E AST O REGONIAN
THURSDAY, JULY 1, 2021
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A NATURAL
Hermiston’s
Riley Clark will
continue track
career at WOU
H
A good decision
Clark turned out for track for a week
his freshman year, then quit and joined
the baseball team. His sophomore year,
he went to school at Wilson High School
in Portland, then returned to Hermiston.
He decided to give track another
try his junior year, but the COVID-19
pandemic wiped out the season.
“My senior year, I thought I’d try it
INTERMOUNTAIN CONFERENCE
Pendleton’s Swanson,
Rueber earn honors
By ANNIE FOWLER
East Oregonian
By ANNIE FOWLER
East Oregonian
ERMISTON — No one
is sure what would have
happened if Riley Clark
would have stuck with
track his freshman year of high school.
After waffl ing between track and
baseball his fi rst three years of high
school, Clark fi nally settled on track his
senior year. He fi nished the season with
three district titles and a school record
in the 4x100 relay.
“He is really a first-time track
athlete,” Hermiston track coach Emilee
Strot said. “He chose baseball the past
couple of years. This year, he sent me
an email the day before track started.
He said he wanted to come out and have
some fun. I said ‘I’ll see you tomorrow.’
I didn’t know what he was capable of,
but he is one of the most gifted athletes
in Hermiston High School.
“It was such a weird season. We had
seven weeks. We got to throw him into
competition right away. He was able to
instantly see his success and that moti-
vated him the whole season. It’s really
scary where he could be.”
Clark will take his talents to the
next level at Western Oregon Univer-
sity, where he will major in education.
He will be a preferred walk-on for the
Wolves, but he’s OK with that.
“They had budget cuts, but my marks
will score them points in meets,” Clark
said. “I have to prove myself.”
After visiting the campus and meet-
ing the coaches, Clark said he felt at
home with the WOU track program.
“I met with the coaches and it felt
really great,” he said. “After that visit,
this was the school for sure. I talked to
some other schools, but it didn’t feel
right. I felt like I had a second home at
Western Oregon.”
Clark lives with his grandparents,
Debbie and Steve Clark, and even
though his grandma doesn’t want him
to leave, she’s come to terms with his
decision.
“My grandma is a homebody, but I
told her I needed to do this,” Clark said.
“It’s easy to hop in the car and go visit.
I love Hermiston, it will always be my
home. I have a lot of family here.”
A7
Kathy Aney/East Oregonian, File
Hermiston’s Riley Clark long jumps at the Mid-Columbia Conference track and
fi eld championship May 6, 2021, at Fran Rish Stadium in Richland, Washington.
Clark took fi rst with a jump of 22 feet 5½ inches.
again,” Clark said. “I don’t regret it. Not
at all.”
With his waffl ing between sports,
Clark had had to prove his worth to the
track program, but that didn’t take long.
He placed fi rst in the long jump and
triple jump in every Mid-Columbia
Conference meet, and the 4x100 relay
team also won every race.
He had a personal best of 22 feet,
5½ inches in the long jump, and 44-6 in
the triple jump. The 4x100 relay team,
which also included Deryk Anderson,
Thomas Reagan and DJ Wilson, won
the MCC title with a school record time
of 42.85 seconds at the MCC Champi-
onships.
“I’m glad he came out,” Strot said.
“We never would have known his
potential. I’m glad he will get a chance
to compete at the next level. He is still
so raw. He has so much potential. The
relay team we had this year, they had a
special bond and pushed each other and
kept each other accountable, which was
important for Riley. For them to break
that record at that high of a caliber meet
is impressive.”
The Bulldogs, with Clark on the
anchor leg, had a slight edge during the
4x100 at the MCC Championships, and
Clark had a couple of steps on Chiawa-
na’s Kobe Young when he took the
baton.
Young, one of the top sprinters in the
conference, could not catch Clark.
“There was no way Kobe Young
was going to catch me,” Clark said. “I
knew we had to win. Kobe and I were
exchanging words. When we passed the
(long jump) pits, (coach David) Faae-
teete threw his hands up. I was so happy
and excited. It was fi nally nice to race
them and beat them. I love the fourth
leg, there is so much adrenaline and the
guys behind me just give you that push.”
Clark was named to the Mid-Colum-
bia Conference fi rst team for all three
events.
“For a lot of kids, they don’t see the
reward of working that hard,” Strot said.
“Kids will buy into it when they start to
see success. He started to get a taste of
that success and his potential. He just
kept working hard.”
Clark said he wishes there would
have been a state meet so he could have
had a shot at the school’s long jump
record of 22-7½, set in 2002 by Craig
McAtee.
“It would have been awesome to
go to state,” Clark said. “This season
was really fun. I stayed because I was
doing so well, and the environment was
getting better and better.”
Clark, who also played football and
basketball for the Bulldogs, has partic-
ipated in one summer track meet, with
a couple more on the schedule. He has
been focused on jumping, but said he
needs to get back on the track.
“I haven’t been sprinting much,” he
said. “I had a meet this past weekend in
Oregon City and I ran an 11.7 (in the 100
meters). I jumped a 21-5, and a 43-1¾,
and won those events. It was kind of
tough. I’m going to get back into the
explosiveness. I just need to get back in
the groove with it.”
If this spring has shown anything,
it won’t take him long to get his
groove back.
PENDLETON — The
Pendleton boys basketball
team went through some
rough times this season, but
the Bucks still were able to
put quality players on the
fl oor.
Senior Blake Swan-
son and sophomore Gauge
Rueber were named to the
Intermountain Conference
honorable mention team by
the conference coaches.
Cayden Lowenbach of
Crook County was named
Player of the Year, while
the Cowboys’ Jason Mumm
was voted Coach of the Year
by his peers. The Cowboys
were 10-0 in IMC play and
fi nished the season 16-0.
Swanson was a key
returning player for the
Bucks, who lost a large
group of players to gradua-
tion in 2020.
A 6-foot-4-inch post
player, Swanson led the
Bucks with 9.8 rebounds a
game. He also averaged 9.3
points and had 1.4 assists an
outing.
“He hardly came off the
fl oor,” Pendleton coach Zach
Dong said. “In my opin-
ion, he outworked every
big man in our league.
He was our anchor defen-
sively. He almost averaged a
double-double, which is big
time. He’s defi nitely a nose-
to-the-grindstone type of
kid. I’m thankful and excited
that he decided to play and
stick with it.”
Rueber, a 5-8 guard, led
Pendleton in scoring with
10.4 points, three assists and
3.6 rebounds a game.
“He was asked to do a lot
as far as being a sophomore
and starting point guard,
which normally wouldn’t
happen,” Dong said. “He
put us on his shoulders and
carried us. He took that
responsibility on and did
a good job. Physically, he
will grow and mature. He
shot the ball fairly well with
defenses keying on him. I’m
excited to see what the next
Rueber
Swanson
INTERMOUNTAIN
CONFERENCE
BASKETBALL
TEAM
Player of the Year:
Cayden Lowenbach,
Crook County
Coach of the Year: Jason
Mumm, Crook County
FIRST TEAM
Kevin Sanchez, sr., Crook
County; Garrett Osborne,
jr., Redmond; Skyler
Jones, sr., Redmond;
Jesse Sanchez, sr., Crook
County; Emanual Rome-
ro, jr., Hood River Valley.
SECOND TEAM
Ryan Asplund, jr., Rid-
geview; Charlie Rawlins,
sr., Redmond; Davis Yates,
sr., Hood River Valley;
Styles Deleon, so., The
Dalles; Hogan Smith, sr.,
Crook County.
HONORABLE MENTION
Jeremiah Schwartz, so.,
Ridgeview; Gauge Rue-
ber, so., Pendleton; Jack
Siekkinen, sr., Hood River
Valley; Rhett Haigh, sr.,
Redmond; Blake Swan-
son, sr., Pendleton.
two years brings with the
experience he gained this
year.”
The Bucks fi nished the
season 0-10 in IMC play, and
dropped their district playoff
game to Hood River for an
0-11 record.
“I really felt bad for our
seniors not being able to
get a win,” Dong said. “We
defi nitely got better as the
season went on. We lost to
Redmond by 30 the first
time, then the second time
it was by 16. We showed
improvement.”
ON THE SLATE
Thursday, July 1
Youth baseball
Spokane Tournament:
Pepsi Diamondjaxx
vs. Claremont Cardi-
nals, 1 p.m.; Pepsi Dia-
mondjaxx vs. West Val-
ley, 6 p.m.
Friday, July 2
Youth baseball
Spokane Tournament:
Pepsi Diamondjaxx vs.
Yakima Valley Peppers,
8 a.m.; Pepsi Diamond-
jaxx vs. Gonzaga Prep,
1 p.m.
Saturday, July 3
Youth baseball
Spokane Tournament:
Pepsi Diamondjaxx
vs. TBD
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EAST OREGONIAN • HERMISTON HERALD • BLUE MOUNTAIN EAGLE • WALLOWA COUNTY CHIEFTAIN
157 Events
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354 Auction Sales
AUCTION NOTICE!!!!
Estate Sale
Sunday, July 11th, 2021
Bidding starts at 10a.m
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