Prairie City volleyball pushes Jordan Valley to 4 sets in loss

The Prairie City Panther volleyball team played competitively against the visiting Jordan Valley Mustangs Saturday, pushing the match to four sets, but the Mustangs came away with the win.

Jordan Valley won the first two sets 25-20 and 25-17. Prairie City came back 25-12 in the third, but the Mustangs were able to pull out a 25-19 win in the fourth.

“The girls played well. We just had too many unforced errors in the sets we lost,” said Prairie City head coach Jordan Bass. “The third set was a real turning point in the match, and the team was playing at their full potential in that set.”

Rilee Emmel and Emily Ennis, both seniors, provided strong offense throughout the match with season-high kills of 11 and 9, respectively.

Senior Shaine Madden led the team in aces for the match, serving at 100% with no errors.

“We served at 89% as a team for the night with Rilee Emmel, Katie Hire and Laken McKay all serving over 90% as well,” Bass said.

Prairie City/Burnt River football tripped up by late start on road

A long delay in the football game at McKenzie High School in Finn Rock Friday night may have contributed to the Prairie City/Burnt River Panther team’s 39-29 loss to the Eagles.

The Panthers traveled six hours to Finn Rock only to have the game delayed more than two more hours until 9:45 p.m. due to the officials not being present.

The Panthers gave up a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter, the game ending at midnight.

“Declan Zweygardt, Jayden Winegar, Opie McDaniel, Jake McHatton, Marcus Judd (and) Doyal Lawrence led our effort,” said Panther head coach Scott Dean, adding his team was ahead for most of the game.

If not for Grant County fans traveling to the game and it being McKenzie’s homecoming night, Dean said they may have canceled the nonleague game.

“I know the rule to wait is one hour, (but) two hours and 30 minutes is extensive and not proper, and finishing at near midnight is ridiculous,” Dean said.

Prairie City/Burnt River has a week off, then will celebrate homecoming with a league game, hosting the Dayville/Monument Tigers at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 18.

Ukiah/Long Creek volleyball competes well in win and loss

The Ukiah/Long Creek volleyball team chalked up a win over the Burnt River Bulls Friday, the Mountain Lions sweeping on the road to Unity with scores of 25-13, 25-15 and 25-10.

Competing at Dayville/Monument’s Dig Pink Rally on Saturday, the Mountain Lions played strong against the Adrian Antelopes junior varsity team, pushing the match to five sets. Adrian won with scores of 25-9, 7-25, 18-25, 25-10 and 15-13.

Head coach Reagan Enriquez said she couldn’t ask for more from the team last week.

“We always enjoy playing Burnt River. With a school so involved with foreign exchange students, as our own, our skills are matched very well,” Enriquez said, adding that against Adrian junior varsity their team “played nearly flawlessly.”

She said the team has had many ups and downs this season, including losing both captains for the majority of the season.

“The team, ever diligent on sportsmanship, still fought for the collaboration, only they keep with one another,” she said. “To say we are proud of the girls is inadequate for the amount we feel for them. As the season winds to an end, we hope the girls take away from this season a sense of accomplishment and skill.”

The Mountain Lions will host Condon at 3 p.m. Friday in Long Creek.

Ukiah/Long Creek soccer to host Umatilla Oct. 14

The Ukiah/Long Creek Mountain Lion soccer team fell 14-0 to 3A Riverside on Tuesday, Oct. 1, on the road.

The Mountain Lions face Four Rivers on Friday at noon (MT) in Ontario, then host Umatilla at 4 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 14, in Long Creek.

Four Grant Union cross country runners set records at Thompson Ranch

The 2A Grant Union cross country boys and girls teams were up against runners from 4A and 5A schools at the Heppner Invitational Thursday, Oct. 3, at Thompson Ranch.

“It was a one loop course that made it difficult for spectators, but some athletes do better on courses like this,” said Grant Union head coach Sonna Smith.

Erika Dickens, a senior, had a season best run of 22:22.7, placing 15th in the field of 71 runners.

Setting personal records were freshman Quinn Larson (19:11.6) and junior Jesse Randles (20:45) on the boys team, a total of 98 runners competing, and junior Mikiah Kimble (29:50.6) on the girls team.

Eighth-grader Grant Hall placed eighth for the middle school boys with a time of 11:39.6.

Grant Union will travel to the Tiger Invite on Friday in La Grande with middle school races starting at 11 a.m., followed by high school.

The Prospectors will host the Grant Union Gold Rush on Thursday, Oct. 24, at the Seventh Street Complex in John Day, and Smith said she is looking for volunteers to help with the meet. For more information, contact Smith at the high school at 541-575-1799, ext. 42.

Girls results

Erika Dickens, 15th place, 22:22.7

Rylee Browning, 35th, 24:56.8

Amelia Hall, 36th, 24:57.2

Tiler Voigt, 55th, 28:42.6

Riley Robertson, 56th, 29:04.4

Mikiah Kimble, 62nd, 29:50.6

Boys results

Brady Dole, 30th, 19:06.7

Quinn Larson, 34th, 19:11.6

Jesse Randleas, 57th, 20:45.0

Gage Brandon, 68th, 21:54.9

Max Bailey, 69th, 22:01.5

Gavin Lopez, 83rd, 24:05.6

Donavan Smith, 84th, 24:05