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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (May 23, 2018)
WEDNESDAY May 23, 2018 THE WRIGHT TRACK Junior’s three titles help girls track team to second at state Blue Mountain Eagle Grant Union junior Kaylee Wright won three state titles to help her team to second place at the 2A OSAA Track and Field State Champion- ships in Eugene. The Grant Union girls scored 65 team points behind Monroe with 80. Central Linn came in third with 59. Grant Union led the competition until the second-to-last event when Monroe pulled ahead. Wright won in all three of her individual events. She set a new state record in javelin. She beat the state record she set as a freshman by 7 feet, throwing for a mark of 138-06, for her third consecutive state title in the event. She placed first in high jump at a height of 5-03 and first in the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.75. She also placed second as a member of the 4x100-meter relay team alongside Sydney Brockway, Trinity Hutchison and Sierra Cates with a time of 51.22. The winning team from Central Linn had a time of 51.20. “There was a lot more competition than previous years,” Wright said. “We all pushed harder. That’s how we perform better.” Grant Union head coach Sonna Smith said she was impressed by Wright’s efforts this year. Eagle file photo Grant Union’s Duane Stokes takes a shot for the hole at an invitational at the John Day Golf Course early in the season. Grant Union golfers DQ’ed at state tournament By Angel Carpenter Blue Mountain Eagle EO Media Group/Kathy Aney Kaylee Wright of Grant Union throws javelin Saturday at the OSAA state track and field meet in Eugene. Wright won the event and set a new 2A girls state record with a throw of 138 feet, 6 inches. “She has consistently done the work she needs to do to be ready to compete at a high level,” Smith said. “She fin- ished district with a hamstring strain and rehabbed all week to be ready for state, and it paid off.” She said Wright was close to becoming 2A Athlete of the Meet. Wright had one second place and three first-place fin- ishes, the same as the winner, but Wright had fewer overall points because relay athletes split their points four ways with the other runners on their team. Wright beat the other athlete in the 100, the only head-to-head meeting be- tween the two. “Kaylee came out on top,” Smith said. “For us, that makes her the superior athlete in our eyes.” Hutchison, a junior and returning triple jump champ, placed second in the event this year with a distance of 34-04.25. Isabelle Wyss of St. Paul placed first with 35- 10.75. Hutchison also placed fourth in the long jump with a distance of 16-03.5. EO Media Group/Kathy Aney See TRACK, Page B10 Grant Union’s Trinity Hutchison lands the triple jump at the OSAA 2A Track and Field State Championships. 1A track athletes compete at state Burke places third in high jump By Angel Carpenter Blue Mountain Eagle EO Media Group/Kathy Aney Megan Camarena of Prairie City competes in shot put Saturday at the OSAA state track and field meet in Eugene. Four Grant County 1A track and field athletes competed with the best of the best Thursday and Friday at the OSAA Track and Field State Championships. Prairie City’s Levi Burke and Megan Camarena and Monument/Dayville’s Mark Thomas and Kyla Emerson made their mark at University of Oregon’s Hayward Field, and the event left an in- delible mark on them as well. Prairie City junior Levi Burke placed third in the high jump Thursday with a mark of 5-08. Eagle file photo Prairie City’s Levi Burke clears the high jump earlier in the season. He placed third at the 1A state championships with a height of 5-08. “It didn’t go as well as I wanted it to go, but to win third place was awe- some,” he said. Burke said he felt supported by ev- eryone, even people he didn’t know. “Everybody was just helpful, people who’ve been in it their whole lives,” he said. “The high jump community is al- ways going to be good.” Dawson Smith of Powder Valley won the state high jump with a mark of 6-02, with Josiah Hart of Southwest Christian in second at 6-02. Burke competed against Smith three times previously in the season, includ- ing at the Prairie City Invitational and the District Meet in Baker City. “I wouldn’t want to lose to anyone else,” Burke said, adding he and Smith had become good friends. “He definitely deserved it.” Burke, who is in his first year as a See STATE, Page B10 Prospectors flog Huskies to move on Grant Union faces Reedsport today Grant Union vs. Elgin By Angel Carpenter Blue Mountain Eagle Grant Union pitcher Zack Deiter and some hot Prospector bats got the job done in their 8-1 win over the Elgin Huskies in Thursday’s district play-in to the OSAA Baseball State Championship playoffs. The Prospectors will face the Reedsport Braves at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 23, in Reedsport. “The kids, they were fired up today, and had two double plays today,” said Grant Union head coach Dusty Williams. “Zack Deiter threw a heck of a game.” It was the small ball with “a lot of hit and running” that made the difference, the coach said. “We put the ball in play and hit the ball really well today,” he said. Facing Elgin pitcher Caleb Lathrop was no easy task. The last time the Prospectors were up against him, Grant Union lost 2-0 on April 14. “He’s probably the second best pitcher in the league,” Grant Union Prospector Wade Reimers slides in safe at home against Elgin. Elgin Huskies pitcher Caleb Lathrop at the mound in Thursday’s playoff game. Williams said. “We knew we had to get on him early, and that’s why we changed the bat- ting order a little bit today. We led off with Wade (Reimers), one of our best hitters.” Grant Union was first on the scoreboard after Warner Robertson singled, sending Reimers home in the bottom of the first inning. Prospector Roen Langum singled to start off the second, and Deiter’s bunt sent Langum home. It was three up and three down in the top of the third, with Deiter striking out two Elgin batters. Two sacrifice hits brought in 2 more runs for the Prospec- tors in the bottom of the fourth “I’m in raw emotions, see- ing all the guys come togeth- er,” he said. “We played dang good baseball. I’m proud to be going to state.” Vaughan said, after two straight wins, “we just don’t want to go home.” Reimers agreed. “We don’t want to be done,” he said. “I’m proud of the team. I want to thank the younger kids for helping us out. They’ve been tremendous this year.” Williams said his team has had their ups and downs this year, and sometimes their in- tensity hasn’t been there and a few games slipped away. He said, this time, the boys came out “fired up” with everyone The Eagle/Angel Carpenter for a 4-0 lead. Elgin scored 1 run in the top of the fifth, and Grant Union scored another in the bottom of the inning. Grant Union fans cheered loudly when, in the sixth, Pros- pector second baseman Logan McCluskey tagged Elgin’s Bubba Palmer out and threw to McDaniel at first, getting Lath- rop out. In the second half of the inning, Reimers scored on an error and McDaniel singled for two RBIs, Robertson and Jacob Vaughan. Deiter walked one Husky in the seventh but kept Elgin at bay for the win. Third base- man Robertson said he was excited about the win. At bats/hits/runs/RBI/average Wade Reimers: 1/1/2/1/1.000 Zack Deiter: 3/2/0/1/.667 Warner Robertson: 3/1/1/2/.333 Jacob Vaughan: 4/2/1/2/.250 Ty McDaniel: 4/1/0/2/.250 Roen Langum: 3/2/2/0/.667 Logan McCluskey: 4/1/0/0/.250 Cole Deiter: 2/0/1/0/.000 Russell Hodge: 2/0/1/0/.333 Innings pitched/hits/runs/strike- outs/ERA Zack Deiter: 7/2/1/4/0 talking and having fun before the game. “I thought, ‘Today’s go- ing to be a good day,’” he said. “This is the best they’ve played all year. They looked like a good baseball team today.” He said they’ll practice hard and focus on their goal — “try to win a state championship.” Grant Union is ranked 15th among OSAA’s 2A/1A teams with a 14-11 overall record. Out of 25 games, the Pros- pectors scored 174 runs and allowed 116. Reedsport is ranked No. 2 with a 23-1 overall record. Out of 24 games, the Braves scored 246 runs and allowed 49. Had everything gone well, the Grant Union Prospector boys golf team would have placed fifth instead of 12th at the OSAA 3A/2A/1A Golf Championship May 14-15 at Quail Valley Golf Course in Banks. Markers set at the incorrect yardage and some incorrect directions on the course on day one turned the much-an- ticipated event into disqualifi- cation and disappointment for the Prospectors. Four Grant Union golfers, as well as eight others, four from Rogue River and four from Columbia Christian, were disqualified on the first day of the tournament for hit- ting from the wrong set of tees at hole No. 13, the red instead of the blue markers. “There was a discrepancy between the yardage on the scorecard (172) and where the tee box was actually set by Quail Valley Golf Course (212),” said Steve Walker, OSAA’s sports information director. Grant Union head coach Ron Lundbom said, “OSAA didn’t make sure that Quail Valley staff had the markers at the correct yardage.” A coach from another team told the first group, which included Prospector Duane Stokes, to hit from the red markers instead of blue at No. 13, because it was the correct distance listed on the score- card. A second group, which included Prospector Garrett Lenz, followed the first. Then a third group, which included Prospector Kellen Shelley, advanced toward the blue markers, and members of that group said a marshal pointed them toward the red markers. Lundbom said his team “did what the marshal told them to do,” but added, “Kids are not supposed to listen to the marshals.” A volunteer marshal at the 13th hole was mistaken for a rules official, Lundbom said. Lundbom said, although three players and three coach- es said the marshal directed them to the red markers, the marshal denied it. Grant Union’s athletic di- rector Jason Miller weighed in, saying athletes are taught to respect those in authority. “At 16 or 17, if a marshal tells them to hit from the red tee, are they going to question that authority?” Miller said. The three groups realized they were disqualified after they turned in their score- cards. “It’s unfortunate that kids were put in this position by adults, but it doesn’t change the fact that they had a great season and scored well at the tournament,” Miller added. Grant Union’s Parker Manitsas, golfing in a group after the mistake at No. 13 was discovered, finished with a score of 106 on day one and 116 on day two. Had their disqualified scores counted, Grant Union See GOLF, Page B10
