The Blue Mountain eagle., April 20, 2016, Image 11

Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, April 20, 2016
B1
WEDNESDAY
April 20, 2016
GU girls start league play with 3 wins, 1 loss
Lady Pros hosts Echo/
Stanfield on Friday
By Angel Carpenter
Blue Mountain Eagle
ELGIN — The Grant Union Lady Pros-
pectors started off league softball last week
with split wins in Enterprise on Friday and a
sweep in Elgin on Saturday.
Enterprise had a surprise for Grant Union
in the sixth inning for their 8-4 Game One win.
The teams were tied 1-1 in the fi rst and,
by the fi fth, found themselves tied again 4-4.
Then the Outlaws broke out with four runs in
the sixth for the win.
Cody Jo Madden pitched a complete
game, giving up nine hits and four walks.
The Outlaws gave up nine hits, one walk
and had one hit batter.
Grant Union’s Mariah Moulton, Whitney
McClellan and Janelle King each had two
hits.
“The fi rst Enterprise game, we had plen-
ty of hits, but we couldn’t string anything
together to produce the runs we needed,”
said Grant Union head coach DeAnna Nash.
“They were able to put hits together in the
sixth inning to pull ahead of us.”
The tables turned in Game Two.
A better game plan and Moulton’s pitch-
ing led to Grant Union’s 7-2 win, Nash said.
Moulton struck out three, gave up seven
hits and no walks. She also had three hits
from the plate, and Railey Namitz had two.
On Saturday, Grant Union’s offense was
on fi re.
See SOFTBALL, Page B2
EO Media Group/Scot Heisel
Grant Union’s Whitney McClellan beats out
a bunt to first, as Mariah Moulton races in to
score in the game against Enterprise.
GU track
and fi eld
team ready
to soar
North Fork
John Day
provides
early season
exercise
32-member team
includes several
underclassmen
By Tim Trainor
EO Media Group
By Angel Carpenter
Blue Mountain Eagle
JOHN DAY — Grant Union head track
and fi eld coach Sonna Smith is getting her
team on the mark for rest of the season.
The 2A-6 Wapiti League Districts are a
little more than three weeks away, and the
Prospector athletes hope to gain state-qual-
ifying results.
Smith, who’s coached the team for sev-
eral years, said the group of 32 includes
several underclassmen.
“They actually add a lot to the team,”
she said. “A lot of them are above where I
thought they would be at the beginning of
the season, for being younger.”
She added, “We’re lucky that most of
them have already participated in a varsity
sport, and that helps them realize the inten-
sity I expect.”
The team includes three seniors, Ken-
zie Wilson, Andrew Copenhaver and Sa-
mantha Brock. Each competed at state last
year.
See TRACK, Page B10
The Eagle/Angel Carpenter
Grant Union track and field seniors
are, from left, Samantha Brock,
Andrew Copenhaver and Kenzie
Wilson. Each competed at state
last year.
Contributed photo/LindseyWyllie.com
Monument High School junior GW Clark bulldogs at the Klamath Falls High
School Rodeo.
GW Clark on the high
school rodeo circuit
By Angel Carpenter
Blue Mountain Eagle
LONG CREEK —
Long Creek’s GW Clark is
getting back into the rodeo
groove.
The Monument High
School junior competed
at the April 1-3 Klamath
Falls High School Rodeo,
riding with the Harney
County High School Ro-
deo Club.
Clark placed fi fth in tie-
down roping at the event.
“It was the fi rst rodeo
for me this year,” he said.
“I got a new horse for bull-
dogging, so it was a good
ice breaker.”
Clark, who competes
in calf roping, team roping
and steer wrestling, will
next travel to the April 22-
24 Hermiston High School
Rodeo.
If your summer goal is a week-long back-
pack in the Eagle Caps or the Elkhorns, you
may be looking for early season opportunities
to stretch your legs and your mileage without
having to posthole your way through high
country snow.
The North Fork John Day River Trail of-
fers an alternative.
Warm, scenic and mostly fl at, the 23-mile
trail makes a good choice for a long spring
day hike or an overnight backpack trip.
The trail begins with about two miles of
easy walking along an old road that skirts
alongside the North Fork John Day. It then
diverges at a large, open camping spot where
Big Creek and its trail pours into the John Day
fork. This is where the wilderness area begins,
and only horses and hikers can continue along
an old mining road route that follows the river.
It becomes more narrow and more scenic as it
gets more remote.
The trail is classic Eastern Oregon. Hot
and dusty midday. Lots of ponderosa and
lodgepole pines mixed with Douglas fi r and
larch. Willows fi ll the river bottoms. You can
catch glimpses of plenty of mule deer rear
ends, bounding away into the surrounding
hills. The water, where relatively calm, is
covered with mergansers. Canadian geese
have coupled off and built their nests on riv-
er islands.
See TRAIL, Page B10
How to get there
Contributed photo/LindseyWyllie.com
Monument high school junior GW Clark competes
in the tie-down roping event at the April 1-3 Klamath
High School Rodeo.
Sony Television in high
definition or the NEW
Ultra 4K resolution
(4 times the resolution
of regular HDTV)
For Grant County residents, the trail
is best accessed by heading north on
Highway 395 to the Umatilla County
line. Turn east when you hit the North
Fork John Day River and make your way
via Forest Road 55 to Forest Road 5506.
It’s easy navigating — just keep the river
alongside your passenger door. Follow
that road to the “Road Closed” sign just
past Oriental Campground.
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or with streaming
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OPEN Tuesday thru Saturday 11am to 9pm • 541-575-1387 • 417 W. Main • John Day
03741