B2
SPORTS
East Oregonian
Hurdles:
STATE TRACK
COMPETITORS
Turkey:
Continued from Page B1
Hayward Field, Eugene
Continued from Page B1
podium. Historic Hayward
Field is pretty special. They
talk about Hayward magic
for a reason, You can feel it
when you step out there. I ran
at Hayward. It was incredible.
You step on the track and feel
like good things will happen.
We are mentally preparing
them that the moment is not
too big for them, they earned
the right to be there.”
Oja ranks fifth on the
school leaderboard in the 300
hurdles at 39.95. Maher has
the school record at 38.75.
In the 110s, Oja ranks
eighth. Kelly Simpson holds
the record at 14.46, set in
1999. Maher is second at
14.74.
“There are three guys at 15
seconds, and Andy’s best is
15.07,” Bradley said. “There
are four guys who have run
sub-15. We have been waiting
for the sub-15. A good clean
race and I think we will see
14.8 out of him. That will be
fun to watch.”
Relay time
Oja will have a busy
schedule at state with the
hurdles and two relays.
Oja ran the third leg on
the winning 4x100 team at
the IMC district meet. He
ran with Gabe Browning,
Brock Mackey and Thaiden
Cannin, turning in a time of
43.60, which ranks them third
heading into state.
Sam Jennings typically
runs the anchor leg, but was
swapped out at the last minute
because of a leg issue. As the
top-ranked javelin thrower in
the state, the Bucks want to
make sure he is 100% for the
state meet.
“I think we have a pretty
good shot at winning it,”
Bradley said. “We had to
do a last minute substitution
and throw Cannin in to take
Sam’s spot. They went for
it. Thaiden ran that anchor
leg like a wolverine. We are
fortunate to have a good
stable of athletes. Any combi-
nation of the fi ve athletes will
do a good job.”
The 4x400 is a whole other
story. Oja is not as fond of the
longer race, but he runs it for
the good of the team.
“I defi nitely like the 4x100
better than the 4x400,” he
said. “No one thinks the
4x400 is a fun race, and it’s
right after the 300 hurdles. It
adds another obstacle.”
The Bucks were second at
district in the 4x400 behind
Ridgeview. Their time of
3:31.05 is their best of the
season, but ranks seventh
among the 13 teams at state.
Running with Oja were Trey
Boston, James Thatcher and
Cannin.
The way Oja sees it, if the
Bucks perform like they are
capable, a team trophy could
be in their hands on the way
home.
“We have quite the team
this year,” he said. “We have
a decent shot at doing some-
thing at state. It would be
awesome to win that (team
title).”
Bradley agrees.
“These guys have been
getting better and better all
season long,” he said. “That
has been a diff erence maker
for us. Guys have been step-
ping up.”
Family ties
Not only was George Oja
a runner, but he was a heck of
a basketball player in his day.
A 1961 graduate of Asto-
ria High school, he played
basketball and ran track for
the Fishermen. Nicknamed
‘Jumpin George,’ he earned
All-Metro honors his junior
and senior years.
He attended Pacif ic
University, where he played
basketball and ran track. A
three-year letter winner on
the track, he once held the
school record in the mile at
4:20.
In the mid-1970s, he won
the Nike Marathon in Eugene,
and in 1983, he was ranked
18th in the United States in
the marathon.
“He is kind of the family
legend,” said Andy, who
also played basketball for
the Bucks. “He was more of
a marathoner than anything.
For me, 400 meters is about
the max I will do.”
The Finnish family genes
go deeper than athletics.
1A GIRLS AND BOYS
Ellery Flerchinger, Griswold
(discus); Ione boys 4x100
relay (Thomas Rudolf, Gary
Walls, Martin Medina, Cedrick
Dayandante); Lewkus Burright,
Ione (discus).
2A BOYS
Theo White, Weston-McE-
wen (200); Isaiah Lemmon,
Stanfi eld/Echo (400); Trevor
Nichols, Heppner (800, 1500);
Alex McIntyre, Weston-McE-
wen (800, 3000); Hobbs
Hurty, Stanfi eld/Echo (800,
1500); Joe Sherman, Heppner
(800, HJ); Jagjot Singh, Stan-
fi eld/Echo (3000); Skylar Jef-
fers, Pilot Rock (110H, 300H);
Weston-McEwen 4x100 relay
(Reece Ball, Theo White, Col-
son Hall, Cameron Reich);
Weston-McEwen 4x400 relay
(Aiden Wolf, Alex McIntyre,
Cameron Reich, Theo White);
Heppner 4x400 relay (Jacob
Finch, Ed Ellsworth, Joe Sher-
man, Trevor Nichols); Anthony
Keeney, Stanfi eld/Echo (shot
put, discus); Carter Burnette,
Stanfi eld/Echo (discus); Conor
Brosnan, Heppner (discus);
Caleb Sprenger, Weston-McE-
wen (javelin, HJ); Cameron
Reich, Weston-McEwen (LJ);
Anthony Nix, Weston-McE-
wen (TJ).
2A GIRLS
Lily Lindsey, Weston-McE-
wen (100, 200, HJ); Hallee His-
ler, Heppner (200, 400); Kelsey
Graham, Weston-McEwen
(400); Hannah Finch, Heppner
(800, TJ); Jacque Kerns, Stan-
fi eld/Echo (800, HJ); Irelynn
Kollman, Heppner (800, 1500);
Arianna Worden, Heppner
(1500); Saige Jensen, Heppner
(3000); McKenna Bray, Pilot
Rock (100H, HJ); Weston-McE-
wen 4x100 relay (Charli King,
Kelsey Graham, Rose White,
Lily Lindsey); Pilot Rock 4x100
relay (Aiva Ellis, Kyella Picard,
Paige Moffi t, Mersayus Hart);
Heppner 4x400 relay (Ari-
anna Worden, Irelynn Kollman,
Halle Hisler, Hannah Finch);
Weston-McEwen 4x400 relay
(Charli King, Rose White, Brynn
Brownie, Kelsey Graham);
Emily Lambert, Pilot Rock
(shot put, discus); Kyella Picard,
Pilot Rock (shot put, javelin);
Charli King, Weston-McEwen
(PV); Emily Hancock, Stanfi eld/
Echo (LJ); Charlei Harwood,
Stanfi eld/Echo (TJ).
3A BOYS AND GIRLS
Pedro Chavez, Riverside (200,
400, HJ); Diego Magana, Riv-
erside (400); Luis Campos,
Umatilla (discus); Jozen Byers,
Irrigon (PV); Julie Magana,
Riverside (100, 300H); Taylor
Durfey, Umatilla (shot put, dis-
cus, javelin); Crystal Sanchez,
Riverside (LJ).
4A BOYS AND GIRLS
Johnny Koklich, McLough-
lin (100, 200); David Hernan-
dez, McLoughlin (800); Shaq
Badillo, McLoughlin (shot put,
discus); Luis Wolf, McLough-
lin (HJ, LJ); Michael Doherty,
McLoughlin (LJ, TJ); Kadey
Brown, McLoughlin (shot put,
discus); Star Badillo, McLough-
lin (discus); Madi Perkins
(javelin).
5A Boys
Brock Mackey, Pendleton (100,
200); Trey Boston, Pendleton
(400); James Thatcher, Pend-
leton (800); Andy Oja, Pend-
leton (110H, 300); Drew Rey-
burn, Pendleton (110H, 300H,
HJ); Thaiden Cannin, Pendle-
ton (300H); Pendleton 4x100
relay (Gabe Browning, Brock
Mackey, Andy Oja, Thaiden
Cannin); Pendleton 4x400
relay (Trey Boston, James
Thatcher, Andy Oja, Thaiden
Cannin); Nathan Neveau,
Pendleton (shot put, discus);
Sam Jennings, Pendleton (jav-
elin); Nolan Mead, Pendleton
(HJ); Andrew Williams, Pendle-
ton (PV); Ben Jennings, Pend-
leton (TJ).
5A GIRLS
Kelsey Lovercheck, Pendleton
(200, PV); Muriel Hoisington,
Pendleton (400); Reilly Lover-
check, Pendleton (100H, 300H,
LJ, TJ); Pendleton 4x100 relay
(Kelsey Lovercheck, Grace Pit-
ner, Hadley Brown, Muriel
Hoisington); Addison Ken-
nedy, Pendleton (shot put);
Chloe Gray, Pendleton (shot
put); Jamie Gau, Pendleton
(HJ); Shaelynn Silva, Pendle-
ton (PV).
George Oja taught anatomy
and physiology at Linfield
University, and coached
cross-country and track.
He retired from coaching in
1993, and from teaching in
2003.
Andy’s parents, Eric and
Emilee are both math teach-
ers — Eric at the high school,
and Emilee at the middle
school.
Andy applied to, and was
accepted at, MIT, Princeton,
Brown and Columbia. He
visited them all, and chose
Princeton, where he will
study mechanical aerospace
engineering.
He has no immediate
plans to join the track team,
but said he might try to walk
on once he gets a handle on
his schoolwork.
The Blue Mountain
foothills provide cover,
shade and nightly roosting
trees while allowing safe
access to the grain fi elds
and grassy slopes along
brushy creek bottoms.
Spotting a fl ock can be
easy in the mornings and
afternoons. Rio often stick
to routine preferred covers
within a home range that
averages between 370
and 1,360 acres, accord-
ing to the National Wild
Turkey Federation, and
learning a fl ock’s daily
movement and where-
abouts makes the right
time and place two easy
ingredients for success.
Just past fi ve in the
evening, a passel of toms
and hens erupted in discor-
dant gobbles and yelps up
the canyon ahead. Like
clockwork, the birds were
stirring for their evening
routine. Timber concealed
them, so I kept watch
over the open ridgelines.
Fire had swept through
about fi ve years prior,
thinning the timber and
leaving open slopes with
biscuitroot in full bloom
and blackberry thickets
leafi ng out in the draws.
A gray hen decoy stood
off to my right. Over my
left shoulder, I spied a
red head pop up above
the ridgeline, hundreds
of yards distant. It was a
lone tom and gut instinct
whispered that I would
come to know this bird well
before the evening ended.
In the span of about 10
minutes, the tom worked
his way down to a logging
road that followed the
canyon bottom. It was then
that I decided to strike up
a conversation. A series
of questionable, high-
pitched yelps drifted from
my box call, which I had
rigged to work in a pinch
after busting a key compo-
nent. The calls sent the
cadre of love-sick gobblers
into panic mode but the
tom I had spotted fi rst
simply kept quiet, fl ipped
a U-turn, and started in
my direction. Wow, “Quiet
Tom” is actually coming, I
thought, nearly out loud.
The logging road
suddenly became a turkey
lek. Seven toms spewed
from the timber onto the
road, puff ed up into full
strut, sidled up to the
ladies, and gobbled at every
call. Hens began fi ling by
and an old girl piped up
with a unique rough voice
like playing a güiro. The
fl ock soon started my way,
but “Quiet Tom” was ahead
of them all. He had skirted
the masses, popped out
on the road below them,
and spied my decoy.
Saturday, May 21, 2022
Brad Trumbo/Contributed Photo
An exquisite Rio tom heads toward the decoy.
Brad Trumbo/Contributed Photo
Every last detail of a wild
turkey is interesting and
beautiful. This bird has
modest spurs but a scar on
his leg and intricately-laid
feather patterns.
Brad Trumbo/Contributed Photo
The rich and varied colors of the Rio Grande wild turkey are
worthy of viewing from every angle.
His black, rope-like
beard bounced against
his chest as he closed the
distance. Preparing for
action, I shifted slightly,
disengaged the safety on
my black Stevens 12-gauge
and steadied the bead
around the decoy. The
brush pile I sat behind
blocked me entirely from
the end of the road. The
only place a bird could get
an eye on me was along-
side the decoy, and by
then it would be too late.
“Quiet Tom” reached
40 yards and pecked a
few small gravels before
committing to the decoy. A
well-timed kissing sound
caused him to stretch
his neck out in curios-
ity. An eye-blink later, I
stood to retrieve my fi rst
turkey of the year and gave
thanks for the blessing of
a stunning young tom.
What appeared to be
jet-black body feathers
shone marvelous emer-
ald, ruby, and bronze when
rolled in the orange glow of
the evening sun. His beard
was twice the circumfer-
ence and immaculately
full compared to the other
toms I had been watching.
His spurs were short, only
a half-inch or so, but as
big around as a dime. His
tail fan and rump feath-
ers were fl awless, possibly
because he was a younger
bird who avoided tussles
with the older toms.
“I’m going to pretend
that bird came to my call-
ing,” I mentioned to my
buddy Dean, who had
fi lmed the hunt, knowing
that the screeching from
the box call would likely
have cost me that bird had
it been later in the season.
Had I not called at all, it’s
a safe bet that his evening
routine would have brought
him to me regardless.
I had watched this
fl ock from the point of a
lower ridge for two days
and knew where and how
they moved. The fl ock was
roosting and sheltering in
the canyon conifers and
traveling the logging road
morning, noon, and night.
Thirteen toms were visi-
ble from my vantage and
the seven that called that
canyon home would take
turns strutting in pairs in
the opening at the end of
the logging road. I set my
hen decoy at the mouth
of the road and slipped in
behind the brush pile 30
yards adjacent while the
birds loafed in the timber.
It was a slam dunk.
Whether you are new
to the game of gobblers or
you have mastered sweet-
talking the wisest old toms,
scouting and patterning
Rios can be an ace in the
hole for bagging spring
long-beards in the Blues.
———
Brad Trumbo is a fish
and wildlife biologist and
outdoor writer in Waits-
burg, Washington. For tips
and tales of outdoor pursuits
and conservation, visit
www.bradtrumbo.com.
Golf:
Continued from Page B1
City Market will be provid-
ing catering for the junior
championship.
In addition to success on
the course, last year’s tour-
nament served as a boon
for businesses and lodging
in Union County. Hotels
in Union and La Grande
were booked full, hosting
the golfers, their families
and offi cials traveling to the
Grande Ronde Valley for the
event. According to Londin,
The Lodge at Hot Lake
Springs and the Historic
Union Hotel have already
booked a signifi cant amount
of guests for this year’s tour-
nament.
T he 2022 Ea st e r n
Oregon Junior Champion-
ship begins at 8 a.m. May 21,
with groups of three teeing
off every 10 minutes.
Davis Carbaugh/The Observer, File
Brody Grieb attempts a putt July 1, 2021, on the sixth hole at the 91st Bob Norquist Oregon
Junior Amateur tournament at Buff alo Peak Golf Course in Union. The tournament returns
to the course Saturday and Sunday, May 21 and 22, 2022.
“It’s a really good thing
to have a lot of people
coming from the Port-
land area and from across
the state,” Londin said.
“It’s great advertising for
everything our county has
to off er and for our great
golf course.”
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