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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (April 1, 2015)
WEDNESDAY April 1, 2015 GU warms up at Icebreaker Prospectors host Bulldogs this Saturday at noon By Angel Carpenter Blue Mountain Eagle JOHN DAY – Local baseball fans had no shortage of action to watch last week as seven teams converged on the Seventh Street Complex last week for the annual Les Schwab Tires Icebreaker Tournament. The Grant Union Prospectors hosted teams from Culver, Country Christian, Jo- seph, Oakland, Pilot Rock and Estacada in WKH0DUFKHYHQW Prospector head coach Brian Delaney was pleased with the turnout and the action. “The competition was pretty solid,” he said. Grant Union had a bye on Thursday, but came out with bats swinging Friday to defeat Country Christian 13-3 in the sixth inning. 7KH3URVSHFWRUVZHUH¿UVWWRJHWRQWKH board, with three runs in the third inning. While Country Christian tried to catch up, Grant Union went on a scoring frenzy in the sixth inning to seal the win. The Prospectors had eight runs in the inning, beating Country Christian with the 10-run rule. Grant Union’s success in the sixth came with RBI singles by Dillon Winters and See GU, Page B10 GU hosts meet for small schools next Tuesday By Angel Carpenter Blue Mountain Eagle The Eagle/Cheryl Hoefler Grant Union catcher Tyler Manitsas tags an Estacada player out at home plate Saturday in the fifth inning. LIFTING FOR SUCCESS Students at GU learn ‘weighty’ lessons By Angel Carpenter Blue Mountain Eagle JOHN DAY – Weights and conditioning is a class that can benefit anyone, says Grant Union teacher and ath- letic director Jason Miller. Students at Grant Union get a feel for the class early on, through Doug Sharp’s P.E. classes for grades 7-9. P.E. students in grades 7-8 have weightlifting two times a week throughout the year, and freshmen have the workouts four days a week in the third quarter. “We try to expose them to weightlifting,” Grant Union freshman Kelsey Sharp said. “They re- Morrison lifts a weighted bar alize you don’t have while sophomore Reitta Wyllie to be a great athlete spots her in their weights and to be successful at weightlifting.” conditioning class. He said the younger students are first intro- duced to the ultralight bars so they can practice perfect technique for safety. See WEIGHTS, Page B10 Eagle photos/Angel Carpenter Grant Union weights and conditioning teacher Jason Miller observes as junior Antonio Dancer lifts and Hayden Young, also a junior, spots. Special Olympians take on regional competition Team faces local police at April 16 fundraiser game By Angel Carpenter Blue Mountain Eagle CORVALLIS – The Grant County Special Olympics 5-on-5 basketball team won third place in its division at the March 21 regional competi- tion. The event was held at the Oregon State University cam- pus in Corvallis. The team, led by head coach David Gill, includes Charley Fronapel, Bill Pau- ley, Crystal Wimberley, Josiah Hoeffner, Katie Latham, Rod- ney Bronson, Jay Colson and Brian McKrola. The team also received the Sportsmanship Award at the event. Contributed photo/Gloria Stratford Winning third place at the regional basketball competition are Josiah Hoeffner (front, left), Crystal Wimberley, Charley Fronapel, Katie Latham (back, left), Bill Pauley, Jay Colson, Rodney Bronson and Brian McKrola. Gill said that receiving the award for sportsmanship meant more to him than the medals, noting that some of the 2015 COUNTY Grant Union Dayville/Monument for over 20 years, was chosen as the March Athlete of the Month on the Special Olym- pics Oregon website. SPORTS SCHEDULE Grant Union vs. Culver Grant Union @ La Grande John Day La Grande 12 p.m./2 p.m. 4 p.m. John Day Ontario John Day 1 p.m./3 p.m. 1 p.m. (MT) 4 p.m. Friday, April 3 Grant Union, Mon, Day, PC @ Don Walker Invitational Nyssa 1 p.m. Friday, April 3 Grant Union @ Pendleton Invite 9 a.m. Softball Long Creek Prairie City other teams also showed good sportsmanship. McKrola, who has partic- ipated in Special Olympics The Special Olympics bas- ketball team will mix it up with local law enforcement for their annual fundraiser game set for SP 7KXUVGD\$SULO at the Grant Union Junior-Se- nior High School gym. Admission is $3 each and $10 for families, and a dona- tion jar will be available as well as a bake sale. Audience members can get in on friendly competition with an individual skills contest at halftime in which participants earn points and the top three in the various divisions win a prize. A dessert auction is also planned between quarters. Business owners can add their business name to the pro- gram for $25. For more information, con- tact program co-coordinators Deronda Lallatin or Kathy Jo Gill at SueZQs thrift store at 541-575-0715. Baseball Saturday, April 4 Tuesday, April 7 Friday, April 3 Saturday, April 4 Tuesday, April 7 Athletes make tracks, on the road Grant Union vs. Elgin/Imbler Grant Union @ Ontario Grant Union vs. La Grande Track Golf Pendleton Grant County track teams hit the road for two recent invita- tionals, Grant Union heading to Prineville and Monument to Harp- er. Grant Union had some stand- out performances at the March 19 Breaking the Ice Meet in Prineville. “We took 18 athletes – eight women and 10 men,” said head coach Sonna Smith. “With six women scoring, we placed third to a 5A school and a 4A school.” Freshman Kori Pentzer is seat- ed in the top 10 in all size schools in triple jump and long jump. She’s leading 2A in hurdles and long jump, and is second to an Oakland senior in triple jump. At Prineville, she hit 35-05.00 LQWKHWULSOHIRU¿UVWSODFHDQG LQWKHORQJMXPSDOVRD¿UVW Sophomore Chelsie Kodesh is leading javelin in 2A with a throw of 107-3. Junior Samantha Brock is seed- ed third in 2A long jump, triple jump and hurdles. At the meet, she placed third in the triple jump at 32-11.00. Freshman Jozie Rude won the PHWHUDQGLVVHHGHG¿UVWLQWKH Wapiti league. Senior Marta Faulkner placed second in the 3,000 meter. Highlights for the boys includ- HG 1LFN 6SULQJHU SODFLQJ ¿IWK LQ high jump; Phillip Jaletzky, sixth in 300-meter hurdles; and Andrew Copenhaver, seventh in pole vault, reaching 10-0. “Both our men’s and women’s teams are young,” Smith said. “We expect them to steadily improve over the season. We have high hopes for district, which will be hosted at Grant Union this year.” The Monument team took four competitors to Harper’s Diana Thurmond Invite on March 20. Treiquella Osborne and Maya Thomas, both nursing minor leg injuries, skipped running and jumping events, opting for throw- ing contests. Osborne placed third in discus with a throw of 81-01 and Thomas placed 10th in shot put, hitting the 21-07.00 mark. “Hayden Schafer also compet- ed well, surpassing last year’s best marks in all his throwing events and showing tremendous growth,” said head coach Earl Pettit. “Dinorha Vidrio Landin is a nice addition to the team and she’s developing into a mid-distance runner – she has great speed and form, and is now focused upon building endurance,” Pettit added. “All said, I was pleased with WKHLU ¿UVW RXWLQJ DQG ZH ORRN to have a small team made up of competitive athletes,” he said. “I anticipate we will have six partic- ipants this year.” Coming up, the Grant County Small Schools Invitational starts at 4 p.m. Tuesday, April 7, in John Day. Grant Union will host teams from Dayville, Long Creek, Mon- ument, Prairie City, Burns, Burnt River, Crane, Ukiah and Mitch- ell-Spray.