A10 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
WEDNESDAY, MAY 30, 2018
SPORTS
SPORTS BRIEFS
Ex-Bulldog earns
BMCC holds select
All-American status basketball tryouts
GULF SHORES, Ala.
— Makayla Akers, the
Hermiston alumnae and
current Eastern Oregon
University athlete, earned
NAIA All-American status
while competing at the
NAIA National Track and
Field Championships on
Thursday.
Akers earned her All-
American honor with
a sixth place finish in
women’s javelin throw
with a distance of 137 feet,
6 inches. The freshman
qualified for the javelin
finals Wednesday, when
she threw the seventh best
distance in the NAIA at
43.13 meters.
STAFF PHOTO BY ALEXIS MANSANAREZ
Three Echo Cougars committed to their respective colleges Monday. Daylon Eng (left) and Hayden Hilliard (middle) will be
joining Blue Mountain CC’s rodeo team and Alyssa Ray (right) will be playing softball for George Fox.
Three Cougars college-bound
Ray to play softball
at George Fox,
Cowboys Hilliard
and Eng commit to
rodeo at BMCC
By ALEXIS MANSANAREZ
STAFF WRITER
ECHO — Echo soft-
ball’s standout pitcher
Alyssa Ray didn’t think
she would be playing the
sport at the collegiate level.
After starting at the age of
five, a bad experience in
her early teens put her off
softball, but now she’s part
of Echo’s first-ever district
and conference champion-
ship team.
“It’s super exciting,”
Ray said. “I know as a
freshman I never realized
or thought that I would go
to a college to play soft-
ball and now that our team
is doing so good, it’s just a
great way to end my senior
year.”
Ray signed her National
Letter of Intent on Mon-
day to play at George Fox
University, a NCAA Divi-
sion-III school in the
nine-member
Northwest
Conference.
The university, located
in Newberg about three
hours west of Portland,
checked all of Ray’s boxes.
She had previously
talked to a couple of
schools but once Ray’s
father put the Bruin bug in
her ear, she reached out.
“Coach (Jessica) Hollen
was amazing at e-mailing
me back,” Ray said. “She
made me feel appreciated
and noticed me.”
Ray then decided to visit
her prospective school,
attend a softball camp and
seal the deal — all before
her senior season.
“I just feel like I was a
part of them and they really
cared about who I was,”
she added.
Ray will join four other
pitchers and be the fifth in
the Bruins bullpen under
10-year veteran Hollen —
the 2012 and 2015 North-
west Conference Coach of
the Year. This past season,
the Bruins recorded their
fifth straight winning sea-
son with an overall record
of 35-11, improving from
the 20-17 last year’s season.
Two other Cougars also
committed to continu-
ing their respective sport
at the next level. Hayden
Hilliard and Daylon Eng
will be joining Blue Moun-
tain Community College’s
rodeo team.
The top two cowboys in
the state took slightly dif-
ferent roads to get to the
same team.
For Eng, he started com-
peting his sophomore year
after making the switch
from baseball. By his sec-
ond year, he was Wash-
ington State’s high school
rodeo champion.
“I was hoping I would
get the chance,” he said of
continuing in college, “and
TrackTown Youth
League comes to
Hermiston
just working really hard at
it to get where I’m at.”
For Hilliard, he started
getting on calves and steers
around the age of six with
the hope of always moving
up the ranks, but initially
thought he would skip the
college step.
“I wasn’t even going to
go to college to start with,”
he said. “I was just going to
go pro rodeo.”
But the close commute
and the chance to catch
pro-circuit judges’ attention
while still improving was
an opportunity neither Hil-
liard or Eng could pass up.
“There’s a level of expo-
sure,” BMCC coach Shawn
Eng said. “I would like to
see them finish out strong
this year in their high
school events, whether they
be first or third of fourth.
They’ve got to look at the
big picture; no matter how
they do this year it’s fine.
“If I would like to see
anything, it’s to see them be
successful and know there’s
another stepping stone.”
HERMISTON
—
The TrackTown Youth
League will be coming to
Kennison Field for a meet
Thursday. The event is
open to youth ages 7-14
and free of charge. The
meet is scheduled for 5:30
p.m. with pre-registered
participant check-in from
4:30-5:15 p.m., and day-of
registration from 4:15-4:45
p.m. There is no previous
track experience necessary,
and the events will range
from the 1,500-meter run
to the 400- and 100-meter
dash, as well as field events
like long jump and turbo
javelin.
The top two finishers
in each event and age
group
will
qualify
for
the
statewide
TrackTown Youth League
Championship Meet at
Hayward Field in Eugene
in June.
Pre-registration
is
recommended, and for more
information visit www.
tracktownyouthleague.
com/meets.
PENDLETON
— On Saturday and
Sunday, Blue Mountain
Community College hold
select basketball tryouts
in Pendleton. Any high
school-aged boy with a
minimum of one year of
eligibility is welcome to
register.
Select Basketball will
host traveling basketball
teams in July. The teams
are made up of from players
entering their freshman
year through their senior
year of high school. Each
summer, 12-15 teams will
travel to various NCAA
certified tournaments in
the West.
More information at
selectbasketballusa.com.
George Fox coach
leading Heppner
basketball camp
HEPPNER — The
Heppner High School
girls basketball program is
hosting a basketball camp
on June 11-12 for all girls
going into grades 5-12.
The camp will be led
by George Fox University
head coach Michael Meek,
now in his eighth season
coaching
the
Bruins
with a record of 180-27
(.870) through his first
seven seasons. Meek was
named the 2011-12 NCAA
Division III Coach of the
Year by D3Hoops.com,
and he had a prior stop at
Southridge High School
where he won various
national and state coaching
accolades.
There is no cost for
Heppner students. The
camp is split up into three
sessions: 9-11 a.m. for
grades 5-8 (fundamentals),
1-3 p.m. for grades 5-12 to
(shooting), and 5-8 p.m.
is a team camp for high
schoolers.
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