WEDNESDAY
March 15, 2017
Experienced softball team sets
sights for league championship
Home opener
against Lakeview
set for Saturday
By Angel Carpenter
Blue Mountain Eagle
On the day of the fi rst Grant
Union/Dayville/Prairie City soft-
ball practice, head coach DeAn-
na Nash, a Grant Union science
teacher, said several students she
passed in the halls expressed their
excitement.
“They couldn’t wait to go to
practice,” Nash said. “I heard from
about 10 kids — and that was at
school on a Friday.”
The Prospector team is kicking
off the season with 23 players for
the junior varsity and varsity teams.
“We have some returning kids,”
the coach said. “Ravyn (Walker) at
short stop, all the pitchers are back,
Bri (Zweygardt) catching and Hai-
lie Wright catching, too.”
Other returning starters are
Mariah Moulton, Cody Jo Mad-
den, Natalie Stearns and Whitney
McClellan.
See SOFTBALL, Page B8
Softball team schedule
Friday, March 17 @ Union/Cove in La Grande at 12 p.m.
Friday, March 17 @ Union/Cove in La Grande at 12 p.m. (1)
Saturday, March 18 vs. Lakeview at 12 p.m. (2)
Friday, March 24 @ Culver at 2 p.m. (2)
Tuesday, March 28 @ Riverside Invitational at 11 a.m. (2)
Wednesday, March 29 @ Riverside Invitation at 1 p.m. (2)
Friday, April 7 @ Heppner at 12 p.m. (2)
Friday, April 14 vs. Nyssa at 1 p.m. (2) (MT)
Saturday, April 15 vs. Echo/Stanfi eld at 1 p.m. (2)
Friday, April 21 @ Vale at 1 p.m. (2) (MT)
Friday, April 28 @ Burns at 1 p.m. (2)
Friday, May 5 vs. Elgin/Imbler at 1 p.m. (2)
Friday May 12 @ Enterprise/Joseph/Wallowa in Enterprise at 1 p.m. (2)
WEdnesday, May 17, District Playoff, TBD
Thursday, May 25, playoff fi rst round, TBD
Friday, May 26, playoff quarterfi nal round, TBD
Tuesday, May 30, playoff semifi nal round, TBD
Friday, June 2, playoff fi nal round, TBD
The Eagle/Angel Carpenter
Grant Union/Dayville/Prairie City softball seniors are ready
for the season, including Dauna Bishop, Ravyn Walker,
Natalie Stearns, Hailey Carter, Jessica Carter and Myckee
Coalwell.
The Eagle/Angel Carpenter
Grant Union golfer Emily Springer takes a practice
swing, and Elijah Humbird, back right, takes aim during
the team’s Friday practice.
Grant Union fi elds
full golf team
Fifteen athletes
‘eager to learn’
By Angel Carpenter
Blue Mountain Eagle
Grant Union head golf
coach Ron Lundbom is en-
couraged by the number of
athletes out for the sport this
year.
There are 10 on the girls
team and fi ve on the boys
team.
“We have four people who
have swung a club before,”
he said. “The kids seem like
they’re eager to learn, and
they want to be here.”
Junior Duane Stokes and
sophomore Tiana Allen are
returning golfers, and Emily
Springer and Kellen Shelley
both participated in Lund-
bom’s summer golf camp.
“The kids are learning the
rules, and the club likes see-
ing that and they respect us,”
said Lundbom, who has Jeff
Allen returning as assistant
coach.
See GOLF, Page B8
Grant Union golf schedule
Friday, March 17 @ Echo Hills Country Club in Echo (hosted by Heppner) at 10 a.m.
Thursday, March 23 @ 1A-2A Invitational at Wildhorse Golf Club at 12 p.m.
Friday, April 7 @ Pendleton Invite at Pendleton Country Club at 8 a.m.
Friday, April 14 Grant Union High School Invite at John Day Golf Club at 10 a.m.
Friday, April 21 @ Hermiston Invite at Big River Country Club at 10 a.m.
Friday April 28 @ Enterprise Invitational at Alpine Meadows Golf Club at 11 a.m.
Friday, May 5 @ 2A Invitational at Buffalo Peaks Golf Club at 10 a.m.
Sunday-Tuesday, May 7-9 @ districts at Pendleton Country Club, TBA
Sunday-Tuesday, May 14-16 @ state at Emerald Valley in Creswell, TBA
Special Olympians
arrest area offi cers
Basketball fundraiser promotes
sportsmanship, friendship
By Angel Carpenter
Blue Mountain Eagle
The Grant County Special
Olympics group and a team of
local law enforcement com-
peted Thursday evening in a
friendly basketball showdown.
A crowd of spectators
cheered on both teams at the
Grant Union Junior-Senior
High School court in what has
become the Special Olympi-
ans’ biggest fundraiser.
The Special Olympics
team won the game, but even
more important than the score
was the sportsmanship and
See FUNDRAISER, Page B8
The Eagle/Angel Carpenter
Special Olympics athlete Brian McKrola takes aim in
Thursday’s game against the law enforcement team.
‘BE GRACE.
BE POWER.’
The Grant Union Gold dancers
perform their state routine
at the Spring Showcase,
including Dana Schajor, front,
Celine Hicks, left, and in back,
from left, are Ali Chobo, Nikki
Jones and Reannah Lemons.
Dancers entertain
as Grant Union
Gold prep for state
By Angel Carpenter
Blue Mountain Eagle
O
ver 50 dancers from ages 4 and
up entertained an appreciative
crowd in several styles at Fri-
day’s Spring Showcase.
The annual event, held at Grant
Union Junior-Senior High School
in John Day, is also the kickoff as
the Grant Union Gold varsity dance
team prepares for this week’s OSAA
Dance and Drill Championships.
Dance groups performing at the
showcase included the youngest
Level One group, taught by Autumn
Holland with assistant Caroline
Colson; Level Two taught by Trista
DeRosier; and Level Three taught
by Megan Cameron.
These three groups and the ju-
nior high competition team, the
Gemstones, practice at the Body
Fitness & Dance gym, while the
Grant Union Gold operates through
the school.
Kattie Piazza is a fi rst-year coach
for the varsity dance team, and she
coordinated the showcase. She took
over where former coach Shannon
Eagle photos/Angel Carpenter
Level Two dancers strike a pose, including, from left, Danika Gravem,
Paige Hicks and Alexis Rose.
Adair left off.
“I was super honored with the
turnout,” Piazza said.
Besides coaching her team and
serving as emcee for the evening,
Piazza also performed in a duet with
Gemstones coach Becca Batease
and was part of a mixed-age group
performing a hip-hop routine cho-
reographed by Adair.
Other performances included so-
los and duets.
Seven-year-old Jaylan LaDuke
danced with the Level Two group
in costumes with poofy pink skirts,
performing to Meghan Trainor’s
song “Dear Future Husband.”
“I loved it,” she said of the event.
“I love having Trista as my coach
and dancing.”
See DANCERS, Page B8