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Friday, June 21, 2019
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A8
Local cowboys off to junior high nationals
By ANNIE FOWLER
East Oregonian
PendLeTOn — Four Colum-
bia Basin cowboys and cowgirls
will compete at the 15th annual
national Junior High Finals rodeo
from June 23-29 in Huron, S.d.
Georgia and Handy Lieual-
len of Pendleton, Gator Goodrich
of Stanfield and Degan Patton of
Pendleton will compete on the
Oregon team.
The event will
feature 1,000 con-
testants from 44
states, five Cana-
dian
Provinces,
australia
and
Goodrich
Mexico. it is the
world’s
largest
junior high rodeo.
The top 20 in each event
through the first two rounds will
compete in the finals June 29.
Contestants will be competing for
$80,000 in prizes and $200,000 in
college scholarship money.
Georgia, who just completed
the sixth grade at Sunridge Mid-
dle School, won the Oregon
state titles in barrel racing, pole
bending, and combined with her
brother Handy for the ribbon rop-
ing state title.
Handy, who will be an eighth
grader at Sunridge, also was the
state reserve champion in tie-
down roping. He also will team
rope at nationals with adrian
Steffen of Salem.
Gator, 14, who will be a fresh-
man at Stanfield High School
in the fall, won the state tie-
down and goat tying titles, and
was the boys all-around reserve
champion.
He also placed second in rib-
Extended ProRodeo
Tour benefitting cowboys
bon roping, chute dogging, and
third in team roping with Marcus
Marriott of Molalla.
This is Gator’s second trip to
nationals. He placed in the top 10
in ribbon roping last year.
degan, who will be an eighth
grader at Sunridge, will com-
pete in team roping and tie-down
roping. He and partner Hamley
Miller of enterprise won the state
team roping title.
U.S. defeats
rival Sweden
2-0, finishes
atop group
By ANNE M. PETERSON
Associated Press
Photo courtesy of James Phifer/PRCA
Heppner steer wrestler Blake Knowles, seen here at the 2018 NFR in Las Vegas, has benefitted from an extended ProRodeo
Tour schedule this year.
Heppner steer wrestler
Blake Knowles had earned
more than $30,000 this year
By TRACY RENCK
ProRodeo.com
C
OLOradO SPrinGS, Colo.
— Veteran steer wrestler Blake
Knowles is experiencing the
benefits of the expanded 2019
Prorodeo Tour with more than $20,000
won at three Tour stops this season.
The Heppner cowboy is fourth in the
Prorodeo Tour standings, which has
helped push him to 21st in the PrCa-
raM World Standings with $30,389.
“This year, the Tour became more
of an inclusive thing than an exclusive
thing,” Knowles said. “We went from
having 24 Tour rodeos over the course of
last season to 55 this season. When you’re
rodeoing out here and trying to get to the
nFr, your schedule will get you to most
of those Tour events because we’re trying
to go to the biggest and best rodeos every
single week. i’ve just been fortunate
enough to have good luck at Tour rodeos.”
Knowles won the average at the Santa
Maria (Calif.) elks rodeo, June 2, which
was a Tour stop, earning $3,170. He also
earned $10,375 at rodeoHouston in
March and $9,023 at the national West-
ern Stock Show and rodeo in denver in
January, both Tour stops.
The Tour features 55 rodeos showcas-
ing the top cowboys and rodeos. it began
in denver, Jan. 17-27, and concludes with
the Tour Finale on Sept. 5-8 in Puyallup,
Wash. a year ago, the Prorodeo Tour
featured 24 rodeos.
all cowboys eligible to compete in
Tour rodeos have the opportunity to
earn Tour points and qualify for the Tour
Finale in Puyallup, which will take the
top 24 contestants in each event.
The 24 competitors who reach the
Washington State Fair rodeo in Puyal-
lup will have a chance at big money by
advancing to the eight-man semifinals
and a four-man finals Sept. 8. Those out-
side the top 24 will try to make up the dif-
ference elsewhere.
The Prorodeo Tour is heating up in
the coming weeks with stops in reno,
nev. (June 21-29), Greeley, Colo. (June
26-July 7), Pecos, Texas (June 26-29), and
Springdale, ark. (June 26-29). The reno
rodeo is the 18th Tovur stop this season,
marking the one-third point in the 2019
Tour season.
“i’ve looked at my win percentage
as far as how many rodeos i’ve attended
and how many i’ve placed at, and it’s not
really where i want it,” Knowles said.
“But good for me, i’ve done well at big
Tour rodeos. That’s helped in a couple
ways: no. 1, it has helped in the world
standings because when i have won, i’ve
won good amounts, and secondly, going
along with that is getting some Tour
points racked up.
“The Tour finale in Puyallup is always
a great rodeo and a tremendous oppor-
tunity that time of year to make good
money. if they go head to head, a Tour
event and not a Tour event, i’m going to
go to the Tour event and try and secure
my spot in Puyallup because i under-
stand how important that’s going to be.”
Knowles has qualified for the Wran-
gler nFr four times — 2009, 2011, 2015
and 2018.
Le HaVre, France — The
united States faced its toughest
test of the Women’s World Cup
and the defending champions were
again dominant Thursday night,
beating Sweden 2-0 to serve up
revenge against the fierce rivals
that stunned the americans in the
last Olympics.
Lindsey Horan scored within
the first three minutes, the fast-
est goal of this tournament. The
united States went up 2-0 on an
own goal off Jonna andersson
in the 50th minute that gave the
americans a tournament-record
18 goals in the group stage. The
u.S. did not concede a goal for the
first time in group play.
“We needed this next level and
we responded to that. That’s the
ignition we needed,” u.S. coach
Jill ellis said.
already assured a spot in the
round of 16 before the game, the
United States finished atop its
group and will head to reims to
face Spain on Monday. Sweden
will play Canada in Paris.
The meeting was the first tour-
nament game between the two
teams since the quarterfinals of the
2016 Olympics. The Swedes bun-
kered in on defense and advanced
on penalties after a 1-1 draw,
handing the united States its ear-
liest-ever exit from the Olym-
pic tournament. Former u.S.
goalkeeper Hope Solo called the
Swedes “cowards” for the defen-
sive stand, a comment that effec-
tively ended her career with the
u.S. team.
“We’ve been part of some very
big games against them, and we
haven’t beaten them in a major
tournament in a while. So it feels
good that we can go into this
tournament and we can play well
against a quality side and get a
result,” defender Becky Sauer-
brunn said.
The united States pounced on
Thailand in its opener, winning
13-0 and drawing criticism for cel-
ebrating every goal even when the
game was well in hand. The amer-
icans had a more staid performance
See Soccer, Page A8
Pelicans take Zion Williamson with No. 1 pick in NBA draft
By BRIAN MAHONEY
AP Basketball Writer
neW yOrK — Zion William-
son plays with force and ferocity,
a Hulk in hightops who looks as
though he’d never show a soft side.
draft night proved otherwise.
Williamson was the no. 1 pick of
the new Orleans Pelicans — a sur-
prise to nobody who watched basket-
ball this past season. But afterward
he couldn’t hide his emotions, even
though he along with everyone else
knew what would happen Thursday
night.
“Because i love the game of bas-
ketball,” he said. “you can hear peo-
ple say things like, ‘Oh, that it was
likely i was going to go no. 1.’ But i
guess you don’t know until you actu-
ally go through it. Hearing my name
called and i was able to make it on
stage without a tear, shake the com-
missioner’s hand, but in the inter-
view my mom was standing beside
me, and my emotions just took over.”
There might be tears of joy in
new Orleans, too, after the Pelicans
were able to get the duke power-
house who is considered one of the
most exciting prospects in years.
The 6-foot-7, 285-pounder com-
piled a college career worth of high-
lights into just one season, becoming
the third freshman to be voted player
of the year by The associated Press.
His assault on the rims made him
a favorite of college basketball fans,
but his game is more than just dunks.
Williamson averaged 22.6 points
and 8.9 rebounds while shooting
68% from the field.
Wearing a white suit, he hugged
members of his family and nBa
Commissioner adam Silver after
his name was called first at Barclays
Center.
Williamson will step into an open
position in new Orleans, which
recently agreed to trade all-Star
anthony davis, the last freshman to
win the aP award, to the Los ange-
les Lakers.
“i’m going to do anything to win.
i’m just going to do anything to win,”
Williamson said.
The Memphis Grizzlies also
quickly addressed a positional need
by taking Murray State’s Ja Morant
with the no. 2 pick. The Grizzlies
agreed to trade Mike Conley, their
longtime point guard, to utah a day
earlier.
They got a good replacement in
Morant, who led division i with 10
assists per game as a sophomore
See Draft, Page A9
AP Photo/Julio Cortez
Duke’s Zion Williamson, right, poses for photographs with NBA Commis-
sioner Adam Silver after being selected by the New Orleans Pelicans as
the first pick during the NBA basketball draft on Thursday in New York.