SPORTS
Blue Mountain Eagle
A10
Wednesday, March 16, 2022
High expectations for Lady Pros
By JUSTIN DAVIS
Blue Mountain Eagle
Justin Davis/Blue Mountain Eagle
Seniors Luke Jackson and Kate Hughes just before the start of
practice on March 3, 2022. The two are among the many return-
ing athletes bringing experience to the Grant Union boys and
girls track teams this season.
Justin Davis/Blue Mountain Eagle
Riley Robertson makes contact with the ball on Friday, March 11, 2022, during practice with the
Grant Union softball team.
“We’ve put together a very
tough preseason schedule, and
our goal is to compete in those
games, see good teams with
good pitching and gain expe-
rience that will help us as we
move into our league sched-
ule,” Williams said.
Being competitive both in
those preseason games and
later in league play will rest
heavily on Grant Union’s vet-
eran pitchers and balanced
play on both sides of the ball.
“We deﬁ nitely have experi-
enced pitchers, although they
are young. Both of our start-
ers from last season are back
as sophomores, and we have
talented freshmen coming up
as well as a senior returner that
should help us out well,” Wil-
liams said.
Oﬀ ensively and defen-
sively, coach Williams thinks
the group is talented enough to
make this season special.
“Our oﬀ ense has good
power and the ability to hit
for average top to bottom,” he
said. “Our defense should be
good as well; we have a mix
of youth and experience in the
outﬁ eld with good arms all
over the ﬁ eld.”
The team’s biggest chal-
lenge will be navigating a
tough Blue Mountain Confer-
ence and matching up with the
best teams in the state if the
Lady Prospectors make it into
the postseason.
“Union,
Echo/Stanﬁ eld
and Weston-Mcewan are
always tough. Aside from our
league, I expect Kennedy to be
very good again, and we have
them in a preseason matchup
on their ﬁ eld,” said Williams.
Expectations are indeed
high, but Williams wants
his team to have fun and
build memories playing the
game.
“This is still high school
sports, and I want these girls
to have a great season, enjoy
their high school years play-
ing sports and make great
friends.”
Williams also wants to
instill values in his team that
will carry over when their
playing days are over.
“We hope to build good
character and teach lessons
that go beyond softball or ath-
letics,” he added.
The Lady Prospectors
begin the 2022 season on
Thursday, March 17, at home
against Burns. Williams hopes
the presence of fans gives
his team a nice home ﬁ eld
advantage.
“The game starts at 3 p.m.
and we would love to see peo-
ple out cheering the girls on.”
SHOOTING THE BREEZE
.220 Swift has long history but it can still do the job
S
Contributed Photo
The .220 Swift, left, next to its more pop-
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ton.
matter what you needed to plan on a
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Some riﬂ es, shot repeatedly (as with
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Despite what you may have heard,
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Grant Union track
team enters season
with plenty of
experience
By JUSTIN DAVIS
Blue Mountain Eagle
JOHN DAY — Longtime
Grant Union head track coach
Sonna Smith is set to begin
the team’s 2022 season with
a plethora of senior leadership
and a number of underclass-
men with experience at the
state meet.
Smith started coaching
track at Grant Union in 1995
as the distance coach. Two
years later she assumed the
role of head coach while still
specializing in distance run-
ning, sprints and relays.
The boys are the defending
Wapiti League champions and
were runners-up at the state
meet last season, coming just
15 points short of a state title.
The girls placed ﬁ fth in the
Wapiti League last year and
gained valuable experience for
the upcoming season despite
not placing at the state meet.
Smith says the team will
beneﬁ t from a deep roster and
the leadership and experience
of the seniors, who make up a
quarter of the squad.
“Our strength this year will
rely on the number of athletes
out. We have 19 girls and 20
boys. I have 10 seniors out this
year, and we will be relying on
their strength in events and on
their experience,” Smith said.
Expectations for the boys
are high. After a second-place
ﬁ nish at state in 2021, Smith is
setting her sights on a similar
result in 2022.
“We are hoping to place
top ﬁ ve in state for the boys
again.”
The boys team will rely
on half of the defending state
4x100 relay team in seniors
Justin Hodge and Luke Jack-
son. Hodge also placed third
at state in the shot put. Junior
Eli Wright placed third in the
javelin at the state meet and
rounds out the returning state
placers for the boys.
Aside from the state plac-
ers, the boys have three other
athletes with experience at the
state meet.
While the girls didn’t place
in state last season, they return
a host of district placers and
athletes with experience at the
state meet.
Seniors Kate Hughes
and Carson Weaver are both
members of the 4x100 relay
team that placed third in dis-
trict. Hughes also runs the
300 meter hurdles and placed
third in that event at the dis-
trict meet last season. Weaver
placed third at district in the
high jump.
Junior Katie Rigby com-
pletes the list of district plac-
ers for the girls, placing sec-
ond in the triple jump last
season.
Despite the ﬁ nish last
year, Smith sees progress on
the horizon for the girls team
given their performances in
the years prior to the COVID
pandemic.
“Last year was a rebuild-
ing year for the girls, and we
will continue to improve this
year,” she said.
Prior to the pandemic, the
girls team won a state cham-
pionship and followed that
up with three straight sec-
ond-place ﬁ nishes in state.
Part of making state aspi-
rations a reality will be navi-
gating an always tough Wapiti
League.
“We have one of the tough-
est 2A track leagues in the
state, especially in the distance
events,” Smith said.
The pandemic has made
scouting the league as a whole
tough for Smith, however.
“Because of the last two
COVID-altered seasons, I
don’t have an idea on which
teams will be the strongest in
our league this year,” she said.
“We hope to be one of the top
contenders for both the girls
and boys.”
Grant Union will play host
to a pair of meets this spring,
and coach Smith says the team
can always use help.
“We have two home meets
this season, April 5 and May
6,” she said. “We always need
lots of volunteers to make the
meets run smoothly.”
Smith also stressed the
importance of family sup-
port in creating a home ﬁ eld
advantage.
“I would also like to thank
parents in advance,” she said.
“They are always a huge
support for the team and at
meets.”
Grant Union begins com-
petition for the 2022 sea-
son at the Ice Breaker Meet
in Prineville on March 17.
Field events start at 4:30
p.m and track events start at
5:30 p.m.
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Dale Valade is a local country gent
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eeing the increasing public inter-
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Coming back strong
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JOHN DAY — Following
a stellar campaign in 2021
that culminated in a sec-
ond-place ﬁ nish in the state,
expectations for the Grant
Union softball team this sea-
son are high.
The task of preparing the
team for a tough Blue Moun-
tain Conference schedule
and managing those high
expectations falls on Grant
Union softball coach Zach
Williams. Williams lost just
three seniors to graduation
last season, returning a crop
of experienced players that
can once again make a run at
a state championship.
For Williams, the high
expectations don’t neces-
sarily mean the season is
state championship or bust,
however.
“I won’t disagree that a
state championship is a legit-
imate possibility, but a lot of
things have to go right for
that to happen. Weather, team
chemistry and luck will all
play a role, along with the tal-
ent we have and the ability of
the team to play together. The
goal is always a state title, but
I wouldn’t say state title or
bust.”
Williams also says his
coaching staﬀ stresses taking
the season one game at a time
and refraining from talking
about things further down the
road.
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