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
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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.
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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
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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
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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
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Wapiti league.
Senior Marta Faulkner placed
second in the 3,000 meter.
Highlights for the boys includ-
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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
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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.