A8 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2017
Herald Sports
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IN BRIEF
Swimmer Barnard
leads Dawgs to second
LA GRANDE — Herm-
iston’s boys swim team
clocked a second-place fin-
ish behind overall champi-
on La Grande on Saturday
at the La Grande Invitation-
al.
The tournament host
won the girls’ and boys’
team titles with a combined
245 points, which was
more than double that of
second-place Hood River.
Pendleton placed third in
combined team scores with
83 points, and its girls team
placed third as well. Herm-
iston was fifth in combined
scoring with 65.
The Bulldogs won two
events on the boys side
thanks to a big day from
sophomore Ryan Barnard.
Barnard cut three sec-
onds from his personal
record to win the 100-yard
freestyle in 52.66 sec-
onds, and also swam the
anchor for the first-place
400-yard freestyle relay
team that finished with its
best time of the season in
3:34.97.
Barnard also was second
in the 200 freestyle with a
new PR of 1:59.32.
Hermiston’s Gutierrez
makes exclusive roster
HERMISTON — Herm-
iston safety Joey Gutierrez
has will get a jump start on
his senior football season
playing on one of the na-
tion’s most selective 7-on-7
squads.
After a recent tryout,
Gutierrez was chosen for
the Ford Sports Perfor-
mance (FSP) 7on7 squad,
which is the official Adidas
National Travel team out
of the northwest and fin-
ished ranked No. 10 in the
nation in 2016. FSP fields
two varsity level teams, and
regularly features the top
high school players in the
region.
Fifty-five former par-
ticipants have gone on to
play Division I football in
college, and 14 four-star
recruits have come through
the program.
Gutierrez is coming off
a junior season in which
he led Hermiston defensive
backs with five intercep-
tions and four pass defens-
es. He also had 60 tackles
from his strong safety posi-
tion.
Senior golf association
gets set to tee-off
The Columbia Basin Se-
nior Blues Golf Association
plays monthly at courses
throughout the region.
Open to men 50-and-old-
er, the association tees off
the second Monday of each
month, beginning April 10
at The Dalles. In addition,
there’s an opportunity for
two special play dates.
Dues are $85 for the sea-
son, which includes greens
fees and the prize fund for
each course. Golfers are re-
sponsible for their own cart
rentals and food.
The fee must be paid by
Friday, Feb. 17 at Big Riv-
er Golf Course, 709 Wil-
lamette St., Umatilla. For
more information, contact
Megan Olsen at 541-922-
3006 or megan@golfbi-
griver.com.
STAFF PHOTO E.J. HARRIS
Hermiston’s Kody Moss puts up a shot guarded by Hood
River’s Erick Siekkinen and Carson Orr (32) in the Bulldogs’
69-61 win against the Eagles on Thursday in Hermiston.
STAFF PHOTO E.J. HARRIS
Hermiston’s Jordan Ramirez shoots the ball guarded by
Hood River’s Dakota Kurahars in the Bulldogs’ 69-61 win
against the Eagles on Thursday in Hermiston.
Bulldogs open season with pair of wins
Hermiston Herald
HERMISTON — The
first 16 minutes of Thurs-
day’s contest between
Hermiston and Hood River
Valley looked more like a
track meet than a basket-
ball game.
Both teams’ offenses
were efficient, as the Bull-
dogs (14-25 FG, 56 per-
cent) and Eagles (12-26,
46 percent) spent most of
the game action simply
running up and down the
court as the teams traded
baskets left and right. In
total, there were 14 lead
changes and three ties just
in that first half alone.
But the Bulldogs were
able to tighten up some
weak spots on defense at
the halftime break, which
helped boost them to a 69-
61 victory over the Eagles
to remain unbeaten in Co-
lumbia River Conference
play.
“We were just bad on
defense, honestly,” Herm-
iston senior Xavier Rambo
said of the first half effort.
“They were getting wide
open looks and we really
didn’t do anything about
it. But we had a talk in the
break to keep our hands
up and don’t let off, do the
simple things we weren’t
doing in the first half and
it worked.”
Rambo was a big factor
for Hermiston’s offense in
the first half, scoring 16 of
his game-high 21 points
there. The Eagles defense
was slow to keep track
of the quick six-footer, as
Rambo hung out in the
middle of Hood River’s
zone defense at the free
throw line and turned sev-
eral entry passes into easy
floaters and lay-ins.
Holding a 36-30 lead at
the halftime break, Herm-
iston came out in the third
quarter with some fresh
legs and a renewed intensi-
ty on both ends of the floor.
The Bulldogs shot 7-12 (58
percent) from the floor in
the third quarter and then
held Hood River to 5-11
(45 percent) to grow their
lead to 10 points at 55-45
to end the third.
Hermiston bench play-
ers played a big factor in
the third and fourth quar-
ters on Thursday, includ-
ing sophomores Cesar
Ortiz and Ryne Andrea-
son who each chipped in
two 3-pointers and seven
points.
Andreason only recent-
ly came back to play after
missing approximately six
weeks due to a fractured
wrist, and Arstein said he
was really impressed with
how Andreason played.
“I was really proud of
Ryne,” Arstein said. “He’s
one of the smartest kids
in the program, basketball
IQ-wise and he has a great
looking shot. He had a
See BULLDOGS, A9
Hermiston wins home Farm City Tournament
STAFF PHOTO BY ERIC SINGER
Hermiston senior Freddy Rodriguez, center, poses for
a photo with Hermiston boys soccer coach Richard
Harshberger, left, and Walla Walla Community College coach
Ben Rotert, right, on Tuesday at Hermiston High School after
Rodriguez signed his NLOI to play soccer at Walla Walla
starting this fall.
Rodriguez signs
with Walla Walla
Hermiston soccer
star takes talents
to college
By ERIC SINGER
Staff Writer
HERMISTON — Fred-
dy Rodriguez, a star of the
Hermiston soccer team, has
signed on with Walla Wal-
la Community College to
continue his athletic and
academic career.
“It’s honestly a great
feeling,” Rodriguez said
Tuesday, Jan. 24 during
the signing ceremony. “It’s
good to know you’re want-
ed and it feels good to be
playing at the next level
with friends and team-
mates, and they’ll all just
build on you and you’ll
build on them.”
Rodriguez
departs
Hermiston as a four-year
letterwinner at the varsity
level, a four-year staple on
the all-league teams, and a
two-year team captain. Ro-
driguez capped his career
with 24 goals and 12 assists
this season — both team
highs — plus a first team
all-state selection in Class
5A as Hermiston went 12-
4-1 overall and advanced
to the state quarterfinals for
the second straight year.
Walla Walla head coach
Ben Rotert was in atten-
dance for Rodriguez’s sign-
ing, and said that he’s had
his eye on Rodriguez since
the 2015 high school sea-
son.
“I came out to a match
and his movement on
and off the ball, the work
rate he put himself in
goal-scoring opportunities
is what really caught my
eye,” Rotert said. “He’s
a great soccer player and
probably a better person,
so to have a guy that loves
the game, loves to work
hard, but is also willing to
work in the classroom and
just be that overall good
ambassador for the pro-
gram makes it a perfect
fit.”
Rotert’s Walla Walla
Warriors squad is coming
off of a solid season where
the team finished 10-6-4
overall and tied for second
in the NWAC East division
with a 7-6-2 record and
23 points. The Warriors
advanced to the NWAC
Championships,
where
they were ousted in the first
round by eventual-champi-
on Tacoma 3-1 on penalty
kicks.
HERMISTON — After
pinning his first two oppo-
nents in just two minutes,
44 seconds combined,
Hermiston’s Gage Shipley
needed nearly eight min-
utes to edge Milwaukie’s
Jacob Ashley in the
113-pound championship
of the Farm City Tourna-
ment in Hermiston on Sat-
urday.
Shipley finally got the
point he needed in the sec-
ond 30-second tiebreaker
period, which had come
after a one-minute over-
time, and beat Ashley 3-2
for the first of four Bulldog
titles at their home meet.
Hermiston also won the
team title with 271.5 points.
Milwaukie was second with
238.5 and Oregon City was
third with 228.
Also winning titles for
Hermiston were C.J. Hen-
don at 145 pounds, Valen
Wyse at 170, and Beau
Blake at 285.
Riverside and Heppner/
Ione also each had one
individual champion but
placed sixth and seventh in
team points, respectively.
Riverside’s
Aristot-
le Rockwell topped the
132-pound bracket, and
Heppner’s Cord Flynn was
victorious in the 195 finals.
Flynn went up against
Hermiston’s Kenny Bevan
in his final, and won 8-4.
He went 4-0 on the day and
pinned his first two oppo-
nents.
Rockwell beat Bend’s
Daniel Bazan 12-1 in his
final after pinning his other
three opponents.
Hendon won his title
at 145 with a 9-3 decision
over Mathew Lee of Mil-
waukie. He won his first
two matches by pin.
Wyse pinned Bak-
er’s Dylan Felmeier with
10 seconds left in their
170-pound final. His first
three opponents didn’t
make it past the first round
and he finished with four
pins.
Blake also pinned each
of his opponents to go 3-0.
He stuck teammate Emilio
Landin 1:11 into their
heavyweight title show-
down, and totaled just 3:56
for his three matches.
Also reaching finals but
placing second for Herm-
iston were Alice Todryk
(106), Jesus Rodriguez
(126), Julio Leiva (182),
and Corey Mason (220).
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