B S PORTS Section B Wednesday, JUNE 14, 2017 South Lane County Sports and Recreation Contact Sports, 942-3325 or e-mail sports@cgsentinel.com Oregon women grab Triple Crown in nail biting fashion EUGENE – Coming into the fi nal day of the NCAA Track and Field Champi- onship, the Oregon women were supposed to have a stress-free and com- fortable route to the title. While the team ended up victorious-- winning the team title became the fi rst women’s NCAA team to ever win the Triple Crown consisting of a championship in cross-country and both indoor and outdoor track and fi eld in the same academic year-- it was nei- ther stress-free nor comfortable. “I would have rather had it put away before we even got here,” joked head coach Robert Johnson. “Coach Powell said we’re getting good at this By Zach Silva For The Sentinel winning by one point, harkening all the way back to cross-country.” Oregon had 14 entries on the fi nal day and as- suming everything went according to the form chart, the team was set to cruise to victory. It wasn’t that simple. “The big shock and the big surprise where everything got tainted didn’t start until after the 200,” said Johnson. In the 200, Oregon’s Ariana Washington and Deajah Stevens were looking to fi nish fi rst and second. With about 20 meters to go Stevens was in fi rst place but suddenly tripped and fell onto the ground. Washington fi nished in second behind Florida’s Kyra Jefferson. “I saw [Stevens] fall and my very fi rst instinct was to turn around and go get her but I had to fi nish my own race fi rst,” said Washington. After Washington fi nished, she did go back to hep her up which then caused Stevens to be disqualifi ed from the race. Because of this race, Oregon’s victory was no longer a guarantee. Their main competition, Uni- versity of Georgia, was having their way with the jumps. The Bulldogs fi nished in fi rst and second in both high jump and long jump and also had a fi rst place fi nish in triple jump. This set up for an all-important 4x400 fi nal. Georgia did not have a team in the race but had 62.2 points which meant the only way that the Ducks could beat them was with a fi rst place fi n- ish. And that’s just what the Ducks did. After the fi rst leg Oregon’s Makenzie Dunmore had the team in second as she handed the baton to Stevens. Stevens stayed in it with USC and got the baton to Elexis Guster in fi rst. USC battled back and when Oregon’s Raevyn Rogers, who earlier in the day had won the 800, received the baton she was locked into a battle for fi rst. “I really had to stay calm and stay composed and really just run my race and focus on myself,” said Rogers. “My legs in the last 50 meters were all over the place but whatever I had to do, I had to get to the fi nish line.“ Kendall Ellis of USC had surged ahead of Rog- Please see CROWN PG B2 A THLETE OF THE W EEK SARA WITTY Congratulations to senior Sara Witty. Witty is a four-year letter winner and state qualifi er along with her horse "Rocket." During her senior year with OHSET, she was District Champion in Keyhole, Second Place in District in Figure 8, First Place District in Drill, Third Place in District in Canadian Flags and Second Place in District Team Penning. She also competes with Rocket in gaming shows including BAM Gaming Series, Al Barber Memorial Gaming Series sponsored by the Cottage Grove Rodeo and the Saddle Up Gaming Series. In the 2016 -2017 years, she has won the A Division 14-18 in the BAM Series in Eugene three times. She plans to continue with Rocket at OSU as part of the universi- ty's drill team. Congratulations Sara! Wild West Modifi ed Shootout Set For 2017 Campaign By Ben Deatherage For TheSentinel If you’re looking for the best IMCA Modifi ed drivers in the Pacifi c Northwest and abroad then look no further than the Wild West Modifi ed Shootout from June 23rd to July 1st. Sev- en races will be conducted in eight nights at some of the best fi ve race tracks in the country. The tour will fi nish things out with a massive three-day extravaganza at Lebanon, Ore- gon’s Willamette Speedway. Last year would witness utter dominance by Kellen Chad- wick. The Oakley, California native would pick up four of the six shows while on his way to the Wild West Modi- fi ed Shootout title in his fi rst ever time participating in the speedweek. 2017 should be an exciting year for the Wild West Mod- ifi ed Shootout as it is quickly becoming one of the most anticipated and talked about racing dates in the land. Below you will fi nd out all of the information that you will need whether you plan on travelling for just a single race or all seven of them. If you are com- petitor and have any questions at all feel free to contact Series Director Bob Valencia at (360)- 470-6113. 2017 IMCA Wild West Mod- ifi ed Shootout Schedule Friday, June 23rd-Siskiy- ou Motor Speedway-Yreka, California Saturday, June 24th-Southern Oregon Speedway-White City, Oregon Sunday, June 25th-Cottage Grove Speedway-Cottage Grove, Oregon Monday, June 26th-Cottage Grove Speedway-Cottage Grove, Oregon Tuesday, June 27th-Night Off/Travel Day Wednesday, June 28th- Sun- set Speedway Park-Banks, Oregon Thursday, June 29th- Wil- lamette Speedway-Lebanon, Oregon Friday, June 30th- Willamette Speedway-Lebanon, Oregon Saturday, July 1st- Willa- mette Speedway-Lebanon, Oregon Former IMCA Wild West Modifi ed Shootout Champions 2011- Brian Poppa 2012- Jesse Williamson 2013- Jesse Williamson 2014- Alex Stanford 2015- Jesse Williamson 2016- Kellen Chadwick All-Time IMCA Wild West Modifi ed Shootout Win List Jesse Williamson- 8 Alex Stanford- 6 Kellen Chadwick- 4 Brian Poppa Travis Peery- 2 Ken Schrader Mark Wauge Mark Carrell- 1 Ryan Gaylord Braedon Hand Scott Lenz Brad Martin Anthony Restad Nick Trenchard Collen Winebarger JUNE 16TH IS KAGE KARTS AND FREE GENERAL ADMISSION JUNE 17TH IS FATHER’S NIGHT AT THE RACES Dads that bring their kids will be Free - Wingless Sprints, Late Models, Street Stocks, Quality RV Hornets