Page 2B
SPORTS
East Oregonian
Tuesday, February 13, 2018
2018 Winter Olympics
Wind, ice and cold are making this Olympics too wintry
By GRAHAM DUNBAR &
HOWARD FENDRICH
AP Sports Writers
PYEONGCHANG,
South
Korea — The Winter Olympics are
supposed to be cold, of course. Just
maybe not THIS cold.
Wind and ice pellets left Olympic
snowboarders simply trying to stay
upright in conditions that many felt
were unfit for competition, the best
ski jumpers on the planet dealing
with swirling gusts and biathletes
aiming to shoot straight.
All around the games, athletes
and fans are dealing with condi-
tions that have tested even the most
seasoned winter sports veterans.
Low temperatures have hovered
in the single digits, dipping below
zero Fahrenheit with unforgiving
gusts whipping at 45 mph (70 kph)
making it feel much colder. Orga-
nizers have shuffled schedules,
and shivering spectators left events
early.
The raw air sent hundreds of
fans to the exits Sunday when qual-
ifying was called off after women’s
slopestyle devolved into a mess
of mistakes, and Monday’s final
started 75 minutes late. Of the 50
runs, 41 ended with a fall or a rider
essentially giving up. The tempera-
ture dropped to 3 Fahrenheit, with
high winds.
American Jamie Anderson won
the gold medal by watching most
of her competitors struggle, and
then completing a conservative
run that paled in comparison to
her winning performance at the X
Games just two weeks ago.
“It has to be absolutely petri-
fying, terrifying, being up that high
in the air, and having a gust 30 mph
coming sideways at you,” said
United States Ski and Snowboard
Association CEO Tiger Shaw.
Many of the snowboarders
The finish
line and
Olym-
pic rings
shrouded
in snow
as they
carry ski
gates after
the wom-
en’s giant
slalom was
postponed
due to high
winds at
the 2018
Winter
Olympics at
the Yong-
pyong Al-
pine Center,
Pyeongc-
hang, South
Korea,
Monday,
(AP Photo/Michael
Probst)
didn’t think they should have been
out there.
“You’re going up the chairlift
and you see these little tornadoes,”
said Czech snowboarder Sarka
Pancohova, who finished 16th,
“and you’re like, ‘What is this?’”
At ski jumping, giant netting
was set up to reduce the wind that
can blow at three times the optimal
velocity for the sport. Didn’t help
all that much, though: The men’s
normal hill final on Saturday was
pushed back repeatedly and even-
tually finished after midnight.
“It was unbelievably cold,” said
Japan’s Noriaki Kasai, competing
at his record eighth Olympics.
“The noise of the wind at the top of
the jump was incredible. I’ve never
experienced anything like that on
the World Cup circuit. I said to
myself, ‘Surely, they are going to
cancel this.’”
Alpine skiing, meanwhile, still
hasn’t been able to get started at all,
leaving stars like Mikaela Shiffrin
of the U.S. and Aksel Lund Svindal
of Norway waiting for their turn in
the spotlight. Each of the first two
races on the program — the men’s
downhill Sunday, and the women’s
giant slalom Monday — were
called off hours before they were
supposed to begin. Both of those
have been moved to Thursday,
when things are supposed to
become slightly more manageable.
The forecast calls for more high
winds Tuesday and Wednesday,
although temperatures are expected
to climb to 26.
“I am pretty sure that soon,”
men’s race director Markus
Waldner said with a wry smile, “we
will have a race.”
Until then, he and other officials
are left trying to come up with
VIKINGS: Webb leads with 20 points
Continued from 1B
chipped in a 3-pointer second
early, and would score five of
his seven total points in the
second.
While Umatilla was
increasing its advantage over
Burns, the Hilanders (13-11,
6-3) had little going for them.
Senior Bryce Gross had
the bulk of Burns’ first half
points, earning most of them
in the paint as he battled
his way through Viking
defenders. He notched 11
points in the first and second
quarter, and finished with a
team-best of 17.
The Vikings entered the
locker room at halftime up
36-17, and had everything
going their way.
As Umatilla prepared to
come back out to the court
and dominate, Burns was
working on its own adjust-
ments to vie for a league
championship itself.
The Hilanders outscored
Umatilla 13-4 in the third
quarter, and kept chipping
away at their deficit little by
little.
Sophomore
Dakota
Ceja hit two 3-pointers two
minutes apart to keep Burns
within striking distance.
But in no time, the Vikings’
shots began to fall again and
contingency plans and ways to get
the full 11-race Alpine program
completed before the Olympics are
scheduled to close on Feb. 25.
As it is, logistical complications
are real concerns.
Waldner pointed out that
he needs to figure out a way
to get three men’s races — the
combined, downhill and super-G
— completed by Friday, because
there is only one hotel right by
the speed course at the Jeongseon
Alpine Center. The male skiers
need to vacate their rooms to make
way for their female counterparts,
whose speed events are supposed
to begin Saturday.
“Now, it’s getting tight,” he said.
Even those attending indoor
events have been tested. Long, cold
waits for buses have left workers,
media and fans complaining.
Those involved in winter sports
Tuesday TV Schedule
NBC
12-3 p.m. — Speedskating: Men’s 1500m Gold
Medal Final; Luge: Women’s Singles Gold Medal
Final Runs; Cross Country: Men’s and Women’s
Individual Sprint Gold Medal Finals
5-9:05 p.m. (PST) — Figure Skating: Pairs’
Short Program (LIVE); Alpine Skiing: Women’s
Slalom, First Run (LIVE); Snowboarding: Men’s
Halfpipe Gold Medal Final (LIVE)
9:05-10:30 p.m. — Alpine Skiing: Women’s
Slalom, Gold Medal Final Run (LIVE); Short Track
Speedskating: Women’s 500m Gold Medal Final
NBCSN
11:40 p.m.-2 a.m. — Women’s Ice Hockey:
Canada vs. Finland (LIVE)
2-4:10 a.m. — Luge: Women’s Singles Gold
Medal Final Runs; Cross Country: Men’s and
Women’s Individual Sprint
4-6:30 a.m. — Women’s Ice Hockey: United
States vs. Olympic Athletes from Russia (LIVE)
6:30-9:30 a.m. — Speedskating: Men’s 1500m
Gold Medal Final; Luge: Women’s Singles Gold
Medal Final Runs; Cross Country: Men’s and
Women’s Individual Sprint Gold Medal Finals
9:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. — Short Track Speedskat-
ing: 500m Gold Gold Medal Final; Curling:
Mixed Doubles Bronze Medal Match (replay)
4-7:10 p.m. — Figure Skating: Pairs’ Short
Program (LIVE)
7:10-9:30 p.m. — Women’s Ice Hockey: Swe-
den vs. Switzerland (LIVE)
9:30-11:30 p.m. — Men’s Curling: United
States vs. South Korea
CNBC
2-5 p.m. — Curling: Mixed Doubles Gold
Medal Match
are used to this sort of thing, of
course.
At the 2007 Alpine world cham-
pionships in Sweden, for example,
strong winds wiped out first three
days of competition. At the 1993
world championships in Japan,
the men’s super-G was never
contested.
Can happen the other way, too.
At the 2010 Vancouver Games,
the first two Alpine races were
postponed because of rain and —
get this — too-warm temperatures
in the 40s (below 10 Celsius). The
entire Alpine world championships
slated for Spain in 1995 were
rescheduled for a whole year later
because of a lack of snow.
“That’s a piece of the puzzle
that, I guess, fortunately or unfor-
tunately is part of our world,” U.S.
Alpine men’s speed coach Johno
McBride said. “You’re dealing
with Mother Nature.”
2018 Winter Olympics
US teen takes gold in women’s halfpipe
By WILL GRAVES
AP Sports Writer
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
Umatilla’s Sebastian Garcia lauches himself toward
the basket despite pressure from two Burns defenders
during Saturday’s Eastern Oregon League game.
they eventually put enough
distance between themselves
and the Hilanders.
“Any time we’ve been
down, we rallied every single
time so there were no worries
that way in the third quarter,”
Bow said. “In the end, we
made adjustments, (the kids)
did what they were supposed
to and took care of business.”
———
BHS
8 9 13 14 — 44
UHS
22 14
4 21 — 61
BURNS — B. Gross 17, D. Ceja 17, J.
Cawood 4, Z. Taylor 4, L. Bailey 2.
UMATILLA — K. Webb 20, S. Garcia 10,
M. Garcilazo 7, S. Cranston 7, C. De Loera
5, T. Durfey 4, L. Miller 3, U. Garcia 3, G.
Armenta 1.
———
Contact Alexis at aman-
sanarez@eastoregonian.com
or 541-564-4542. Follow her
on Twitter @almansanarez.
PYEONGCHANG,
South Korea — Chloe Kim’s
coronation is complete.
The 17-year-old from
California dominated the
Olympic women’s halfpipe
snowboarding final on
Tuesday, soaring to a gold
medal four years in the
making.
Kim put up a score of
93.75 on the first of her three
finals runs and then bettered
it with a near-perfect 98.75
on her last run with the gold
already well in hand. With
members of her family in
the stands, including her
South Korean grandmother,
Kim put on a show that
delivered on her consider-
able pre-Olympic hype.
“I’m a little over-
whelmed,” Kim said. “But
this is the best outcome I
could ever ask for and it’s
been such a long journey.
Ahhh, just going home with
the gold is amazing.”
Liu Jiayu took silver
with an 89.75 to become the
first Chinese snowboarder
to medal at the Olympics.
American Arielle Gold
edged teammate and three-
time Olympic medalist
AP Photo/Gregory Bull
Chloe Kim, of the United States, reacts to her score
during the women’s halfpipe finals at the 2018 Winter
Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea on Tuesday.
Kelly Clark for bronze.
Kim would have made
the Olympic team with
ease four years ago, only
to have the calendar get in
the way. She was 13 at the
time, too young to make the
trip to Russia. She entered
the quadrennium between
the games with the kind of
expectations reserved for
the Shaun Whites of the
snowboarding world. She
has exceeded every one.
Standing atop the hill
at Phoenix Snow Park,
Kim looked down at the
crowd that included her
parents, three sisters, three
aunts, two cousins and her
grandmother and proceeded
to waste little time while
turning the final into a
coming-out party.
She drilled her opening
set, throwing in a 1080 —
basically, three twists high
above the pipe — before
following it with a pair of
flips. Kim celebrated at the
end, pumping her fists as
“USA!” ‘’USA!” chants
rained down. When her
score flashed, she clasped
her hands atop her head and
drank in the moment.
PREPS: Barnard, Wrathall help Hermiston boys swim team repeats as district champions
Continued from 1B
who came out victorious,
defeating
Mitchell/Spray
50-28.
The Honkers finish the
season 2-15 overall and 1-13
in league play.
ONTARIO 54, MAC-HI
32 — The Mac-Hi Pioneers
had their chance at picking
up its first league win as
their season came to a close
Saturday. In Ontario, Mac-Hi
stayed toe-to-toe with the
Tigers for much of the game.
After Ontario built up a
narrow 17-15 lead the break,
the Tigers went on a 10-0 run
in the third to boost them-
selves ahead of the Pioneers.
CULVER 62, WESTON-
MCEWEN 49 — In Culver,
Weston-McEwen
could
have sealed its fate atop the
Columbia Basin Conference
standings but the 62-49 loss
against the Bulldogs moves
both schools to a 6-2 league
record.
With the slight 24-22 lead
coming out of the break,
the Bulldogs (15-8 overall)
extended their advantage in
the third by 10 points and
road that momentum until
the final minutes against the
TigerScots (15-8).
Katie Vescio and Chelsea
Quaempts led the efforts with
25 combined points.
NIXYAAWII
71,
JOSEPH 38 — In Nixy-
aawii’s 51st consecutive
win, the Eagles were led
by Mary Stewart with 30
points. The reliable senior
received helped from Milan
Schimmel, as the two have
led Nixyaawii’s efforts for
much of the season.
Both
Stewart
and
Schimmel
notched
double-doubles for Nixy-
aawii (23-0, 14-0 OOL), with
Stewart dishing out 11 assists
and Schimmel collecting
11 rebounds. Ermia Butler
matched Schimmel’s efforts,
grabbing 11 boards herself to
go along with two points.
For the Joseph Eagles
(16-5 overall, 10-4 OOL),
Alexis Sykora had a team-best
performance by scoring 26 of
the team’s 38 total points.
PILOT ROCK 63,
STANFIELD 16 — At Stan-
field, Pilot Rock dominated in
the final game of the year and
handed Stanfield a loss.
The Rockets (13-10
overall, 3-5 Columbia Basin
Conference) were coming
off a tough loss of their own
just one day before traveling
to face the Tigers (2-21, 0-8),
but Pilot Rock was able to
shake it off with a 37-point
victory.
BOYS BASKETBALL
NYSSA 57, RIVERSIDE
45 — At Boardman, the
Riverside Pirates ended the
season with their sixth straight
loss on Saturday, falling to
Nyssa 57-45.
Senior Felix Aparicio
capped off his career with a
team-high 20 points for the
Pirates (9-15 overall, 1-9
Eastern Oregon League)
and Christian Rea added 13.
Wyatt Jensen led the Bulldogs
(15-9, 6-4) with 20 points and
sank four 3-pointers.
Riverside coach Clair
Costello was proud of how
hard his team played, and
was irked by the fact that the
Bulldogs had only one team
foul for the entire game to the
Pirates’ eight. The Pirates also
did not shoot a free throw.
ECHO
49,
COVE
35 — At Echo, the Cougars
outscored Cove 36-18 in
the second half to run away
with their 49-35 victory on
Saturday night to finish off
the regular season.
Devan Craig led the
Cougars (9-16 overall, 6-8
OOL) with a game-high
15 points and added seven
rebounds with three assists,
and Damien Curiel pitched in
11 points and five rebounds.
Blake Witten led the Leopards
(7-16, 5-9) with 11 points.
PILOT ROCK 68,
STANFIELD 39 — Led by
senior Riley Lankford for
the first time all season, Pilot
Rock capped off a perfect
league season with a 68-39
defeat over Stanfield.
Lankford
notched
a
game-best 19 points for the
Rockets (17-6, 8-0 CBC),
and received help from fellow
seniors Levi Thieme (12) and
Chris Weinke (11).
Weinke also recorded a
double-double by grabbing 11
rebounds, and was close to a
triple-double with five assists.
For the Tigers (10-14,
3-5), Brody Woods finished
off his basketball career with
a team-best 12 points.
NIXYAAWII
72,
JOSEPH 53 — Nixyaawii’s
streak continued on the road
with a win over Joseph.
Behind the 72-53 victory was
a perfect performance at the
free-throw line (12-for-12)
and four double-digit perfor-
mances from the Eagles (20-3
overall, 13-1 OOL).
Noah Enright (17 points),
Mick Shimmel (16), Dazan
Sigo (15) and Magi Moses
(10) all put up big numbers
for Nixyaawii.
ONTARIO 31, MAC-HI
28 — At Ontario, the Mac-Hi
Pioneers didn’t end the season
they way they wanted to.
With the 31-28 loss came two
straight defeats, and they will
not have to play for a chance
at the postseason Tuesday.
The Pioneers (11-12
overall, 0-6 GOL) shot only
26-percent from the field
and 20-perfect from behind
the arc. Wyatt Gilmore led
Mac-Hi with nine points.
SWIM
HOOD RIVER — For
the second straight year, the
Hermiston boys swim team
claimed the district title behind
four top finishes and 83 total
points.
Junior Ryan Barnard
earned first in the 200-yard
individual medley (2:05.08).
Senior Carson Wrathall
won individual district titles in
two events. First, the 100-yard
freestyle where he clocked
49.92 and the next was the
100-yard breaststroke, where
Wrathall swam a time of
1:03.04.
Barnard, Wrathall and Buck
were joined by junior Lane
Stevenson in the 200-yard
freestyle relay that won first
place in 1:36.57. Pendleton’s
boys 200-yard free relay team
was close behind and finished
second in 1:40.96.
The Bulldogs narrowly
defeated second-place HRV,
which finished with 79 points,
and Pendleton followed with
76.
The Bucks had top finishes
from senior Shane Milten-
berger in both the 200-yard
free (1:57.27) and the 100-yard
free (5:19.8).
The Buckaroos’ girls team
fared better at the district tour-
nament, and claimed second
place with 94 points.
Juniors Landry Huth and
Elisabeth House and freshman
Kyndra Nelson all finished
first in their respective indi-
vidual events.
Nelson, House, Huth and
senior Abby Williams made
up the 200-yard free relay
team that finished first in
1:49.70.
For the Hermiston girls,
freshman Georgia Stevenson
had the best outing. She won
first place in the 100-yard
backstroke
by
clocking
1:10.14, and second in the
200-yard freestyle (2:25.24).