WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2018
HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A9
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GOLF
Ladies take the Umatilla championship
PHOTO CONTRIBUTED BY MEGAN OLSEN
Bev Miller was first net with 141 and Samantha
Lindley first gross with a 166 during the 2018 Big
River Ladies Club Championships. The event was
held Aug. 18-19 at Big River Golf Course in Umatilla.
STAFF PHOTO BY ERIC SINGER
Hermiston’s Jordan Ramirez, right, prepares for a defensive drill against teammate Andrew James, left, during Wednesday’s
practice at Hermiston High School.
STAFF PHOTO BY BRETT KANE
Kaylynn Jeffery, 14, poses with her street stock racecar.
Hermiston begins
practices for
inaugural season
in WIAA
From Hometown
Heroes to Young Guns
Hermiston
Raceway
celebrates drivers
young and old
By ERIC SINGER
STAFF WRITER
A
new era in Hermiston
High School football
officially began last
week, as the Bulldogs began
their first full-team practices
as members of the Washing-
ton Interscholastic Activi-
ties Association.
Last Wednesday marked
the first day of sanctioned
practices for WIAA mem-
bers, and all kids on Herm-
iston’s 2018 roster strapped
on their helmets and
stepped out on the Kenni-
son Field turf for the first
time in the morning for the
first practice of the day. The
Bulldogs met back on the
field later in the afternoon,
though that session ended
indoors in the gymnasium
as the smoke from North-
west wildfires made the air
unsafe to continue outdoors.
But the Bulldogs did not
let the change of scenery
dampen their excitement to
be back playing football as
they begin preparation for
their Week 1 meeting with
Pasco in just 10 days.
“Any time you can get
a group of young men that
want to get better every
day, it’s an awesome thing,”
Hermiston coach David
Faaeteete said.
As Hermiston begins its
journey into a new confer-
ence and a new state ath-
letic association, the team
will also have plenty of
new faces on the field this
fall. On offense, Hermiston
returns only four starters
overall with senior quarter-
back Andrew James, senior
receiver Jordan Ramirez,
senior offensive lineman
Jacob Liebe and junior
offensive tackle Chase
Bradshaw. And while the
coaches feel pretty confi-
dent with the new guys on
the line, there are a lot of
unknowns at the skill posi-
By BRETT KANE
STAFF WRITER
It was a celebration of
generations young and old
at the Hermiston Raceway
on Saturday night.
The opening ceremo-
nies included an homage
to longtime Hermiston
racer Ron Van Cleve, who
died 13 years ago at the
age of 73 after suffering a
heart attack. Van Cleve’s
daughter Ronda, who took
her name from her father,
waved a checkered flag as
she took a lap around the
course.
Van Cleve also served
as an official at the Tri-City
Raceway.
“He was one of a
kind,” said promoter Greg
Walden. “He enjoyed life
and was always pleasant.”
The heat races soon
kicked off, led by the Ban-
dolero division, which con-
sists of kids between the
ages of eight and 12 driving
cars with 6.5 horsepower
engines. Ryker Ohler — or
as the announcers referred
to him, the “Iceman” —
swept the competition, tak-
ing first place in both the
division’s heat race and
main event.
Ohler, 10, is from
Prosser, Wash., and has
only been racing for a cou-
ple of months.
“I like driving, passing
people, and going fast,” he
said.
Ohler wasn’t the only
young racer to steal the
show: Yakima driver Kay-
lynn Jeffery, 14, was the
only female in her street
stock class, and has been
racing since she was eight.
STAFF PHOTO BY ERIC SINGER
Hermiston head coach David Faaeteete, center, instructs his players during a drill at
Wednesday’s practice at Hermiston High School.
tions still to be figured out
in camp.
With the likes of
Dayshawn Neal, Joey Guti-
errez and Jonathan Hinkle
lost to graduation, Hermis-
ton must replace more than
2,000 receiving yards and
27 touchdowns as well as
more than 2,000 rushing
yards and 28 touchdowns.
“It’s all changed,” James
said. “It’s a whole new
team, a lot of younger guys,
but it’s not going to stop us.
We have the same coaches,
the same mentality as last
year and years before. We
have no clue what’s in front
of us, but we’re just going
to try and do what we do
best.”
The Bulldogs have
nearly just as much produc-
tion to replace on the defen-
sive side of the ball as well,
though Faaeteete is excited
to see how his kids battle
things out throughout these
next few weeks in camp.
“We have tons of new
faces,” he said. “I think I’ll
know more once we finish
up camp and get into that
first game week, but right
now we’re just trying to
teach fundamentals, trying
to coach them up and knock
the rust off after being out
for a while. Right now it’s
setting our depth chart, find-
ing out who our ones, twos,
threes are, and building
depth that way.”
As preparations for the
season begin, the Bulldogs
will have no easy games
on the schedule against
their Mid-Columbia Con-
ference opponents; nearly
every school brings a state
championship pedigree to
the field. Hermiston opens
the season at home against
the Pasco Bulldogs, a bat-
tle being dubbed the ‘Bat-
tle of the Bulldogs,’ but
then hits the road in Week
2 to take on the defending
4A state champion Richland
Bombers.
The Bulldogs then have
home games against Kenne-
wick (Sept. 14), Southridge
(Sept. 28), Eisenhower (Oct.
12, non-league) and Kami-
akin (Oct. 26), while trav-
eling to Walla Walla (Sept.
21), Chiawana (Oct. 5) and
Hanford (Oct. 19).
“We have to play a state
championship-caliber team
every week in our confer-
ence and that’s just how it is
for us now,” Faaeteete said.
“And Tri-Cities schools are
going to travel well. Hun-
dreds of fans each week and
one school maybe even a
thousand, and it’s going to
be that kind of atmosphere
every game at home, every
game on the road, so we’re
pretty excited about it.
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“That type of venue you
don’t always get in high
school football, unless
you’re in the big city like
West Linn versus Jesuit
... it’s going to be a great
atmosphere and we’re super
excited.”
The Bulldogs will also
have another change to its
uniform this season, from
a matte black helmets to a
glossy white shell with pur-
ple facemask. This comes
on the heels of changing the
helmets from gold to black
in 2016, and then introduc-
ing new purple and white
jerseys last season.
Faaeteete said it’s just a
coincidence the team has
yet another new look for its
first year in the WIAA.
“It’s part of the rota-
tion,” he said. “We have to
get our helmets refurbished
every two years, and it costs
the same to just paint a dif-
ferent color, so we tried to
dabble a little bit, be a little
flashy. “
People are invited to dis-
cuss the upcoming season
with Faaeteete at the Herm-
iston Linebacker Club.
The club will meet Thurs-
day, Aug. 30 at noon at Des-
ert Lanes, 1545 N. First St.
Those planning to attend the
no-host luncheon are asked
to RSVP by Aug. 29 by call-
ing 541-567-5215.
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HERMISTON RACEWAY RESULTS
August 18th
HORNETS
1. (777) Devin Taylor; 2. (77) David
Knowles; 3. (18) Karin Pitzer; 4. (17) Ked-
ric Preston; 5. (13) Ryan Rodabaugh; 6.
(12) Kris Marlow; 7. (69) Cody McDonald;
8. (21) Owen Berglund; 9. (24) Justus
Zamudio; 10. (11) Joe Dunn; 11. (7) Tracy
“Snoop” Howell; 12. (5) Andrew Decker;
13. (1) Rob “Ricky Bobby” Cassano; 14.
(22) Caroline Barnes; 15. (09) Malorie
Whitbeck.
BOMBERS
1. (123) Shade Cole; 2. (17) Kedric
Preston; 3. (55) Justin Gage; 4. (N21K)
Carl Leggett; 5. (2) Brian Calley.
STREET STOCKS
1. (46) Terry Osborn; 2. (68) Bart Hector
Jr.; 3. (28) Kaylynn Jeffery; 4. (77) Jeff
Stremcha; 5. (18) Adam Baker.
MINI STOCKS
1. (49) Angel Oseguera; 2. (18) Jeff
Mullins; 3. (29) Andy Pierce; 4. (36) Travis
Bonney.
SUPER MINIS
1. (11x) Patrick Mullins; 2. (11) Chris
Kohler; 3. (27) Ron Wilbur.
LATE MODELS
1. (3) Ken Bonney; 2. (15) Jeff Whitbeck;
3. (7) Tom Abercrombie; 4. (37) Charles
McDonald.
BANDELEROS
1. (13) Ryker Ohler; 2. (77) Jordan Mul-
lins; 3. (5) Brock Genz; 4. (47) Meredith
Thompson.
COLUMBIA RIVER LEGENDS
1. (3) Neena Kik; 2. (66) Austin Sno-
dgrass; 3. (54) Trace Thompson; 4. (24)
Jose Zamudio; 5. (43) Bill Kik; 6. (13)
Donnie Rabbit; 7. (2) Jeff Mueller; 8. (01)
Brock McDonough; 9. (10) Lloyd Bigler.
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“I love the adrenaline
rush,” she said. “There’s
nothing better than driving
fast and turning left.”
Jeffery even purchased
her current race car on her
own when she was 11 —
with $2,000 of her own
money, earned by selling
her first car. She ended up
taking third place in the
street stock main event.
“With these kids, it’s
all business,” Walden
said. “They don’t resem-
ble a normal kid; they’re
racers.”
The Raceway’s main
attraction for the night was
the Columbia River Leg-
ends: a class that races
strictly in older cars that
run on motorcycle engines.
“They’re hard cars to
drive. There’s a ton of
horse power in those tiny,
little cars,” Walden said.
“They’re
overpowered
beasts.”
Neena Kik of Hermis-
ton took first place in the
division’s main event.
The Raceway’s next
event will be held on Sat-
urday, Sept. 8 at 6 p.m.
————
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