SPORTS
Blue Mountain Eagle
B10
SHOOTING THE BREEZE
Hunting for firewood
h, the days are get-
ting longer and
warmer. Haven’t
had to build a fire in a cou-
ple of weeks, so you know
what that means: time to
start cutting firewood for
next winter. Now is the best
time. By the end of June, it
will be to hot, and they will
probably close or severely
restrict wood cutting. In the
fall, you are going to be too
busy hunting. Yep, now is
the time.
Cutting firewood on
a national forest requires
that you buy wood per-
mits. They can be purchased
at the local Forest Service
office for $5 per half cord.
The minimum purchase is
four cords, and the maxi-
mum per household is 16.
If you need 16 per year, you
may want to invest in some
insulation. Technically,
a cord is a stack of wood
4-by-4-by-8 feet. For refer-
ence, a half cord is about all
you can safely load in the
back of a full-size pickup
without the use of racks.
When you go in to buy
your permits, the Forest
Service will provide you
with a map of where wood
cutting is allowed on the
forest along with other reg-
ulations. Some include the
distance from the road you
are allowed to cut, size and
species of trees and when
certain trees can be cut. Any
tree that is dead and down
is fair game. Most standing
trees that are dead are also,
but remember that tamarack
shed their needles and may
look dead but are not. That is
why the Forest Service spec-
ifies dates that tamarack can
be harvested.
I know folks that are tree
snobs. Some only cut red fir,
others only tamarack. I’m
more of a generalist. I like
the way juniper burns but
can’t take a
steady diet
of the smell.
Some poplar
is nice every
now and
then to clean
Rod Carpenter out the stove
and chim-
ney, but it leaves a lot of ash.
I burn quite a bit of pine just
because it is easy and acces-
sible, but I don’t turn down
red fir or tamarack if I stum-
ble across it. The last time I
cut firewood with my dad,
he said that he knew just the
tree. When we drove up to
it, I almost dropped my den-
tures. The darn thing was
four feet through! I was sure
somebody was going to have
a heart attack or at least pop
a hernia before we were
through. Luckily we all sur-
vived, but now I am a lot
pickier about the size than
I am the species of tree I’m
chopping up.
Take the time to sharpen
your saws and make sure
your equipment is in good
shape. It is a real bummer to
drive all the way out to the
woods and then not be able
to start your saw. It is even
less fun to blow a tire with
a full load of wood on. Fire
cutters are required to carry
a shovel and chemical fire
extinguisher and provide a
one-hour fire watch after the
saws are shut off. That gives
you just enough time to load
up and have a cold beverage
before you head home.
Most importantly, be safe
out there. I don’t really want
to get to know you while
we put you back together in
the ER.
We welcome your
thoughts and ideas at shoo-
tingthebreezebme@gmail.
com.
Rod Carpenter is a hus-
band, father and hunting
fool.
State
pole vault with a mark of
8-09, seventh in long jump,
eighth in triple jump and
eighth in the 100-meter
hurdles.
“We had an hour light-
ning delay where we had to
leave the field in the mid-
dle of the meet,” Smith
said. “This affected Sydney
in pole vault. She was nurs-
ing a pulled hamstring.”
The delay caused her
muscle to tighten up, pre-
venting her from compet-
ing at a higher bar in her
event.
Brockway said she
enjoyed experiencing a
new track at WOU, as
previously they had only
competed at the Univer-
sity of Oregon’s Hayward
Field, which is undergoing
renovation.
“It was pretty cool hav-
A
Continued from Page B1
Wright said she was
happy to break her own
record “one last time.”
Signed on to compete
with the WOU track and
field team, Wright said she
knows she’s capable of
improving in javelin. Some
of her throws at previous
events and practices landed
in the 140s.
Wright said she met
with her WOU coach while
at the state championships.
“I already have plans
for workouts this sum-
mer,” she said. “I’m super
excited for it to start.”
Senior Sydney Brock-
way placed in her four
events, including fourth in
Wednesday, May 22, 2019
Reitta Wyllie is All-
Academic team member
for NNU track and field
State 1A
basketball honors
go to Levi Burke
and Syd Holman
Blue Mountain Eagle
Blue Mountain Eagle
Prairie City Panther
senior Levi Burke has
been named Oregon’s 1A
state basketball Player of
the Year.
Panther Syd Holman,
also a senior, received
an All-State honorable
mention.
Prairie City placed
fifth on March 2 at the
OSAA 1A State Basket-
ball Championships in
Baker City.
Last year, Prairie
City’s Dorran Wilson was
named 1A Player of the
Year.
Track
Continued from Page B1
from those events to give
hurdles a try.
McMahan got up to
speed with help from volun-
teer coach Garrett Hitz, who
placed second in the event
at the 2016 state champi-
onships — he was also a
champion pole vaulter.
“Garrett Hitz was a huge
help with me in the hur-
dles,” McMahan said, add-
ing that being at state was
“quite the experience.”
Prairie City was one
of 55 class 1A teams
competing.
“I’ve never felt that
before, being around so
many people, and it felt
nice placing well,” McMa-
han said. “The pressure
with state helped me com-
pete better and helped me
fit the situation better. I felt
like I could adapt.”
The sophomore placed
fourth at the district meet
ing a new track to experi-
ence,” she said. “The com-
petition was pretty stiff,
but it was still fun to com-
pete and make some new
PRs in my pole vaulting.”
This was Brockway’s
first year competing in pole
vault with assistant coach
Buzz Gilmore.
Although she was work-
ing through an injury,
Brockway improved her
previous mark by 3 inches.
Brockway reached the
same height as Johanna
Simonsen of Oakland, who
placed third. Julia Ketcham
of Lakeview placed second
with 9-03, and Jessica Lai
of Portland Christian cap-
tured first with 9-09.
Like many on the
team, Hutchison has been
involved in multiple sports,
and said she’s enjoyed
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The Eagle/Angel Carpenter
Prairie City’s Syd Holman
(23) scores in the Panthers’
second round state playoff
game against the Dufur
Rangers at Prairie City
School.
and went to state on a
wild card with a time good
enough to qualify for finals.
“Tristan had one of those
fairy tale track meets,” Bar-
ber said. “When it came
to the finals race, he was
‘lights out.’”
McMahan placed eighth
in the preliminaries with a
time of 17.14, then came
back in the finals, clocking
in with a personal best of
16.49.
He was just .07 behind
Jacob McClatchey, who
placed second, and Ryan
Talbot of Harper won the
event with a time of 15.91.
“Next year, I feel as if
I’ll be able to compete in
two or three events at state,”
McMahan said.
Barber said it was awe-
some to see his athletes
“dig deep” for a successful
outcome.
“Levi was consistent
with being the dominant
high jumper in the state, and
Tristan focused and was a
pleasant surprise in the 110
hurdles,” he said.
competing in track.
“Track was always my
favorite sport through-
out high school,” she said.
“I really enjoy the atmo-
sphere and the kids I got
to compete against and my
teammates.”
She said the weather
was a big factor in the out-
comes she and some of her
teammates
experienced,
and she said, like Brock-
way, she was also nursing
an injury.
“We competed to the
best of our abilities and
tried to take in as much cri-
tique from our coaches as
we could,” she said.
Hutchison placed in all
three of her events.
She finished fifth in long
jump, increasing her mark
there by 3.6 inches. She
also placed seventh in tri-
ple jump.
Cates placed third in the
100-meter dash, clocking
in with a personal record
of 13.06. She also placed
fifth in the 200 and ninth on
the 4x400 relay team with
Weaver, Shanniyah Hall
and Kate Hughes.
Sophomore Abby Lusco
had a sixth-place finish in
discus (103-01).
Her brother Drew Lusco,
Reitta Wyllie, a 2017
Grant Union graduate, was
one of 15 athletes on the
Northwest Nazarene wom-
en’s track and field team to
be named an All-Academic
team on May 17.
Wyllie, in her sopho-
more year at NNU, is in
her second year competing
with the track team.
She was named to the
Nampa, Idaho, universi-
ty’s dean’s list on Jan. 30
for fall 2018. Students are
required to have a cumu-
lative GPA of 3.50-3.99 to
make the list.
Wyllie placed 12th
Reitta Wyllie
in discus at the May 11
Great Northwest Ath-
letic Conference cham-
pionships (NCAA divi-
sion II) with a mark of
109-01.
Competing for his sec-
ond time at state, Thomas
set a personal record in the
1,500-meter event at the
state championships.
He shaved 3 seconds
off his previous time, plac-
ing seventh with a time of
4:18.34. Last year, he had a
fifth-place finish with a time
of 4:23.37.
He said the competi-
tion was stronger this year.
Tim Stevens of Cove won
the event with a time of
4:01.26.
Thomas also placed 10th
in the 800 with a time of
2:10.74.
“I am so proud of Mark,”
coach Jeff Schafer said. “He
ran so well on Saturday,
which was two very hard
runs in a very short time.”
Involved in track compe-
titions for six years, Thomas
has been a top runner in the
1,500 and 800 since fifth
grade.
He said, even though his
placement at state wasn’t as
good as last season, being at
state was a good experience.
“I’m going to stick with
track and hopefully get
faster and hopefully get a
scholarship in the future,”
he said.
Schafer said Thomas is a
great competitor that pushes
himself.
“I truly enjoy coaching
Mark and am excited to see
where track and field can
take him,” Schafer said.
a junior, finished fifth in
discus (125-07) and eighth
in shot put (44-02.75).
Dillon Towne of Glide
won the discus event with
a throw of 158-00, 21 feet
farther than the next clos-
est competitor.
This is Drew Lusco’s
second year competing in
discus, although he didn’t
advance to the finals.
“I’m a little disap-
pointed that I didn’t make
my PR, but pleased with
where I placed in discus,”
he said.
When Drew competed at
the 2A district champion-
ships held at Grant Union
on May 10, there almost
wasn’t enough room in the
shot put pit for his for his
throw of 46-10.75, a per-
sonal best.
“I hope by next year I
run out of sand,” he said.
“It was good to be able to
come back this season and
do better than last year. I’m
looking forward to improv-
ing more next season.”
The boys 4x100 team
of sophomore Jordan Hall,
sophomore Quaid Bran-
don, freshman Mason Mor-
ris and freshman Justin
Hodge placed sixth with a
time of 45.84.
Hall also placed 10th in
the 110 hurdles, and Hodge
finished 11th in the 100.
Morris placed 11th in triple
jump, and Mason Gerry,
a junior, finished 11th in
javelin.
Senior Tanner Elliott
placed 11th in the 800.
This season, Smith is
saying farewell to seven
seniors.
“They will be missed by
all of us,” she said.
Although the team will
lose a lot of talent in the
seniors, a new crop of
freshmen are expected to
move up to the high school
level next season, possibly
filling those shoes.
There are 46 athletes on
the middle school team,
and among the several who
may join the high school
ranks are Eli Wright,
Kaylee’s younger brother,
who is excelling in several
events, including javelin.
He recently placed first
in javelin with a throw of
146 at the May 7 Crane
Middle School Meet. He
was also first in high jump,
clearing the bar at 5-04 and
first in the 200 hurdles with
a time of 29.04. All three
events were personal bests
for the eighth-grader.
Eagle file photo
Prairie City Panther Tristan
McMahan.
This was Barber’s sec-
ond and final year as Prai-
rie City’s head track and
field coach, as he is taking a
teaching position at Culver
High School, where he will
also coach.
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