Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (May 4, 2016)
WEDNESDAY May 4, 2016 GU girls crush Umatilla with 52 runs in two games Lady Pros on road to Vale Friday By Angel Carpenter Blue Mountain Eagle The Eagle/Angel Carpenter Monument and Long Creek boys race in the 100-meter dash at the Prairie City Invitational, including, from left, Hayden Schafer (1st), Kirill Borisov (close 2nd), Jess Hoodenpyl (back), Aaron Yeung (3rd) and Philipp Dessau. Prairie City Panthers host inaugural meet on new track PC hosts High Desert League Meet on May 5 By Angel Carpenter See SOFTBALL, Page B10 Blue Mountain Eagle PRAIRIE CITY — Orange and black fl ags fl ew as the Prairie City Panther track and fi eld team held the April 30 Invitational on their brand new track. Grant Union girls won with 470 points, with Monument fi n- ishing second with 200, Ione third with 150 and Prairie City with 92. For the boys, Ione won with 224, Grant Union placed second with 206, then Long Creek with 174, Monument with 130 and Prairie City with 116. Prairie City athletic director Billy Colson said he be- lieves it’s been 20 years since the school held their last home meet. “I know it is exciting for those that helped because they have put a lot of effort into getting the facil- ity to this stage,” he said. “There are a lot of community members that put forth a lot of effort, time and money over the past 10 years to get to this point. Through lo- cal partnerships as well as some grants we were able to fi nish the project so that all those that con- tributed over the years could fi nal- ly see a fi nished product.” The track surface work was complete last October, and the fi nal touches, including record- The Eagle/Angel Carpenter The Eagle/Angel Carpenter Contributed photo/Nancy Hitz Prairie City’s Teri Cobb winds up for a discus throw at the invitational. ing equipment, were fi nalized last month. If anyone missed last week’s event, Prairie City will host their second event, the High Desert League Meet, on Thursday this week. Teams invited include: Adrian, Crane, Dayville, Harper, Hunting- ton, Jordan Valley, Long Creek, Monument, Prairie City and Uki- ah. “We would love to have the Grant Union’s Tanner Elliott, front, Trejan Speth and Bo Olson with Jess Hoodenpyl (back) race in the 800 at the Prairie City Invitational. community there,” he said. Grant County results, top three Boys 100 Hayden Schafer, fi rst, Monument Kirill Borisov, second, Long Creek Aaron Yeung, third, Long Creek 200 Braden Spencer, fi rst, Grant Union 400 Aaron Yeung, fi rst, Long Creek 800 Tanner Elliott, fi rst, Grant Union Jess Hoodenpyl, second, Long Creek Trejan Speth, third, Grant Union 1,500 Tanner Elliott, fi rst, Grant Union 3,000 Jess Hoodenpyl, third, Monument 110 hurdles Garrett Hitz, fi rst, Prairie City Fernando Rodriguez, second, Long Creek 300 hurdles Garrett Hitz, fi rst, Prairie City 4x100 relay Philipp Dessau, Aaron Yeun, Adam Rajabe- liev, Kirill Borisov, fi rst, Long Creek Shot put See TRACK, Page B10 Monument track and fi eld aims for strong season fi nish Athletes say they enjoy their close-knit team By Angel Carpenter Blue Mountain Eagle MONUMENT — The Monu- ment track and fi eld team has the fi nish line in sight, hoping to reach their goals while enjoying the ride. Darrin Dailey, Monument’s new head coach, said he’s enjoyed working with the team this year. “All the returning athletes and all the incoming freshmen were ready to compete from day one,” he said. He said the returning athletes, as well as newcomers to the sport, are equally coachable. “It didn’t take long to fi nd ev- eryone’s strengths,” he said. “They have their favorite events, yet ev- eryone is also willing to step outside their comfort zone if team goals re- quire it. They really do function as a JOHN DAY — The Lady Prospector softball team made it look easy Friday, blasting the Umatilla Vikings 25-0 and 27-1 at the Seventh Street Complex. “Our kids can see that their dedication pays off,” said head coach DeAnna Nash. “Believe it or not, the fi rst year we played (2009), we had a score like that — that’s the difference in the development of the program.” Mariah Moulton pitched the fi rst three innings of Game One with three strikeouts and one walk, giving up one hit. Cody Jo Madden entered the circle for the last two innings, with four strikeouts, also giving up only a single hit. Grant Union let loose in the third with nine runs. The bases were loaded and reloaded in the fourth with 10 runs. Brianna Zweygardt hit a home run in the inning to bring the score to 25-0. Eleven Prospectors were in on the hit- ting, with Janelle King, Moulton and Zweygardt getting two hits apiece. In Game Two, Zweygardt switched out of the catcher position to pitch the fi rst three innings with fi ve strikeouts and no walks. Hailey Wright fi lled in as catcher. Macy Strong relieved Zweygardt in the last two innings. She had three strikeouts and gave up two hits and one run. The Eagle/Angel Carpenter Graduating this year, from the Monument track team, are Jess Hoodenpyl (left), Tamara Homan, Maya Thomas and Molly Hoodenpyl. team, which track and fi eld doesn’t automatically lend itself to.” He said the entire team is mak- ing progress with three-quarters of the athletes in the top 10 in district in one or more events. “Our runners and jumpers have a good shot this year,” he said. “Our throwers are making gains. It’s a tough fi eld this year, but noth- ing is certain until districts.” Dailey was an assistant coach for the team last year, and this season he has help from several assistants who are experts in their respective events. Jeff Schafer coaches discus, shot put and javelin; Dailey and Earl Pettit coach sprints, hurdles, relays and high jump events, with Pettit also helping the long jump and triple jump athletes; and Chuck Thomas assists the mid-distance and long distance athletes. There are 11 athletes on this year’s varsity team, including four who will graduate. Next year’s team could break 15 with the possible addition of fi ve to seven girls and one boy moving up from the middle school team, coached by Treila Osborne. The three seniors and one ju- nior graduating this year are Jess Hoodenpyl (junior), Tamara Ho- man, Maya Thomas and Molly Hoodenpyl. See MONUMENT, Page B10 Grant Union Prospector Natalie Stearns makes a hit against Umatilla in last Friday’s game at the Seventh Street Complex in John Day. Grant Union falls in three losses to Burns Prospector boys travel to Athena on Friday By Angel Carpenter Blue Mountain Eagle BURNS — Grant Union suffered two devastating losses to the Burns Hilanders Friday, leaving the Prospectors in a tough spot. Burns won Game One 5-1 and Game Two 10-1, and now Grant Union must win their remaining games to reach the postseason. “Ultimately, we’ve got to win out for us to have a shot at district,” said head coach Brian Delaney. “We’ve got to win six in a row. The boys don’t have room for errors.” Prospector Hayden Young pitched Game One and Zack Deiter, Game Two. Delaney said both pitched well. “Hayden had a couple walks that hurt him, but the thing that hurt him the most was the lack of run support,” Delaney said. Both teams had fi ve hits in Game One. Burns scored three in the fi rst inning and added another run in the fi fth and sixth. Grant Union’s sole run came in the third inning off Young’s RBI double. The Prospectors tied Burns 1-1 in the fourth in Game Two. Then the Hilanders came back with two in the fi fth and seven in the sixth. Prospector Brady Burch went 2-3 at the plate and scored for Grant Union in the fourth on an error. See BASEBALL, Page B2