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About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (March 14, 2015)
A10 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM SATURDAY, MARCH 14, 2015 SPORTS Hoopsters bring home COUGARS: medals from Special Olympics regional tourney BY SAM BARBEE HERMISTON HERALD The Hermiston/Pendle- ton Special Olympics team sent 27 athletes to Hillsboro Sunday for the regional bas- ketball tournament, and all 27 returned with medals. Of the 27, four were mem- bers of an individual skills team, called the Live Wires, nine were members of three different 3-on-3 teams called the Thunder, Lightning and Currents, and the rest were members of the 5-on-5 Shock- ers. The Thunder took home the gold medal after four games and earned a small slice of re- venge after beating a team to which it had previously lost. The Currents took silver, and RUNNERS: continued from page A9 have people that you know as your teammates there, it’s not gonna feel like that much of a difference.” It was important to Le- mus-Cisneros, Zitterkob and Chavez that they run together. They have been teammates for as long as they can remember, and they said it would be spe- cial if they could remain so at the next level. Eastern Oregon boasts a successful NAIA program that features a national champion and a number RESILIENCE: continued from page A9 a fantastic coaching job to keep the girls positive and excited. the Lightning and Thunder each earned bronze medals. The Thunder were given the sportsmanship award. Juan Peterson and Vivian McEachran each won gold medals in the individual skills competition, Lyall Arey won silver and Misty Larsen took KRPH EURQ]H LQ KHU ¿UVW ,6& competition. A major challenge for the 27 athletes was getting enough gym time before the competi- tion. They only practice once a week at Sandstone Middle 6FKRRO DQG ¿WWLQJ WKDW PDQ\ athletes into one gym for an hour can be a struggle, coach Kristi Smalley said Friday. “It was really like a three- ring circus in the gym to try and get the athletes good prac- tice and ready for the compe- tition,” she said. ,Q WKH ¿QDO HYHU\ SOD\HU on the Thunder made at least two baskets, and, Smalley said, one player was “mak- ing a conscious effort” to feed teammates the ball who hadn’t yet scored. “He wanted to give them a chance to shine,” Smalley said. “Our athletes, they want to support each other.” The players weren’t just focused on their own team, however. When opponents scored, they clapped and cheered like they were team- mates. “The one thing that always shines through with our ath- letes that they demonstrate over and over again is their sportsmanship,” Smalley said. ¿HOGDUHLQGLIIHUHQWFODV- VL¿FDWLRQV RQ WKHLU RZQ the schools often com- continued from page A9 pete against each in other Bailey said he needs sports. Echo and Stan- those four girls to con- ¿HOG SOD\HG WZLFH WKLV tribute and, more impor- winter in girls basketball tantly, lead. games. Bailey acknowl- Bailey called Parks, a HGJHGLWKDVEHHQGLI¿FXOW junior, “the glue” of last in past years to bring two year’s team, and her role separate groups of girls behind the plate could together for a common make or break Echo’s cause. season. “We break that wall “She is going to be a down immediately,” Bai- huge part of this team,” ley said. “We’re now one Bailey said. “She knows team. We’re called Cou- what it takes to be a lead- gar softball. We’re Echo er.” Cougar softball. We break Last season was a dis- WKDW ZDOO GRZQ ¿UVW DQG appointing year for Echo. they seem to understand Now, Bailey said, with it and work through it.” the majority of the roster But there’s another as- returning, the Cougars are pect of the winter sports primed to have a breakout season also directly im- year in the EOL. pacts Echo softball: suc- Echo softball, like its cess. baseball team counter- Both the Echo and SDUW LQ 6WDQ¿HOG LV LQ DQ 6WDQ¿HOG JLUOV EDVNHWEDOO unusual situation; girls teams were successful by from two schools come their own standards. Echo together to play on the split the league champi- same team. onship, won the district While Echo and Stan- tournament and hosted a SOD\RIIJDPHIRUWKH¿UVW WLPHLQGHFDGHV6WDQ¿HOG increased its win total 10 fold this season and got a taste of playoff basket- ball. To Bailey, that suc- cess is just as important as good softball skills. The girls are starting the season with positive at- titudes and are ready to compete. ³,WEUHHGVFRQ¿GHQFH´ Bailey said. “The one I really see it in is Bailey Strofe. Last year, she took on the role of being our shortstop, and she strug- gled at it. She just didn’t KDYH WKH FRQ¿GHQFH DQG this year, with the success of basketball, she rolled right into softball practice and you could just see WKH FRQ¿GHQFH (FKR softball for years was a laughingstock, but a little success here and there, and it starts clicking.” The Cougars will play their season open- er at 4 p.m. Monday at Heppner. of top performers. Umatil- la cross country coach and assistant track coach Josh Ego also ran at EOU, and he gave the three sprinters insight into the program. “He really enjoyed it, how close the team was, and it was something I wanted to be a part of,” Chavez said. Eastern wasn’t alone in its pursuit of the three Vi- kings. Southern Oregon came calling, as well as Western Oregon and some colleges in Washington. Lemus-Cisneros said she knew all along she wanted to stay in the area and go to Eastern. “I think we kind of all convinced each other to go together,” Chavez said. “I would see them going to look at other colleges, and I would say, ‘Are you sure you don’t want to go to Eastern?’ And they would just slowly start convincing each other they wanted to go to Eastern. I think we all wanted to go there because it offered (the) academics we wanted and for sports and everything.” Zitterkob said she wants to study nursing. Lemus-Cisneros plans on studying heath, and Chavez wants to pursue photo jour- nalism. Amie Zitterkob (left), Andrea Lemus-Cisneros (center) and Berenice Chavez sign their National Letters of Intent to run track at Eastern Oregon University Thursday. It’s really not a surprise they played in the state championship game, and that never seemed out of the realm of possibility. But it was close. After the play-in round win over Crescent Valley, Hoffert said then that the season was a success, that they already achieved great things. They came out of the insanely strong field in Lake Oswego with a good showing, and they beat the No.1-ranked team on its home floor and then continued its dominance over the CRC. SUBMITTED PHOTO So, in his mind, Friday’s result wasn’t make or break for him. The Bulldogs already proved their mettle as a team. And for a coach, that’s a team of champions. —Sam Barbee is the sports reporter for the Hermiston Herald and can be reached at (541) 564-4542 or sbarbee@ hermistonherald.com CLASSIFIED M ARK ETPL A C E Pla ce cla ssified a d s on lin e a t w w w.herm iston hera ld .com or ca ll 5 4 1-278-26 78 C O N TAC T US EDITIO N S DEADLIN ES 24 HO UR S ERVIC E 333 E. M a in Herm isto n , O rego n 97838 Cla ssified : 1-800-962-2819 Fa x: (541) 567-1764 Cla ssified em a il: cla ssified s@ herm isto n hera ld .co m W ed n esd a y Sa tu rd a y 3 p.m . M o n d a y 3 p.m . Thu rsd a y Cla ssified : 1-800-962-2819 Fa x: (541) 278-2680 • (541) 567-1764 Circu la tio n a n d m a in sw itchbo a rd : 1-800-522-0255 cla ssified s@ ea sto rego n ia n .co m Lea ve u s a m essa ge a n d w e w ill co n firm yo u r a d the n ext w o rk in g d a y. Dea d lin es fo r a d vertisem en ts to a ppea r in the Herm isto n Hera ld fo r a ll cla ssified lin e a d s. W e Accept To ll Free in O rego n : 1-800-522-0255 211 S.E. Byers • Pen d leto n , O rego n 97801 Cla ssified : 1-800-962-2819 Fa x: (541) 278-2680 Lost & Found 5 2 ALASKAN Malamutes, one male one female, approximately 3 years old. Found on Isaacʼs & SE 3rd. Male was dragging a chain. Call PAWS 541-276-0181 You Can Find Your Dream Home Check out our Real Estate listings in Classified! 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