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Friday, May 24, 2019
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Maher putting in the work to be No. 1
Not an easy event to learn
Pendleton hurdler has his
sights set on state titles
Maher started hurdling in mid-
dle school, but it wasn’t until he got
to Pendleton High and started work-
ing with coach Ben Bradley that things
started to fall into place.
“it was a hard thing for me to learn,”
Maher admitted. “Ben has been very
helpful the past three years.”
For an event that requires competi-
tors to be part sprinter and part jumper,
Bradley said it did not take Maher long
to grasp the nuances of the event.
“His No. 1 thing is fearlessness,”
Bradley said. “His freshman year, you
could tell he was going to conquer it.
There is no hesitation. His focus and
concentration are on winning. He lis-
tens to me, and hears what i say.”
after Maher set the school record
in the 300 hurdles, Bradley feels the
110 record (14.46 by Kelly Simpson in
1999) is within his reach.
“i think he is more than capable,”
Bradley said. “i think he may have a
chance at state. There are kids there to
pull him along. i think he has a chance
if the conditions are right.”
Maher is a little hesitant to say he
can pull off that feat off this weekend.
“it’s crazy,” Maher said. “Some of
those records have not been broken in a
long time. i have a 14.74, that is a lot of
time to make up in that short of a race.
i don’t know if i will get that this year.”
By ANNIE FOWLER
East Oregonian
Lane Maher sets the bar pretty high
for himself.
The Pendleton junior is one of the
top hurdlers in the state, but until he is
No. 1, he said there still is work to be
done.
“i’ve been chasing Ty rohrman of
Hermiston, and now he’s graduated,”
Maher said. “i have always wanted to
be that guy, for people to say, ‘it’s him.’
”
Maher will put his skills on display
at the 5a Track and Field Champion-
ships on Friday and Saturday at Mt.
Hood Community College.
There, just one guy, senior dylan
Murray of Willamette High School (6a
last year) has better times than Maher in
both hurdle events. He clocked a 13.93
seconds in the 110s on May 18, and a
37.60 in the 300s on May 3.
“i’ve ran against him before, and
he’s very good,” Maher said of Murray.
“i would love to get where he’s at. i’m
pretty far behind, but i’m not going to
make it easy on him.”
in Eastern Oregon, others say the
same about Maher.
Maher set a school record in the 300
hurdles, turning in a time of 39.11 sec-
onds at the intermountain Conference
district championships in Prineville last
weekend. The previous record of 39.34
was set by Kevin robinson in 2012.
“i’m very happy about that,” Maher
said. “That (school) record is something
i have been working for since my fresh-
man year.”
Maher also won the 110 hurdles at
district, turning in a time of 15.05 to
land on top of the podium.
His Pr in the event is 14.74, which
Staying the course
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
Pendleton’s Lane Maher won the 110-meter hurdles last Saturday during the IMC champion-
ships in Prineville. Maher turned in a time of 15.05 seconds and punched his ticket to the 5A
state championships.
he ran at the Kiwanis Twilight invi-
tational in Hermiston, while running
against two of the top hurdlers from the
Mid-Columbia Conference — Parker
Morgan of Kamiakin, and Beau Frank-
lin of Hanford.
“i’m working for that one (school
record) as well,” Maher said. “This year
was some of the best competition i have
had. Going to any of those big meets,
you get in the mindset you have to go
fast. it always makes you better.”
romero relishes being the unknown
Hermiston junior
will compete in the
javelin Saturday
morning
Lillard, Kemba,
LeBron among
All-NBA picks
By BRIAN MAHONEY
AP Basketball Writer
By ANNIE FOWLER
East Oregonian
No. 10 in the nation. No. 3
in Washington, and the top-
ranked 3a javelin thrower
heading into state.
While all that looks impres-
sive, Hermiston junior Jaz-
lyn romero said she doesn’t
let the numbers get in her
head.
“i try not to let it blow
up my ego,” she said. “any-
thing can happen when you
are competing. at the Pasco
invite, i was the only one
from Oregon competing. To
them, i came out of nowhere.”
The same will happen at
the 3a State Track and Field
Championships this weekend
at Mt. Tahoma High School in
Tacoma.
With Hermiston joining
the Wiaa this school year,
romero will be an unknown
to most — Kennewick’s
Madeline Gebers has gotten a
dose of romero all spring.
“Knowing we were going
into the Wiaa, i kept an eye
on throwers,” said romero,
who will compete Satur-
day. “They had no idea i was
coming.”
romero’s seed mark at
state is 143 feet, but her top
mark going into state is 151-9.
Ella Haskins of Bishop
Blanchet has thrown 128-2,
and Gebers 126-11. The field
of 16 throwers ranges from
100-9 to romero’s top mark.
“Every day is a new chal-
lenge,” romero said. “The
javelin is very technical —
you can’t perfect it.”
Hermiston coach Emilee
Strot said romero has the tal-
ent and mental toughness to
find herself with a gold medal
on Saturday.
“What i appreciate most,
is she has confidence, but she
This is Maher’s second trip to state.
as a sophomore, he was fourth in
the 110s (15.36) and third in the 300s
(39.99).
That he is on the track and at the top
of his sport this spring is impressive.
He broke the fibula in his left leg on
dec. 18 in a basketball game against
Milwaukie and missed the rest of the
season.
“i was able to come back just in
time for track,” Maher said.
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
Hermiston’s Jazlyn Romero is the top-ranked 3A javelin thrower headed into the state track and
field championships this weekend in Tacoma. Romero will compete on Saturday.
is humble,” Strot said. “She
is going in like she is not the
best in the state. She is going
in like every other meet — to
be on the top of the podium.
She will not consider herself
the best until it’s over.”
Improving on good
as a freshman, romero
was less than a foot shy of
earning a spot to state. She
finish third (110-1) at district
behind teammates Makayla
akers and Madelyn Juul.
as a sophomore, she
improved by leaps and bounds,
throwing a season-best 142-10
to finish second behind Pend-
leton’s Emanuela Casadei
(143-3), an exchange student
from italy, at the intermoun-
tain Conference district meet.
Romero went on to finish
third at the Oregon 5a state
meet with a mark of 134-3.
Casadei won with a toss of
145-4.
“She told me after state,
‘don’t give up, i want to hear
good things about you in
italy,’ ” romero said of Casa-
dei. “it’s amazing how she
connected with all of us.”
The competition in the
Mid-Columbia Conference
this spring has not been as
stiff as romero had hoped.
She has won every meet but
two this season — she was
sixth at the Pasco invite,
and second at the dean Nice
invite in Gresham.
“That’s the hardest part,”
romero said. “you just have
to try and stay positive and be
better than yourself the day
before.”
romero threw her Pr of
151-9 at the MCC district
meet in Hermiston, and cele-
brated with Strot.
“it was in the air for so
long, i thought it had to be
far,” romero said. “all i heard
was 150, and coach and i are
jumping up and down like lit-
tle girls.”
Romero has flourished
under the tutelage of Strot, a
former college thrower who
qualified for the NCAAs in
the shot put and discus when
she competed at UC Berkeley
and Kentucky.
“We are really fortunate
with the coaches we have,”
romero said. “it’s not every
day you have four former
division i athletes on your
staff.”
romero has endeared her-
self to Strot, who first saw
romero on the basketball
court the summer before her
freshman year.
“She is standing out in the
track and field world,” Strot
said. “She is so strong and
explosive, and brilliant in the
classroom and on the court.
i’m excited to see what she
does. She is already getting
phone calls and letters.”
despite
her
success,
romero said she still gets a
few butterflies before each
meet.
“i always get a little ner-
vous, but once i get into the
environment and on the run-
way, everything is fine,” she
said. “i just take a deep breath
and let it fly.”
That’s when everyone else
gets nervous.
NEW yOrK — Giannis antetokounmpo and
James Harden got the most votes, and damian Lillard
and Kemba Walker also were big winners when the
all-NBa teams were announced.
Those guards can cash in with supermax contracts
based on their selections to one of the three all-NBa
teams that were announced Thursday.
LeBron James also was voted to the third team,
tying the NBa record with his 15th all-NBa
selection.
Rounding out the first team were Stephen Curry,
Paul George and Nikola Jokic, who was Denver’s first
all-NBa selection since Carmelo anthony in 2010.
antetokounmpo and Harden were unanimous
selections, receiving all 100 votes from a panel of
writers and broadcasters who had to choose two
guards, two forwards and one center for each of the
three teams.
Walker was the final selection but all that matters
is that he made it. By doing so, he became eligible
to receive a five-year contract extension worth about
$221 million from the Hornets if he opts to stay in
Charlotte, a reward the NBa put in recently as further
incentive to keep players with their current teams.
The Hornets could have offered him about $30
million less if he wasn’t selected and failed to earn the
criteria for the largest possible contract.
Lillard, a second-team selection, can get more than
$190 million over four years with a new contract in
Portland.
antetokounmpo will have his chance for a mega
deal in Milwaukee after next season. He’s an MVP
finalist who was also a first-team All-Defensive selec-
tion for a Bucks team that had the best record in the
league and hosted Game 5 of the Eastern Conference
finals later Thursday.
“it’s a pretty incredible season but he’s much more
focused on tonight and getting ready to go,” Bucks
coach Mike Budenholzer said.
Golden State’s Klay Thompson, Washington’s
Bradley Beal and Minnesota’s Karl-anthony Towns
were also in position to cash in with those lucrative
extensions, but none was an all-NBa selection.
James has been a lock for most of his career, but
was no sure thing after an injury-shortened first sea-
son in Los angeles. His streak of 11 consecutive sea-
sons as a first-team player, a record he shared with
Karl Malone, came to an end. He did, however,
make his 15th consecutive appearance on the all-
NBa roster — joining Kobe Bryant as the only play-
ers to make that many teams in consecutive fashion.
The 15th all-NBa nod also tied James with Bryant,
Kareem abdul-Jabbar and Tim duncan for the most
in league history.