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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 23, 2016)
SPORTS TUESDAY, AUGUST 23, 2016 1B FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @EOSPORTS Olympics Team USA runs away with Olympics medal race The USA’s 4x400-meter relay team celebrate winning the gold medal during the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janei- ro, Brazil on Saturday. Women win 27 of Team USA’s 46 gold medals By TIM REYNOLDS Associated Press RIO DE JANEIRO — The U.S. Olympic Team made itself right at home in Rio. The British, they had a Games to savor as well. AP Photo/Martin Meissner The host Brazilians got soccer gold that they craved, the Russians struggled on the heels of the exposure of a state-spon- sored doping program, and the Chinese fi nished well below expectations. So went the medal race at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, where the Americans - with women leading the way - dominated both the gold and overall totals. The U.S. fi nished with 46 gold See TEAM USA/2B MLB PENDLETON Buckaroo line dance Pend- leton lines up before the snap by center Everett Willard during practice on Mon- day at Pendle- ton High School. Willard is one of three new starters on the offen- sive line for the Bucka- roos this season. Pendleton offensive line has three new starters By MATT ENTRUP East Oregonian Pendleton offensive line coach Josh Linehan doesn’t typically have players knocking on his door looking to join his position group. “Offensive lineman is not the fl ashiest position, obviously,” said the seventh- year Buckaroo assistant after practice Monday. “Because they’re not getting any yards, any touchdowns. But they can take pride that they’re working harder than every- body else.” It’s a tough sell, and it leads Linehan to look for a specifi c trait when he’s scoping out future talent on the line. “Kids that’ll whack you. First and foremost is tough- ness,” he said. “If you start with toughness you can build on that. If you don’t have that base … you can’t really teach it. It’s there or it’s not, and if you don’t have that as a base everything else is harder. “We tell these guys, ‘Aggression and violence will make up for a lot, if you lack anything in athleti- cism.’” With three two-way starters, athleticism isn’t Staff photo by Matt Entrup Offense powers M’s over Yankees Seager, Zunino each crush three- run home runs By JIM HOEHN Associated Press SEATTLE (AP) — Mike Zunino and Kyle Seager each hit a three-run homer and Nelson Cruz added a solo shot as the Seattle Mariners rallied to beat the New York Yankees 7-5 Monday New York night. T h e Yankees got two homers apiece from r o o k i e Seattle catcher Gary Sanchez and Starlin Castro — all off starter Cody Martin — but three of them were solo shots. New York took a 5-3 lead in the sixth inning on a two-run shot by Sanchez, his eighth homer of the season and sixth in the last seven games, and Castro’s second solo homer, his 17th. Zunino, recalled from from 5 something Pendleton’s starting offensive line will lack in 2016. Tackle Cade Anderson, and guards Grant Kennedy and Greg Lee all start at line- backer, and center Everett Willard provides depth at defensive line. But with just two returning starters (Anderson and Lee), a converted tight end (Kennedy) and two fi rst- year varsity players (Willard and right tackle Jakob Harshfi eld), the line will have to mature quickly in order for the Bucks offense to be effective. Senior and projected starter at tackle Jacob Dickerson should bolster the unit when he returns from surgery to have his appendix removed, but Pendleton head coach Erik Davis said he likes what he’s seeing from the group as is. “They’re starting to come along. They’re tough kids, especially those older kids,” he said. “I see juniors and seniors coming together, and they fl y around. “It’s just getting on the same page, understanding concepts and where they’re going in our zone blocking. They’re smart kids, they’re football players, and I have See BUCKAROOS/2B 7 Staff photo by Matt Entrup Pendleton senior Cade Anderson blocks during a drill at football practice on Monday at Pendleton High School. Anderson is one of two returning starters on the Buckaroos offensive line. See MARINERS/2B NFL Running back Troymaine Pope turning heads with Seahawks Rookie making most of chance in crowded backfi eld By CURTIS CRABTREE Associated Press RENTON, Wash. — Despite urging from family members to seek a job in the real word, Troymaine Pope continued to hold out hope for an NFL opportunity. A tryout with the Kansas City Chiefs in May didn’t yield a contract offer. Instead, the former Jack- sonville State running back returned home to Anniston, Alabama, far from the practice fi elds of an NFL team. Finally, he gave in and interviewed to work at a car factory. Then his phone rang. With injuries mounting early in training camp, the Seattle Seahawks needed help at running back. They gave Pope the opportunity he had been holding out hope for. “They called me and I just like, oh man, starting broke down crying like it’s a blessing. It was God’s plan,” Pope said. Pope is trying to make his stay with Seattle a long one. He has been one of the unex- AP Photo/John Froschauer Seattle Seahawks running back Troymaine Pope (26) scores a touchdown against the Minnesota Vikings during a preseason game in Seattle. pected stars during Seattle’s fi rst two preseason games. Pope rushed for 86 yards and a touchdown on just 10 carries against the Minne- sota Vikings on Thursday night. He also scored the winning two-point conver- sion against the Chiefs in the Seahawks’ preseason opener. “I ain’t ever going to get past this game,” Pope said. “This is something I love. My family was trying to convince me to get a job. I took a long time to even attempt for a job because this is what I wanted to do.” With a three year-old daughter, Cassidy, at home, Pope began looking for jobs outside football. He had attended an orientation at a factory that works on cars and builds tools earlier that day. “It was like hard labor,” he said. “I didn’t really want to work the job, but I had to provide for my daughter so I was willing to do anything for her.” Pope was on his way to pick up his car from the shop with his mother when the Seahawks called to give him the job offer he wanted. In three weeks with the team, he’s made an impres- sion in practice and the two preseason games. “I’m not surprised,” head coach Pete Carroll said of Pope’s performance against Minnesota. “I really thought we saw some stuff See SEAHAWKS/2B Sports shorts EOU’s Mills garners Defensive Player of the Week honors LA GRANDE — Eastern Oregon libeiro Malia Mills was chosen by the Cascade Collegiate Conference as the FACES volleyball defensive player of the week. Mills, a junior, collected a total of 50 digs to help her No. 8 ranked Mountaineer team to a 3-1 record at the Biola Summer Slam tour- nament in La Miranda, California over the weekend. In the season Mills opener she recorded 20 digs in a 3-0 loss to No. 16 Westmont in the season opener and then turned in 14 digs in an easy 3-0 victory over The Master’s. Mills and the Mountaineers will hit the court again on Friday when they kick-off the Big Sky Invitational in Butte, Montana with a match against Carroll College at Noon. “I’m all for raising the bar for global basketball ... I love the game. Basketball is the No. 2 sport in the world (but) we just need to see these other countries get their acts together and become more competitive.“ — Jerry Colangelo USA Basketball chairman af- ter the USA took down Serbia XX-XX to win their third straight gold medal in men’s basketball, challenging the other countries to push the US on the global stage. Bend team fi nishes Little League World Series with win SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. (AP) Isaiah Jensen allowed just two hits and no earned runs in 4 1/3 innings to help Bend, Oregon beat Emilia, Italy 6-2 on Monday in a consolation game of the Little League World Series. Oregon put runners on second and third with no outs in the second inning but scored just once on Chase Terry’s sacrifi ce fl y. Jensen kept Italy scoreless through four innings and didn’t give up a hit until Samuele Gamberini singled off the center-fi eld wall in the fourth. Oregon scored fi ve runs in the bottom of the fourth to make it 6-0. Julian Mora sliced a RBI single to right fi eld, and Bowen Nelson and Zack Reynolds hit back-to-back RBI triples with two outs. Bend fi nished the tournament at 1-2. THIS DATE IN SPORTS 2001 — Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Randy Johnson strikes out 16 batters in seven innings to become the fi rst MLB pitcher to strike out 300 in four straight seasons. 2012 — Lance Armstrong chooses not to pursue arbitration in the drug case brought against him by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. That’s his last option in his bitter fi ght with USADA and his decision sets the stage for the titles to be stripped and his name to be all but wiped from the record books of the sport he once ruled. Contact us at 541-966-0838 or sports@eastoregonian.com