Polk County
Sports
QUICK HITS
Registration open
for eclipse disc golf
Polk County Itemizer-Observer • August 16, 2017 12A
Rough Stock Rodeo
DALLAS — Registration
is open for a disc golf tour-
nament at Dallas City Park
on Friday.
The 18-hole tournament
will run from 10 a.m. to 5
p.m.
Cost is $10, and the first
25 players receive a free gift
bag.
There will also be family
activities, including corn
hole, jenga and volleyball.
Concessions will be avail-
able.
Online registration is
available at www.dallasor-
rec.com.
For more information:
dallasorrec@gmail.com.
The Hell on
H o ov e s R o u g h
Stock Rodeo re-
turned to the Polk
County Fair on
T h u r s d a y. T h e
rodeo featured
bareback riding,
saddle bronc bar-
rel racing, bull rid-
ing and mutton
busting.
Results weren’t
available as of
press time.
Polk Pedalers to
hold eclipse ride
DALLAS — The Polk Ped-
alers Bicycle Club will meet
at Courtyard Coffee House,
156 SE Mill St., Dallas on
Monday at 7 a.m. The group
will go on a 30-mile ride
and stop in Independence
to view the eclipse.
Children must be accom-
panied by an adult.
Carpooling available. For
more information: 503-623-
6533.
WOU softball to
hold tryouts
LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer
Bill Peterson hangs on during a bull ride at the Rough Stock Rodeo on Thursday evening.
MONMOUTH — Western
Oregon’s softball program
will hold open tryouts Sept.
25 at 4:30 p.m.
Tryouts are limited to ath-
letes who already graduated
from high school.
Medical paperwork must
be turned in by Sept. 15 and
all other paperwork is due at
least six days prior to the try-
out to be eligible.
Forms are available on-
line at www.wouwolves
.com. Contact assistant
coach Mariah Jimenez at ji-
menzm@wou.edu if inter-
ested. Athletes must com-
municate with coaching
staff to be considered for
tryouts.
Cross Creek
men’s club results
DALLAS — Cross Creek’s
men’s club results for Aug.
7:
Low gross/low net
Gross: 1 (tie), Kevin
O’Brien-Wayne Weathers-
Steve Albin and Glen White-
Ed Johnson-Kevin Moen,
33.
Net: 1 (tie), Don Seth-Lee
Gamaney-Vern Smith and
Bob Bennett-Jason
Fahlman-Pat Farrell, 28; 3,
Wayne Baughman-Eldon
Rivers-Bill Hansen, 29.
LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer
LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer
From bull riding to barrel racing, the Rough Stock Rodeo provided a variety of thrills.
Orrin Ouska competes in bareback riding on Thursday.
Rolling down the river
Great Willamette River Raft Race attracts teams for relaxing, fun day on the water
By Lukas Eggen
The Itemizer-Observer
INDEPENDENCE —
Waves collided against the
shore.
Sailors held on for dear
life.
No, this wasn’t quite the
open seas. It was the Great
Willamette River Raft Race.
The annual event, which
took off from Riverview
Park in Independence on
Saturday morning, attract-
ed sailors on inflatable
rafts, homemade ships and
rowers looking for a work-
out.
—
Six years ago, Joel Robin-
son and a group of friends
were ready to tackle a new
challenge.
“It looked like something
fun to do,” Robinson said.
“We had floated the river
quite a bit and looked for-
ward to trying something
different.”
The group had canoed
down parts of the river be-
fore, but they decided to
build their own craft.
“That first year, we had a
three-person raft,” Robinson
said. “It was cross-shaped
and very rudimentary.”
They were prepared for
the fun — they weren’t pre-
pared for the length.
“We had canoed the river
in the past and taken about
two and a half hours,”
Robinson said. “The first
year we did this, it took us
about seven hours.”
See RIVER, Page 13A
Great Willamette River Raft Race
• The Great Willamette Raft Race began at Riverview Park in
Independence and traveled almost 12 miles to West Salem.
• The annual event featured hand-built boats to inflatables.
Different boats began at different times depending on esti-
mated speeds.
• Awards were given for different categories.
• Results were not available as of press time.
www.polkio.com
LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer
Crew members embark on the Great Willamette River Race on the Philip Rivers boat on Saturday morning.
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