WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 29, 2018
HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A9
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BRIEFS
Holiday weekend
features free fishing
The Oregon Depart-
ment of Fish & Wildlife
encourages people to reel
in some fun during the
Labor Day weekend.
Free fishing is avail-
able Saturday and Sunday
throughout the state. Peo-
ple can fish, crab or clam
anywhere in Oregon with-
out a license or tag. How-
ever, anglers are reminded
that fishing regulations and
bag limits still apply.
For more information,
contact Jenny Ammon
at jenny.l.ammon@state.
or.us, 503-947-9081 or
visit www.myodfw.com.
HH FILE PHOTO
Hermiston’s Scout Reagan looks at the timer’s clock during the 2018 OSAA State Track and Field Championships as she
crosses the finish line of the 5A girls 100-meter dash finals. Track and field remains the most popular girls high school sport
in Oregon.
Prep sports participation drops
Oregon
participation hits
a five-year low in
2017-18
HERMISTON HERALD
Participation in high
school sports was down
in the state of Oregon for
the 2017-18 season, with
the number dipping below
100,000 for the first time
since 2012-13.
The National Federation
of State High School Ath-
letic Associations released
its annual nationwide ath-
letics participation report
on Friday, where it reported
that there were 99,907 total
participants in Oregon ath-
letics last year — 55,572
boys and 44,335 girls. All
three numbers are down
from the previous year,
with 102,762 participants
— 57,651 boys and 45,111
girls.
It is a continued trend of
fewer boys and more girls
participating in athletics,
however, as girl participa-
tion has risen six percent
since the 2009-10 season,
while boys participation has
dropped 7.5 percent.
The most popular sport
in the state was football
yet again with 12,419 play-
ers between the 11-man and
8-man ranks; however, that
total is down 17 percent
from the 15,009 players
from 2008. Rounding out
the top five for most popu-
lar boys sports were track
and field (9,526), basketball
(7,620), soccer (6,397) and
baseball (5,596).
While football’s decline
grabs the headlines, base-
ball and boys golf con-
tinued its troubling, and
surprising, drop-offs. In
baseball, participation has
dropped each of the past
four seasons, from 6,071 in
2015 to 5,596 this season,
and it has dropped 17 per-
cent from 2008 when 6,766
kids played.
Meanwhile, golf’s 2017-
18 participation number of
1,464 is down 32 percent
since 2008 when 2,162 kids
teed off.
Track and field keeps
its spot as the most popu-
lar girls sport with 7,289
players, which is a 11 per-
cent increase over the past
10 years. Following track is
volleyball (7,086), basket-
ball (5,824), soccer (5,398)
and softball (4,568).
Girls swimming was the
only major team sport in the
state that saw an increase
in participation last sea-
son, with 2,685 swimmers
increasing from the 2,512
in 2016-17.
Nationally, boys and
girls participation increased
for the 29th consecutive
year and reached an all-
time high of 7,979,986,
with 3,415,306 girls and
4,564,680 boys.
Football is still king, as
well, even as the numbers
continue to drop. There
were 1,034,942 kids play-
ing 11-man football last
season, down from the
1,057,382 participants in
2016 and down seven per-
cent from the 1,112,303
kids that played in 2008.
Soccer was the big-
gest gainer nationally for
the boys, with 6,128 more
participants last season,
while competitive spirit
had the biggest gain for
the girls with 18,426 more
participants.
Echo switches to six-man football
Echo ready for
debut in six-man
football
By BRETT KANE
STAFF WRITER
The Echo Cougars may
be short on football players
this year, but their spirits are
as high as ever.
The team will hit the
field with six core play-
ers this year as opposed to
the eight that is traditional
for the Class 1A schools in
the OSAA. This transition
for Echo came about when
the school noticed that the
amount of boys participat-
ing in their program dropped
from the previous year.
In 2017, the Cougars
had 18 players — 12 were
seniors, and the remain-
ing six were made up of
younger students. Now that
those seniors have gradu-
ated, the team is only com-
prised of 12 players total,
three of whom are new to
high school football.
The decline in partici-
pation doesn’t stem from
a lack of interest in the
sport, however. Echo High
School’s male student popu-
lation is significantly lower
than in years past.
“There’s four boys in my
class out of 12 students,”
said Echo’s sophomore cen-
ter Luke White.
Echo will be joining 14
other small Oregon high
schools in the Class 1A to
compete in six-man games
this season, including Prai-
rie City, Joseph, and the
Mitchell/Spray/Wheeler
co-op. It is part of a two-
year pilot program from
Firefighters to chip
in for Mark Johnson
Area firefighters and
paramedics are teeing off
to help Mark Johnson as
he’s receiving treatment
for lymphoma.
A Hermiston native,
Johnson has worked as a
paramedic and firefighter
in Hermiston with the
Umatilla County Fire Dis-
trict for the past 18 years.
In addition, he’s a mem-
ber of the statewide Disas-
ter Medical Assistance
Team, which provides
medical support at federal
events and is deployed to
help during hurricanes and
other natural disasters.
Now, Johnson needs
help from the community.
Members of L-2752, the
local firefighters union,
invite area golfers to join
them during the Mark
Johnson Charity 4-Per-
son Scramble Golf Tour-
nament. Money raised
will provide assistance to
Johnson and his family as
they have added expenses
related to his cancer
treatment.
The tournament is Sun-
day, Sept. 16 with registra-
tion from 8-10 a.m. at Big
River Golf Course, 709
Willamette Ave., Uma-
tilla. The cost is $65 per
person and includes green
fees, lunch, a raffle and
prizes. In addition to the
golf scramble, there will be
contests for the closest to
the pin and longest drive.
For more information,
to donate raffle prizes, pro-
vide sponsorship or to reg-
ister for the tournament,
call Trevor Phillips at 541-
561-8013 or send a mes-
sage via the firefighters’
Facebook page at www.
facebook.com/L2752. To
reserve a golf cart, call
Big River’s clubhouse at
541-922-3006. Also, there
is a GoFundMe campaign
where people can make
donations to help the John-
son family.
Locals compete in
Klickitat County
rodeo
GOLDENDALE,
Wash. — Local partici-
pants in the 75th Annual
Klickitat County Fair &
Rodeo in Goldendale were
hoping to earn money and
solidify their position in
the NPRA standings before
the NPRA Finals Sept.
21-22 at the Crook County
Fairgrounds Indoor Arena
in Prineville.
Area participants at
Goldendale
included
NPRA top-12 contenders
Jordan Minor, Jade Cross-
ley, Bailey Patterson, Jake
Stanley, Andy Carlson,
Tyler Smith, Tate Gentry
and the Pederson brothers,
Michael and Preston, of
Hermiston.
Hermiston husband and
wife Andy and Britni Carl-
son enjoyed tremendous
success on Saturday. Andy
and his roping partner,
Tyler Smith, also of Herm-
iston, finished in third place
in team roping with a time
of 5.5 seconds, and the duo
is ranked 10th in the NPRA
standings with three events
remaining. Carlson/Smith
notched a second place in
team roping July 7 at the
La Pine rodeo and won the
2017 NPRA team roping
championship.
Britni competed in bar-
rel racing and rode her
gelding quarter horse Win-
ston swiftly around the
course, clocking an impres-
sive time of 17.5 seconds
to take second place on
Saturday and earn $600.
After leaving Golden-
dale, the Carlsons traveled
to Davenport, Washington,
to compete in their second
rodeo Saturday. Britni con-
tinued to have even more
success there as she took
first place while clocking
a season-best time of 16.92
seconds. Andy and Tyler
took seventh place in team
roping.
Cowgirl sisters Jordan
Minor and Jade Crossley
of Hermiston competed
in breakaway roping, but
they didn’t enjoy success
at Goldendale as they both
recorded a no time mark.
Knights pick up
volleyball wins over
Mustangs, Vikings
HERMISTON HERALD
STAFF PHOTO BY BRETT KANE
Echo football players run through a tackling drill at Thursday’s practice in Echo. The Cougars
are one of 15 teams in the state preparing for their first year playing six-man football as part
of a two-year OSAA trial for some of the state’s smallest schools.
the OSAA that was offered
to Class 1A schools with
adjusted enrollments fewer
than 89. At the end of the
two years, the coaches will
decide whether or not to
continue forward with it.
Echo’s eighth-year head
coach Rick Thew says his
team has had to completely
re-strategize how they play.
The Cougars’ offense will
have to pass or hand the
ball off before a play can be
made, whereas before, their
quarterback could simply
take the ball and run.
Thew doesn’t see this
change as a disadvantage,
but instead, an opportunity.
“Everyone gets the
chance to catch the ball, to
block — to do a little bit
of everything,” he said. “It
STAFF PHOTO BY BRETT KANE
Echo head football coach
Rick Thew, right, guides his
team through drills during
practice on Thursday in
Echo. The Cougars are one
of 15 teams in the state
preparing for their first year
playing six-man football as
part of a two-year OSAA trial
for the state.
makes for a really well-
rounded athlete.”
Echo senior Devan Craig
has been on Echo’s varsity
team since he was a fresh-
man, and says that his team
has been adapting well to
the decrease in size.
“It’s a different feel,” he
said. “But it’ll be a lot of
fun. As a player, you have to
be dynamic.”
Positivity is a corner-
stone of the Courgars foot-
ball team. In fact, it’s push-
ups if you’re overheard
saying anything negative
about your performance.
“Just because you’re
from a smaller school
doesn’t make you any less
of an athlete,” Thew said.
“I’m excited. Echo’s had a
tradition of eight-man foot-
ball. You don’t always want
to try something new, but
this season is going to be
fast and exciting. The kids
are going to have a blast.”
The Irrigon Knights
volleyball team began the
2018 season with a pair of
victories on Friday, defeat-
ing Heppner 3-1 before
knocking off its league
rival, Umatilla, 3-0 as
well.
Against Heppner, the
Mustangs (1-1) took the
first set 25-20, but Irrigon
came back to win the next
three sets 25-21, 25-20,
25-20.
Haley White led the
Knights (2-0) with 13 kills,
Emma Muller had seven
and Brianna Rice had
six, while Makenna Col-
lins led the team’s defense
with 16 digs. Sydney Wil-
son led the Mustangs with
six kills.
Then against Umatilla,
Irrigon won easily 25-15,
25-11, 25-13.
Heppner also matched
up with Umatilla (0-2) on
Friday, where the Mus-
tangs won 3-0 with scores
of 25-11, 25-8 and 25-14.
Jenna McCullough led the
Mustangs in the match
with nine kills and Nicole
Propheter had four, while
Claire Grieb, Wilson and
Propheter each had four
serving aces.
“We played hard and
today showed us what we
need to work on,” Heppner
coach Mindy Wilson said.
Echo wins twice at
1A Preview
The Echo volleyball
program started off 2018
in a good way, winning
two of its three matches
at the 1A Season Preview
Tournament on Friday
afternoon.
The Cougars (2-1)
started the day with a 2-1
win over Prairie City (25-
18, 25-20, 15-12), then
defeated Country Chris-
tian 2-0 (25-22, 25-20),
but finished the day with a
2-0 loss to Hosanna Chris-
tian (25-14, 25-15).
The Cougars continued
the tournament on Satur-
day against Days Creek,
North Clackamas Chris-
tian and McKenzie.