SPORTS
THURSDAY, JANUARY 4, 2018
1B
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Olympics
Prep Sports
New OSAA
football
proposal
‘has some
momentum’
Proposal intended to
help struggling teams
By JERRY ULMER
The Oregonian/OregonLive
AP Photo/Pat Graham
In this Friday, Oct. 13, 2017, photograph, rancher Tom Johnston is shown on his ranch near Pinedale, Wyo. Johnston, who ranches on
nearly 1,800 leased acres near the tiny town of Pinedale, is one of the world’s foremost experts on shaping an Olympic skiing race
course, most notably the tracks for the downhill and Super G competitions including those in the upcoming games in South Korea.
The Snow Man
Wyoming rancher has big impact on
2018 Winter Olympic downhill skiing
By PAT GRAHAM
Associated Press
PINEDALE, Wyo. — The
rancher from western Wyoming
wears tan overalls pulled over a
U.S. ski team jacket, and is every
bit as versed in the nuances of hay
farming as the subtleties of snow
grooming.
He doesn’t even ski for pleasure
much anymore due to aching hips,
yet the Olympic fates of Lindsey
Vonn, Aksel Lund Svindal and
many of the best speed skiers are
directly tied to the handiwork of
Tom Johnston , a no-nonsense
cowboy who spends his days
toiling among hay bales on nearly
1,800 acres of leased fi elds near
his home in Boulder, Wyoming
(population: 170ish).
Johnston also just happens to be
one of the world’s foremost experts
on shaping a race course , most
notably the downhill and super-G
tracks that Vonn, Svindal and the
rest will zoom down in February in
South Korea.
Every tooth-rattling bump and
knee-buckling jump on the Pyeo-
ngchang course will have been
exhaustively groomed by Johnston
and his crew, whose goal, in ski
parlance, is to create “hero snow”
— the grippy surface on which
these world-class speedsters can
confi dently push the envelope.
“A very nice track,” is what the
55-year-old Johnston is promising
for a course that was designed
by Bernhard Russi , the Swiss
downhiller who won Olympic gold
in 1972. Johnston has made seven
journeys from his home to South
See RANCHER/3B
This Feb. 7, 2016, fi le
photo, shows Tom
Johnston standing near
the fi nish area follow-
ing a men’s World Cup
super-G race, also a test
event for the Pyeongc-
hang 2018 Winter Olym-
pics, at the Jeongseon
Alpine Centre in
Jeongseon, South Ko-
rea. The Olympic fates
of Lindsey Vonn, Aksel
Lund Svindal and many
of the best speed skiers
are directly tied to the
handiwork of Johnston,
a cowboy who spends
his days toiling among
hay bales on nearly
1,800 acres of leased
fi elds near his home in
Boulder, Wyoming.
(P Photo/Andrew Dampf, File
A plan that would give strug-
gling Oregon high school football
teams the option to play down one
classifi cation continues to take
shape.
The OSAA’s ad-hoc football
committee, formed in October to
address
issues
specifi c to football,
added more details
to its proposal in
an update released
late last month.
Feedback has
been generally positive, according
to OSAA executive director Peter
Weber.
“It seems like it has some
momentum,” Weber said. “We
haven’t really had people say they
don’t think this is the right direc-
tion, at this point.”
In a previous update, the
committee proposed that any
school with a winning percentage
of 22 or lower over a four-year
span be given the opportunity to
move down for a two-year period.
In the recent update, the committee
favored extending the same option
to teams meeting those parameters
in a two-year span.
“Once they put that out with
that original list, they got some
feedback from some schools that
said, ‘Hey, we’re right around
that number. Are there some other
things that could be taken into
account?’” Weber said.
“There were some schools that
weren’t on that original list because
their teams from three or four years
ago were decent, but their teams in
the last couple years have been not
very good.”
Of the 48 schools that meet the
criteria, 16 already were ticketed
to move down based on the new
classifi cation plan for the four-year
time block that begins in 2018-19.
Of the other 32 schools, 21 qualify
to move down based on a four-year
span and 11 on a two-year span.
Nine Class 6A schools would
have the option to move down:
Aloha, Benson, Cleveland, David
Douglas, McKay, South Eugene,
Forest Grove, Roosevelt and
Wilson.
In Eastern Oregon, Mac-Hi in
4A and Riverside in 3A would have
the option to move down as well.
See OSAA/3B
College Basketball
Timberwolves’ struggles continue as men, women swept by Chukars
East Oregonian
ONTARIO
—
The
struggles continued for the
Blue Mountain men’s and
women’s basketball teams
on Wednesday evening as the
Timberwolves began league
play.
The men’s team fell just
short of a victory as they fell
to Treasure Valley 56-52,
while the women lost their
seventh consecutive game
with a 84-47 loss to the
Chukars.
In the men’s game,
Linton McAllister led the
team with 14 points and fi ve
rebounds, while Dedi Seme
added 14 points and four
boards. Anthony Landeros
contributed eight points, four
steals, three rebounds and
Men
Women
BMCC
TVCC
BMCC
TVCC
47
84
52
56
two assists.
The Timberwolves (3-8,
0-1 East) shot just 36 percent
from the fi eld and were
out-rebounded 51-26 by the
Chukars, which led to 14
second chance points for
the home team. BMCC also
struggled at the free throw
line shooting 6-of-14.
In the women’s game,
the Timberwolves (1-11,
0-1) had 22 turnovers which
led to 18 Treasure Valley
points, while shooting just 27
percent (16-of-59). Sydney
Wammock led BMCC with
19 points and 12 rebounds,
while Catti Sidney had 10.
————
Men
BMCC
25 27 — 52
TVCC
28 28 — 56
BMCC — D. Seme 14, L. McAllister 14,
A. Landeros 8, E. Kaden 7, J. Hillard 6, J.
Massey 3, J. Moran, C. Lonebear.
3-pointers — BM 6, TV 6. Free throws —
BM 6-14, TV 10-21. Fouls — BM 19, TV 18.
Women
BMCC
4 16 13 14 — 47
TVCC
20 23 13 28 — 84
BMCC — S. Wammock 19, C. Sidney
10, H. Meyers 6, M. Bisbee 3, S. Short 3,
K. Gerlinger 3, R. Willingham 2, M. Boyer
1, A. Hill.
3-pointers — BM 2, TV 7. Free throws —
BM 13-25, TV 9-16. Fouls — BM 17, TV 23.
Sports shorts
Seahawks sign K Jason Myers
RENTON, Wash. (AP) — The search
for a kicker in Seattle now includes former
Jacksonville kicker Jason Myers after he signed
a reserve/future contract with the Seahawks.
The deal with Myers was completed
Wednesday. Seattle was able to
sign Myers now because he was
cut by Jacksonville earlier this
year and was not with any other
team at the conclusion of the
regular season.
Seattle appears unlikely to
bring back Blair Walsh after
Myers
he missed eight fi eld goals this
season, including missed kicks that
played a major role in three Seattle losses.
Myers was the full-time kicker in Jackson-
ville for the 2015 and 2016 seasons, making
53 of 64 fi eld goal attempts over those two
seasons. He was cut after six games this season
after making just 11 of 15 fi eld goal attempts.
“I almost walked that way
in their locker room. No, I
mean, I love this city, I love
this organization. They’ve
given me the opportunity to
be who I always wanted to
be, and I can’t thank them
enough. So there’s no hard
feelings to anybody in this
city or anybody in this
organization. And I’m glad
I’m back.“
— Isaiah Thomas
Cleveland Cavaliers’ guard prior
to Wednesday’s game in Boston on
being back in Boston for the fi rst time
since his offseason trade to the Cavs.
Grambling’s Shakyla Hill gets
4th D-I women’s quad-double
GRAMBLING, La. (AP) — Shakyla Hill’s
assist with the closing seconds of Grambling
State’s win over Alabama State gave the guard
the fourth quadruple-double in NCAA women’s
basketball history on Wednesday.
Hill found Monisha Neal
for a 3-pointer that wrapped up
the Tigers’ 93-71 win over the
Hornets and accounted for Hill’s
10th assist to go with 15 points,
10 rebounds and 10 steals.
The last quadruple-double
Hill
was by Soja Tate of Arkansas
State against Mississippi Valley
State on Jan. 27, 1993. Tate had 29 points, 14
rebounds, 10 assists and 10 steals.
Hill did most of her damage in the second
half when the Tigers pulled away from the
Hornets. She had 11 points, seven rebounds,
seven assists and six steals after the break.
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1992 — Mike Gartner of
the New York Rangers scores
his 1,000th NHL point with a
power-play goal in the third
period of a 6-4 loss to the New
Jersey Devils.
2002 — Michael Jordan
becomes the fourth player in
NBA history to score 30,000
points, reaching the milestone
for the Washington Wizards
in an 89-83 win over his old
team, the Chicago Bulls.
2013 — Mikaela Shiffrin
becomes the fi rst American
woman to win two World
Cup races before turning 18.
The 17-year-old captures a
slalom in Zagreb, Croatia
by a massive 1.19-second
margin.
Contact us at 541-966-0838 or
sports@eastoregonian.com