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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 7, 2016)
Sports Blue Mountain Eagle SPORTS SCHEDULE Wednesday, Sept. 7 Prairie City volleyball @ Grant Union JV in John Day, 5 p.m., beginning with JV Friday, Sept. 9 Prairie City/Burnt River football @ Pine Eagle in Halfway, 1 p.m. Prairie City volleyball @ Pine Eagle in Halfway, 2 p.m., beginning with JV Grant Union football @ Heppner, 7 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 10 Grant Union volleyball @ Canby Tournament, 8 a.m. (location TBA) Grant Union, Monu- ment cross country @ Catherine Creek Meet near Union, 12:30 p.m. Monday, Sept. 12 Dayville/Monument football vs. Grant Union JV in Dayville, 4 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 13 Dayville/Monument vol- leyball @ Grant Union JV in John Day, 5 p.m., beginning with JV Cinnabar Mountain Playdays rodeo spurs on competition Year-end banquet set for Oct. 23 Blue Mountain Eagle By Angel Carpenter On the road last week, the Grant Union volleyball team picked up second place at Friday’s Heppner Invita- tional Tournament. In their fi ve matches, the Prospectors went 4-1, beat- ing Wallowa (25-6, 25-6), Weston-McEwen (26-24, 25-21), Enterprise (25-19, 25-10) and Heppner (25-15, 25-14) and taking a loss to Imbler (25-23, 18-25, 12- 15). “Imbler is one of the fa- vorites to do well at the state tournament this year, and it will be a tough battle each time we play them,” said Grant Union head coach Shae Speth. “It was nice to get a preseason look at them before league starts.” Grant Union played with energy in the fi rst set, and Speth said although they made costly errors for the loss, they feel good about Blue Mountain Eagle The Cinnabar Mountain Playdays rodeo season ended with an Aug. 20-21 double- header at the Grant County Fair- grounds in John Day. Didgette McCracken, who serves as one of the Playdays board of directors, said the ro- deo events require dedication from the participants, as well as their families. “It’s not just one of those things where you buy some ten- nis shoes and drop them off for practice,” she said. “The family has to be pretty committed.” She said the sponsors, volun- teers and families play a big role in the success of the program for the youth. “The Playdays have great families and support for the kids,” she said. “All three of those things make for a great organization. It’s a positive sum- mer activity for kids.” Youth ages 2-17 compete in several events, including pole bending, fi gure eight, dummy roping, fl ag race, barrel racing and goat tying. Ten-year-old Rowdy Israel of Dayville has participated in the Playdays since she was 6, and this year competed with her registered paint horse Peanut. “I liked the last rodeo, be- cause it was really fun,” she said. “I got to fi nish the season with some good runs.” Israel, who competes in the junior division, said her favorite event is barrel racing. “Your horse goes really fast, and it’s fun to compete in,” she Continued from Page A10 we’ve fi nished in quite a few years,” he said. Prairie City lost their quarter- fi nal match against Joseph, with scores of 11-25 and 18-25. The Panthers played for third place against Jordan Valley, TIGERS Continued from Page A10 Walker, with fi ve years ex- perience; and Dinorha Vidrio Landin, who is new to the sport. Schmadeka, who is in her second year leading the team, said their main team goal is having the seasoned players to guide the less experienced ones to help the team prepare for the next couple years. She sees several girls con- tributing as leaders. Hettinga, an outside hitter, was selected for an All-League honorable-mention last year in the High Desert League. Schmadeka said she expects Hettinga will contribute greatly to the team with her experience how they match up with Im- bler. The Prairie City/Burnt River football team compet- ed in their fi rst game of the season on Thursday, taking a 30-6 loss to Spray/Mitchell/ Wheeler County in Spray. Prairie City/Burnt River head coach Darrel McKrola said the fi rst half went well, and they trailed by only two points, 8-6. Then a couple of his key players, including one of his linemen, went down with injuries, opening up holes in their defense, McKrola said. “It was a good warm up for the season,” he added. “We were able to get all our guys in the game.” The Monument/Dayville volleyball team competed at Saturday’s Dufur Jamboree Match, where they picked up two wins. They toppled Lyle, Wash- ington, 25-11, and edged out Siletz Valley, 25-20. Contributed photo/Laura Hopper Tate Waddel competes in a track event with his mom, Simmie, and brother Jarrett helping him on leadline at the Aug. 21 Cinnabar Mountain Playdays rodeo. said. “You have to be really one on one with your horse, so you don’t knock a barrel over be- cause that’s 5 seconds added on your time.” Chloe Martin, 16, of Mt. Vernon competes with her horse Carlos in the senior division. She said the rodeos are com- petitive, and that spurs her on to ride faster. “It’s a lot of really good prac- tice to (help) if you want to com- pete in college,” she said. “As you’re learning, you’re getting faster and faster.” She said her most memora- ble moment was gathering with the girls who helped her learn goat tying for the fi rst time. “I thought it was incredible,” she said. “I loved the whole ex- perience.” The Cinnabar Mountain Playdays year-end banquet will be at 1 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 23, at the Mt. Vernon Community Center. Elliott has also compet- ed since middle school, and competed in summer 5K rac- es, including the Gold Rush Run in Canyon City and the Brothers Run in John Day, where he fi nished fi rst. “They add a lot of leader- ship for the team,” she said. “Trejan has taken the role of team captain.” Speth said he’s happy they have a full team for his senior year. “We’ve all had to run in- dividually in previous years,” he said. “We plan to fi nish strong and compete to the best of our abilities, even though we have some stiff competition.” The Burns-Idlewild Meet, held at a campground near Burns, is a favorite course for Speth, and he said that type of setting makes the sport en- joyable. The team will com- pete at that course on Oct. 15. “I like how you’re running through the forest,” he said. “It’s not on a track, but on dirt and rock.” The two other seniors this year, Reitta Wyllie and Gin- ni Frazier, are running cross country for the fi rst time, but both have distance running experience. “We’re a great group of runners, and we have high expectations for ourselves,” Wyllie said. She said she likes keeping fi t with running and several years ago placed fi rst in the Gold Rush Run 5K, in the youth division. Frazier ran distance races in track, previously. “I think we’re all pretty dedicated, and we all work hard and will do our best,” she said. Saturday was the team’s fi rst meet at the Runners Soul XC Fest in Hermiston, and they’ll see many of their district opponents at Friday’s 40th Annual Catherine Creek Scamper near Union. winning 2-1 with scores of: 28- 26, 20-25 and 15-11. In the tournament, Pan- ther junior Brianna Zweygardt served at 95 percent on 65 at- tempts, and senior MaKenzie Jones was at 93 percent on 27 serves. Of Cassie Hire’s 56 serves, 46 percent were aces. Coach Zweygardt said the team focused on communica- tion and aggressive play to the ball in practice last week. He said the seniors were in- strumental in their success at the tournament by keeping the team focused on their goals. “Our main focus this week in practice was communication and aggressive play to the ball,” he said. “The girls are working with communication and trust, so they can play aggressively to the ball with confi dence.” Senior MaKenzie Jones said the team played well together. “In the beginning, we commu- nicated really well and celebrated what needed to be celebrated, and made it really fun,” she said. The Joseph Eagles won the championship game with Adri- an fi nishing second. Other teams and leadership. “She is our strongest hitter and does a great job attacking the ball from the front and back rows,” she said. “She will con- tribute a lot this year in leader- ship, aggressiveness, passion for the game and a strong force all the way around the court.” Walker is taking the defen- sive specialist role again this year. “She is still working hard as libero and passing well,” the coach said. Schmadeka commented on a few more key players. “Faythe Schafer is work- ing hard as our main setter and working on jump serve,” she said. She expects Kyla Emerson to again be strong on offense. “She is working to improve her hitting this year and being one of our stronger hitters this year,” she said. Danielle Rhoda is doing well this season, she added, “learning offense and working at hitting.” Denali Twehues is stepping in as a setter, and Bailey Thom- as has shown improvement in passing skills, she said. “Bailey is a good leader, and she’s inspirational to every- body,” Schmadeka said. Last October, the Tigers beat the Prairie City Panthers in close sets at the 1A District Tournament, but were unable to advance to the state playoffs after taking losses to Crane and Jordan Valley. Schmadeka expects this year to be another tough battle. Continued from Page A10 TOURNEY A11 Grant County sports roundup By Angel Carpenter GU 3A/2A/1A Special District 5; Grant Union is 2A. The op- ponents include Union, which won fi rst last year, followed by Burns, Nyssa and Vale. “We are always inundat- ed,” Smith said. “Our league has lots of the top cross-coun- try runners in the state.” One quality of a success- ful cross-country runner is “tenacity — both mental and physical,” Smith said. “You have to be able to push through discomfort, and you see the most improve- ments,” she said. “We don’t compare ourselves to others, but our best last effort.” Smith knows what it takes, as she completed col- lege with a scholarship in cross country, on the road to becoming a teacher. Grant Union cross coun- try leaders include two run- ners on the boys team, senior Trejan Speth and sophomore Tanner Elliott. Speth has been running long distance races since he was in sixth grade. Wednesday, September 7, 2016 The Eagle/Angel Carpenter Grant Union Cross Country seniors include, from left, Reitta Wyllie, Trejan Speth and Ginni Frazier. The Eagle/Angel Carpenter Grant Union Prospector Zack Deiter (3) reaches for the ball as Weston-McEwen’s Brett Speed (23) moves in. PROS Continued from Page A10 Midway through the third quarter, Prospector Cameron Hallgarth picked off a Tiger- Scot pass on Weston-McEw- en’s third down as the Tiger- Scots neared the goal line. Another big Prospector play in the quarter came when Reimers scored on a 74-yard quarterback keeper, bringing it to 18-0. He scored again in the quarter, and he later took down Scott on a fourth-down sack. Near the end of the third, Grant Union was facing third down and 9, when Reimers connected with Cauy Weaver competing included Harper/ Huntington and Union. Earlier last week, the Pan- thers beat Mitchell/Spray/ Wheeler 3-0 with scores of 25- 12, 25-15 and 25-10. In the game, Brianna Zweygardt and Jones were 100 percent on serving. Brianna had six aces, Jones had fi ve and Cassie Hire had The Eagle/Angel Carpenter Monument/Dayville Tiger seniors, from left, are Dinorha Vidrio-Landin, Kendall Hettinga and Ravyn Walker. The Tigers will face High Desert League opponents Prai- rie City, Adrian, Crane, Jordan Valley, Burnt River, Harper/Hun- for a fi rst down close to the goal line. In the fourth, Grant Union scored on the fi rst play, and Prospector Cameron Hall- garth pushed through for the conversion points. Prospector lineman Dillon Maley, who had a sack in the second quarter, said the game was “excellent.” “We all played really hard and worked together,” he said. “I’m just excited for this team, to see how we do against Heppner next week.” Grant Union faces Hep- pner on the road Friday at 7 p.m. Miller said the Mustangs are always a tough opponent. “We’re going to keep working and see what we get,” he said. seven aces with just one miss. Prairie City will face Grant Union junior varsity on Wednes- day with the Panther junior var- sity playing fi rst at 5 p.m. and varsity following at about 6 p.m. On Friday, the Panthers are on the road to Halfway to face Pine Eagle with junior varsity play at 2 p.m., followed by var- sity at about 3 p.m. tington, Long Creek and Ukiah. Schmadeka said she expects Adrian, Crane and Prairie City to be their toughest competitors this season. The Tigers took in one league win to start the season after beat- ing Prairie City 2-1 at the Aug. 27 Grant Union Tournament in the consolation bracket with scores of 25-17, 13-25 and 15-9. They had a close loss to 2A Heppner, 25-21 and 26-24, in the consolation games. Earlier in the tournament, Monument/Dayville beat league opponent Jordan Valley 25-24 in a pool play game. “There are a lot of strong teams this year,” Schmadeka said. “It will be important to play strong and be in control and play our tempo.”
