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Staffreport Jayne Brandt, Jaxon Balken and Jordan Brandt represented the Sierra Nevada Swimming LSC Aug. 10-13 at the 2016 West- ern Zone Age Group Champion- ships in Kearns, Utah. The meet included the top 670 swimmers from 17 teams repre- senting Alaska, Arizona, Califor- nia, Colorado, Hawaii, Montana, New Mexico, Oregon, Washing- ton, Wyoming and Utah. The three swimmers from Red Bluff competed well, en- joyed traveling with the team for this high level swim meet and learned to deal with the ef- fect 4,800 feet of altitude has on swimming. The first event Jayne Brandt swam, the 100M Breaststroke, proved to be her best. In the preliminaries Brandt swam a personal best 1:18.99 and was seeded 5th going into finals. That night Brandt crushed her best time and achieved a new CA-NV Sectional Time Stan- dard cut by going a blistering 1:17.73 and moved up a place to finish in 4th place. This is the first time Brandt has brought home a medal from a national level meet. Brandt also finished 17th in the 200 Breast and achieved a new best time in the 50 Free 30.22. Jaxon Balken's best swims were the 200 Backstroke 2:26.11 and 400IM 5:14.58 where he fin- ished 23rd in both events. Jordan Brandt placed 20th in the 50 Breaststroke with a personal best time of 44.97. In the 200 Free Brandt finished 24th with another best time of 2:45.62. SWIMMING BRANDT BRINGS HOME WESTERN ZONE MEDAL JayneBrandt,JordanBrandtandJaxonBalken,membersofthe Sierra Nevada Western Zone Team pose for a photo at the 2016 Western Zone Championships in Kearns, Utah Aug. 10-13. CONTRIBUTED Jayne Brandt competes in the 100M breaststroke at the Western Zone Championships in Kearns, Utah. By Cam Inman Bay Area News Group SANTA CLARA The 49ers are stockpiling from the 2011 draft's quarterback class, or so it seems. Christian Ponder signed Tues- day to join fellow 2011 products Blaine Gabbert and Colin Kae- pernick, the latter of whom hasn't thrown in practice for nearly a week because of shoul- der tightness. Ponder filled the roster spot of Thad Lewis, who went on injured reserve after tearing a knee ligament as the backup quarterback in Sunday's exhi- bition-opening loss. The 49ers had only Gabbert and rookie Jeff Driskel avail- able to throw in Tuesday's brief practice before flying to Denver, where they'll practice Wednes- day and Thursday against the host Broncos ahead of Saturday night's exhibition. Neither general manager Trent Baalke nor coach Chip Kelly were available for com- ment, and Ponder's deal was an- nounced an hour after media ac- cess to players ended. "Go Niners" Ponder tweeted. Ponder did not play last sea- son after going 14-21-1 as a starter from 2011-14 with the Minnesota Vikings. He was the No. 12 overall draft pick in 2011, taken two spots after Gabbert went to the Jacksonville Jaguars and 24 spots ahead of Kaeper- nick's selection to the 49ers. Last year, Ponder was with the Raiders in their offseason program and training camp be- fore getting cut Sept. 5. He re- surfaced with the Broncos in late November, was inactive for two games and was released Dec. 8. One of Ponder's best games with the Vikings came in a 2012 49ERS Ponder signed to help quarterback corps By Jimmy Durkin Bay Area News Group NAPA DeAndre Washington as- sessed the situation and knew it was going to be "an easy win." The Oakland Raiders rookie running back was set to run an angle route out of the backfield in his NFL exhibition debut last week and saw the Arizona Car- dinals had defensive end/outside linebacker Tristan Okpalaugo lined up on him. "I was licking my chops," Wash- ington said. The route had Washington start out running toward Okpa- laugo, then quickly cut at an an- gle back toward the middle of the field. The defender never had a chance and stumbled for the next seven yards after Washing- ton blew past him and made the catch and run for 32 yards. "I think that's why they brought me in, to create mismatches against opposing defenses," Washington said. "On that play, they were guarding with me a d- end so I had to make my money on that play. It was a good throw, it was a good play." And it was a good debut for Washington, whom the Raiders are leaning on to be a nice com- plimentary back to starter Lata- vius Murray. Washington finished with eight carries for 43 yards in the first preseason game also was the starting kick returner, taking the opening kickoff back 31 yards. "I think it was a good start," Washington said. "Your first NFL game, you're just trying to get your feet wet a little bit." After losing two yards on his first carry and gaining them back on his second, his first flash came a drive later when he broke free for a 25-yard run. The offensive line gave him a big hole that he read correctly and then he was greeted by safety Marqui Chris- tian. With a stutter step and a cut back to the left, he was past him RAIDERS Washington thrives on creating mismatches Rookie RB was picked in 5th round of 2016 NFL Dra DMITRI LOVETSKY — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS United States' Simone Biles performs on the floor during the artistic gymnastics women's apparatus final at the 2016Summer Olympics on Tuesday. She won the gold medal in the event. By Will Graves The Associated Press RIO DE JANEIRO Simone Biles starts each year by pulling out a notebook to write down her goals for the next 12 months. When 2016 dawned, for once she didn't get too specific. Make the Olympic team. That's it. Better to just leave things vague. Besides, who could have writ- ten this? Eight days. Five medals. Four of them gold. The last one draped over her neck following one final show-stopping floor ex- ercise on Tuesday. Whether Biles will leave the games as the best gymnast of all time is up for debate, a topic she will happily leave to others. "I would never rank myself," Biles said. "It's weird." She'd rather let her envelope- pushing performance at Rio Olympic Arena do the talking. Her final act was perhaps her greatest. On legs she joked felt like rocks, Biles put together 90 seconds of effortless joy. Her ceiling scraping tumbling and charismatic danc- ing — set to Brazilian-themed mu- sic designed for exactly this mo- ment — ended with her bouncing off the mat before sprinting to the awaiting arms of longtime coach Aimee Boorman. The two embraced, their jour- ney that began when Biles was 6 ending — at least for now — with history. Biles became the fifth fe- male gymnast to win four golds at a single Olympic meet and the fourth to win them on the tradi- tional events. Throw in the bronze Biles earned on balance beam Mon- day and the 19-year-old will have a lengthy checklist when she gets to customs on her way home to Texas. "I think that she was really con- sistent, that was a big thing for her," Boorman said. "That was the goal. Not to come in and win five OLYMPICS: WOMEN'S GYMNASTICS BilesendsGameswith4thgold Wins floor exercise, Raisman takes silver PHOTO BY NORM HALL — GETTY IMAGES Oakland Raiders running back DeAndre Washington finished with eight carries for 43yards in Friday's preseason opener against the Arizona Cardinals. 49ERSATDENVER When: Saturday, 6p.m. TV: CBS TUNEIN RAIDERS AT GREEN BAY When: Thursday, 5p.m. TV: FOX TUNEIN RAIDERS PAGE 2 49ERS PAGE 2 GYMNASTICS PAGE 2 SPORTS » redbluffdailynews.com Wednesday, August 17, 2016 MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS B1