SPORTS
SATURDAY, AUGUST 25, 2018
1B
FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @EOSPORTS
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Weston-McEwen’s Katie Vescio challenges Jessica Neal of Central Linn during
the 2A 800-meter run at the 2018 OSAA State Track and Field championships
at Hayward Field in Eugene. Track and Field is still the most popular girls
sport in Oregon, with more than 7,200 participants in the 2017-18 season.
Pendleton’s Shawn Yeager (22) rushes the ball in the Bucks’ 2017 loss to
Summit. Football remains the most popular sport in Oregon with more than
12,000 participants in 2017-18, though the number has dropped 17 percent
in the last 10 years.
Prep sports participation drops
Oregon participation hits a five-year
low in 2017-18, football declines again
East Oregonian
P
articipation in high school sports was down in
the state of Oregon for the 2017-18 season, with
the number dipping below 100,000 for the first
time since 2012-13.
The National Federation of State High School Ath-
letic Associations released its annual nationwide ath-
letics participation report on Friday, where it reported
that there were 99,907 total participants in Oregon
athletics last year — 55,572 boys and 44,335 girls.
All three numbers are down from the previous year,
with 102,762 participants — 57,651 boys and 45,111
girls.
It is a continued trend of fewer boys and more girls
participating in athletics, however, as girl participa-
tion has risen six percent since the 2009-10 season,
while boys participation has dropped 7.5 percent.
The most popular sport in the state was football yet
again with 12,419 players between the 11-man and
8-man ranks; however, that total is down 17 percent
from the 15,009 players from 2008. Rounding out the
top five for most popular boys sports were track and
field (9,526), basketball (7,620), soccer (6,397) and
baseball (5,596).
While football’s decline grabs the headlines, base-
ball and boys golf continued its troubling, and surpris-
ing, drop-offs. In baseball, participation has dropped
each of the past four seasons, from 6,071 in 2015 to
5,596 last season, and it has dropped 17 percent from
2008 when 6,766 kids played.
Meanwhile, golf’s 2017-18 participation number
of 1,464 is down 32 percent since 2008 when 2,162
kids teed off.
Track and field keeps its spot as the most popular
girls sport with 7,289 players, which is a 11 percent
increase over the past 10 years. Following track is
volleyball (7,086), basketball (5,824), soccer (5,398)
and softball (4,568).
Girls swimming was the only major team sport in
the state that saw an increase in participation last sea-
son, with 2,685 swimmers increasing from the 2,512
in 2016-17.
Nationally, boys and girls participation increased
for the 29th consecutive year and reached an all-time
high of 7,979,986, with 3,415,306 girls and 4,564,680
boys.
Football is still king, as well, even as the numbers
continue to drop. There were 1,034,942 kids playing
11-man football last season, down from the 1,057,382
participants in 2016 and down seven percent from the
1,112,303 kids that played in 2008.
Soccer was the biggest gainer nationally for the
boys, with 6,128 more participants last season, while
competitive spirit had the biggest gain for the girls
with 18,426 more participants.
The most popular sport in the state was football yet again with 12,419 players
between the 11-man and 8-man ranks
MARINERS BASEBALL
SEAHAWKS FOOTBALL
Seattle starts road trip with a win Seahawks still winless
Diaz earns team-record
in NFL preseason
49th save
Vikings rally in fourth
quarter for Friday
night victory
By JOSE M. ROMERO
Associated Press
PHOENIX — Mitch Haniger
hit his 21st homer and had three
hits, Mike Zunino added a solo
shot, and the Seattle Mariners beat
the Arizona Diamondbacks 6-3 on
Friday night.
Edwin Diaz pitched a scoreless
ninth for his major league-lead-
ing 49th save, helping Seattle keep
pace in the AL West and wild-
card races. Diaz set a club record
for saves in a season, passing Fer-
nando Rodney’s 48 in 2014.
Haniger, an All-Star who made
his major league debut with the
Diamondbacks in 2016 before
being traded to Seattle, added two
singles and scored twice.
Mariners
starter
Erasmo
Ramirez (1-2) turned in his lon-
gest outing of the season, allowing
one earned run and six hits with
six strikeouts and a walk. Ramirez
dropped his ERA from 5.49 to
4.56.
Zack Godley (13-7) allowed
By DAVE CAMPBELL
Associated Press
AP Photo/Rick Scuteri
Seattle Mariners catcher Mike Zunino (3) and Edwin Diaz celebrate
after the Mariners defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks 6-3.
MLB
Mariners
D-Backs
6
3
five runs and seven hits in five
innings.
The Mariners used a pair of dou-
bles, three singles, a sacrifice fly
and Dee Gordon’s hustle to plate
four runs in the third inning. Gor-
don led off with a double, and with
one out, his delayed steal attempt
led to Godley’s overthrow of third
base and allowed Gordon to score.
Former Diamondback Jean
Segura singled in a run, Denard
Span hit an RBI double and Kyle
Seager’s sacrifice fly made it 4-0
See MARINERS/3B
MINNEAPOLIS — Kirk
Cousins helped Minnesota’s
offense make some progress
by passing for 182 yards in the
first half, and third-stringer Kyle
Sloter threw for two fourth-quar-
ter touchdowns as the Vikings
rallied for a 21-20 victory over
the Seattle Seahawks on Friday
night.
Sebastian Janikowski kicked
field goals from 35 and 55 yards
in the first half for the Seahawks,
who kept their starters in past
halftime. Russell Wilson led one
scoring drive against the vaunted
Vikings defense, finishing 11 for
21 for 118 yards.
Out of sync in their previous
game, Cousins and the Vikings
assembled three possessions of
12 or more plays despite some
disruptions by the Seahawks.
Cousins went 17 for 28 without
a turnover, and running back Dal-
vin Cook had two carries to com-
plete his recovery from recon-
structive knee surgery last season.
Vikings rookie Daniel Carl-
son, who just won the kicker job
this week when seventh-year vet-
eran Kai Forbath was released,
pulled two 42-yard field goal
attempts wide left in the first half,
one on each side of the field.
The mention of a missed kick
against the Seahawks still makes
Vikings fans wince, three seasons
after Blair Walsh’s 27-yard try
went, yes, wide left in the play-
off game on a below-zero after-
noon in Minnesota. Walsh spent
last year with Seattle, struggled
anew and was not brought back.
The 40-year-old Janikowski, hav-
ing edged out Jason Myers for the
job, has taken over.
Rookie punter Michael Dick-
son, who beat out stalwart Jon
Ryan this week, was just as sharp
See SEAHAWKS/3B
Sports shorts
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
Hawaii faces Georgia for US title at LLWS
SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. (AP) —
Those who had hoped to see a rematch of
last week’s 11-inning thriller between
Hawaii and Georgia at the Little
League World Series got their wish.
The two teams will meet again
Saturday, this time with a champi-
onship berth on the line. The winner
of the game for the U.S. title will face
the victor of Japan and South Korea
on Sunday.
As Hurricane Lane nears landfall back
home, Hawaii is making the most of its
dream 4,000 miles away in South Wil-
liamsport. The team, which hails from
Honolulu, is undefeated through
three games and has outscored its
opponents 20-3. Coming off of an
impressive 10-0 victory over New
York’s Staten Island, Hawaii has all
of its pitching available and is the
only team on the American side of the
bracket with more than one home run.
1922 — In one of the wild-
est games ever played, the Cubs
beat the Phillies 26-23. The Cubs
led 25-6 in the fourth inning, but
held on as the game ended with the
Phillies leaving the bases loaded.
2011 — The New York Yan-
kees become the first team in major
league history to hit three grand
slams in a game, with Robinson
Cano, Russell Martin and Curtis
Granderson connecting in a 22-9
romp over the Oakland Athletics.
Contact us at 541-966-0838 or
sports@eastoregonian.com