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Page 2B SPORTS East Oregonian Friday, July 8, 2016 Tennis Kerber stops Venus in Wimbledon semis By HOWARD FENDRICH Associated Press AP Photo/Tim Ireland Angelique Kerber of Germany celebrates after beating Venus Williams of the U.S in their women’s singles match on day eleven of the Wimbledon Tennis Champi- onships in London, Thursday, July 7, 2016. GREB: America’s Cup to be held at end of month Continued from 1B defending champion Ellie Slama (Salem) in a two-hole playoff for the title. Both golfers inished at even par with 216. Boys match play champion Spencer Tibbits (Vancouver, Washington) completed the double with a one-stroke victory over Craig Ronne (Klamath Falls). Both golfers shot a 70 in their inal round and Tibbets inished at a six-under 210 for the week. It was his second straight stroke play championship. Gailey and Slama joined Greb as selections for the Junior America’s Team, and Madalyn Ardueser (Eugene) also made the team. Players earn points toward a roster spot based on their perfor- mances at OGA events. Greb also placed third at the Peter Jacobsen Challenge earlier this season. The Girl’s Junior Ameri- ca’s Cup is held on a rotating basis throughout the western United States, Canada and Mexico. This year’s event will be held July 24-28 at Del Rio Country Club in Modesto, California. In this June 19 ile photo, Golden State War- riors cen- ter Festus Ezeli (31) shoots against Cleveland Cavaliers forward Kevin Love (0) during the irst half of Game 7 of basket- ball’s NBA Finals in Oakland, Calif. AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez LONDON — Venus Williams’ deepest Grand Slam run in a half-dozen years ended one victory short of what would have been yet another Wimbledon title match against her sister Serena. Unable to replicate the sort of turn-back-time perfor- mance that carried her to the semiinals at the All England Club, Venus was broken in her irst four service games Thursday and lost to No. 4-seeded Angelique Kerber 6-4, 6-4. The 36-year-old Venus was the oldest Slam semii- nalist since Martina Navra- tilova was 37 at Wimbledon in 1994. Venus is a ive-time champion at the grass-court tournament, but she hadn’t made it this far since at Wimbledon since 2009, or at any major since the 2010 U.S. Open. So now, instead of an all-Williams inal on Saturday, it will be Kerber against No. 1 Serena in a rematch of the Australian Open inal won by the German in January. That was Kerber’s irst Grand Slam title, and prevented Serena from collecting her record- equaling 22nd. Now Serena is once again so close to that number. In control from start to inish in Thursday’s irst semiinal, Serena needed all of 48 minutes to overwhelm Elena Vesnina 6-2, 6-0 in what felt like a training session. Except Serena probably gets more of a workout when she practices. “You have to admit she was just better. She was stronger, faster,” Vesnina said. “I couldn’t do anything today.” Serena’s serve was in ine form, reaching 123 mph and producing 11 aces against the 50th-ranked Vesnina, who was making her major semiinal debut. Serena won 28 of 31 points that she served, including the last 17, and compiled a 28-9 edge in total winners. Since winning her sixth Wimbledon trophy a year ago to raise her career count to 21 majors, Serena has come quite close to tying Stefi Graf with 22, the most in the Open era, which began in 1968 (Margaret Court holds the all-time mark of 24). But Serena was surprisingly beaten by Roberta Vinci in the U.S. Open semiinals last September, then by Kerber in Melbourne, and by Garbine Muguruza in the French Open inal last month. “I mean, I think for anyone else in this whole planet, it would be a wonderful accomplishment,” Serena said about reaching her third Grand Slam inal of the year. “For me, it’s about, obviously, holding the trophy and winning, which would make it a better accomplishment for me. For me, it’s not enough. But I think that’s what makes me different. That’s what makes me Serena.” And now she has given herself yet another chance to catch Graf. Except rather than a ifth Williams vs. Williams inal at Wimbledon, and ninth at a major, it will be Serena vs. Kerber. Serena has won ive of their previous seven matches. The left-handed Kerber dropped to her knees at the baseline and tossed aside her racket after a running cross-court forehand winner capped the 19-stroke exchange that ended her semiinal against Venus. TRIALS: Johnson last to complete double in 1996 Continued from 1B specialty, on Friday. Merritt could become the irst man to win a 2-4 Olympic double since Michael Johnson in 1996. But his specialty is the 400 and he still has some goals there. Among them: “World record,” he said. He won the Olympic gold in 2008, but pulled out of the irst round in 2012 with a hamstring injury. In his world, the 200 is mainly good training. And yet, watching him pumping his ists as he hit the stretch, then steadily pulling away for a .44-second cushion over the second-place inisher, it was easy to see why he’s at least giving this a try. “If anybody can do it, LaShawn can do it,” Gatlin said. “To watch him run is amazing. I know he’s got it in the tank. So let’s see him put it out there.” Gatlin, a more seasoned veteran than Merritt at both the distance and the art of the double, saved energy in his opener, especially with rain starting to soak the track at Hayward Field. He ran the 200 in 20.32 and inished .05 behind Ameer Webb. But all these prelim times go in the wastebasket almost as soon as they’re recorded. “Just play it smart,” AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez LaShawn Merritt inishes his heat during men’s 200-meter run at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Tri- als, Thursday in Eugene. Gatlin said. “I’m on to the next round. Almost a blueprint of what I did in the 100. Go faster. Rise to the occasion.” Other happenings on Day 6 of Olympic Trials: SHOT DIVA: Michelle Carter (Twitter handle @ shotdiva) already had her Olympic spot wrapped up. Then, she did the same thing as at world indoor champi- onships in the spring: She won the meet on the last throw of the night. Her mark of 64 feet, 3 1/4 inches beat out Raven Saunders and knocked Felisha Saunders into third. Said veteran Jill Camarena-Williams, who inished ifth in what she said would be her last Olympic Trials: “I always wait to see Michelle’s last throw. I would never, ever leave.” TRIPLE JUMP: Two-time NCAA cham- pion Keturah Orji, who once dreamed of being an Olympic gymnast, will get a chance at another kind of title. She won the women’s triple jump and will head to Rio. On the men’s side, Christian Taylor’s quest for an Olympic repeat is on track. He needed one jump to make it through quali- fying, and will try to secure his spot Saturday. THE TOUGHEST JUMP: Stephanie Garcia was in the mix for an Olympic spot in steeple- chase until the inal lap. First, she got passed for the third position. Then, in her quest to catch up, she stum- bled over the last barrier and went tumbling. Emma Coburn, Courtney Frerichs and Colleen Quigley got the trips to Rio. Garcia said she still earned a victory of sorts: “I knew if I didn’t make it, then I was going to make those who did work very, very hard,” she said. MORE MEDALS: Among Olympic medal winners who made it through their qualifying rounds Thursday were Leonel Manzano (1,500), Bershawn Jackson (400 hurdles) and Dawn Harper-Nelson (100 hurdles). Harper-Nelson, the 2008 gold medalist, was in the same heat with American record holder Keni Harrison, but barely noticed. “I tell my husband, ‘Tell me what lane I’m in and what heat. The rest doesn’t matter,’” Harper-Nelson said. QUOTABLE: “With (Jamaica’s) rules, hopefully they’ll let him in. If not, it might be the irst time the Olympic committee sends a personal invite to an athlete to come to the games. They’d lose some money if he didn’t show up.” — Spearmon, on the chances of Bolt making the Olympics despite his recent hamstring problems. MARINERS: Paxton cruising early, induces three double plays Continued from 1B BLAZERS: Ezeli missed 31 games due to knee surgery Continued from 1B Nigeria, was drafted with the 30th pick in the 2012 draft by the Golden State Warriors. Last season he averaged 7.0 points and 5.6 rebounds in 64 games, including 13 starts. Ezeli missed 31 games this season after having arthroscopic surgery in February to remove debris from his left knee. After starting 41 games for the Warriors his rookie year, he missed the entire 2013-14 season after surgery to reinforce the ligaments in his right knee. The Blazers announced earlier Thursday they had acquired guard Shabazz Napier in a trade with the Orlando Magic for cash considerations. Napier was selected by the Charlotte Bobcats with the No. 24 overall pick in the 2014 draft out of Connecticut. He was traded to Orlando a year ago, and averaged 3.7 points and 1.8 assists in 55 games last season. “Shabazz is a talented young player that we are pleased to add to our program. He its the model we instituted last year and we look forward to helping him grow as a player in our system,” said Neil Olshey, Portland’s president of basketball operations. The Blazers also formally signed forward Jake Layman, acquired in a draft-day trade, as well as free agent Evan Turner, who was introduced at a news conference Thursday. Layman was selected with the 47th overall pick in this year’s draft by Orlando before he was traded to the Blazers. He averaged 10.2 points and 4.8 rebounds in four years at Maryland. Portland and Turner agreed on a four-year, $70 million contract at the start of the NBA’s free agency period. Turner, who was drafted No. 2 overall by the 76ers in 2010 out of Ohio State, spent the last two seasons with the Boston Celtics. The 6-foot-7 wing averaged 10.5 points, 4.9 rebounds and 4.4 assists as Boston’s sixth man last season, his best since 2013-14. Turner spent his irst three seasons in Philadelphia before one with the Pacers. He’s averaged 10.7 points, 3.8 assists and 4.9 rebounds per game over his career. “He is a really good, alert defender, both on and off the ball,” coach Terry Stotts said. “He its into our culture in how we want to play, both on and off the ball.” Turner told reporters he had admired former Blazer Brandon Roy. “I was a big B-Roy fan back in the day in college,” Turner said. “If it worked for him, it’ll work for me.” Portland was one of the biggest surprises of last season, advancing to the second round of the playoffs with one of the youngest rosters in the league after losing four starters in the offseason. with some old-fashioned small ball. Dae-Ho Lee scored from second on Dan Robertson’s single in the second inning, and Robertson scored after a sacriice bunt and sacriice ly in the ifth. Nelson Cruz added a homer off Joakim Soria in the eighth Those three runs seemed insurmountable the way Paxton was cruising along. He induced inning- ending double plays the irst two innings, then another one in the third after back- to-back singles led it off. Ketel Marte then made a nice play ranging out from third base on Alex Gordon’s blooper into shallow left ield to leave Brett Eibner on third base and end the inning. The worst throw Paxton made before the eighth wasn’t to the mound but to irst base, when Kendrys Morales chopped a grounder back to him the previous inning. Paxton’s throw slipped and bounced halfway to the bag. With everything else going for him, it still beat Morales easily for the out. SCOREBOARD Track & Field US Track & Field Olympic Trials Thursday At Hayward Field Eugene, Ore. (All race distances in meters) Finals Women Shot put 1, Michelle Carter, Nike, NYAC, 64 feet, 3 inches. 2, Raven Saunders, Ole Miss, 63-1½. 3, Felisha Johnson, Nike, 63-1. 4, Tia Brooks, Nike, 62-1¾. 5, Jill Camare- na-Williams, Nike/NYAC, 61-8½. 6, Brittany Smith, Nike, 60-11½. 7, Chase Ealey, unat- tached, 60-6¾. 8, Jeneva Stevens, NYAC, 59-10½. 9, Christina Hillman, Iowa State, 56-4. 10, Kearsten Peoples, unattached, 53-0¾. Jessica Woodard, Oklahoma, unat- tached, foul. Dani Bunch, Nike, foul. 3,000 steeplechase 1, Emma Coburn, New Balance, 9 minutes, 17.48 seconds. 2, Courtney Frerichs, Nike Bowerman TC, 9:20.92. 3, Colleen Quigley, Nike Bowerman TC, 9:21.29. 4. Shalaya Kipp, Oiselle, 9:28.72. 5, Stephanie Garcia, New Balance, 9:28.99. 6, Bridget Franek, Brooks/Team Run Eugeen, 9:33.51. 7, Megan Rolland, Oiselle, 9:35.31. 8, Mel Lawrence, Oiselle, 9:36.35. 9, Ashley Higginson, Saucony, 9:38.55. 10, Rena Williams-Chesser, unattached, 9:40.49. 11, Katie Landwehr, Michigan State, 9:41.22. 12, Jessica Kami- los, unattached, 9:45.42. 13, Nicole Bush, New Balance, 9:58.04. 14, Leah O’Connor, adidas, 9:59.03. Triple jump 1, Keturah Orji, Georgia, 46-11¾. 2, Christina Epps, adidas Garden State TC, 46-6. 3, Andrea Geubelle, unattached, 45- 9. 4, Imani Oliver, unattached, 45-4½. 5, Ciarra Brewer, unattached, 45-3½. 6, April Sinkler, Club Northwest, 43-9. 7, Toni Smith, unattached, 43-6½. 8, Lynnika Pitts, unattached, 43-6. 9, Tori Franklin, unattached, 43-1. 10, Amanda Smock, Asics/NYAC, 43-0½. 11, Crystal Manning, unattached, 43-0. 12, Bria Matthews, Georgia Tech, 42-9½. Wednesday Men Hammer Throw 1, Rudy Winkler, Cornell, 251 feet, 10 inches. 2, Kibwe Johnson, Nike/NYAC, 246-5. 3, Conor McCullough, uattached, 243-4. 4, A.G. Kruger, Nike, 240-6. 5, Andy Fryman, Mjolnir Throwers Club, 238-7. 6, Matthias Tayala, unattached, 237-11. 7, Colin Dunbar, uattached, 237-3. 8, J C Lambert, unattached, 226-8. 9, Sean Donnelly, Minnesota, 226-3. Women Hammer Throw 1. Amber Campbell, Nike, 242-10. 2, Gwen Berry, Nike/NYAC, 239-9. 3, Deanna Price, Sothern Illinois, 29-9. 4, Amanda Bingson, Nike/NYAC, 230-8. 5, Heavin Warner, Central Missouri, 223-11. 6, Jeneva Stevens, NYAC, 222-8. 7, Aubrey Baxter, Team Nebraska, 219-10. 8, Brooke Pleger, unattached, 219-7. 9, Maggie Ewen, Arizona St., 217-8. Tennis Wimbledon Thursday At The All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club London Purse: $38.4 million (Grand Slam) Surface Grass-Outdoor Singles Women Semiinals Serena Williams (1), United States, def. Elena Vesnina, Russia, 6-2, 6-0. Angelique Kerber (4), Germany, def. Ve- nus Williams (8), United States, 6-4, 6-4. Doubles Men Semiinals Julien Benneteau and Edouard Rog- er-Vasselin, France, def. Raven Klaasen, South Africa, and Rajeev Ram (11), United States, 7-5, 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (5). Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut (1), France, def. Treat Huey, Philip- pines, and Max Mirnyi (12), Belarus, 6-4, 3-6, 6-7 (3), 6-4, 6-4. Women Quarterinals Timea Babos, Hungary, and Yaroslava Shvedova (5), Kazakhstan, def. Martina Hingis, Switzerland, and Sania Mirza (1), India, 6-2, 6-4. Julia Goerges, Germany, and Karolina Pliskova (8), Czech Republic, def. Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic (2), France, 7-6 (11), 6-3. Serena and Venus Williams, United States, def. Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina (4), Russia, 7-6 (1), 4-6, 6-2. Baseball MLB AMERICAN LEAGUE Thursday’s Games L.A. Angels 5, Tampa Bay 1 Toronto 5, Detroit 4 N.Y. Yankees 5, Cleveland 4 Minnesota 10, Texas 1 Oakland 3, Houston 1 Kansas City 4, Seattle 3 Today’s Games L.A. Angels (Shoemaker 3-9) at Balti- more (Jimenez 5-8), 4:05 p.m. Detroit (Pelfrey 2-7) at Toronto (Happ 11-3), 4:07 p.m. N.Y. Yankees (Green 1-1) at Cleveland (Kluber 8-8), 4:10 p.m. Tampa Bay (Archer 4-11) at Boston (O’Sullivan 2-0), 4:10 p.m. Minnesota (Gibson 2-5) at Texas (Hamels 9-2), 5:05 p.m. Atlanta (Wisler 3-8) at Chicago White Sox (Sale 14-2), 5:10 p.m. Oakland (Mengden 1-4) at Houston (McHugh 5-6), 5:10 p.m. Seattle (Iwakuma 8-6) at Kansas City (Ventura 6-6), 5:15 p.m. NATIONAL LEAGUE Thursday’s Games St. Louis 5, Pittsburgh 1 N.Y. Mets 9, Washington 7 Colorado 11, Philadelphia 2 San Diego 6, L.A. Dodgers 0 Atlanta at Chicago Cubs, late inish Today’s Games Chicago Cubs (Arrieta 12-3) at Pittsburgh (Liriano 5-8), 4:05 p.m. Cincinnati (Straily 4-5) at Miami (Fernan- dez 10-4), 4:10 p.m. Washington (Strasburg 11-0) at N.Y. Mets (Syndergaard 9-3), 4:10 p.m. Atlanta (Wisler 3-8) at Chicago White Sox (Sale 14-2), 5:10 p.m. Philadelphia (Velasquez 7-2) at Colorado (Gray 5-4), 5:10 p.m. St. Louis (Wacha 5-7) at Milwaukee (Nelson 5-7), 5:10 p.m. San Diego (Cashner 3-6) at L.A. Dodgers (Kazmir 7-3), 7:10 p.m. Arizona (Corbin 4-6) at San Francisco (Samardzija 8-5), 7:15 p.m. MiLB NORTHWEST LEAGUE Thursday’s Games Spokane 8, Boise 4 Tri-City at Hillsboro, late Vancouver at Salem-Keizer, Postponed Eugene at Everett, Postponed Today’s Games Vancouver at Salem-Keizer (DH), 5:30 p.m. Eugene at Everett (DH), 6:05 p.m. Boise at Spokane, 6:30 p.m. Tri-City at Hillsboro, 7:05 p.m. Basketball WNBA Thursday’s Game Connecticut 93, Minnesota 89, OT Today’s Games Dallas at Atlanta, 4:30 p.m. New York at Chicago, 5:30 p.m. Seattle at San Antonio, 6 p.m. Indiana at Phoenix, 7 p.m. Soccer MLS Today’s Games Orlando City at Houston, 5 p.m. San Jose at FC Dallas, 7:30 p.m. Saturday’s Games Seattle at Los Angeles, Noon Philadelphia at DC United, 4 p.m. New England at Columbus, 4:30 p.m. Toronto FC at Chicago, 4:30 p.m. Real Salt Lake at Montreal, 7 p.m. Vancouver at Colorado, 7 p.m. European Championship SEMIFINALS Wednesday At Lyon, France Portugal 2, Wales 0 Thursday At Marseille, France France 2, Germany 0 FINAL Sunday At Saint-Denis, France Portugal vs. France, Noon Cycling Tour de France Thursday At Montauban, France Sixth Stage A 118.4-mile ride from Arpajon-sur-Cere to Montauban: 1. Mark Cavendish, Britain, Dimension Data, 4 hours, 43 minutes, 48 seconds. 2. Marcel Kittel, Germany, Etixx-Quick- Step, same time. 3. Daniel Mclay, Britain, Fortuneo-Vital Concept, same time. 4. Alexander Kristoff, Norway, Team Katusha, same time. 5. Christophe Laporte, France, Coidis, Solutions Credits, same time. 6. Peter Sagan, Slovakia, Tinkoff Team, same time. 7. Dylan Groenewegen, Netherlands, Team LottoNl-Jumbo, same time. 8. Edward Theuns, Belgium, Trek-Sega- fredo, same time. 9. Bryan Coquard, France, Direct Ener- gie, same time. 10. Shane Archbold, New Zealand, Bora-Argon 18, same time. Overall Standings (After six stages) 1. Greg Van Avermaet, Belgium, BMC Racing, 30:18:38. 2. Julian Alaphilippe, France, Etixx-Quick- Step, 5:11. 3. Alejandro Valverde, Spain, Movistar, 5:13. 4. Joaqim Rodriguez, Spain, Katusha, 5:15. 5. Chris Froome, Britain, Sky, 5:17. 6. Warren Barguil, France, Giant-Alpecin, same time. 7. Nairo Quintana, Colombia, Movistar, same time. 8. Pierre Rolland, France, Cannondale, same time. 9. Fabio Aru, Italy, Astana, same time. 10. Daniel Martin, Ireland, Etixx-Quick- Step, same time.
