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.”