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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (April 10, 2019)
A10 PAGE LABEL Blue Mountain Eagle Wednesday, April 10, 2019 WEDNESDAY April 10, 2019 Long Creek track team hits the ground running By Angel Carpenter Blue Mountain Eagle Eleven athletes on the 1A Long Creek Mountaineer track and fi eld team are aim- ing high as they kick off the season. The team is led by head coach Linda Studtmann and volunteer assistant coaches Peter Case and Sally Bur- nette. Burnette holds Long Creek School’s record for javelin. Several Mountaineers set personal records at Friday’s Prairie City Invitational, competing with 1A-4A teams. Mountaineer Lucchese Douglas reached new heights when she placed sixth in the 400-meter run out of 16 com- petitors. She was third among the 1A athletes. Douglas also performed well at the March 15 Diana Thurmond Invitational in LONG CREEK 2019 TRACK AND FIELD SCHEDULE Long Creek Mountaineer Henry Grannis throws the discus in practice on Thursday at the school’s athletic fi eld. Long Creek Mountaineers runners practice on their home fi eld, including, from left, James Kreamier, Lucchese Douglas, Thomas Kreamier and Mathéo Buchart. Harper, the team’s fi rst meet. “ I t ’ s given me a lot more drive,” Mathéo Douglas Buchart said. “I’m definitely working a lot harder than last year.” jump on his list of events. “It’s interesting,” he said. “It’s hard, but it’s a new experience.” He’s especially happy to compete with several team- mates who were on the bas- ketball team and said it’s fun to be with them. Johnson is making a comeback after taking a year off from the sport. She Eagle photos/Angel Carpenter There are two seniors on the team, Mathéo Buchart and Gladys Johnson. Gladys Buchart Johnson is competing in track and fi eld for the fi rst time, with sprints, long jump and high competed her freshman and sophomore years. “I enjoy hanging out with the team,” she said. Her goal is to beat her pre- vious records, and she’ll be cheering on her sister, soph- omore Dorotha Johnson, she said. Dorotha set a personal record Friday in the long jump, placing 11th out of 22 April 12: @ River’s Edge Invitational in Umatilla, 12 p.m. April 18: @ Husky Twilight Meet in Moro, 4 p.m. April 19: @ C/W Invitational in Con- don, 11 a.m. April 26: @ Don Walker Invitational in Nyssa, 1 p.m. April 30: @ Ranchers Invitational in Crane, 3:30 p.m. May 3: @ Grant Union Invitational in John Day, 10 a.m. May 1: 1A-3 Special District 3 Cham- pionships in Moro, 10:30 a.m. May 17-18: OSAA 1A State Champi- onships, TBD competitors, fi fth among the 1A athletes. Studtmann said those new to the sport are learning the ropes, and the seasoned ath- letes are making adjustments. “Some are athletic, and some are not, but as usual, I want them to do their best and work on improving,” she said. “We’re looking forward to a good year and hoping for lots of success.” SHOOTING THE BREEZE Understanding Oregon draw T he May 15 deadline for the Oregon big game draw is fast approaching. As I talk to fel- low hunters, I am constantly amazed at the number who have no idea how the draw works. They don’t know when, or if, they are going to draw, and have no idea how many points they have for each species. It makes me shake my head a little because in the grand scheme of drawing sys- tems, Oregon is not that diffi cult. With a little planning, it isn’t hard to draw a deer and bull tag every other year. It’s pretty easy to draw a cow tag pretty Rod much every year if Carpenter you put some thought into it. Let’s get the “trophy” species out of the way quickly. There is no point sys- tem for bighorn sheep or Rocky Moun- tain goat. They are a true random draw. Every year, everyone has the same chance of drawing, and the reality is that some folks who apply their whole life will not draw a tag. That being said, while your chance of drawing is small, if you don’t apply, your chance is zero. I think it is worth the price. Success in all units is pretty good, and draw odds in some are better than oth- ers, so take a close look before choos- ing a unit to apply for. Draws for all other species are based on a preference point system: 25 percent of the tags go into a ran- dom draw. Don’t count on that in your strategy. Let it be a happy surprise if it happens. Seventy-fi ve percent of tags are given to the folks with the most preference points for that species. Every year you apply and are unsuc- cessful, you get a preference point. It is a game you have to “pay to play,” but if you do it right, you can play a lot. A down and dirty way to fi gure out how many points you need to draw a particular tag is to look in the regu- lations and divide the number of fi rst choice applicants by the number of tags. For example, Murderers Creek deer had 3,122 applicants for 880 tags — 3122 divided by 880 equals 3.54, so you are going to need three, possi- bly four, points to draw it. An excellent website to check out is https://sites. google.com/site/oregontags/about-me. It is a free site that lists prior draw odds, predicted draw odds for this year and success rates. It is a virtual gold mine of information. I almost hate to share this tidbit, but kids are the mother lode of building points if you have some. You can start building their points as soon as they turn 9. Also, they earn a point every year they are in the mentor program from 9 to 16 years old. And you may want to take a hard look at the fi rst- time hunter program when developing your draw strategy. That is all the pointers I can bear to share. You are going to have to do some strategizing on your own. Make a plan, and make it happen. We welcome your thoughts and ideas at shootingthebreezebme@gmail. com. Rod Carpenter is a husband, father and hunting fool. Running in the 1500-meter run on Friday are Jacob Smith of Grant Union, Vladislav Kim of Burnt River and Jesse Randleas of Grant Union. Track athletes fl ock to Prairie City Invitational Prospector Kaylee Wright breaks state record she set in javelin By Angel Carpenter Blue Mountain Eagle Donald Parker Memorial Field was abuzz with track and fi eld athletes and spectators at Friday’s Prairie City Invitational. Fifteen schools in the 1A through 4A classes competed, and for some teams, it was their fi rst meet of the season. Grant Union Prospector Kaylee Wright, a senior, made her debut in grand style, setting a personal record in javelin with a throw of 141-08.25. She beat the state record she set last year, 138-6.5, which had broken the previous state record she set as a freshman. Wright also placed fi rst in three other events, the 100, high jump and the 4x100 relay with teammates senior Trinity Hutchi- son, senior Sydney Brockway and freshman Carson Weaver. Prairie City Panther Haley Pfefferkorn placed third in javelin. Hutchison also set a personal record in the long jump with a mark of 17-05 for fi rst place with Brockway placing second. Long Eagle photos/Angel Carpenter Prairie City Panther Haley Pfeff erkorn throws javelin. She placed third out of 26 competitors and she was second among the 1A throwers. Creek sophomore Dorotha John- son placed 11th and was third out of her 1A competitors. Brockway was also fi rst in the 100 hurdles, and Hutchison placed fi rst and set a personal record in the 300 hurdles. Grant Union sophomore Jor- dan Hall placed third in the 110 hurdles with a time of 18.67, behind two 4A athletes. “I defi nitely have a lot of work to do,” he said. “The main goal is to keep your lead leg ahead and keep it the same for the entire race. I need to pick up speed.” He said today’s race, his fi rst this year, was a gauge for the rest of the season. In shot put for the boys, Grant Union’s Drew Lusco, a junior, placed fi rst with a mark of 41-11.75, and Prairie City’s Jake McHatton, junior, came in sec- ond with a throw of 36-01.50. Lusco also placed fi rst in dis- cus with a throw of 108-08, and Monument Tiger sophomore Donovan Schafer placed second, setting a personal record of 104- 05. McHatton threw with a mark of 102-09 for third, and Long Creek Mountaineer Henry Gran- nis, a junior, also set a personal record with 91-07 for fourth. For the girls, Grant Union sophomore Abby Lusco was fi rst in discus with a throw of 96-02. Grant Union Prospector Drew Lusco placed fi rst in the shot put at Friday’s Prairie City Invitational. She placed third in shot put. Dayville’s 4x100 relay team — Zach Ferguison, Jaydon Hoff- man, Austin Walker and Gabe Walker-Hopkins — placed 11th, and they were fi fth among the 1A competitors. Grant Union’s Mason Gerry was fi rst in javelin (148-02.75), and Braden Spencer was fi rst in pole vault (10-0). Monument distance runner sophomore Mark Thomas set a personal record in the 1,500- meter run, placing fi rst with a time of 4:50.40, competing with 16 other athletes. He placed fi fth See Track, Page A13