Page 2B
SPORTS
East Oregonian
Thursday, January 5, 2017
Track & Field
Two-time Olympic champion Ashton Eaton retiring
By PAT GRAHAM
Associated Press
Two Olympic decathlon
gold medals. Rewriting the
world record not once but
twice. Ashton Eaton really
can’t envision accomplishing
much more in an event that
comes with the label of
world’s greatest athlete.
So, he’s stepping away
less than three weeks shy of
his 29th birthday.
Eaton and heptathlete
Brianne
Theisen-Eaton
announced their retirements
Wednesday in side-by-side
essays on their website.
Considered the first family
of multi-events, Ashton and
Brianne met at the University
of Oregon as teenagers and
married in July 2013. Their
coach, Harry Marra, offici-
ated the wedding.
Ashton hinted he might
be moving on to other things
soon after defending his title
at the Rio de Janeiro Olym-
pics in August. He leaves with
his world record standing
at 9,045 points, which he
achieved at the 2015 world
championships in Beijing. It
was six points better than his
previous record set during
dreary weather in front of a
hometown crowd in Eugene,
Oregon, at the 2012 U.S.
Olympic trials.
“Frankly there isn’t
much more I want to do in
(the) sport,” Ashton wrote.
“I gave the most physically
robust years of my life to the
discovery and pursuit of my
limits in this domain. Did I
reach them? Truthfully I’m
not sure anyone really does.
“It seems like we tend to
run out of time or will before
we run out of potential. That
makes humanity limitless
then, as far as I’m concerned.
And I think that’s inspiring.”
Some of Ashton’s top
rivals were already weighing
in on Twitter. Fellow Amer-
ican Trey Hardee , who
finished with silver at the
2012 London Games, posted
a tribute to Ashton that ended
with: “He carried the legacy
flag of American decathlon
champions and stuck it in the
ground atop Everest.”
Hardee also referred to
Ashton as “GOAT” — Greatest
Of All Time. That’s high praise
AP Photo/Alik Keplicz, File
In this March 7, 2014, file photo, United States’ Ashton
Eaton, left, talks to his wife Canada’s Brianne Theisen
Eaton as they compete in the heptathlon and pentath-
lon during the Athletics Indoor World Championships
in Sopot, Poland.
in a long line of distinguished
American decathletes, which
includes Jim Thorpe, Bob
Mathias, Bill Toomey, Rafer
Johnson, Bruce Jenner, Dan
O’Brien and Bryan Clay, to
name just a few.
Ashton’s biggest influ-
ence may have actually been
Roman Sebrle of the Czech
Republic — the decathlete
who inadvertently inspired
him and whose colossal
world record Ashton would
eventually break.
Here’s how the story goes,
as recounted by Ashton: As
a kid, he happened upon a
newspaper with a headline
along the lines of “Galactic
Olympics “ or “Interstellar
Olympics,” with the article
wondering who would repre-
sent Earth should one take
place. The opinion was Sebrle.
“I considered myself
knowledgeable about sports.
But out of all the athletes in the
world we were choosing this
man I had never seen doing
something I’d never heard of;
the decathlon,” Ashton wrote.
“I left to go about my day and
forgot about that experience
until five years later when
I heard that word again;
‘decathlon.’ This time, I was
being asked if I’d consider
trying it. I said ‘sure.”’
Since then, he’s ruled the
sport.
His departure comes
before the expected retire-
ment of another big name
from the world of track and
field. Nine-time Olympic
gold medalist Usain Bolt of
Jamaica indicated that 2017
would be his final season of
sprinting.
“I don’t know if we’ll ever
have another Usain Bolt or
another Ashton Eaton,” Hardee
said in a phone interview. “But
there are kids coming up ... and
it’s going to be great to watch
who fills those gaps.”
Through
the
years,
Ashton’s constant training
partner has been Brianne.
They’re highly supportive
each other, with Ashton
sitting in the Rio stands while
wearing a Canadian cap to
root for his wife.
The 28-year-old Brianne,
who represents Canada, won
the bronze medal in Rio. She
wrote in her essay how she
usually got nervous before
her final event.
But rather than her usual
thrill of finishing, Brianne
was mentally exhausted.
“I have never been so
thankful to be finished some-
thing in my life. I felt like I
never wanted to do another
heptathlon again. This feeling
confused me,” she wrote. “I
took 3 months to completely
get away. I didn’t think about
those feelings. I didn’t want
to make any decisions based
on my mental exhaustion.
But as the start of the 2017
season drew nearer, I felt
more and more resistant to
begin training.”
In his essay, Ashton closed
with this line: “To Brianne;
I’ve never seen such a high
level of strength sustained
for so long. I love you. What
now?”
———
Online:
http://www.
weareeaton.com
T-WOLVES: Haringa paces Blue Mountain women in loss
Continued from 1B
Blue Mountain was able
to hang around despite giving
up 21 offensive rebounds and
21 second chance points to
the Chukars in the first half.
“If we cut those down I
think it’s a different game,
but we just didn’t respond
very well to the physicality
at the very beginning,” Blue
Mountain assistant coach
Doug Baxter said after the
game. “Bottom line is we
need to play our game and
we kind of fell into their
run game. (Treasure Valley)
got into a flow at the end of
the half and we got a couple
bigs in foul trouble and that
certainly didn’t help us.”
But the Chukars (8-4, 1-0)
went on a 16-6 run over the
final 3:15 of the half to take
a 44-34 advantage, plus the
momentum into the locker
room. When the second half
began, the Chukars picked
up right where they left off
with a 13-0 run through the
first three-plus minutes of
the game to jump to a 57-35
lead.
Blue Mountain did not
score its first point of the
second half until the 16:24
mark when Jared Mathews
made one of two free throw
attempts. The T-Wolves first
field goal of the half came
just after the 15 minute mark
of the half on a floater from
inside the paint by Darien
Davis.
Davis was one of the
bright spots for Blue Moun-
tain, scoring 19 points for the
game on 6-11 shooting and
3-5 from the 3-point line.
“He’s (Darien) been a
little up-and-down but he’s a
pretty good shooter,” Baxter
said. “At a point in the second
half there you kind of saw a
switch go on with him where
he wanted to take control.
He was sharing the ball and
I thought he did some good
things defensively.”
Now BMCC turns its
focus to Big Bend, when
they travel to Moses Lake for
a 4 p.m. tip-off on Saturday.
Baxter said the Timber-
wolves need to learn to play
to their strengths more in
order to be more successful
down the stretch of league
play.
“We need to make sure
we’re playing our game and
not falling into what the other
team wants to do,” he said.
“For us we feel we need to
be the grind-it-out team, take
time off the clock and run
possessions down.”
On the women’s side
Wednesday, Blue Mountain
(2-6, 0-1) shot just 31 percent
from the floor and 1-14 from
3-point range in the loss to
Treasure Valley, while the
Chukars (9-2, 1-0) hit 43
percent of their shots and 39
percent (7-18) from 3-point
range.
Brook Haringa led the
Timberwolves with 11
points and five rebounds on
5-10 shooting, and Miah
Slater added 10 points on
4-9 shooting and sank Blue
Mountain’s lone 3-pointer
of the game. Blue Mountain
struggled on the boards as
well, as Treasure Valley won
the battle 55-34 and grabbed
23 offensive rebounds.
Just like the men’s game,
Blue Mountain was able
to hang around for a good
portion of the first quarter,
feeding off of success in their
half court offense, before
Treasure Valley found its
groove near the end of the
quarter and led 26-12. From
there on, the Chukars kept
their foot on the gas and led
by as much as 42 late in the
fourth quarter.
Blue Mountain next heads
to Big Bend on Saturday
for a 2 p.m. tip as they look
to snap a three game losing
streak and earn its first league
win of the season.
————
Men
TVCC
44 61 — 105
BMCC
34 40 — 74
TREASURE VALLEY — H. Bailey 22, K.
Williams 20, T. Jefferson 16, T. Williams 12,
J. Vaughn 10, E. Okafor 7, L. Jones 6, B.
Gonser 5, B. Buni 5, T. Penrod 2.
BLUE MOUNTAIN — D. Davis 19, L. Haw-
kins 14, J. Cook 12, I. Harris 12, D. Bravo
6, J. Mathews 5, L. Wyant 3, J. Logan 1, R.
Brown 1, L. McAllister 1.
3-pointers — TVCC 9, BMCC 6. Free
throws — TVCC 26-32, BMCC 32-46. Fouls
— TVCC 29, BMCC 27. Fouled out — E.
Okafor, B. Bruni (TVCC); J. Mathews, L.
Wyant (BMCC).
Women
TVCC
26 15 19 20 — 80
BMCC
12
7 11 12 — 42
TREASURE VALLEY — R. Helmick 20, G.
Oldham 13, S. Kincaid 10, S. Gilchrist 9, A.
Wheatley 8, C. Baker 6, M. Kimball 5, S.
Davis 4, L. Vargas 3, T. Whitney 2.
BLUE MOUNTAIN — B. Haringa 11,
M. Slater 10, A. McGee 9, E. Ramsey 4,
S. Schmeckpeper 4, S. Wammock 2, M.
Boyer 2.
3-pointers — TVCC 7, BMCC 1. Free
throws — TVCC 15-26, BMCC 3-7. Fouls —
TVCC 10, BMCC 20.
————
Contact Eric at esinger@
eastoregonian.com or (541)
966-0839. Follow him on
Staff photos by Kathy Aney
BMCC’s Brooke Haringa (21) goes in for a layup on
Wednesday night at the McCrae Activity Center against
Treasure Valley Community College.
OREGON:
BLAZERS: McCollum shoots 3 for 12 after halftime
Continued from 1B
Continued from 1B
should let anybody come in and hit eight
3s on us,” Crisp said.
Oregon’s only other true road game
this season came in its second game, a
66-49 loss to undefeated Baylor. The
Ducks dropped their opener at the Maui
Invitational but have now won 12 straight
after taking care of their northern neigh-
bors.
The Ducks took control with a 12-0
run late in the first half, only to see
Washington surge to start the second half,
pulling to 42-39. That was answered by
a seven-point run by the Ducks — with
five of the points coming from Dorsey —
as the lead remained near double figures.
Even Brooks picking up his fourth
foul with 10 minutes remaining didn’t
matter. Washington got as close as 55-47
with 11:55 to go, but a pair of 3-pointers
by Dorsey and his pass to Casey Benson
open for a corner 3 quickly pushed the
lead back to 18.
BIG PICTURE
Oregon: The Ducks showed an
ability to handle frontcourt issues, espe-
cially in the first half. Bell was helped
off with 9:38 left in the half, Boucher
picked up his second foul with 8:39 to
go and Brooks got his third foul with
4:53 remaining. Yet the Ducks outscored
Washington 25-15 during that stretch.
Washington: Fultz played after a
whirlwind trip to the East Coast to attend
the funeral of his great-grandmother.
Fultz left the team following last
Sunday’s loss to Washington State and
arrived back in Seattle around 2 a.m. on
Wednesday morning.
FUN WITH NUMBERS
Washington’s football team outscored
its basketball team when facing Oregon
in the regular season. The Huskies beat
the Ducks 70-21 on the football field in
October.
ONLY MEETING
Due to the Pac-12’s rotating sched-
ules, this was the only meeting between
the Ducks and Huskies in the regular
season. Last season the teams met only
once — at Oregon. It was the first time
in 100 years the Ducks and Huskies did
not play in Seattle.
UP NEXT
Oregon: The Ducks travel to Pullman
to face Washington State on Saturday.
his career high with three blocks
in the Warriors’ ninth straight
home win.
C.J. McCollum scored 35
points to lead a Portland team still
without Damian Lillard, and the
Trail Blazers certainly had to feel
better about hanging tough in this
one after their forgettable 45-point
defeat here 2 1/2 weeks earlier.
Curry shot 12 for 25 on a night
Splash Brother Klay Thompson
struggled to find his stroke from
long range, going 1 of 7 and
scoring 14 points. Curry added
seven rebounds and five assists.
Coming off a triple-double,
Draymond Green had 11 assists,
nine points and seven rebounds.
Durant was dominant on both
ends, especially during one spec-
tacular sequence late in the first.
He made a pretty driving
lay-in and converted a three-point
play at the 2:50 mark, blocked
two shots in succession moments
later — one against McCollum
then on Noah Vonleh’s putback
try. KD drained a 3-pointer the
next time down, and he also had a
four-point play in the final minute
of the first half.
McCollum made three of his
first six 3s then missed four of
five in the second half, when he
shot 3 for 12.
Lillard, averaging 31.8 points
in his past eight games against
the Warriors with four 30-point
performances, was out for a fifth
straight game because of a left
ankle injury and missed a chance
to play in his hometown.
Four Golden State starters hit
3-pointers among the Warriors’
first four baskets before the game
was even three minutes old.
The Warriors’ five straight
wins against the Trail Blazers
mark their first five-game winning
streak versus Portland since
winning seven in a row from Feb.
20, 2005 to Nov. 3, 2006.
Golden State also has won
six straight in the series at home.
That includes the blowout victory
Dec. 17 — 135-90 — for the
biggest margin by Golden State
in the series and matching the
largest point disparity in any
game played between the rivals
with Portland’s 136-91 win on
Dec. 22, 1987.
KERR’S MESSAGE
Already fined $25,000 in
November for his remarks on
traveling, Warriors coach Steve
Kerr shared how he texted Lakers
coach Luke Walton on Tuesday
night regarding a play by Griz-
zlies guard Mike Conley.
Once he’d said it, he begged
NBA president of basketball
operations Kiki VanDeWeghe not
to penalize him again.
“Mike Conley took like five
steps on the play and got an
and-1. It was like, ‘Not only are
we going to let you to travel,
we’re going to give you the
benefit of that touch at the end,
too.’ It’s like, ‘All right, we have
to adapt to that,”’ Kerr said. “...
So, again, Kiki if you’re listening,
it’s just an observation, it’s not a
complaint. Don’t fine me.”
COUGARS: Tinkle says Beavers lost track of game plan
Continued from 1B
Hawkinson, who scored 20
points and grabbed 11 rebounds
for his 49th career double-double,
said this year’s team is different.
“There’s a lot more opti-
mism,” Hawkinson said, after
Washington State beat Oregon
State 75-62 in the Spokane Arena.
“We don’t want to go
2-and-whatever,”added
Ike
Iroegbu. “It’s uplifting for sure
when we do better than last year.”
This is WSU’s first 2-0 start in
league since the 2007-08 season.
Iroegbu added 15 points for
Washington State (9-5, 2-0 Pacific
12), which won its fourth straight
game. Malachi Flynn added 13 big
points, 11 in the closing minutes
when the game was decided.
“He can handle pressure,”
Hawkinson said of the freshman.
Kendal Manuel had a career-
high 20 points for Oregon State
(4-12, 0-3), which had won six
straight games over Washington
State. Manuel hit six 3-pointers.
Trailing by five at halftime,
Oregon State opened the
second half with a 10-4 run —
including 3-pointers by JaQuori
McLaughlin and Manuel — to
take a 43-42 lead.
Manuel added consecutive
3-pointers shortly after for a
52-49 Oregon State lead.
A jumper by Robert Franks
put the Cougars up 55-54, but the
Beavers took the lead right back with
a 3-pointer by Stephen Thompson.
Oregon State was leading by
one point when the Cougars took
control.
Flynn hit a 3-pointer and a
runner during a 12-0 run that put
Washington State up 70-59 with
just over two minutes left.
“We stopped executing on
offense,” Oregon State coach
Wayne Tinkle said. “We went
away from what was working.”
“We executed our game plan
for a while,” Tinkle said.
The teams traded baskets in
the first half until an 11-0 run,
triggered by Hawkinson’s 3, put
Washington State ahead 25-16
with 7:40 left.
Washing-
ton State
guard
Charles
Callison,
left, and
Oregon
State
forward
Matt
Dahlen
(14) go
after
the ball
during
the first
half of
an NCAA
college
bas-
ketball
game in
Spokane,
Wash.,
Wednes-
day, Jan.
4, 2017.
AP Photo/
Young Kwak