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