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.