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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 7, 2018)
SPORTS WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2018 1B FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @EOSPORTS HERMISTON Barrel racer crowned Canada’s champion was a gift from her aunt and uncle, Mary and Butch Knowles — Butch was the 1987 saddle bronc A Hermiston cowgirl has made champion at the National Rodeo it big in the Great White North. Finals, and now works as a televi- Callahan Crossley, 24, was sion rodeo commentator. crowned the barrel racing cham- The Canadian victory comes pion at the Canadian after a long season Finals Rodeo on Sun- of “highs and lows,” day during the compe- according to Crossley. tition’s first year in Red Her main season, which Deer, Alberta. The 2012 ran from May to Octo- ber, kicked off with a Hermiston grad rode off first-place win at the with $73,575 in total Cloverdale Rodeo in the earnings from the rodeo British Columbia and a — the most a barrel racer $20,000 payday. Winter has earned at the CFR. and mid-summer were The check also brought Crossley rough for the racer, but her season’s total up to thanks to the CFR, she was able to $99,190 — another CFR record. Crossley claimed the title over end the season on a high note at the six days of racing with a total Red Deer competition. aggregate time of 81.887 seconds “It’s an amazing feeling to be on the back of her family horse the Canadian champion barrel Brownie. The 20-year-old horse racer,” Crossley said. “I didn’t By BRETT KANE East Oregonian Staff photo by E.J. Harris Callahan Crossley of Hermiston rounds a barrel on her way to a 17.21-second ride in barrel racing on Aug. 13, 2016 at the Farm-City Pro Rodeo in Hermiston. think it was possible this year, but Brownie had other plans. All that was going through my head was, ‘Don’t get ahead of yourself and start each day as if the last day didn’t exist. Brownie will do Blazers beat Bucks his job.’” Crossley won second place in the CFR’s first go-round, first place in the next three, second place in the fifth round, and her sixth-round time of 13.488 seconds gave her the win. Diane Skocdopole of Big Valley, Alberta, was the run- ner-up with an aggregate of 84.268 seconds. Sunday marked the end of Crossley’s third year competing in Canada. She qualified for the finals for the last two years, being named the reserve champion in 2016 and placing in the top four in 2017. And after all of her success, she’s now headed back home to Hermiston, but she’s not sure for how long — she’s eying the Mon- tana Circuit Finals in January as her next stop. “It seems like the rodeo season never ends,” she said. “2019 has already started.” Prep volleyball Hermiston volleyball still alive in regionals Bulldogs will host Shadle Park on Thursday By ANNIE FOWLER East Oregonian AP Photo/Steve Dipaola Portland Trail Blazers guard Evan Turner, right, shoots as Milwaukee Bucks forward John Henson, left, defends during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Portland on Tuesday. McCollum scores 40 as Trail Blazers beat Bucks By ERIK GARCIA GUNDERSEN Associated Press P ORTLAND — CJ McCo- llum scored 40 points and the Portland Trail Blaz- ers beat Milwaukee 118-103 on Tuesday night, handing the Bucks their second loss in 10 games this season. McCollum, who entered shooting well below his career averages, went 17 for 26 from the field and added six assists. Evan Turner had 16 points and 11 rebounds off the bench for the Blazers (8-3). Giannis Antetokounmpo led Milwaukee with 23 points and nine rebounds. Brook Lopez shot 6 for 10 from 3-point range and finished with 22 points. NBA Portland Milwaukee 118 103 In the third quarter, McCo- llum put on a show. He scored 19 points and made Bucks rookie guard Donte DiVincenzo fall down on a crossover move before hitting a basket, sending the crowd into a frenzy. Portland led by 14 after three. The game began with a fast pace that carried on throughout in a meeting between two of the top five offenses in the NBA. Portland outscored the Bucks 33-31 in the first quarter as both teams shot better than 50 percent from the floor and the 3-point See BLAZERS/2B Prep soccer Riverside season ends at Oregon Episcopal By BRETT KANE East Oregonian After fighting their way up the OSAA’s playoffs bracket, the Riv- erside Pirates are going home after a semifinal loss to the Oregon Epis- copal Aardvarks on Tuesday. The Portland private school defeated the visiting Pirates 6-2. Going in, the Riverside boys had their work cut out for them — Oregon Episcopal (14-1-1) is the 3A/2A/1A’s No. 1-ranked team. Sophomore midfielder Gerardo Lopez scored for Riverside in the first half, but the Aardvarks kept the goals coming. “(Oregon Episcopal) pushed themselves on shots and got lucky a lot,” said Pirates assistant coach Jose Duenas. “We were a little more timid. They went forward and played hard. There were times when we got lucky and scored, but there were more times where we missed.” Junior midfielder Ulyses Lopez recorded a goal for the Pirates in the second half, but it wasn’t enough to swing the game back in Riverside’s favor. While their season ended on Oregon Episcopal’s field on Tues- day, the Aardvarks will face Catlin Gabel for the championship. “It was a really beautiful day, but it didn’t match the quality of the game,” Duenas said. Despite the disappointing loss, Duenas says his team’s success this season surprised him. “We made it through a lot this year,” he said. “Every team we encountered, every injury, grades, life — we worked through it all.” Riverside set out this year to defend their 3A state title, but it was a daunting task after the loss of key players from last year’s roster. Duenas says that his younger players this year worked hard to fill that gap. “I’m proud of our freshmen,” he said. “They really stepped up into the leadership roles last year’s seniors left behind.” The Pirates finished the sea- son ranked No. 5 in the OSAA’s 3A/2A/1A Special District 6. Amy Dyck is trying to change the culture of volleyball at Hermiston High School. That the Bulldogs are still alive in the Region 5/8 tour- nament speaks volumes of the program’s move in the right direction. “Hermiston is not known for its volleyball team.” Dyck said. “I am bound and determined to make it one. I think these girls are starting to realize what they are capable of. That fact we are still playing is proof they are good enough.” Hermiston will host Shadle Park of the Greater Spokane League in a regional loser-out game at 5 p.m. Thursday. The winner advances to play Saturday. Only two of the six Region 5/8 teams will advance to state. “We are excited to be able to host this game,” Dyck said. “We are hoping people will come and see what we have. The girls are pretty pumped about it.” Hermiston beat North Cen- tral 3-1 in its regional opener last week, then got swept by Southridge to drop into the con- solation bracket. “Every day, they are get- ting a little bit more confident,” Dyck said of her team. “Every day, I tell them it is a learn- ing experience for them. Every match extends our season for the seniors and shows what we are trying to do as a program.” Dyck said she has not been able to find any film on Shadle Park, but that is not a bad thing. “If we go in focused on our side of the ball, we play better,” Dyck said. The Highlanders, led by 5-foot-10 senior hitter Meghan Gallagher and senior setter Natasha O’Dell, lost their first regional match to Kamiakin. They have lost five of their past six matches. Southridge will host Mt. Spokane on Thursday in the regional title match. The Wild- cats, led by 5-10 outside hitter Malina Ama, were third at state last year. The loser will host Satur- day’s matches. Admission is $7 for adults and $5 for students. No passes will be accepted. Prices are set by the WIAA.
