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Show B1 The Emery County Review, Tuesday, August 26, 2008 SPORTS Rodeo Club off and Running Josie Luke Emery High’s rodeo club is already off and running with their season which started even before the school year began, and one member, Erin Gordon, is already showing the form which made her the champion in Break-a-way in the summer’s Western States Rodeo Circuit, taking first in the West Millard show in Delta on Aug. 15, against a field of 90 competitors. Though more plan to register for the team, the club currently has six members: Gordon, McKenzie Grange, AnnDee Adams, Teigan Adams, Chase Sherman and Jacob Marshall. On average, each member competes in two events. Gordon pushes herself to compete in four: Break-a-way, barrel racing, team roping and goat tying. She explained that throughout the state, competing in four events is not uncommon. She tackles four because, as she puts it, “It’s just really fun. It gives me a rush.” She also said she enjoys the competition because of the opportunity to compete with her three horses. Gordon puts in a lot of practice time in order to make herself competitive. She practices three to four days a week for three to four hours in order to practice each event. The state’s high school rodeos are extremely competitive. For example, only three weekends into the season, there are over 90 competing in Break-a-way, 80 in barrel racing, 30 in bull riding and 70 in team roping. The timed events are also incredibly close. Gordon won Break-a-way with a time of 3.23 seconds, and her teammate, Grange came in 12th with a time just over 4 seconds. The students compete in rodeos nearly every Erin Gordon with some of the buckles she’s won at high school rodeo competitions. weekend during the season in order to qualify for the state tournament, hoping to do well there so that they can compete at the High School National Finals Erin Gordon competes in a 2007 high school rodeo event. Rodeo each year. Several Emery High students have had the opportunity to do just that. Despite not having a faculty advisor and not being sponsored by the high school because of liability issues, the Emery rodeo club continues to travel to rodeos throughout the state, with fall season running from August to November and the second half from April to May, when the team hosts their own rodeo. Team members’ parents help out wherever they can. Gordon’s mother Dawnette serves as the team secretary, collecting registrations and seeing the members are signed up for the shows. Her father, Kevin is a teacher at the high school, who although he isn’t officially the advisor, helps students keep up with school work. The club manages to compete well each year, and even holds several fundraisers each year to raise money to hold their rodeo in Castle Dale, including organizing the little buckaroo rodeos in Castle Dale and Huntington during the summer. The club’s upcoming shows are Aug. 30 in Vernal, Sept. 5-6 in Herriman and Tooele, and Sept. 12-13 in Cedar City. Spartans fall to Grand in opening football game of season Josie Luke The Emery High Football team’s first game of the season against Grand ultimately ended in a loss, 14-27, but considering it was the first game they had played, Coach Jimmy Jones was encouraged by many of the plays on the offensive side of the ball. “For a first game it was disappointing to lose, but there were some really great things we did offensively that really encouraged me,” said Jones. “Defensively, I was a little bit disappointed. We just did not tackle very well. That could be partly an inexperience thing.” The inexperience comes from the Spartans having only five returning starters, many of whom play on both sides of the ball. Jones explained this is normal for the Emery team because they try to play seniors as much as possible, but it makes it more difficult for the inexperienced players, especially since their first three games will be on the road this season. The coach said that as the season continues, he expects the team to get much stronger. So even though he was frustrated, he speculated that were the two teams to play later in the season, Emery would win the game. He related that the offense really drove the ball down the field well, but “turnovers, penalties and poor execution on certain plays” held them back. He stressed that the Moab team deserved credit for the win, but said, “We would really stop ourselves more than Moab probably stopped us on offense.” Emery’s offense produced a total of 306 yards, 118 passing and 188 running, which Jones was very pleased by for the team’s first game. Despite the loss, there were several players who had standout performances in the game. Jones reported that Gatlan Huntington came into the game as quarterback in the second quarter and played “very well” and that Colby Snow, Cameron Hansen and Kameron Stilson also played well. Tennis team fares well in first match of season Rebecca Lofley The Emery High Tennis Team faced off against Cedar City’s Canyon View High School in Cedar City for the first match of the season Aug. 20. This year’s team fared well against the Cougars. The first doubles team, Kaitlin Potter and Courtney Sitterud, won their match as did the second doubles team, Adriane Weihing and Melanie Frisbee. First and second singles players, Whitney Saupan and Stevie Feuers, both lost after respectable tie breaker sets. Third singles, Katie Turner, also was defeated after a hard-played match. The JV also played well, winning several of their matches. The team is com- posed of 23 girls with Tom Hansen as the coach, assisted by Willie Frisbee. Speaking of the team’s strengths, Coach Hansen said that this year’s team is deeper than in past years with the JV pushing the Varsity, with only seven Varsity spots and 10 girls vying for those spots. The team is “better than people think,” Coach Hansen said. He also said that some matches were lost not because of lack of skill but because of lack of mental strength; winning and confidence will come with more experience. The tennis team will be playing Aug. 26 at Grantsville High School as well as at home on Aug. 28 against Carbon High School. Photo by Josie Luke Adrienne Weihing practices for her next match at Emery High. Emery takes third in golf tournament at Millsite Casey Wood Schools throughout Region 8 gathered at Millsite Golf Course on Aug. 21 for the first golf tournament of the school year and only the second tournament of the season. The day’s tournament began with a rules clinic, followed with a shotgun start at around noon. After 18 holes when all was said and done the Emery top four had played relatively well. Mark Guymon took first for the Emery team, shooting a 76, Jason Giles took second, shooting a 79, and both Nevin Jensen and Tayler Tanner tied for third, shooting 95. The final places for the teams were: Carbon-first, Salem Hills-second, Emery-third, Juan Diego-fourth, Sanpete- fifth and Delta-sixth. If Emery’s place in this tournament is a sign of things to come, you can expect to hear and see big things from the Emery golf team throughout this 2008-2009 golf season. On the defensive side, Jones pointed to linebackers Chance Arriotti, Derrick Allred and Snow, who had 8, 10 and 9 tackles, respectively. The Spartan’s next test comes Aug. 29 against Canyon View, who was trounced by Park City last week. Emery hopes to do the same, but Jones cautioned against putting too much stock into the Canyon View loss. He pointed out that Park City is consistently one of strongest 3A teams in the state, and explained that it would take a few games for anyone to really be able to determine how good each team would be this season. Archery hunt opens with a mixed outcome The statewide elk and deer archery hunt opened on Aug. 16 with a mixed outcome. Although a few bucks and bulls are being harvested, most conservation officers report a slow start. Hunters are seeing a few large bucks, a lot of yearling bucks, and a fair number of bulls. Hunting pressure has been heavy on the Manti-LaSal National Forest in Carbon and Emery counties, but has been down from previous years in Grand and San Juan counties. Populations of game animals appear to be about the same as in previous years. Conservation officers encourage hunters to get away from roads. With the onset of hunting season, deer and elk distance themselves from roads. Elk typically seek cool, timbered canyons with running water. Bucks will be found at high elevations, and often bed down in tall vegetation that provides concealment. Current dry conditions have kept game animals near water, although seeps and springs receive more use, after hunters disturb daily routines. Moonlit nights have allowed game animals feed after dark and before dawn, making the early part of the hunting season more difficult. Under conditions such as these, it’s sometimes productive for a party of hunters to organize drives and move game into waiting archers. Solo hunters may have to resort to a blind or tree stand, if they find conditions too dry and noisy for effective stalking. Hunters are reminded to leave alcohol in camp. Drinking and driving is illegal—even from an OHV. Remember to validate your tag at the site of kill. Failure to do so will result in a citation, if you are caught. Remember to observe the safe hunting practices you were taught in your hunter’s safety course, so that your hunting season can be memorable for good rather than bad experiences. The archery season for deer and “any bull” elk ends on September 12. The spike bull archery hunt closes a week earlier on Sept. 7. |
