphia 29 31 .483 7½ Atlanta 17 42 .288 19 Central Division W L Pct GB Chicago 41 17 .707 — Pittsburgh 32 27 .542 9½ St. Louis 31 28 .525 10½ Milwaukee 28 31 .475 13½ Cincinnati 22 37 .373 19½ West Division W L Pct GB San Francisco 36 25 .590 — Los Angeles 32 29 .525 4 Colorado 27 32 .458 8 Arizona 26 36 .419 10½ San Diego 25 36 .410 11 ——— Wednesday’s Games Chicago Cubs 8, Philadelphia 1 Atlanta 4, San Diego 2 Tampa Bay 6, Arizona 3 N.Y. Mets 6, Pittsburgh 5, 10 innings St. Louis 12, Cincinnati 7 Washington 11, Chicago White Sox 4 Milwaukee 4, Oakland 0 Minnesota 7, Miami 5 Colorado 1, L.A. Dodgers 0 Thursday’s Games Pittsburgh (Locke 5-3) at Colorado (Bettis 4-5), 2:10 p.m. St. Louis (Wainwright 5-4) at Cincinnati (Finnegan 2-4), 4:10 p.m. Miami (Koehler 3-6) at Minnesota (Santa- na 1-5), 5:10 p.m. N.Y. Mets (Colon 4-3) at Milwaukee (Nelson 5-4), 5:10 p.m. Soccer COPA AMERICA FIRST ROUND GROUP A GP W D L GF GA Pts x-Colombia 2 2 0 0 4 1 6 United States 2 1 0 1 4 2 3 Paraguay 2 0 1 1 1 2 1 Costa Rica 2 0 1 1 0 4 1 x-advanced to quarterinals Saturday’s Games At Philadelphia United States vs. Paraguay, 7 p.m. At Houston Colombia vs. Costa Rica, 9 p.m. GROUP B GP W D L GF GA Pts Brazil 2 1 1 0 7 1 4 Peru 2 1 1 0 3 2 4 Ecuador 2 0 2 0 2 2 2 Haiti 2 0 0 2 1 8 0 Wednesday’s Games At Orlando, Fla. Brazil 7, Haiti 1 At Glendale, Ariz. Ecuador 2, Peru 2 Sunday’s Games At East Rutherford, N.J. Ecuador vs. Haiti, 6:30 p.m. At Foxborough, Mass. Brazil vs. Peru, 8:30 p.m. GROUP C GP W D L GF GA Pts Mexico 1 1 0 0 3 1 3 Venezuela 1 1 0 0 1 0 3 Uruguay 1 0 0 1 1 3 0 Jamaica 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 Today’s Games At Philadelphia Uruguay vs. Venezuela, 7:30 p.m. At Pasadena, Calif. Mexico vs. Jamaica, 10 p.m. Monday, June 13 At Houston Mexico vs. Venezuela, 8 p.m. At Santa Clara, Calif. Uruguay vs. Jamaica, 10 p.m. GROUP D GP W D L GF GA Pts Argentina 1 1 0 0 2 1 3 Panama 1 1 0 0 2 1 3 Bolivia 1 0 0 1 1 2 0 Chile 1 0 0 1 1 2 0 Friday’s Games At Foxborough, Mass. Chile vs. Bolivia, 7 p.m. At Chicago Argentina vs. Panama, 9:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 14 At Philadelphia Chile vs. Panama, 8 p.m. At Seattle Argentina vs. Bolivia, 10 p.m. Motorsports NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Points Leaders Through June 8 1. Kevin Harvick, 490 2. Kurt Busch, 465 3. Brad Keselowski, 442 4. Carl Edwards, 437 5. Kyle Busch, 416 6. Jimmie Johnson, 415 7. Chase Elliott, 413 8. Joey Logano, 410 9. Martin Truex, Jr., 403 10. Matt Kenseth, 382 11. Dale Earnhardt, Jr., 381 12. Denny Hamlin, 372 13. Austin Dillon, 348 14. Jamie McMurray, 342 15. Ryan Blaney, 340 16. Ryan Newman, 338 17. AJ Allmendinger, 334 18. Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., 325 18. Kasey Kahne, 325 20. Trevor Bayne, 319