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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (March 27, 2019)
PAGE LABEL BlueMountainEagle.com Wednesday, March 27, 2019 A9 WEDNESDAY March 27, 2019 Mathéo Buchart Levi Burke Lucchese Douglas Cole Deiter Kyla Emerson Jojari Field Syd Holman Courtney Nichols Faythe Schafer James Kreamier Lucas McKinley Denali Twehues Hailee Wall Donovan Schafer Drew Wilburn Samantha Workman Basketball players receive All-League recognition Blue Mountain Eagle Boys and girls basketball play- ers received All-League honors for the High Desert League. Boys Co-player of the Year, Levi Burke, senior, Prairie City First team Levi Burke Syd Holman, senior, Prairie City Second team James Kreamier, junior, Long Creek/Ukiah Cole Deiter, junior, Prairie City Honorable mention Mathéo Buchart, senior, Long Creek/Ukiah Drew Wilburn, junior, Dayville/ Monument Donovan Schafer, sophomore, Dayville/Monument Lucas McKinley, junior, Prai- rie City Jojari Field, sophomore, Prai- rie City Girls First team Faythe Schafer, senior, Dayville/Monument Second team Denali Twehues, junior, Dayville/Monument Samantha Workman, senior, Prairie City Honorable mention Kyla Emerson, senior, Dayville/ Monument Hailee Wall, junior, Prairie City Lucchese Douglas, sophomore, Long Creek/Ukiah Courtney Nichols, senior, Dayville/Monument Prospector golfers start season with confi dence By Angel Carpenter Blue Mountain Eagle The Eagle/Angel Carpenter Grant Union Prospector freshmen Maverick Miller, swinging, and Logan Namitz take in a round of golf during a practice last week at the John Day Golf Club. Nine Grant Union/Prairie City Prospector golfers enjoyed their fi rst sunny days of the season, practicing at the John Day Golf Club last week after holding prac- tice for several days in the Heri- tage Barn at the Grant County Fairgrounds because of ankle- deep snow. “They’ve been improving on the green grass for a week,” said head coach Ron Lundbom. The Prospector boys have three returning state competitors: senior Garrett Lenz and sopho- mores Devon Stokes and Parker Manitsas. Freshman Maverick Miller practiced with the team last year as an eighth-grader, and freshman Logan Namitz is new to the team. The girls team includes juniors Emily Springer, Kaytlyn Wells and Maddy Way and freshman Billy Radinovich. “Our team is really welcoming to new people,” Wells said, add- ing the members talk with each other on the course and in the hallways at school. Wells said she’s also looking forward to competing with girls on the other teams. “I’m getting back into the swing of golf,” she said. Springer said she’s happy with the progress she’s made each season. “I’m excited to control my driving,” she said, and was Garrett looking forward Lenz to an upcoming competition. Lenz said his personal goal is to make it back to state, at least as an individual. “From the looks of it, I should be in the top notch of golfers,” he said. “My swing is looking good, and I’m ready to see what the season has to come.” Stokes said the team is young this year, but he believes the boys have a good chance at dis- tricts to qualify for state. “It’s going to be a really good season,” said Manitsas. “We have strong golfers out this year, and I’m looking forward to the outcome.” Last season, the boys team placed 12th at state. Two on that team to state are not returning, including Duane Stokes who graduated and Kel- len Shelley who moved. Lundbom said his returning players, girls and boys, are per- forming well. He said Lenz has the talent to return to state. “They seem to be taking off from where they were last year GRANT UNION/PRAIRIE CITY GOLF SCHEDULE April 5: @ Pendleton Invite at Pendleton Country Club, 8 a.m. April 11: @ Heppner Invite at Heppner Golf Course, 11 a.m. April 12: @ Wildhorse Invite at Wildhorse Golf Course in Pendleton, 10 a.m. April 17: @ Burns Invitational at Valley Golf Club, 11 a.m. April 19: GUHS Invitational at the John Day Golf Club, 11 a.m. April 26: @ Enterprise Invitational at Alpine Meadows, 11 a.m. May 3: @ 2A Invitational at Buffalo Peaks Golf Course, 10 a.m. May 5: Districts at Pendleton Country Club, TBA May 6: Districts at Pendleton Country Club, TBA May 7: Districts at Pendleton Country Club, TBA May 12: State Championship at Emerald Valley-Creswell, TBA May 13: State Championship at Emerald Valley-Creswell, TBA May 14: State Championship at Emerald Valley-Creswell, TBA — not a big learning curve,” he said. The boys team will be in the 3A/2A/1A Special District 3 with 14 opponents. The girls will be in the 4A/3A/2A/1A Special District 4 with 20 opponents. A few of the Prospec- tor teams’ shared competition includes Burns, Enterprise, Vale, Heppner and Burnt River. “Heppner has two to three boys who’ve been improving their score every year,” Lund- bom said. “They have good coaching and lots of numbers.” Cove, Nixyaawii and Echo graduated some of their top golfers, he said. The Prospectors competed on Friday at the Echo Hills Golf Course in Echo. Several Pros- pectors were unable to attend the competition because of FFA and FBLA events. The golf tour- nament had been rescheduled because of previous inclement weather. Lenz placed third for the boys, scoring a 93. Springer scored 126 for the girls. “I was pleased with how the kids did out there, having so lit- tle practice,” Lundbom said. He said the team members have good attitudes. “It’s just dialing it in,” he said. “We’ll wait for the sun and for things to click.” He said he’s confi dent they’ll reach their goals for the season. “I want the boys in the low 80s and the girls in the mid- 90s,” he said. “They have the ability.” Grant Union track and fi eld starts season with 51 By Angel Carpenter Blue Mountain Eagle The season looks bright for the Grant Union Prospector track and fi eld team. There are 51 athletes out for this year’s team, including 31 girls and 20 boys. It’s not quite as many as were out in 2007, when the boys won the state champi- onship, said Prospector head coach Sonna Smith, but talent is showing among the 51. “Our strengths are across the board,” she said. “For girls we have runners, hur- dlers, throwers and jump- ers who should make it to post-season.” She said the numbers on the girls team will allow for three athletes in each event at district. “Our boys’ strengths are also across the board, but we do not have as much depth as we do in girls,” she said. Last year, the girls team placed second at state, after winning the state champion- ship in 2017. Prospector Kaylee Wright, now a senior, earned the state title in javelin last May, shat- tering the state record she set as a freshman. She also placed fi rst in the 100-meter dash and high jump. Four boys and four girls qualifi ed for state and placed well last year, and Smith hopes to see more runners and throwers competing in the post-season. Yui Asami Shelby Brooks The Eagle/Angel Carpenter Grant Union head track and fi eld coach Sonna Smith, back left, watches as sprinters take off from the blocks in practice on March 14, including, from left, Quade Brandon, CJ Glimpse, Jordan Hall, Carson Weaver and Kaylee Wright. GRANT UNION TRACK AND FIELD SCHEDULE April 5:@ Prairie City Annual Invite, 11 a.m. April 9: GU Small Schools Meet, 4 p.m. April 12: @ Burns Lions/Oster Track Meet in Burns, 1 p.m. April 20: @ Pepsi Invitational in Union, 11 a.m. April 23: @ Weston-McEwen Small Schools Invite in Athena, 3:30 p.m. April 26: @ Don Walker Invitational in Nyssa, 1 p.m. (MT) May 3: Grant Union Invitational, 10 a.m. May 10: District 5 Track Meet at Grant Union, 11 a.m. May 17: OSAA 2A State Champion- ship Day 1 at Western Oregon Univer- sity in Monmouth May 18: OSAA 2A State Champion- ship Day 2 at Western Oregon Univer- sity in Monmouth Trinity Hutchison placed second in the triple jump last season, and Sydney Brock- way placed second in the 100- meter hurdles. Both hope to return. Brockway and Hutchison also joined Sierra Cates and Wright to place second as a team in the 4x100-meter relay last year. “We have a lot of potential — possibly taking our girls team to state and doing well,” Brockway said. Wright said she’s looking forward to a fun track season. “We have a bunch of kids this year with tons of talent,” she said. “I hope to win jave- lin again this year, and hope- fully we can take a bunch more to state this year.” Tanner Elliott, a senior, said he also has a goal to return to state. Last season, he placed 12th at state in the 800- meter run. He said he likes the com- petitive nature of the sport and enjoys the mental skill that goes into the running events. “And I fi nd it fun,” he said. Braden Spencer, a senior pole vaulter and sprinter, has been competing in track and Sydney Brockway Trinity Hutchison fi eld since fi fth grade. “I think the coaches are great, and they’ve taught me a lot,” he said. Assistant coach Buzz Gilmore teaches the pole vaulters, and Smith and Ken Boethin are over the sprint- ers. Boethin also leads the hurdlers. Kelsy Wright coaches jav- elin and high jump. “Javelin has one of the hardest techniques to learn,” he said. Still he’s coached many successful javelin throwers, including his daughter Kaylee who’s been throwing since seventh grade. He said she’s back at it and poised to repeat for the dis- trict and state championship this year. Two others are returning to javelin, including sophomore Braden Spencer Tanner Elliott Quinten Hallgarth and junior Mason Gerry, who placed eighth at state last May. Kaylee Two more Wright are on board with the sport, and coach Wright hopes a few more athletes will add the event. John Houk, who coaches the jumpers, said his athletes are seasoned and know the drills. “Our goal is to get as many to state as we can and do the damage,” he said. New on the high school team is freshman Mason Morris. Although he only started the jumping events last year as a middle schooler, he qualifi ed for the National Junior Olym- pics last summer. Hutchison and Hall also competed at the regional Junior Olympics in Bend and were just short of qualifying for nationals. Angie Lusco, over shot put and discus, said she has some talented throwers return- ing, including defending dis- trict champion discus thrower Drew Lusco, who placed ninth at state, and Abby Lusco, who was district champion for dis- cus and also qualifi ed for state in shot put, placing sixth and 10th, respectively. “I have a great group, and they’re strong and hard work- ers,” she said. Last year, Grant Union was in the Wapiti League, and this year they are competing in Special District 5, which includes: Culver, Enter- prise, Heppner, Pilot Rock, Stanfi eld-Echo, Union and Weston-McEwen. “It is hard for me to judge our competition at the district level,” Smith said. “We are in a new league, and due to bad weather, Union is the only team in our league that has posted marks.” She added, “Out of the top 10 women’s teams in state last year, fi ve came from our new special district, Grant Union second, Weston-McEwen fi fth, Enterprise sixth, Culver eighth and Union 10th.” Union is the only team in Special District 5 that also was in the Wapiti League last year. “The boys side had three teams in the top 10 (last year),” Smith said. “We will have our work cut out for us at our league meet, which we will be hosting at Grant Union on May 10,” she said. “Our team goal is to have girls win their fourth consecu- tive district title, and our boys to become district champions.”
