SPORTS
Friday, July 26, 2019
East Oregonian
A9
Ex-wife pleads guilty in
killing of Lorenzen Wright
Tri-City Herald Photo/ Bob Brawdy
The U-6 Miss HomeStreet Bank (front), driven by Jimmy Shane, is the favorite this week
at the HAPO Columbia Cup, which begins today on the Columbia River in the Tri-Cities.
Columbia Cup lineup
will feature 10 boats
U-6 Miss
HomeStreet Bank
leads the points
series after 2 races
By JEFF MORROW
Tri-City Herald
KENNEWICK, Wash.
— This is the week. Boat
race weekend.
What has always been the
Tri-Cities’ biggest sporting
event, the HAPO Columbia
Cup, begins today with qual-
ifying and finishes Sunday
afternoon with the Columbia
Cup final.
In between, there will be
four different classes of rac-
ing and a total of 28 boats
that will hit the water.
Race director Aaron
Stephens has confirmed
10 unlimited hydroplanes,
another seven Grand Prix
World hydros, five more
5-liter boats and, finally, six
vintage boats.
Unlimited hydroplane
racers
The U-6 Miss Home-
Street Bank: owned by the
city of Madison, Ind., and
driven by standout driver
Jimmy Shane.
The team is off to a great
start by winning both races.
That Mike and Larry
Hanson are back to help the
team — both former crew
chiefs — makes the team
that much better.
In fact, the U-6 already
has a 1,081-point lead ahead
of the runner-up in the
national high points stand-
ings — the U-12 — after just
two races.
The U-6 will be the favor-
ite this weekend.
So far, they took first in
Guntersville, first in Madi-
son and are first overall.
The U-1 Jones Racing:
owned by Mike and Lori
Jones, is back in the Tri-Cit-
ies, and will try to defend its
Columbia Cup title.
Andrew Tate is back to
drive the boat.
The team is expected to
race both in Tri-Cities and
Seattle.
So far they took second in
Madison and are seventh in
the standings.
The U-3 Go3 Racing:
will make its season debut in
the Tri-Cities.
Owner Ed Cooper Jr. has
the only piston-powered boat
in the fleet, and he won’t run
it unless he finds sponsorship
money.
He gets that in the Tri-Cit-
ies, thanks to Charlie Grigg,
who owns Grigg’s Depart-
ment Store and the Ace Hard-
ware stores in the Tri-Cities.
Once again, Grigg has
spearheaded the effort to
bring the U-3 to the Tri-Cit-
ies from Evansville, Ind.
Veteran Jimmy King will
be the driver.
The U-7 Spirit of
Detroit: owned by Dave
Bartush from Michigan, and
will be driven by Canadian
Bert Henderson.
The team has been a
pleasant surprise after the
first two races, finishing on
the podium both times.
So far, they took third in
Guntersville, third in Madi-
son and are third overall.
The U-11 J&D’s pres-
ents Reliable Diamond
Tools: features the fami-
ly-operated team owned by
Scott and Shannon Raney.
Driver Tom Thompson from
Maryland was let go by
the Raneys last week, and
replaced by Jamie Nilson.
The Raneys’ boat gets
faster every year but hasn’t
yet cracked the upper eche-
lon of teams.
So far, they have taken
sixth place in Guntersville,
fifth place in Madison and
are sixth overall.
The U-12 Graham
Trucking: owner Rob Gra-
ham decided after missing
much of the 2018 season that
he’d bring the team out for
the entire 2019 circuit.
J. Michael Kelly is driv-
ing the boat, and for him it’s
like second nature.
So far, they took second in
Guntersville, fourth in Mad-
ison and are second overall.
The U-98 Graham
Trucking
American
Dream: Graham’s second
boat in the fleet, purchased
from the Stacey Briseno
estate after her tragic death
last September.
Graham wanted to make
sure the boat stayed in the
fleet, and he’s put rookie
Corey Peabody behind the
wheel.
So far, they took fifth in
Guntersville, sixth in Madi-
son and are fourth overall.
The U-99.9 KISW: will
be making its debut this
week. Owned by Brian and
Greg O’Farrell, the boat has
a new hull. Brian Perkins is
the driver.
The U-440 Bucket List
Racing: owned by Kelly and
Sharon Stocklin, and driven
by Dustin Echols.
It’s the smallest boat on
the circuit at 28 feet.
Stocklin started it out as
an experimental G Class
automotive powered boat
that was eventually con-
verted into turbine power.
So far they have taken
fourth place in Guntersville,
seventh in Madison and are
fifth overall.
The U-1918 Oberto: just
tested on Lake Washington
last week in Seattle.
Larry Oberto, the son of
Art Oberto, struck a deal
with the Miss Madison team
to run its backup boat at the
Tri-Cities and Seattle.
It’s a good boat too, win-
ning a number of races and
national high-points titles.
It also adds to the boat
count.
Jeff Bernard will be the
driver, although Colum-
bia Cup race director Aaron
Stephens said Bernard has
been out of the unlimited cir-
cuit long enough that he’ll
have to requalify as a driver
this coming weekend on the
Columbia River.
Hydro racing details
Here is the H1 Unlim-
ited schedule for the coming
weekend: Qualifying on Fri-
day starts at 1:30 p.m.; heat
races on Saturday are set
for 1:50 p.m., 2:15, 4:20, and
4:45.
Sunday’s schedule has
more preliminary heats at
10:55 a.m., 11:20, 2:25 p.m.,
and 2:50.
The final is set for
4:30 p.m.
Vintage boats
“We have three pick-
lefork boats in the 1977
U-00 Atlas Van Lines, the
1982 U-00 Atlas, and the
1973 U-25 Pay N’ Pak,”
Stephens said. “Then we
have three shovel-nose
boats, with the 1957 U-77
Miss Wahoo, the 1962
Miss Bardahl, and the 1957
U-80 Blue Chip.”
Seahawks: Wagner watches
as he awaits contract extention
Continued from Page A8
until the middle of October.
It’s a big blow for Seattle and
while Reed said he respects
the league’s decision, he
doesn’t agree with it.
“I’m very saddened to the
news I would be suspended
six games,” Reed said. “Of
course I disagreed with the
decision based on the facts.
I’ve grown over the years.
I’ve had to learn to grow, to
mature as a leader, as a per-
son that has good character
and for sure is going to play
hard and do everything I can
for my teammates. The only
thing we can do is move for-
ward. I respect the NFL’s
decision. We just move for-
ward and continue to do
better.”
Reed declined to elab-
orate on the reason for the
suspension. A report from
the Bellevue Police Depart-
ment from 2017 recom-
mended
fourth-degree
assault charges in an alleged
domestic violence incident,
but prosecutors declined to
charge Reed. The city of Bel-
levue released a statement to
The Seattle Times saying it
believed there was insuffi-
cient evidence to prosecute.
Carroll said so much time
had passed since the team
first learned of the incident
to the punishment being
handed down that he was
unsure if Reed would face
any discipline.
“Jarran has been working
at this for some time now. I
appreciate the growth and
maturity and transparency
he’s brought forth in show-
ing us that he does under-
stand this is a very seri-
ous issue,” Carroll said. “I
think our guys in general
have shown that growth and
maturity. You can just feel
he’s learned from this and is
moving ahead.”
Seattle signed veteran
Earl Mitchell to help make
up for the loss of Reed, who
is coming off the best season
of his career with 10½ sacks
last year and is entering the
final season of his rookie
contract.
But Reed’s contract situ-
ation is secondary to Wag-
ner’s at this point. The All-
Pro middle linebacker would
seem to be in line for a huge
payday, but there has been no
agreement. Wagner is serv-
ing as his own representative
in the negotiations and fel-
low linebacker K.J. Wright
believes the sides are getting
closer to a deal.
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP)
— The ex-wife of slain for-
mer NBA player Lorenzen
Wright pleaded guilty Thurs-
day to facilitation of first-de-
gree murder in his shooting
death nine years ago, a sur-
prise development in one of
Memphis, Tennessee’s big-
gest murder cases.
Sherra
Wright
also
pleaded guilty to facilitation
of a criminal attempt to com-
mit first-degree murder in a
hearing in Shelby County
Criminal Court. Judge Lee
Coffee sentenced her to 30
years in prison. Coffee said
Sherra Wright would be eli-
gible for parole once she
served 30% of her sentence,
which would be around nine
years.
Sherra Wright had been
scheduled to face a jury in a
September trial on first-de-
gree murder charges in the
death of her ex-husband.
His body was found riddled
with gunshot wounds in a
swampy field in suburban
Memphis in July 2010. He
had been missing for 10 days
before his body was found.
The nine-year anniver-
sary of the discovery of
Wright’s body is Sunday.
During the hearing,
Sherra Wright answered
questions from the judge in
a soft voice. She said she has
been taking medication for
anxiety and depression.
She had faced a life sen-
tence if convicted at trial.
In an interview with The
Commercial Appeal, Sherra
Wright said she pleaded
guilty for the sake of her chil-
dren but didn’t elaborate.
“I’m just going to say
because of my children, I
have made this decision,
and because of them I’m not
going to go into many more
details right now, but I’m just
going to say everything is
not what it seems,” she was
quoted as telling the paper.
Lorenzen Wright’s family
members agreed to the plea
deal, prosecutor Paul Hager-
man said.
“This is obviously a vio-
lent offense, an offense that
has torn apart a family, an
offense that’s been high-
lighted throughout Memphis
and the media and every-
thing else,” Hagerman said
after the hearing.
Sherra Wright and co-de-
fendant Billy Turner were
charged in December 2017
with first-degree murder.
Turner’s trial remains sched-
uled for Sept. 16. He has
already pleaded guilty to a
gun charge related to Loren-
zen Wright’s shooting.
Hagerman would not
say whether Sherra Wright
would testify during Turn-
er’s trial.
Turner, a landscaper in
the Memphis suburb of Col-
lierville, and Sherra Wright
attended the same church.
Witnesses
said
Sherra
Wright masterminded a plan
to have two men kill Loren-
zen Wright at his home in
Atlanta, but that attempt
failed, according to an
affidavit.
She and Turner then con-
spired to kill him in Mem-
phis, and they dumped one
of the guns used in the shoot-
ing in a Mississippi lake,
authorities have said. A gun
that was allegedly used in the
killing was found in the lake
weeks before charges were
filed in the case.
After Sherra Wright
entered her plea, the judge
allowed Lorenzen Wright’s
mother, Deborah Marion,
to address the court. Mar-
ion spoke directly to Sherra
Wright, telling her she wants
to see her grandchildren.
Marion said she has not been
able to visit them.
“I just hate what hap-
pened to my child, but he left
some nice-looking kids for
their grandma,” Marion said.
Outside the courtroom,
Marion said family mem-
bers would be attending
parole hearings. Marion said
she would like to see Sherra
Wright serve the full 30-year
prison sentence.
“My son is serving life,”
Marion said.
Defense attorney Juni
Ganguli told reporters out-
side of the courtroom that
Sherra Wright’s defense at
trial would have been that
her ex-husband beat her for
years and she was tired of it.
He said the defense would
have been “scorched earth.”
“The beatings were con-
sistent, and it led to her face
being disfigured,” Ganguli
said. “She feared that Mr.
Wright would never leave her
alone, and she recruited Billy
Turner to kill Mr. Wright.”
Sherra Wright received
$1 million from her ex-hus-
band’s life insurance policy.
She agreed to a settlement in
2014 in a court dispute over
how she spent the insurance
money meant to benefit their
six children. Defense attor-
ney Laurie Hall said she did
not think the life insurance
money was a motivation for
Wright’s killing.
Wright’s death shook his
hometown of Memphis, where
he was a fan favorite thanks to
his charity work with youth
and his father’s involvement
as a coach in summer leagues.
Former NBA players and
friends including Anfernee
“Penny” Hardaway and Elliot
Perry attended a memorial
service for Wright in the days
after his body was found.
Trail Blazers sign All-Star Pau Gasol
PORTLAND (AP) —
The Portland Trail Blaz-
ers have added six-time
All-Star Pau Gasol to their
roster.
President of basketball
operations Neil Olshey
announced Gasol’s signing
Thursday.
“Pau is a future Hall of
Famer that brings invalu-
able cham-
pionship
experience
and an elite
skill
set
and basket-
ball IQ to
Gasol
our roster,”
Olshey said in a statement.
The 39-year-old Gasol
has averaged 17.0 points,
BASEBALL
Chicago
55 47 .539
—
St. Louis
55 47 .539
—
Milwaukee
54 50
.519
2
Cincinnati
46 54 .460
8
Pittsburgh
46 56 .451
9
West
W
L
Pct
GB
Los Angeles
67 37 .644
—
Arizona
52 51 .505 14½
San Francisco 52 51 .505 14½
San Diego
48 54 .471
18
Colorado
48 55 .466 18½
———
Wednesday’s Games
Washington 3, Colorado 2, 1st game
Philadelphia 4, Detroit 0
Milwaukee 5, Cincinnati 4
Arizona 5, Baltimore 2
Chicago Cubs 4, San Francisco 1
St. Louis 14, Pittsburgh 8
Washington 2, Colorado 0, 2nd game
San Diego 7, N.Y. Mets 2
Kansas City 2, Atlanta 0
Miami 2, Chicago White Sox 0
L.A. Angels 3, L.A. Dodgers 2
Thursday’s Games
N.Y. Mets 4, San Diego 0
St. Louis 6, Pittsburgh 3
Colorado 8, Washington 7
Friday’s Games
Colorado (Marquez 9-5) at Cincinnati
(Castillo 9-3), 3:40 p.m.
Atlanta (Soroka 10-2) at Philadelphia
(Arrieta 8-7), 4:05 p.m.
L.A. Dodgers (Ryu 11-2) at Washington
(Sanchez 6-6), 4:05 p.m.
Arizona (Greinke 10-4) at Miami (Alcan-
tara 4-9), 4:10 p.m.
Pittsburgh (Agrazal 2-0) at N.Y. Mets
(Wheeler 6-6), 4:10 p.m.
Chicago Cubs (Hendricks 7-8) at Milwau-
kee (Gonzalez 2-1), 5:10 p.m.
Houston (Urquidy 1-0) at St. Louis (Fla-
herty 4-6), 5:15 p.m.
San Francisco (Samardzija 7-8) at San
Diego (Lucchesi 7-5), 7:10 p.m.
Saturday’s Games
L.A. Dodgers at Washington, 1:05 p.m.
Arizona at Miami, 3:10 p.m.
Atlanta at Philadelphia, 4:05 p.m.
Chicago Cubs at Milwaukee, 4:10 p.m.
Colorado at Cincinnati, 4:10 p.m.
Pittsburgh at N.Y. Mets, 4:10 p.m.
Houston at St. Louis, 4:15 p.m.
San Francisco at San Diego, 5:40 p.m.
9.2 rebounds and 3.2
assists over an 18-year
career that has included
stints with Memphis, the
Lakers, Chicago, San
Antonio and Milwaukee.
He won two NBA titles
with the Lakers.
Gasol has averaged 15.4
points, 9.2 rebounds and,
3.2 assists in the playoffs.
SCOREBOARD
AMERICAN LEAGUE
All Times PDT
East
W
L
Pct
GB
New York
66
36
.647
—
Tampa Bay
58
47
.552
9½
Boston
57
47
.548
10
Toronto
39
65
.375
28
Baltimore
32
69
.317
33½
Central
W
L
Pct
GB
Minnesota
61
40
.604
—
Cleveland
59
42
.584
2
Chicago
45
54
.455
15
Kansas City
39
64
.379
23
Detroit
30
67
.309
29
West
W
L
Pct
GB
Houston
66
38
.635
—
Oakland
58
45
.563
7½
Los Angeles
54
49
.524
11½
Texas
51
51
.500
14
Seattle
42
63
.400
24½
———
Wednesday’s Games
Tampa Bay 3, Boston 2
Philadelphia 4, Detroit 0
Houston 4, Oakland 2
Arizona 5, Baltimore 2
Seattle 5, Texas 3
Cleveland 4, Toronto 0
Kansas City 2, Atlanta 0
Miami 2, Chicago White Sox 0
N.Y. Yankees 10, Minnesota 7
L.A. Angels 3, L.A. Dodgers 2
Thursday’s Games
Boston 19, N.Y. Yankees 3
Minnesota at Chicago White Sox, late
Cleveland at Kansas City, late
Baltimore at L.A. Angels, late
Texas at Oakland, late
Detroit at Seattle, late
Friday’s Games
Tampa Bay (Yarbrough 8-3) at Toronto
(Waguespack 1-0), 4:07 p.m.
N.Y. Yankees (Paxton 5-5) at Boston
(Cashner 9-5), 4:10 p.m.
Minnesota (Pineda 6-5) at Chicago White
Sox (Cease 1-2), 5:10 p.m.
Cleveland (Plesac 4-3) at Kansas City
(Junis 6-8), 5:15 p.m.
Houston (Urquidy 1-0) at St. Louis (Fla-
herty 4-6), 5:15 p.m.
Baltimore (Wojciechowski 1-3) at L.A.
Angels (Canning 3-5), 7:07 p.m.
Texas (Lynn 12-6) at Oakland (Mengden
5-1), 7:07 p.m.
Detroit (Norris 2-8) at Seattle (Kikuchi
4-7), 7:10 p.m.
Saturday’s Games
Tampa Bay at Toronto, 12:07 p.m.
N.Y. Yankees at Boston, 1:05 p.m.
Detroit at Seattle, 1:10 p.m.
Minnesota at Chicago White Sox,
4:10 p.m.
Cleveland at Kansas City, 4:15 p.m.
Houston at St. Louis, 4:15 p.m.
Baltimore at L.A. Angels, 6:07 p.m.
Texas at Oakland, 6:07 p.m.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
All Times PDT
East
Atlanta
Washington
Philadelphia
New York
Miami
Central
W
60
55
54
47
38
W
L
43
47
48
55
62
L
Pct
.583
.539
.529
.461
.380
Pct
GB
—
4½
5½
12½
20½
GB
CYCLING
TOUR DE FRANCE RESULTS
Thursday
18th Stage
At Saint-Michel-De-Maurienne,
France
A 129.2-mile ride from Embrun to
Saint-Michel-De-Maurienne, the the
first leg in the Alps
1. Nairo Quintana, Colombia, Movistar
Team, 5:34:15.
2. Romain Bardet, France, AG2R La Mon-
diale, 1:35.
3. Alexey Lutsenko, Kazakhstan, Astana
Pro Team, 2:28.
4. Lennard Kamna, Germany, Team Sun-
web, 2:58.
5. Damiano Caruso, Italy, Bahrain-Mer-
ida, 3:00.
6. Tiesj Benoot, Belgium, Lotto Sou-
dal, 4:46.
7. Michael Woods, Canada, EF Education
First, same time.
8. Egan Bernal, Colombia, Team Ineos,
same time.
9. Serge Pauwels, Belgium, CCC Team,
same time.
10. Steven Kruijswijk, Netherlands, Team
Jumbo-Visma, 5:18.
11. Emanuel Buchmann, Germany,
Bora-Hansgrohe, same time.
12. Thibaut Pinot, France, Groupa-
ma-FDJ, same time.
13. Geraint Thomas, Britain, Team Ineos,
same time.
14. Julian Alaphilippe, France, Deceun-
inck-QuickStep, same time.
15. Rigoberto Uran, Colombia, EF Educa-
tion First, same time.
16. Mikel Landa, Spain, Movistar Team,
same time.
17. Richie Porte, Australia, Trek-Sega-
fredo, same time.
18. Warren Barguil, France, Arkea Sam-
sic, 5:43.
19. Alejandro Valverde, Spain, Movistar
Team, 6:16.
20. Guillaume Martin, France,
Wanty-Gobert, 6:47.
Also
50. Ben King, United States, Dimension
Data, 22:40.
57. Joey Rosskopf, United States, CCC,
same time.
63. Chad Haga, United States, Sunweb,
25:46.
Overall Standings
(After 18 stages)
1. Julian Alaphilippe, France, Deceun-
inck-QuickStep, 75:18:49.
2. Egan Bernal, Colombia, Ineos, 1:30.
3. Geraint Thomas, Britain, Ineos, 1:35.
4. Steven Kruijswijk, Netherlands, Jum-
bo-Visma, 1:47.
5. Thibaut Pinot, France, Groupama-FDJ,
1:50.
6. Emanuel Buchmann, Germany,
Bora-Hansgrohe, 2:14.
7. Nairo Quintana, Colombia, Movis-
tar, 3:54.
8. Mikel Landa, Spain, Movistar, 4:54.
9. Rigoberto Uran, Colombia, EF Educa-
tion First, 5:33.
10. Alejandro Valverde, Spain, Movis-
tar, 5:58.
11. Richie Porte, Australia, Trek-Sega-
fredo, 6:30.
12. Warren Barguil, France, Arkea-Sam-
sic, 7:47.
13. Guillaume Martin, France,
Wanty-Gobert, 15:11.
14. Fabio Aru, Italy, UAE Team Emirates,
16:21.
15. Roman Kreuziger, Czech Republic,
Dimension Data, 17:00.
16. David Gaudu, France, Groupama-FDJ,
18:37.
17. Xandro Meurisse, Belgium,
Wanty-Gobert, 22:43.
18. Romain Bardet, France, AG2R La
Mondiale, 23:39.
19. Dan Martin, Ireland, UAE Team Emir-
ates, 34:23.
20. Sebastien Reichenbach, Switzerland,
Groupama-FDJ, 35:52.
Also
69. Ben King, United States, Dimension
Data, 1:52:41.
83. Joey Rosskopf, United States, CCC,
2:11:32.
133. Chad Haga, United States, Sunweb,
3:12:04.