WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
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Hundreds come out for Runner Soul XC Fest
them.”
The Hermiston cross
country team will travel to
Oregon City next Satur-
day for the Oregon City XC
Invitational.
By BRETT KANE
STAFF WRITER
ore than 730 high
school and middle
school
students
competed at the Hermis-
ton-hosted Runner Soul XC
Fest on Saturday morning.
The race, which started
and ended at Sandstone
Middle School, welcomed
athletes from all over East-
ern Oregon and south-
ern Washington, including
Hermiston, Stanfield, Uma-
tilla, Heppner, Pasco and
Kennewick. Races were
divided up between middle
school, junior varsity, and
varsity teams.
But it wasn’t just the
student athletes that got
a chance to compete —
in between tallying their
results, an open race was
held, inviting all commu-
nity members — young and
old — to take a stab at either
the 1.5 mile or 5K courses.
“Everyone went out
there and performed today,”
said Hermiston cross coun-
try coach Troy Blackburn.
“We just want to promote
running.”
At the end of the day,
eighth grader Taylor Fox of
Union took first place in the
boys’ middle school divi-
sion with a time of 8:45.2,
and seventh grader Kiah
Carlson of La Grande won
in the girls’ division, finish-
ing in 10:10.4.
Yakima
sophomore
Dustin Young finished first
in the boys’ junior varsity
division in 18:47.4, and
Hanford sophomore Mad-
ison Hughes was first in
the girls’ JV category with
23:13.0 as her official time.
Union senior Tim Ste-
vens was the boys’ var-
sity champion, finishing
in 15:44.0, and Chiawana
M
RESULTS
VARSITY BOYS - 5K
1. Tim Stevens, 15:44.0, Union
2. Brayden Packard, 15:56.1, West Valley
(Yakima)
3. Hunter Nichols, 16:51.4, Heppner
4. Austin Bachman, 16:58.4, Chiawana
5. Elias Torres, 16:58.7, Pasco
6. Bennett Welch, 16:59.2, La Grande
7. Jack Silveira, 17:01.3, Union
8. Quentin Rickey, 17:11.1, West Valley
(Yakima)
9. Steven Dray, 17:14.9, West Valley
(Yakima)
10. Cristian Mendoza, 17:21.4, La Grande
VARSITY GIRLS - 5K
1. Alexa Neff, 20:18.7, Chiawana
2. Kyla Hook, 20:41.8, Enterprise
3. Maia Vandervlugt, 20:54.3, La Grande
4. Alisa Fox, 20:59.4, Union
5. Abby Crews, 21:04,9, La Grande
6. Ellyse Tingelstad, 21:11.7 Enterprise
7. Audrey Wells, 21:19.0, Union
8. Melia Loe, 21:22.6, College Place
9. Caitlin Neff, 21:35.8, Chiawana
10. Jaimee Baxter, 21:44.4, Union
STAFF PHOTO BY BRETT KANE
JV girls begin the 5k run on Saturday afternoon at Sandstone Middle School.
STAFF PHOTO BY BRETT KANE
STAFF PHOTO BY BRETT KANE
Hermiston runners enjoy watermelon before the varsity
awards on Saturday afternoon.
Hermiston sophomore Anna
Guerrero nears the finish line
at the Runner Soul XC Fest.
senior Alexa Neff was the
girls’ varsity winner, finish-
ing in 20:13.0.
Sandoval, seventh grade,
took second place and
eighth grader Marina Iza-
Several Hermiston run-
ners cracked the top 10 as
well: Jacqueline Garcia
Bulldogs ride the lightning to win
Hermiston heading into
Friday’s game against
Kennewick at 2-0
By ANNIE FOWLER
STAFF WRITER
The
Hermiston
Bulldogs are for
real.
The team is off
to a strong start
in its first year in
the
Mid-Columbia
Conference.
The Bulldogs are 2-0 heading into
Friday’s home game against Kenne-
wick (0-2), with wins over Pasco and
Richland.
The Lions have had a bit of bad
luck to start the season. They dropped
their opener to Hanford, then lost a
heartbreaker last week when Chi-
awana recovered an onside kick with
just over a minute to play. The Riv-
erhawks kicked the game-winning
field goal as time expired for a 27-26
victory.
Hermiston leads the MCC in total
offense through the first two weeks
with an average of 417 yards per
game, while the defense ranks third
behind Kamikain and Chiawana.
Senior running back Wyatt Noland
leads the league in rushing with 399
yards on 52 carries.
Quarterback Andrew James rankes
fourth in passing with 206 yards. He
has thrown for three touchdowns and
one interception.
Bulldogs beat Bombers
On Friday, Hermiston scored three
touchdowns in the second quarter and
waited through two lightning delays in
the fourth quarter before beating Rich-
land 27-21 at Fran Rish Stadium.
Playing from behind in the sec-
ond quarter, the Bulldogs scored three
unanswered touchdowns in the second
quarter for a 21-14 lead at the half.
Trailing 14-0, the Bulldogs put
together a 65-yard drive that ended
with Andrew James hitting Jordan
Ramirez with a 7-yard touchdown
pass with 6:42 to play in the second
quarter.
After forcing the Bombers (0-2) to
punt on their ensuing possession —
which went out of bounds at the Rich-
land 28, Hermiston went back to work.
Six plays later, James connected
with Cody Thacker for a 7-yard touch-
down and a 14-14 ballgame with 3:33
remaining in the first half.
Richland was forced to punt once
again, this time pinning Hermiston at
its own 32.
No worries.
Wyatt Noland ran for 30 yards,
James hit Garrett Walchli and Youbani
Razon with passes of 15 and 13 yards
and the Bulldogs were all the way
down to the Bombers’ 11-yard line.
Three plays later, James and
Noland both had their hands on the
ball as they powered their way across
the goal line from 1 yard out. With no
time on the clock, Juan Carlos Navar-
rete put the extra point through the
uprights for a 21-14 lead.
Richland’s Dhuanye Guice fum-
bled the ball late in the third quarter,
which was picked up by Hermiston’s
Colton Duquette, to stall a drive, and
Ryan Kriskovich mishandled a punt
return to start the fourth quarter, giv-
ing the Bulldogs possession at the
Bombers’ 34 after Thacker recovered
the ball.
Hermiston had second-and-goal on
the Richland 13 when a distant light-
ning strike delayed the game for 30
minutes with just 8:59 remaining in
the game.
The rest did the Bulldogs good.
They came back out, and in two plays
found the end zone as James hit a wide
open Ramirez for a 9-yard score and a
27-14 lead.
The Bombers answered right back.
Cody Sanderson returned the kick-
off to the Hermiston 30, then ran the
ball in for a 22-yard touchdown three
plays later to pull Richland within
27-21.
Richland blocked a Navarrete field
goal with 2:44 to play, but could not
sustain a drive.
Richland opened the scoring on an
38-yard touchdown pass from Drew
Daves to Sanderson just 2 1/2 minutes
into the game.
The Bombers extended their lead
to 14-0 early in the second quarter as
Daves connected with Kriskovich for
a 26-yard score.
———
Hermiston
0 21
0
6 27
Richland
7
7
0
7 21
Scoring
1Q
R - Cody Sanderson 38 pass from Drew Daves (Joey
Weissenfels kick)
2Q
R - Ryan Kriskovich 26 pass from Daves (Weissenfels kick)
H - Jordan Ramirez 7 pass from Andrew James (Juan
Carlos Navarrete kick)
H - Cody Thacker 7 pass from James (Navarrete kick)
H - James 1 run (Navarrete kick)
4Q
H - Ramirez 9 pass from James (kick failed)
R - Sanderson 22 run (Weissenfels kick)
Chiawana, Pasco shut out Hermiston in girls soccer
Playing its third game in five days
finally caught up with the Hermiston
girls soccer team Wednesday night.
Chiawana got four goals from
Savannah Taylor and two from Ruth
Edrington as the Riverhawks cruised
to an 8-0 Mid-Columbia Conference
win in Pasco.
“Chiawana is a solid team from
defenders to strikers,” Bulldogs coach
Freddy Guizar said. “This is so differ-
ent for us. The girls are trying to keep
up with the conference. They have
experience and play year around. You
can tell they play as a family and have
each other’s backs. We had some of
that in the second half.”
Lanie Gomez finished with 14
saves in goal for the Bulldogs (0-3
MCC).
Hermiston’s Lady Bulldogs suf-
fered another loss on Saturday. In
a match between Bulldogs, Pasco
defeated Hermiston, 1-0. Hermiston’s
record is now 0-4 for the season, and
they will host Kennewick on Thurs-
day, who have a 1-2 record.
guirre Frasser took seventh
place in the middle school
girls’ division. Freshman
Alexia Serna took eighth
place in the girls’ junior
varsity race, and freshman
Edwin Sanchez was fourth
overall in the boys’ junior
varsity race.
“It was encouraging
to see the freshmen run
because you know they’re
gonna get even better,”
Blackburn said. “I have kids
that have put in over 500
miles this summer. Cydney
Sanchez, a freshman, lead
our varsity team. She ran a
tough race and passed a lot
of people during the second
half. When you see them
keep pushing, it shows
they have so much more in
JUNIOR VARSITY BOYS - 5K
1. Dustin Young, 18:47.4, West Valley
(Yakima)
2. Gavin Newston, 19:10.4, Helix
3. Mason LaPierre, 19:21.8, Sunnyside
4. Edwin Sanchez, 19:22.6, Hermiston
5. Lucas Hultberg, 19:26.2, Prosser
6. J. ‘Dane’ Voldman, 19:28.9, West Valley
(Yakima)
7. Caleb Leavitt, 19:41.4, Chiawana
8. Russell Ridd, 19.47.1, West Valley
(Yakima)
9. James Holliday, 19:48.5, Prosser
10. Isaac Skay, 19:59.9, College Place
JUNIOR VARSITY GIRLS - 5K
1. Madison Hughes, 23:13.0, Hanford
2. Kally Wilkins, 23:32.7, Condon/Wheeler
3. Kaylee Cope, 23:38.7, Helix
4. Iliana Moran, 24:21.3, Hanford
5. Ryann Stahancyk, 24:22.6, Helix
6. Leticia Gallegos, 24:58. 9, Pasco
7. Hannah Christman, 25:14.8, Helix
8. Alexia Serna, 25:29.1, Hermiston
9. Charlotte McDonald, 25:35.1, Enter-
prise
10. Morgan Woodward, 25:40.6,
Chiawana
MIDDLE SCHOOL BOYS - 1.5 Miles
1. Taylor Fox, 8:45.2, Union
2. Juan Diego, 8:53.6, The Dalles
3. Trevor Nichols, 9:17.2, Heppner
4. Keelan McBurney, 9:18.9, Enterprise
5. Roan Flynn, 9:32.5, Enterprise
6. Landon Perry, 9:35.8, La Grande
7. Nathaneal O’Reilly, 9:46.1, Union
8. Saul Lopez, 9:46.1, Heppner
9. Weston Wolfe, 9:49.1, Enterprise
10. David Cribbs, 9:52.4, Heppner
MIDDLE SCHOOL GIRLS - 1.5 Miles
1. Kirah Carlson, 10:10.4, La Grande
2. Jacqueline Garcia Sandoval, 10:20.5,
Hermiston
3. Kaitlin Brock, 10:33.0, La Grande
4. Cecilia Villagomez, 10:36.6, La Grande
5. Marielle Graffunder, 10:42.1, Union
6. Bailey Moore, 10:42.9, Helix
7. Marina Izaguirre Frasser, 10:52.4,
Hermiston
8. Maezie Wilcox, 11:01.9, La Grande
9. Alexandra Cavan, 11:03.4, Heppner
10. Zandra Materson, 11:04.2, Heppner
Hermiston comes
up short against
Chiawana in MCC
volleyball
By ANNIE FOWLER
STAFF WRITER
Hermiston
showed
marked
improvement
from its Mid-Columbia
Conference opener Sept.
4, but it wasn’t enough to
counter the strong play of
Chiawana.
Kylie Thorne had nine
kills and five digs to lead
the Riverhawks to a 25-13,
25-12, 25-17 victory over
the Bulldogs last Wednes-
day in Pasco.
“Last night was a lot of
nerves,” Hermiston coach
Amy Dyck said of the
Sept. 4 match with South-
ridge. “There was a lot
of hype coming into the
league. They were more
relaxed tonight. They let
the mistakes go instead of
letting them get to them.”
Haylee Stubbs had
four ace serves and eight
digs for the Bulldogs (0-2
MCC), who had better ball
control and attacked at the
net with more authority
than they did the previous
night.
“It was one of the best
matches she has had,”
Dyck said of Stubbs. “She
was all over the place. We
are developing our volley-
ball IQ everyday, along
with building our system.
They are trying not to get
overwhelmed. We are get-
ting them to believe.”
Hermiston was right
in the thick of things in
the first game, and at one
point held a 9-7 lead. After
the Bulldogs fought to tie
the score at 12, the River-
hawks started to pull away.
Thorne served the last
seven points of the game,
a string that included three
aces, and ended with a kill
by Sianna Iverson.
The Bulldogs struggled
with control in the second,
committing 10 unforced
errors. A run of six points
by Thorne gave Chiawana
a 15-5 lead in the game.
The Bulldogs rallied
in the third game, pull-
ing within 14-11 and
19-15 before the River-
hawks took advantage of
three unforced errors for
a 22-15 lead. Alaina Scott
put the match away with a
kill.
Ireland
McDonough
led the Bulldogs with six
kills and five digs, while
Kendall Dowdy handed
out 14 assists.
Scott, Iverson and
Angela Sullivan each
added five kills for Chi-
awana (1-0 MCC), while
McKenna Kaelber had
four kills and 29 assists.
“We were able to get
everyone out there,” Riv-
erhawks coach Jim Steach
said. “We have good
depth. I am confident
going 12 deep.”
Hermiston was back in
action Saturday, and this
time the team beat Pasco
25-16, 25-22, 25-17.
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