Mount Hood

Track team dominates Willamette Opener

By: Burke​ ​De​ ​Boer​
Sports​ ​Editor

The Western Oregon track and field team blew out the competition in their first outdoor meet of 2017.

The Willamette Opener was hosted by Willamette University. The Wolves’ men’s team topped their table with 60 points, a 24-point advantage on second place Corban. The women’s team also won their table, totaling 48 points, which was 12 points ahead of second place University of Portland.
The women’s team swept all throwing competitions.

Wolves cleaned house in women’s javelin, taking the top three spots. Junior Amanda Short’s event winning distance of 148’7” was a personal best as well as fifth on the Western Oregon all time list. Junior Sheila Limas De La Cruz came in second with 139’9” and first year Halie Korff took third with 131’2.25”.

Senior Rachael Huffman won the shot put with a distance of 42’1.5”, a new personal best and ninth on the Western Oregon all time list.

Huffman won women’s discus with a throw of 136’3.75”. Korff came in third, her own throw recorded at 122’2”.

Sophomore Alecia Falck’s 147’7.5” hammer throw took top honors. Junior Sylvia Dean came in third and Short placed fourth to add another point to the Western Oregon tally.

“Our throws team opened up the outdoor season just how we anticipated,” Huffman said. “All of our throwers are chasing big marks and we are well on our way to accomplishing that. I’m personally excited for us to keep this ball rolling as we continue to move through the season/”

Men’s throws saw junior Brandon Bowen win shot put with a lifetime best of 49’7’.

Junior Keegan Allen, Bowen and sophomore Logan Baker took second, third and fourth at discus respectively.

Keegan Allen also won the men’s hammer throw, chucking it 139’2”.

Wolves runners were short staffed, as many headlining runners are competing in this weekend’s NCAA Indoor Track Championship in Alabama. But the runners available worked to prove how deep the talent goes on the team, consistently taking top three places.

Junior Codi Blodgett won the men’s 100 meter with a time of 11.04, while first year Devon Fortier finished at 11.20 for second place.

Senior Sara Madden won both women’s hurdling events, completing the 100 meter in 16.14 seconds and the 400 meter in 1:06.41.

Contact the author at journalsports@wou.edu

Six more Wolves qualify in last chance meet

By: Burke​ ​De​ ​Boer
Sports​ ​Editor

Western Oregon runners took advantage of Seattle Pacific’s final NCAA indoor qualifier by posting six provisional times and recording a new school record.

Three of these were recorded in the women’s 800 meter. Sophomore Olivia Woods crossed the finish line first, at 2:10.14. Her event-winning time set a new school record. She was soon followed by junior Suzanne Van De Grift, with a time of 2:10.57 and junior Megan Rose with a time of 2:13.18.

Junior Kennedy Rufener then ran the women’s mile in 4:57.01 to be the fourth Western Oregon woman with a provisional time. The time places her third in the school’s record books.

Sophomore Dustin Nading won the men’s mile race, recording a provisional time of 4:05.22.

Senior Josh Dempsey, who won the GNAC title for the men’s 800 meter on Feb. 17, shaved two seconds off his time to bring Western Oregon its sixth provisional finish. He ran the 800 in 1:50.94.

The NCAA Division II Track & Field Championship will be in Birmingham, Alabama, March 10 and 11.

Contact the author at journalsports@wou.edu

Dispatches from the sports desk

By: Burke​ ​De​ ​Boer
Sports​ ​Editor

It looks like we’ll be getting a massive crossover fight as Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather Jr. signal they’ll be meeting one another.

Both camps have confirmed that a deal is in the works, and Mayweather told ESPN that they are getting “very, very close.”

But would the 40-year-old retired boxer with an unblemished 49-0 fight record have his first ever mixed martial arts bout against the UFC’s biggest draw and current lightweight champion? Read that sentence again and you tell me.

Given McGregor’s strike-heavy style, a boxing match is the obvious answer, and that’s what the two have been ca
mpaigning for. This leads many to forecast a beatdown of the Irishman. I’m not inclined to agree. McGregor’s long history as a brawler is what earned him a reputation in the first place.

If Conor McGregor does lose, then he loses to one of the most notable boxers in history. All he has to do is put up a good fight and it will be a victory for the McGregor brand.

Even failing this, McGregor will be winning at the bank. His disclosed UFC earnings, disregarding any bonuses or sponsorships, are $9,542,000. The guaranteed salaries being floated for this fight? 100 million for Mayweather and 15 million for McGregor.

Amidst its world-touring spectacle, it can be easy to forget that the UFC promotion is actually small potatoes in the context of professional sports. Perhaps McGregor feels he’s outgrown the promotion. In fact, he’s already launched his own, following the Mayweather model. But UFC are ready to fight tooth and nail to keep their star on their side, and without their permission, the idea of this fight is going nowhere.

Contact the author at journalsports@wou.edu

On to the tourney

By: Burke​ ​De​ ​Boer
Sports​ ​Editor

Men’s basketball won the final home game of the season and will enter the GNAC title tournament as the third seed.

The win came in the form of a 72-56 thumping of Montana State Billings.

Four players scored in the double digits, as Tanner Omlid hit the team-high 17 points, Ali Faruq-Bey and Demetrius Trammell each scored 11, and senior Evan Garrison scored 10 points in the last regular season game of his Wolves career.

The Wolves defense held Montana State to a .315 shooting percentage on the night.

The Wolves play Montana State again on Thursday in the first round of the GNAC Championships. The quarterfinal matchup will be the third time the teams play each other this year, after splitting the regular season series with a win a piece.

The tournament plays in Lacey, Washington. The other quarterfinal matchup pits St. Martin’s against Concordia. The top two seeds are Western Washington and Alaska Anchorage, and both have earned byes with automatic berths into the Friday semifinals.

The tournament promises thrills, as Western Oregon has played balanced against the other top teams this season. The only exceptions are Western Washington, who swept the Wolves, and St. Martin’s, whom the Wolves swept.

The tournament winner qualifies for the NCAA West Regional, which includes two other conference champions and five at-large bids in the eight-school playoff. At last rankings, Wolves were on the cusp of qualifying, ranking tenth.

Coming off the heels of the big win, Western Oregon at least has the psychological advantage over Montana State Billings.

Contact the author at journalsports@wou.edu

Top performers of the year for women’s basketball

By: Burke​ ​De​ ​Boer
Sports​ ​Editor

Shelby Snook, junior guard, was the Wolves’ biggest contributor this year, leading the team with 339 points and 84 assists. She averaged 13.6 points per game.

 

Jasmine Miller, junior forward, scored 257 points this season and also tallied a team-high 137 total rebounds and 17 blocks.

 

Kaylie Boschma, sophomore guard, grabbed the most steals this year, racking up 31. She also scored 211 points and grabbed 115 rebounds.

 

Despite only appearing in 22 games, junior guard Sydney Azorr scored the third-highest points tally of the year, racking up 220, with 28 assists and 94 rebounds.

 

Contact the author at journalsports@wou.edu

 

A different competition for women’s rugby

By: Burke​ ​De​ ​Boer
Sports​ ​Editor

The women’s rugby team saw its championship streak come to an end at the hands of Western Washington.

From 2014 to 2016, the Wolves three-peated as league champions. But a tougher 2016-17 season has seen Western Oregon fail to qualify for regionals to compete for their title.

But their season won’t be ending prematurely either.

“Because of how we played and were able to hold our own, we have been invited to play in the Small Colleges National Tournament in Southern Oregon,” said Maddi Fagnani, a junior lock who has also played half on occasion this season.

“We played with heart for the full 80 minutes, even when we had to play down two players,” said Madeline Turner, senior, president of the club. “I am very proud of my team and cannot wait to see how this club continues to grow.”

“Western Washington and us have been battling back and forth for four years,” Fagnani added. “This year just wasn’t our year. And that’s okay. Do you know why? We have beaten them with a majority rookie team the past two years. This year we are building our program up and will be fired up even more for next year.”

Wayne State College from Nebraska were last year’s Small Colleges Champions. The 2017 tournament begins April 1. Whether the two champions will face remains to be seen.

Contact the author at journalsports@wou.edu

Paving the road to the championship

By: Burke​ ​De​ ​Boer
Sports​ ​Editor

Men’s basketball clinched a spot in the GNAC Championship tournament after a triumphant week in Monmouth.

The Wolves beat two conference rivals, first topping Alaska 68-61 and then Alaska Anchorage 89-71.

The seven point win over the Nanooks came as the result of a powerful second-half performance. After trailing by as much as seven in the first half, the Wolves regrouped. They came out the second half down by five. The Wolves took the lead with a three pointer by JJ Chirnside at 13:45.

Sophomore guard Malik Leaks scored a game-high 17 points, his most points scored in the season.

The Saturday game saw the Wolves take the lead with the opening basket and never give it up.

The 89-71 win over Alaska Anchorage featured four Wolves with double-digit points: Ali Faruq-Bey scored 22, Tanner Omlid scored 19, JJ Chirnside scored 10 and Demetrius Trammel contributed 11 points off the bench.

The high powered win moved the Wolves within one game of Alaska Anchorage’s second-place seed in the Championship.

The last game of the regular season is against MSU Billings on Feb. 25 in the New P.E. Building. The game tips off at 7 p.m.

Contact the author at journalsports@wou.edu