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MyEagleNews.com
Wednesday, September 1, 2021
A9
WEDNESDAY
September 1, 2021
Prairie City volleyball team poised for a good season
Panthers top Grant
Union junior varsity,
Enterprise
By Steven Mitchell
Blue Mountain Eagle
Despite being eliminated
in pool play Saturday at the
Grant Union High Invita-
tional Volleyball Tournament
in John Day, the Prairie City
Panthers kicked off their sea-
son with a bang and have high
hopes.
The Panthers defeated
Grant Union’s junior var-
sity team 25-21 in their first
Betty Ann
Wilson
The Eagle/Steven Mitchell
Jordan Bass, Prairie City volleyball head coach.
set and 25-12 in their sec-
ond. After that, they made
quick work of Enterprise,
taking the first set 25-19
Laken McKay
Hannah
Wall
and the second 25-16.
They took a tie in their
matchup against Heppner,
dominating the fi rst set 25-9
and falling short in the second
25-23. The Lady Panthers
fell 2-0 in their fi nal matchup
against Weston-McEwen.
Midway through the tour-
ney Saturday, junior Betty
Ann Wilson said the squad
Zinny Locke
was playing well as a team
but could “be a little cleaned
up.”
Hannah Wall said what
most people do not know
about the team is that, in
addition to being highly
competitive, they have an
“unbreakable bond.”
“We’re very close,” Wall
said.
Wilson said the highly
competitive
streak
of
the team could be a dou-
ble-edged sword.
“Sometimes it makes it
not as great,” she said. “But
sometimes it makes it super
good.”
Wilson said the team
grew up together, and they
have played together for
quite some time.
Zinny Locke, the team’s
libero, who joined the team
this year after transferring
from Grant Union High
School, said the group wel-
comed her with open arms.
“Everyone is all really
welcoming
and
really
sweet,” she said.
Lady Pros take top spot
at home tournament
Volleyball team travels
to Heppner Saturday
By Steven Mitchell
Blue Mountain Eagle
Eagle fi le photo
The Grant Union Prospec-
tors volleyball team took fi rst
place in the Grant Union Invi-
tational Tournament Saturday
to kick off the season.
In the all-day, six-school
pool tournament in the Grant
Union High School gym, the
Lady Pros won six games in
pool play before heading into
their bracket.
Grant Union faced Crane
in the semifi nals and won the
fi rst set 25-18 and the second
25-20.
Prospectors head coach
Shanna Northway said the
team had been sitting for two
and a half hours before their
game against Crane and came
out “kind of fl at,” and it took a
little bit to get going.
But the Lady Pros rode the
momentum from the win over
Crane into the fi nals, dominat-
Panthers head coach Nick Thompson huddles up with his of-
fense during a game last spring.
The Eagle/Steven Mitchell
From left, Grant Union sophomore Halle Parsons, sophomore Brilynn Combs, head coach Shanna
Northway, senior Grace Taylor, senior Paige Gerry, sophomore Drewsey Williams, senior Carson
Weaver, sophomore Jaydika Anderson, senior Lauryn Pettyjohn and freshman Addy Northway cel-
ebrate after their fi rst-place fi nish Saturday at the Grant Union Invitational Tournament.
Lauryn
Petttyjohn
Grace
Taylor
ing Jordan Valley in two deci-
sive sets, 25-20 in the fi rst and
25-11 in the second.
Northway said the team is
playing well together and has
great chemistry. She said they
are a strong-serving team.
“We just keep other teams
from being able to get into
their off ense,” she said. “Jor-
dan Valley has some really,
really great hitters, and we
didn’t have to defend them
because they just couldn’t get
into their off ense.”
Lauryn Pettyjohn said the
communication between the
team has been much better
this year.
“Our communication has
made a big diff erence,” Pet-
tyjohn said. “We kind of have
better team chemistry than we
did last year.”
Next up, Grant Union’s
volleyball team will travel to
the Heppner Invitational Tour-
nament on Sept. 4. The com-
petition kicks off at 9 a.m. at
Heppner High School.
Silvies to host championships for golf associations
Blue Mountain Eagle
Silvies Valley Ranch will be the host
of two upcoming golf tournaments in the
Pacifi c Northwest region.
The Pacifi c Northwest Golf Asso-
ciation will be having its 37th Men’s
Mid-Amateur Championship Sept. 14-16.
The Oregon Golf Association 17th Tour
Championship will be held the following
weekend, Sept. 25-26.
The PNGA Men’s Mid-Amateur Cham-
pionship features a 54-hole stroke format
that will be played on the ranch’s Hankins
and Craddock courses. The schedule of the
tournament is as follows:
Round 1: Tuesday, Sept. 14 – Craddock
Course
Round 2: Wednesday, Sept. 15 –
Hankins Course
Round 3: Thursday, Sept. 16 – Crad-
dock Course
The PNGA held its fi rst Mid-Amateur
championship in 1985 at the Skagit Golf
and Country Club. The last champion of
the tournament was Jon McCaslin back
in 2019 at The Home Course in DuPont,
Washington.
The OGA’s Tour Championship is an
invitation-only, two-day event that features
both individual and partner competitions.
The Individual Series will be composed of
36 holes of individual stroke play. The Part-
ner Series will feature 36 holes of four-ball
play, where the lower score of the two part-
ners is the team score for each hole.
OGA competitions are held annually at
select public and private courses through-
out Oregon and Southwest Washington.
For more information about Sil-
vies Valley Ranch, visit silvies.us or call
1-800-SILVIES.
Sherman sets state weightlifting record
Bench press and deadlift
wins earn gym owner
‘Most Inspirational’ award
By Steven Mitchell
Blue Mountain Eagle
A Grant County gym owner set two
state weightlifting records on Aug. 14
at the Idaho State Championships in
New Plymouth.
Megan Sherman, the owner of Can-
yon Creek Cross Training in John Day,
set the state record in bench press and
deadlift, winning the competition’s
“Most Inspirational” award.
Sherman, 37, said after she missed
the three attempts on the squats por-
SPORTS SCHEDULE
FRIDAY, SEPT. 3
Prairie City/Burnt River football @ Dayville/
Monument, 1 p.m.
Prairie City/Burnt River volleyball @ Day-
ville/Monument — canceled
SATURDAY, SEPT. 4
Grant Union volleyball @ Heppner Invita-
tional Tournament, Heppner High School,
9 a.m.
Prairie City/Burnt River volleyball vs. Ione/
Arlington, TBD
tion of the weightlift-
ing competition, she
returned and took the
top spot in bench press
and deadlift in the
148-pound division.
On her first attempt
Megan
on the squats, she said
Sherman
she missed the rack,
and then on the sec-
ond, she said she did not get deep
enough on the squat. On the third,
Sherman said she decided to up her
weight and could not get it back up.
“It was a little bit of a heartbreak,”
Sherman said. “I almost cried.”
She said she had some disruptions
in her routine, which included a lack
of sleep. The disruption in her prac-
tice, coupled with the pressure of per-
forming in front of a crowd of upwards
of 200 people and about 50 other lift-
ers, got “in her head,” she said.
She said she had to get herself back
to a place of “pure focus.”
Sherman said she has multiple state
records. For example, in the non-drug
tested division, she has the squat,
bench and total weight records.
Sherman said her goal in compet-
ing in the contests is to come in and
set a bar for someone else to try to
beat.
She said the competitions also get
her out of her comfort zone as she said
she is a little “introverted.”
“It’s kind of fun for me to go (com-
pete),” she said. “ And if I come back
with something, then it’s more accred-
itation for my gym.”
‘The mindset of
a successful team’
Panther football
team shows promise
at jamboree
By Steven Mitchell
Blue Mountain Eagle
Prairie City’s foot-
ball made a good showing
Saturday at the jamboree
game in Echo.
Nick Thompson, Pan-
thers head coach, said
in addition to Echo, the
squad faced teams from
Huntington, Joseph and
Wasco.
In the jamboree format,
Thompson said each team
gets about 10 plays on
off ense or defense against
each opponent.
Though it was less
game time than a full quar-
ter, Thompson said it was
an excellent opportunity to
see how they would match
up against the rest of the
league this season.
Thompson said, by
watching the fi lm from
the contest and talking to
spectators, he believes the
High Desert League should
be competitive this year,
which, he said, is a “good
thing.”
“Rather than having
one really dominant team
or two dominant teams,
I think it’s going to be up
for grabs,” he said. “I’m
excited about that.”
Thompson said the Pan-
ther defense did not allow
Echo to get a fi rst down to
kick off the jamboree.
He said off ensive high-
lights included two rushing
touchdowns from junior
Cole Teel. One of Teel’s
touchdowns was a 50-yard
rush, Thompson said.
He said sophomore
Lane Clark, a backup run-
ning back, stepped up and
showed “good things” as
well.
“He’s never played
running back and showed
some really good things,”
Thompson said.
Overall,
Thompson
said Clark rushed for 50
yards and got an intercep-
tion during the defensive
series against Huntington.
“He did really well,”
Thompson said. “I was
impressed.”
Thompson said Wes
Voigt, who stepped up as
quarterback as a freshman,
connected with senior
John Titus for a 50-yard
touchdown pass.
Thompson said sopho-
more guard Cody Reagan
had two receptions and
played well on the offen-
sive and defensive lines.
He said Reagan caused
pressure on defense and
split a sack with junior
Eli Wright, and then got
another one by himself.
Thompson said Tucker
Wright, who played line-
backer, stepped up defen-
sively as well and got an
interception.
Overall,
Thompson
said the Panthers are play-
ing well as a team. At the
same time, he said, they
have improvements to
make.
He said the team has
new additions from Grant
Union with brothers Eli
and Tucker Wright, and
Trey Brown.
Thompson said the
Panthers are more mature
this season with an eager-
ness to learn.
He said he talked to a
couple of the players on
the bus ride home Sat-
urday about wanting to
see their teammates suc-
ceed as much or more
than they want to succeed
themselves.
That, Thompson said,
“is the mindset of a suc-
cessful team.”
Grant Union boys cross country team ranked fi fth overall in poll
By Steven Mitchell
Blue Mountain Eagle
A coach’s preseason poll
ranked the Grant Union boys
cross country team fifth overall
in Divisions 1A-2A.
Sonna Smith, Grant Union’s
boys cross country head coach,
said the team has all but two
returning runners from last
year’s squad. Smith noted in
a Monday email the team was
ranked eighth in the state for
Divisions 1A-2A at the end of
last season.
This season, Smith said, the
team has two new freshman
boys to round out the team,
Logan Randleas and Reid Dole.
She said the girls team did
not get ranked in the top 10.
However, she pointed out they
compete in divisions 1A-3A, a
much larger pool.
The girls team, Smith said,
did not lose any runners last
season, and this year, she said,
they added two freshmen Eliza
Ashley and Maddie Bailey, a
sophomore Alyssa Catalani and
a junior Emma Schlarbaum.
Seventh Street Complex
Time Trials
Boys
Brady Dole: 18:34
Quinn Larson: 20:31
Logan Randleas: 22:08
Max Bailey: 22:59
Skylar Boyd: 23:33
Reid Dole: 24:36
Landon Boyd: 25:27
Girls
Maddie Bailey: 24:33
Kate Hughes: 25:50
Abbie Justice: 29:23
Riley Robertson: 30:30
Alici Archibald: no time
Emma Schlarbaum: no time
Alyssa Catalani: no time
Paige Weaver: no time