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E AST O REGONIAN FRIDAY, AUGUST 9, 2019 FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @EOSPORTS | FACEBOOK.COM/EOSPORTS A8 Ducks’ Herbert wants to see continued growth in last season By ANNE M. PETERSON Associated Press EUGENE — When Justin Her- bert looks at the arc of his career at Oregon, he sees it through the lens of the team as a whole. The Ducks went 4-8 under Mark Helfrich in Herbert’s fresh- man year. Then there was Willie Taggart’s lone season at the helm before Mario Cristobal led a more united Oregon to a 9-4 record last year. That growth is one of the rea- sons Herbert returned for his senior season. “I came here and we weren’t a great football team. We were kind of a group of individuals that year,” he said. “I think the past couple of years we’ve done a really good job of coming together and becoming a team.” While Herbert has grown more comfortable taking on a leadership role and speaking to the media, he has always shied away from dis- cussing individual accomplish- ments — preferring instead to keep it about the team. But those accomplishments are considerable, and he’s among the reasons Oregon was picked to fi nish atop the Pac-12 North in the league’s preseason media poll. The Ducks edged Washington by a point. Herbert, mentioned as a Heisman candidate heading into last season, threw for 3,153 yards with 29 touchdowns. He has thrown at least one touchdown in 28 straight games, the longest cur- rent streak in the nation. Over his 28 career starts, the Ducks have averaged 38.3 points a game. A local kid from Eugene’s Sheldon High School, Herbert has thrown for 7,070 yards and 63 touchdowns in his three years so far. While there was speculation See Ducks, Page A9 Larsen returns to defend Manitoba cowboy Orin Larsen is on his way to defending last year’s bareback title By BRETT KANE and ANNIE FOWLER East Oregonian H ERMISTON — Try as they might, there was no dethroning the defending bareback riding champion. Inglis, Manitoba, cowboy Orin Larsen returned to the Farm-City Pro Rodeo on Thursday in an effort to hold onto last year’s bare- back riding title, which he did with a score of 85.5 on the back of Uvid Bubbles. Larsen beat out four other riders, and topped yes- terday’s top contender Taylor Broussard, who turned in an 83. On Thursday, Sherwood, Alberta’s Kody Lamb received an 84.5, Trenten Montero of Winnemucca, Nevada, earned an 80, and Pascal Isabelle of Oko- toks, Alberta scored a 76, but there was no defeating Larsen, who currently sits at No. 3 in the Pro Rodeo Cowboy Association World Standings. “We all just give 110 percent every time we nod our heads,” Larsen said. “Hopefully, we don’t break our jaws, stay on the horse, and get a good score.” Larsen will pack up and hit the road to Sexton, Missouri, for his next showing, but won’t soon forget his time at Farm-City, where he currently sits atop the leaderboard. “There’s nothing like the rodeo,” Larsen said. “I love the atmosphere and the camaraderie. I’ve been very fortunate with the way things have turned out so far this year. Hopefully I can keep it going. It’s going to be a long time before I call it quits.” Team roping Only two teams managed to rope their calves during Thursday night’s event, and the top spot was claimed by a margin of just 0.6 seconds. In the end, Chace and Tyson Thompson, a pair of Munday, Texas brothers, posted the best time at 5 sec- onds fl at, besting Shane Erickson of Terrebone, and Brent Falon of Yakima, Washington, at 5.6. “This summer’s been tough,” Chace said. “Hope- fully this will turn it around. Every night, you’re fac- ing some of the best guys in the world.” Although the Thompsons are family, this year is their fi rst roping together professionally. Chace ropes the head while Tyson takes care of the heeling. “Tyson just fi nished college, and I got some good horses,” Chace said, “so we’ll see how it goes.” The Thompson brothers were second on the bill, and the following 10 teams failed to rope their calves. “It’s all about getting a good start, and setting it up for your heeler,” Chace said. “We drew a good steer.” Staff photo by Kathy Aney Canadian bareback rider Orin Larsen bursts out of the chute Thursday at the Farm-City Pro Rodeo in Hermiston. Larsen won the round with a score of 85.5. FCPR, scored an 80.5 on the back of Zealous Depar- ture to move into a tie for the lead in the event with Allen Boore. “I saw my uncle Spencer (Wright) get on him in Houston in March,” Wright said of have a scouting report on his horse. “That horse felt way awesome. I have nothing to complain about. I love coming to Hermiston. The fans are great and they have good horses.” Though he shares the lead, and 80.5 is a good score, Wright knows there are good horses and cow- boys coming up the next two days. “Hopefully, it sits well to place,” he said. “You never know.” Wright, 23, pocketed $100,000 in Calgary and sits eighth in the world standings, behind his younger brother Ryder, who has earned a record $190,777 this season. Tie-down roping A 7.5-second time was the mark to beat during Thursday’s tie-down roping competition, and although not a single cowboy could do it, Jake Pratt’s 8.2 second fi nish was good enough to put him in a three-way tie at the top of the leaderboard. “This morning was a little slow for me,” said the cowboy from Ellnsburg, Washington, “but this was a good draw. No matter what, you just gotta do your job.” Pratt’s time surpassed a slew of Northwest repre- sentation, including Hermiston’s Brad Goodrich (8.7), Echo’s Jeff Coelho (12.4), and Stanfi eld’s Seth Hopper, who received no time. “I love this rodeo,” Pratt said. “Northwest rodeos are the best in the world.” Steer wrestling Staff photo by Kathy Aney Rusty Wright, of Milford, Utah, rides to victory in sad- dle bronc on day two of the Farm-City Pro Rodeo in Hermiston. Saddle bronc riding The Wright family from Milford, Utah, has made a name for itself in the event, and third generation cow- boy Rusty Wright is carrying on the family tradition. Wright, who won the saddle bronc at the 2014 Canadian cowboy Scott Guenthner is ranked No. 2 in the world standings and he’s headed to his third NFR, but if there still is money to be earned, he’s going to be on the road. Guenthner turfed his steer in 4.3 seconds Thurs- day night, edging Stetson Jorgensen by two-tenths of a second to earn go money and the $100 bonus. “Right now is the time where every dollar and every penny counts,” he said. “If you can’t place in the overall, go money is good. I had a good steer. I saw him earlier and knew he would be good.” See Rodeo, Page A9 SPORTS SHORTS White Sox, Yankees to play at ‘Field of Dreams’ in 2020 By LUKE MEREDITH Associated Press DYERSVILLE, Iowa — Major League Baseball is going to build it — and the White Sox and Yan- kees are coming to Iowa. The Chicago White Sox will play the New York Yankees next summer at the site in east- ern Iowa where the movie “Field of Dreams” was fi lmed, MLB announced Thursday. The game is set for Aug. 13 in Dyersville, which is about 200 miles west of Chicago. A temporary 8,000-seat sta- dium will be built on the site to accommodate the fi rst major league game played in Iowa. “As a sport that is proud of its history linking generations, Major League Baseball is excited to bring a regular-season game to the site of ‘Field of Dreams,’” Commissioner Rob Manfred said. “We look for- ward to celebrating the movie’s enduring message of how baseball brings people together at this spe- cial cornfi eld in Iowa.” A video tweeted by MLB shows Yankees star Aaron Judge asking Ray Kinsella, Kevin Cost- ner’s character in the 1989 movie, if he was in heaven. Costner replies with one of the movie’s iconic lines — “No, it’s Iowa” — and Judge nods before trotting back into the corn beyond the outfi eld. AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, File In this undated fi le photo, people portraying ghost players emerge from a cornfi eld as they reenact a scene from the movie “Field of Dreams” at the movie site in Dyersville, Iowa.
