A10
SPORTS
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, October 23, 2019
Grant Union sweeps two on the road to up ante for districts
Top four teams
advance to district
tournament
2A BLUE
MOUNTAIN
CONFERENCE
VOLLEYBALL
STANDINGS
By Angel Carpenter
Blue Mountain Eagle
The Grant Union Pros-
pector volleyball team
came up big in their road
trip to Enterprise Saturday,
sweeping both the Enter-
prise Outlaws and the Pilot
Rock Rockets, wrapping
up Grant Union’s regular
conference season.
The wins move Grant
Union up from fifth in the
Blue Mountain Confer-
ence standings to third, as
of Monday evening. There
were still other teams in
the conference with games
on Tuesday, Oct. 22, past
press time.
The top four teams in the
conference will advance to
the district tournament.
Grant Union Princi-
pal/Athletic Director Ryan
Gerry said they expect to
know who the Prospec-
tors will face and when, on
Wednesday, Oct. 23.
Grant Union defeated
Enterprise in close sets:
27-25, 25-22 and 25-19.
“The first set especially
was a battle for us,” said
Prospector head coach Ali
Abrego. “There was a point
where we were down by 8
points and came back to
win it in three.”
Union, 11-0 conference,
19-3 overall, ranked
No. 2
Stanfield, 7-4, 17-7, No.
10
Grant Union, 7-5, 12-14,
No. 12
Weston-McEwen, 6-5,
16-9, No. 7
Heppner, 6-5, 12-14,
No. 21
Enterprise, 2-9, 9-14,
No. 29
Pilot Rock, 0-11, 2-21,
No. 38
*As of Tuesday morning.
The Chieftain/Ellen Bishop
Grant Union Prospector Kenna Combs (3) drops the ball over the net just past Enterprise Outlaw Zari Bathke.
Abrego said Enterprise
has improved since Oct. 5,
the first time they faced the
Outlaws.
“That was huge for
our girls, especially since
we’ve been focusing on
being mentally tough for
long rallies,” she said,
adding, “We had several
missed serves this week-
end, which was abnor-
mal for us. However, we
placed the ball tastefully
on offense and learned to
use the empty spots on the
court to our advantage.”
Grant Union had a deci-
sive win over Pilot Rock
with scores of 25-13, 25-15
and 25-10.
“We ended the third set
playing with all the soph-
omores,” Abrego said.
“We focused on subbing
everyone in and allow-
ing all athletes to demon-
strate their skills and
responsibility.”
The Prospectors fell in
three sets to the undefeated
Union Bobcats on Oct. 15
in John Day. The Bobcats
won with scores of 25-17,
25-16 and 25-14.
Abrego said her team
lost focus on the end goal.
“We came here to put up
a fight,” she said after the
game with Union. “I don’t
think it was a team we
should have lost to.”
She said her team’s
errors outweighed the posi-
tives in the match.
“I would say that Union
definitely knows where to
place the ball,” she said,
adding her team had trou-
ble reading the tips and
working together to come
back from a deficit.
Spartan
top three days a week when
he is training,” Boyer said.
“I haven’t done that with
him. I run the Tollgate High-
way. I get in 8 to 10 miles on
my lunch hour.”
He also runs from his
house to the Pilot Rock city
limits, which is 13.1 miles.
Last December, Boyer
gave himself a challenge
— to run 75 miles (that was
the easy part) and do 6,000
burpees (200 per day).
“It wasn’t too bad, until
you skip a day,” Boyer said
of the burpees.
Continued from Page A9
The spear throw is the
trademark obstacle that
embodies the Spartan ethos
and spirit, but other obsta-
cles can change from event
to event.
At the World Champion-
ships, Boyer was challenged
with carrying two 80-pound
sandbags around the half-
pipe (about one-quarter
mile), swimming in a cold
lake, crossing monkey bars,
climbing ropes and crawl-
ing under barbed wire, just
to name a few.
“There was moaning
and groaning carrying those
sandbags,” Boyer said.
“When we had to swim, we
had to put our clothes in a
bag and take them with us.
My hands were so cold that
I couldn’t get my bag sealed
and everything got wet. We
were at 9,200 feet at the top
of the course. It was minus-
17 degrees. It was 32 at the
bottom, and the wind was
blowing. I went to boot camp
in Kentucky in December.
This was worse.”
Boyer’s favorite obstacle
along the route is the rope
climb.
“I struggled with that in
my first race,” Boyer said.
“I’ve gotten better at it and I
can rest my legs. What I like
EO Media Group/Kathy Aney
Richard Boyer of Pendleton
carries a log as part of his
Spartan Race workout at his
southwest Pendleton home.
Boyer attended Long Creek
High School.
about the races, is there are
advantages for folks who are
taller, leaner, shorter, stron-
ger. Us big guys have a tough
time with the ape hangers,
and small guys with the 400-
pound tire. When you run,
the less weight the better.”
Boyer said he isn’t fond
of the swim, but Lake Tahoe
was the first time he has had
to do it. For the most part,
the box is his least favorite.
It is a new obstacle for 2019.
The box is an 8-foot piece
of plywood with a rope. The
wall is faced with a slick
surface, and has no top edge
to grab.
Tuesday’s loss was a
heartbreaker,
especially
due to senior night.
“The senior class is a
fun group. They’re really
lively,” Abrego said.
She said, after having
them for two years, it will
be hard to see them go at
the close of the season.
“They’re great kids, and
I love being their coach,”
she said.
Grant Union traveled to
Burns to face the Hilanders
for a nonconference game
Tuesday, Oct. 22, past
press time.
A family affair
EO Media Group/Kathy Aney
Richard Boyer of Pendleton displays the medal he won in North Lake Tahoe for getting
seventh place in the 2019 Spartan World Championships in the 55-59 age group.
“You are scrambling to
get foot placement,” Boyer
said. “I have failed it. When
you fail, it is 30 burpees.”
Spartan training 101
Boyer and Girdner used
to train together when they
were on the high school
track team in Long Creek.
“We used to run the high-
way to the forest,” Boyer
said. “That was 1980. Here
we are 39 years later com-
peting in these races.”
When Boyer first started
training, he was 6-foot-2 and
240 pounds. At his first race,
he was down to 210 pounds.
“I was still too heavy,”
he said. “My race weight is
now 188.”
Boyer, who works at J&J
Snack Foods in Weston,
has a few obstacles set
up at his house. He also
goes to La Grande to train
with Girdner, who is a lit-
tle more extreme, and has
an array of obstacles to
practice on.
“He lives at the base of
Mt. Emily, and he runs to the
Boyer’s wife, Charity,
is his biggest cheerleader,
but his kids Joshua, 22, and
Jenny, 14, have joined the
Spartan craze.
“Jenny (an eighth-grader
at Sunridge Middle School)
has Down syndrome, but
she goes through the whole
thing,” Boyer said. “She
enjoys it.”
Joshua is a student at
Utah State University.
“He has done races the
past couple of years,” Boyer
said. “He did an Ultra Beast
in Colorado in August.”
Boyer has done a hand-
ful of races, including one in
Seattle in early September,
but said he will take a break
until June when he will par-
ticipate in the race in Pay-
ette, Idaho.
SPORTS ROUNDUP
Grant Union football rips
Riverside in 54-16 win
Ukiah/Long Creek soccer
team shows improvement
The Grant Union Prospector foot-
ball team claimed a 54-16 league
win on the road against the Riverside
Pirates in league action.
Grant Union head coach Jason
Miller said his team performed well
against the Pirates.
“We were up 46 to 0 at the half,
then our JV players finished the
game,” he said.
Next up, Grant Union hosts the
Heppner Mustangs at 7 p.m. Friday.
The Mustangs are undefeated
this season and ranked No. 3 among
OSAA’s 2A teams. Grant Union and
Heppner are tied with a league record
of 2-0 in 2A Special District 6.
“We’ll need to continue to
improve in order to compete with
Heppner,” Miller said, adding that
bettering their mental toughness will
be especially important.
“We would love to have a packed
house for this important league
game,” Miller said.
The 1A Ukiah/Long Creek Moun-
tain Lions hosted the 3A Nyssa Bull-
dogs Thursday in Long Creek.
Although Ukiah/Long Creek fell
5-1, the Mountain Lions bettered the
outcome compared to their first meet-
ing with Nyssa Sept. 19, when the
Bulldogs won 12-0.
“We’re focusing on gross improve-
ment and defense,” said Ukiah/Long
Creek head coach Amos Studtmann.
“We moved players around where
their skills would be most useful.”
Carter Burnette kicked the goal for
Long Creek/Ukiah.
“Linus Beck and Philip Lee, play-
ing full back, got a lot of stops and
provided good options in the back
field for passing, and even for offen-
sive opportunities,” Studtmann said.
“Our goal keep, Bert Volney, made
some difficult blocks, which, with
him, we’re starting to get used to.”
“We put Thomas Kreamier on
attack, which is his first game in that
position — he did great,” the coach
said. “His speed and ability to pro-
tect the ball allowed several opportu-
nities to shoot, and even the one goal
we made started with an attack by
Thomas.”
Studtmann said his team’s chem-
istry is good, and their improvement
shows that no one is giving up.
“I’m really proud of the kids,” he
said. “I emphasize improvement and
going from the 0-12 to 1-5 is an major
improvement.”
2A SPECIAL DISTRICT
6 FOOTBALL
Heppner, 2-0 district, 7-0 overall,
ranked No. 3
Grant Union, 2-0, 2-5, No. 13
Stanfield, 1-1, 4-2, No. 20
Weston-McEwen, 1-2, 3-3, No.
19
Riverside (3A), 0-3, 0-7, No. 35
Next up, Ukiah/Long Creek is on
the road Friday, facing the 3A Irrigon
Knights at 5 p.m.
Ukiah/Long Creek volleyball
sweeps Harper
The Ukiah/Long Creek Moun-
tain Lions volleyball team swept the
Harper Hornets in Long Creek Sat-
urday with scores of 25-18, 25-21,
25-17.
It was the Mountain Lions’ final
game of the season.
Head coach Linda Studtmann said,
although they got off to a slow start,
her players worked together, played
well and everyone came off the bench.
“Our captains, Dorotha John-
son and Jenny Kim, did a good job
of leading, encouraging and helping
players,” Studtmann said. “Lucchese
Douglas, a junior, but a first year
player, worked hard to learn the game
and was a valuable asset to the team.”
Studtmann said, win or lose, sports
teach athletes life skills.
“That is where we measure our
success,” she said. “We want to
develop players that are better ath-
letes, better friends, better students,
and better workers.”
Studtmann said she and co-coach
Reagan Enriquez saw their young
junior varsity team learn, grow and
bond together.
Of the nine players they ended
with this season, only two had previ-
ous experience playing volleyball.
“We have watched their spirits fall
and we’ve watched them pull them-
selves back up again and soar,” Studt-
mann said. “They are stronger in skill,
teamwork, discipline, attitude and
determination — in that, I think we
were successful.”
Snowfall challenges Grant
Union’s cross country team at
Idlewild Meet
The Grant Union Prospector var-
sity cross country team was chal-
lenged by the weather, as well as
their opponents at Saturday’s Idlewild
Meet hosted by Burns High School at
Idlewild Campground north of Burns.
“Idlewild was cold, snowy and
slick,” said Grant Union head coach
Sonna Smith. “The treacherous foot-
ing made for slower times for all run-
ners, except for Madelyn Bailey. She
had a season’s best.”
Bailey, a seventh-grader on Grant
Union’s middle school team, placed
fifth out of 12 with a time of 13:55 in
the 3K.
On Thursday, the varsity team
competed at the Kyle Burnside Wild-
horse Invitational in Pendleton, the
layout including two loops on rolling
hills of grass at the golf course.
Setting personal records were
Erika Dickens, Katelyn Hughs and
Mikiah Kimble.
“Erika Dickens had an outstand-
ing race and reached her season goal
of breaking into the 21-minute range,”
Smith said. “She is primed and ready
to go for our home meet and districts,
as I am hoping all runners will be as
we begin our taper phase for districts.”
The Prospectors host the Grant
Union Gold Rush on Thursday at Sev-
enth Street Complex.
Times have been adjusted to avoid
running out of daylight, the coach
said.
Middle school runners start at
4 p.m. with boys and girls running
together.
A senior recognition will be held at
4:25 p.m. with the girls varsity starting
at 4:30 p.m., followed by boys varsity.
The races start and end at Belshaw
Fields at the lower field on the west
side of the complex near the John Day
Parks and Recreation office.
KYLE BURNSIDE WILDHORSE INVITE
RESULTS
GIRLS
Erika Dickens, 24th, 21:38.6
Rylee Browning, 70, 24:04.3
Amelia Hall, 73, 24:11.7
Katelyn Hughes, 82, 25:05.6
Riley Robertson, 98, 28:40.7
Mikiah Kimble, 100, 29:22.8
BOYS
Brady Dole, 59th, 18:49.1
Quinn Larson, 99, 20:15.0
Jesse Randleas, 119, 21:05.9
Max Bailey, 127, 21:59.9
Gage Brandon, 136, 22:42.7
Gavin Lopez, 139, 23:15.0
Donavan Smith, 142, 23:24.4
Idlewild results
GIRLS
Erika Dickens, 9th, 25:59
Katelyn Hughes, 15, 28:12
Riley Robertson, 19, 30:30
Mikiah Kimble, 20, 31:42
BOYS
Brady Dole, 14th, 21:20
Quinn Larson, 22, 22:56
Gage Brandon, 24, 23:15
Gavin Lopez, 36, 25:16
Max Bailey, 39, 25:57
Donavan Smith, 40, 26:50