A8 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
Program boosts water safety
PREP ROUNDUP
Umatilla gets past Stanfield
By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN
STAFF WRITER
An extension of the
Hermiston Family Aquatic
Center’s season is benefiting
Hermiston School District
athletes and second graders.
While open public swim is
closed for the season, the city
agreed to keep the pool filled
for the girls swim team. In the
Washington Interscholastic
Athletic Association, which
Hermiston High School now
competes in, girls swimming
is a fall sport.
In addition to allowing
the swim team to practice
there, the city and school
district partnered to allow
all the district’s second grad-
ers to spend one day at the
aquatic center last week,
getting a two-hour water
safety lesson.
The day included learn-
ing how to put on life jack-
ets, breathing techniques
and basic strokes.
Hermiston Parks and
Recreation partnered with
the Hermiston School Dis-
trict to offer lessons, with
the hopes of identifying kids
who may need further water
safety training.
Recreation
Supervi-
sor Brandon Artz said the
idea came about when Blue
Mountain Community Col-
lege closed its pool, and the
city decided to keep the pool
open until mid-October so
the girls swim team could
practice locally.
He said the longer season
gave them an opportunity to
offer more swim lessons.
“We got to talking about
water safety, and thought,
could we get schools and
kids here,” Artz said.
Artz said he hopes the
program will continue for
the next few years.
Last Wednesday, students
from Sunset Elementary
were at the pool, enjoying
a sunny day as they honed
their water skills. Students
practiced staying afloat in
the water with kickboards,
retrieving rings from the
floor of the shallow pool
and jumping off the diving
board.
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2018
SPORTS
HERMISTON HERALD
STAFF PHOTO BY JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN
West Park Elementary School P.E. teacher Bret Favorite
teaches students some basic arm strokes before they
practice them in the water.
Aquatic center manager
Kasia Robbins said the pool
staff focused on several dif-
ferent areas of water safety.
“Knowing how to bob to
safety — using your height
and the push of a jump to get
yourself to where you can
stand,” she said.
They also taught stu-
dents about the importance
of floating.
“If anything can save
you, it’s rolling over, putting
your head up and floating till
you get to safety,” she said.
Robbins said they also
taught students the impor-
tance of having an adult
present when they’re in the
water, and how to put their
faces in the water.
At the end of the lesson,
all students were sent home
with a report card, scoring
them from a level of 1 to 5
in different areas — 5 being
mastery of the skill.
“They tell whether the
child can float, do arm
strokes, kicks, if they can
bob to safety,” Robbins said.
Each report card also offers
students a week of swim les-
sons for $10.
Robbins said the school
district covered the cost
of buses, as well as towels
and swimsuits for kids who
don’t have them.
“We hope spending the
money saves a life,” Rob-
bins said.
Cherilyn Spencer, a sec-
ond grade teacher at Sun-
set Elementary, said she was
glad students were getting
exposure to the water.
“This is a life skill,” she
said. “Some students hadn’t
ever been here (to the pool)
before. With all the water
we have around here, it’s
important.”
Physical education teach-
ers from all five elemen-
tary schools were at the pool
all week, helping with land
instruction.
Bret Favorite of West
Park helped students prac-
tice different types of arm
strokes before they got into
the water, and Greg Hamm
of Rocky Heights showed
them how to put on life jack-
ets correctly.
In the water, students
got lessons from Hermiston
High School students who
had worked as lifeguards
and swim teachers through-
out the summer.
“The high school was
really awesome working
with us to excuse those stu-
dents to come out and take
part of this,” Artz said.
In addition to the Herm-
iston girls swim team, the
Pendleton Swim Club has
also been traveling to Herm-
iston four days a week to use
the pool.
“It goes back to the fact
that we need an indoor
aquatic center,” Artz said.
“We’re happy to have them.
We want to provide opportu-
nities for kids to swim.”
MORE WINNERS. MORE OFTEN.
STANFIELD — Uma-
tilla won its game at neigh-
boring Stanfield on Friday
night, defeating the Tigers
22-18.
Quarterback
Andrew
Earl passed for 20 yards,
had three carries for 66
yards, one interception and
one touchdown. Quarter-
back Ryan Lorence passed
for 23 yards and one inter-
ception. Running back
Trent Durfey rushed 21 car-
ries for 150 yards and one
touchdown.
Tight end Oscar Cam-
pos caught two passes for
15 yards, and Eric Hoyos
had one catch for 20 yards.
Running back Izayah
Rodarte rushed four times
for 18 yards.
“We’re slowly improv-
ing,” said Umatilla coach
Dan Durfey. “We had
some small mistakes and
drive-killers, but the kids
beared down and got the
win.”
It was the Vikings’ first
win of the season, putting
them at 1-2 overall. They
will travel to Grant Union
on Friday.
LIBERTY 27, IRRI-
GON 0 — The Lancers
handed the Knights their
first loss of the season in
Spangle, Wash.
Irrigon (2-1) held Lib-
erty to just 7 points in the
first half, but couldn’t keep
pace in the second half.
“They were big and
fast,” Irrigon coach Ken
Thompson said.
Liberty was the Class 2B
state runner-up last year.
HEPPNER 20, LOST
their game at Condon on
Friday.
Echo dominated the
court from beginning to
end for a 25-10, 25-1, 25-9
win.
The Cougars went on
to win a Riverside-hosted
volleyball tournament on
Saturday.
The three-set tour-
nament saw Echo win
matches against Stanfield
25-13, 25-18, Elgin 25-17,
25-18, and South Wasco
County 25-22, 25-23.
The Cougars have won
the tournament three of the
past four years.
RIVER 6 — Mason Leh-
man scored three touch-
downs to lead Heppner to
a nonleague win Saturday
over Lost River in Bend.
Lehman ran for 103
yards and two scores, and
caught a touchdown pass
from Jayden Wilson. He
also finished with four tack-
les and one interception.
Jason Rae led the Mus-
tangs (1-2) with 13 tackles,
while Gavin Hanna-Rob-
inson had nine and Blake
Wolters seven.
Zachay Buller scored
the Raiders’ lone touch-
down in the fourth quarter.
VOLLEYBALL
BOYS SOCCER
YAKIMA — Hermis-
ton finished 0-3 at the Sun-
Dome Volleyball Festi-
val on Saturday in Yakima,
but coach Amy Dyck said
the tournament was a good
experience for her team.
“We battled through
challenges and learned a
lot,” Dyck said. “We are
looking forward to getting
back in the gym and prepar-
ing for our match against
Walla Walla.”
The Bulldogs opened
with a 25-9, 25-18 loss to
Lynden Christian, then fol-
lowed with a 25-9, 25-13
loss to Ellensburg. They
finished the day with a
25-19, 25-20 loss to Uni-
versity (Spokane).
Richland won the tour-
nament with a 25-12,
21-25, 15-10 victory over
Lynden Christian.
Hermiston will host
Walla Walla on Thursday.
ECHO 3, CONDON/
WHEELER 0 — The Cou-
gars won in three during
FOUR RIVERS 7,
IRRIGON 3 – Irrigon is
0-6 overall after losing its
first league match of the
season against Four Rivers
on Saturday.
The Knights will host
Nyssa (3-1) on Saturday.
GIRLS SOCCER
SHADLE PARK 3,
HERMISTON 0 — The
Bulldogs lost their sixth
consecutive game on Satur-
day at Kennison Field.
Shadle Park from Spo-
kane, Wash., is the first
non-league opponent the
Bulldogs have faced. They
will resume Mid-Columbia
Conference play at home
Thursday against Walla
Walla.
RIVERSIDE
2,
PRESCOTT 1 - River-
side picked up its third win
Monday by edging Prescott
in Boardman.
Riverside (3-2-1) and
Riverdale played to a 2-2
draw Saturday in Portland.
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