Mount Hood

Record-setting weekend for indoor track

By: Burke De Boer
Sports Editor

The Wolves track and field team was named the GNAC team of the week after an incredible showing at the University of Washington Invitational.

The indoor track event saw Western Oregon break two conference records and five school records.

Junior distance runner David Ribich ran a mile in 4:02.30 to set a new record for both the school and the conference. It’s also this year’s first NCAA automatic qualifier coming out of the conference and stands as the fastest time in all of Division II so far.

Kennedy Rufener then finished the 5,000 meter race in 17:24.07, a new school record. Her time currently leads the GNAC.

School records were set in both the men’s and women’s distance medley relay.

First-year sprinter Grayson Burke arrived with a flash, joining the veteran 4×400 meter relay team to set the fifth team record.

Junior Suzanne Van De Grift was involved in both the distance medley relay and the 4×400 meter relay teams to get into the record books twice. She also ran a 2:14.10 to rank 16th in the nation in the 800 meters.

Contact the author at journalsports@wou.edu

Dispatches from the sports desk

By: Burke De Boer
Sports Editor

The Washington Wizards opened the year terribly, going 2-8 but turned things around and have the best record in the east over the last two months.

Just last week, they dressed in all-black to put their rivalry with the Celtics to rest. And it was a funeral, beating the third-ranked Celtics 123-108. They followed it by thrashing the fourth-ranked Hawks 112-86.

Meanwhile, at the top of the Eastern Conference, the Cavs lost to the Blazers, the Pelicans, the Kings. LeBron made headlines saying his team is too top-heavy.

Cleveland will get back on track; LeBron teams always do. But if this Washington team stays on form I’m seeing a new candidate for sheriff in the east.

John Wall has scored right around 30 points a game for two months. He’s averaging 23 points and 10 assists this season. That’s an average of a double-double.

Otto Porter and Bradley Beal have also found themselves. The young core that Washington spent a few years developing is now paying off.

Coming off the bench, Kelly Oubre is a defensive machine and Trey Burke sometimes shows flashes of lightning. If the Cavs are worried about depth, the Wiz may be the stuff of nightmares.

Contact the author at journalsports@wou.edu

Get amped for baseball

By: Burke De Boer
Sports Editor

The Wolves were ranked second in the GNAC preseason poll, and pitcher Brady Miller was named an All-American as high hopes were extended to Western Oregon Baseball.

The college baseball season is upon us. It would already be here, but Western Oregon’s opening pitch was delayed on account of weather. Last weekend’s rain postponed a double-header against Corban.

And so excitement continues to build as the Wolves wait to get the 2017 season under way.

The preseason coaches’ poll placed Western Oregon second in the GNAC, with one vote for first place. Northwest Nazarene, the team that beat the Wolves for the GNAC championship in last year’s 8-9 title game, remain on top.

Then the National College Baseball Writers released their preseason rankings, where the Wolves and Northwest Nazarene tie for 10th place in the western region.

The Baseball Writers also named their preseason All-American rosters. Junior pitcher Brady Miller made the All-West first team and the All-American third team.

Miller was last year’s GNAC pitcher of the year, going 10-2 with a 3.14 ERA.

The Wolves will open their season this weekend in Fresno. After some time on the road, their first game at home is a double header on March 4.

Contact the author at journalsports@wou.edu

Dispatches from the sports desk

By:Burke De Boer
Sports Editor

The Korean Zombie earned a first round knockout of ninth-ranked Dennis Bermudez in his return bout.

Bermudez opened the Feb. 4 fight with strong blows, but found the inevitable lurch of Chan Sung Jung to be inescapable.

A bear of an uppercut took Bermudez to the ground. Jung was on him, delivering hits, when the fight was called.

Knockout. 2:49 in the first.

Probably a bit of an early stoppage, all things considered. But the bell was rung and what’s done was done.

I’ve been a fan of The Korean Zombie since I first found out there was a fighter with the nickname “The Korean Zombie.” A few years ago, he was one of the most exciting, rope-a-dope fighters out there.

The prevailing theme across fight media is “The Korean Zombie is back!” He didn’t have as much as ring rust as many predicted and he picked up a win in his classic style.

Belal Muhammad tweeted, “There was three years of anger in that uppercut.”

We shouldn’t be this surprised.

We may remember that he missed his fights in 2014 following a shoulder injury he suffered in his championship fight. But he’s not returning from that injury. He’s back from serving mandatory time in the South Korean Military.

That time serving not only gave him time to heal, but it was time spent keeping him fighting fit.

South Korea raises one of Asia’s strongest militaries. And in the case of Chan Sung Jung, one of the world’s toughest fighters. The soldier’s return has put his division on notice.

Contact the author at journalsports@wou.edu

Wolves on a hot streak

By: Burke De Boer
Sports Editor

Men’s basketball continued its dominant streak with two wins at home last week.

This extends the winning streak

The Wolves beat St. Martin’s 82-73 in a Feb. 2 home match. Junior forward Tanner Omlid lead the scoring with 23 points.

The defense shutting St. Martin’s down opened the door for a lot of points, as the
Wolves forced 16 turnovers and scored 22 points off of turnovers. Junior forward JJ Chirnside grabbed 8 rebounds and made 3 blocks, while Omlid added 5 rebounds, six steals and 2 blocks of his own.

Chirnside also contributed 15 points of offense.

The game saw a few lead changes as the teams sparred through the first half. But after halftime it was all Wolves. Western Oregon lead by as much as 16 throughout the second half on their way to the 9-point win.

Three dunks were slammed in by Omlid and Chirnside through the second half.

Tanner Omlid continued to put on a clinic when Seattle Pacific came to Monmouth on Feb. 4. He scored 18 and made 15 rebounds on his way to a double-double.

The Wolves took down Seattle Pacific, 84-70 in the GNAC Game of the Week.

Junior guard Ali Faruq-Bey and JJ Chirnside both put up 17 points. Coming off the bench, junior guard Demetrius Trammell scored 11 to make it four – Wolves with double digit points.

Trammell lead the much stronger bench performance, which saw the Wolves’ reserves score 27 while the Seattle Pacific bench was held to four. Senior forward Yanick Kulich also contributed 8 points in 10 minutes off the bench.

“We are just playing a lot harder and we’re all on the same page now,” JJ Chirnside said on the team’s recent form. “We’re moving the ball well and getting better on the defensive end. We’re getting stops which leads us to transition points.”

The Wolves are on the road this week, and will face Western Washington, one of the last teams they lost to before going on the win streak.

“We’ve learned a lot from them,” Chirnside said. “We just need to keep getting better everyday ‘til then.”

Western Washington are the top-ranked team in the GNAC, but have only a single game advantage on the third-ranked Wolves.

Contact the author at journalsports@wou.edu

Softball opens season

By: Burke De Boer
Sports Editor

Wolves softball traveled to Las Vegas for their first taste of competition in 2017. The season started hit-and-miss, and after three days of gameplay the Wolves are now at 2-3.

The first day was the hardest, as the Wolves suffered two losses. The first was a tight 1-3 to Azusa Pacific. In the second game, playing Chico State, Western Oregon went into the seventh inning with a 4-2 lead. But Chico State was able to capitalize on final mistakes, and won 7-4 in extra innings.

A high scoring second day saw Western Oregon win one and lose one. The win against Minot State came courtesy of a big fifth inning, where the Wolves scored three runs to take the lead and close out 5-4.

Senior Ashlee Lynch scored a homerun in the game, while first year pitcher Chandler Bishop recorded the win in relief.

The final loss came at the hands of Cal State San Bernardino, who scored the winning run on an RBI double in the home half of the final inning.

Senior Sammi Cadwallader pitched a shutout against Cal State Monterey Bay for the final win. Senior Kelsie Gardner scored the only run of the day in the first inning.

Contact the author at journalsports@wou.edu

Pro women’s hockey fights for a future

By: Burke De Boer
Sports Editor

It was only recently that women hockey players in this country began to be paid for their sport.

Now the National Women’s Hockey League is midway through its second season and the Boston Pride tops the table. The three teams below them are the Buffalo Beauts, the New York Riveters and the Connecticut Whale.

It is a faster-paced game than what is played on NHL ice, with less pauses to fight. And while NHL rosters tend to be dominated by Canadians, here American women lead the way.

Which only makes sense, as Team USA has won the world championship in each of the last three years.

While the Pride are undefeated, sitting at 11 wins from 11 games, the remaining three teams have played largely balanced games against one another.

League founder and commissioner Dani Rylan built the league on a strong business model, the likes is seen across all of professional sports. This attracted team owners, investors and sponsors. ESPN’s online streaming service ESPN3 has aired matches, and Dunkin Donuts gave the league a multi-year sponsorship deal.

But to make it over the hump that every new business faces, some concessions had to be made. The most notable was a pay cut early into the 2016-17 season. The 10,000 dollar minimum player salary was cut in half last November.

This is seen as an unfortunate yet necessary step from management. The first women’s league to pay its players does not intend to fold. The goal is to return to the original salary next year. But before that can be accomplished, the league must see financial improvements.

The league will continue to provide all uniforms and equipment to its teams. This too is a first for post-collegiate women’s hockey leagues in America.

The sports world certainly benefits from having a salaried women’s hockey league. What remains to be determined is just how far it will go.

Contact the author at journalsports@wou.edu

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