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About The Observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1968-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 30, 2019)
SPORTS 8A — THE OBSERVER FRIDAY, AUGUST 30, 2019 Ducks, Tigers ready for battle Wright working to earn his spot By Kevin Hampton The Associated Press ARLINGTON, Texas — For all the expec- tations that the 11th-ranked Oregon Ducks have for this season, there will fi rst be a fl ashback to their championship near-misses of the past when they open against No. 16 Auburn. When the Ducks last played in the home stadium of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys fi ve seasons ago with Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Marcus Mariota, they lost to Ohio State in the fi rst championship game of the four-team College Football Playoff era. Oregon also played a season opener at the North Texas stadium in 2011, the middle of three consecutive 12-win seasons under coach Chip Kelly. That loss to LSU came only about eight months after they were again on the verge of a national title, and lost in the BCS Championship Game to Auburn. Gus Malzahn, going into his seventh ROUNDUP Continued from Page 7A seven kills, Felicity Houston had 13 digs and Presley Justice tallied 15 digs, four kills and three aces. La Grande (1-0 overall) hosts the Hanna Cashell Memorial Tournament on Saturday. COUGARS OPEN WITH THREE VICTORIES The Wallowa Cougars opened the season with three victories at the McLough- lin Tournament Thursday, sweeping the host Pioneers (25-16, 25-18), Umatilla (25-8, 25-13) and Enterprise (25-10, 25-14) in best-of-three matches. “I feel very confi dent in their play today. The biggest thing I have to say is they played as a team,” head coach Janea Hulse said. “If they made a mistake they were lift each other up....At this point in years past we weren’t at the team level yet. It’s encour- aging to see where they are at right now.” Jamie Johnston tallied seven kills, nine digs and three blocks against Mac-Hi. ShannaRae Tillery had six kills, 11 digs and fi ve aces in the win and Ashlyn Young added 14 assists and four aces. In the win over Umatilla Johnston had six kills, 17 digs and four blocks. Tillery added 16 digs, six aces and fi ve kills and Ella Moeller recorded 18 digs and three aces. In the fi nale Johnston was solid in all facets of the game with 11 kills, 18 digs and six EASTERN Continued from Page 7A champion Oklahoma City opened the season as the nation’s No. 1 team. The EOU women’s team fell short of making the top 25, but did receive 29 points in the poll for 36th. The last time the Mountaineer season as head coach of the Tigers, was their offensive coordinator for that 2010 champi- onship. “Sometimes in the offseason, you refl ect back on certain things. But that was a while ago, and of course, those are great memories,” Malzahn said. “But they’re different now, and we’re a little different now.” The Ducks are the highest-ranked Pac-12 team and the North Division favorite. They go into Saturday night’s game, the opener of coach Mario Cristobal’s second season, with a three-game winning streak after a 9-4 season. Malzahn is feeling some heat at Auburn after going 8-5 last year, another disappoint- ing record for the Tigers, who in his fi rst season as head coach in 2013 played in the last BCS title game (a 34-31 loss to Florida State). Five SEC teams are currently ranked higher than Auburn. blocks. Tillery had 12 kills and 13 digs and three aces, and Bailey Hafer added three aces. The Cougars (3-0 overall) return to action Sept. 7 at The Cat Clash in Echo. BADGERS WIN PAIR OF OPENING MATCHES The Powder Valley Bad- gers opened the 2019 regular season with a pair of victories at the 1A season preview tournament at Country Christian High School in Molalla Thursday, defeating McKenzie 25-7, 25-6, 25-9 and Crane 25-13, 25-9, 24-26, 25-9. “They were super excited, (though) nervous in the beginning of the fi rst game,” head coach Marji Lind said. “They worked hard (in the) preseason. It was good to get out on the court in a game station. They did a great job. It was a great fi rst day.” Stats were not provided. The Badgers (2-0 overall) continued play in Molalla to- day with three more matches on the slate. ELGIN GOES 2-1 AT MAC-HI Elgin opened the season with two victories at the McLoughlin Tournament, beating both Mac-Hi and Umatilla before losing to Enterprise in three sets. “I was thrilled with today,” head coach Tiana Murphey said. “I was ecstatic with how the girls worked together (and) came together to over- come any obstacles that got in their way. They really fo- cused and just have a wonder mindset and work ethic.” The Huskies eked out a women were in the coaches’ rankings was the fi nal poll of the 2012 season, when they were 13th. The highest rating for EOU in the past 20 years came in 2000, when it opened the season fi fth. Four CCC opponents — Southern Oregon (No. 4), defending national champion close 25-22, 25-20 win over Mac-Hi, behind two kills from Jayden Palmer and a strong defensive effort. Both Tymra Anderson and Madison Harvey had nine digs. Palmer also had four assists and Anderson added four aces. In their 25-8, 25-18 win over Umatilla, Shelby San- nar had two kills, two aces and two blocks. Elgin wrapped up with a 25-17, 10-25, 25-10 loss to Enterprise. Kaelin Evans had three kills and nine digs, Palmer had fi ve assists and two blocks, and Anderson had seven aces. “They really stepped up and made signifi cant improvement over last year just in the last two weeks,” Murphey said. Elgin (2-1 overall) next plays at the Stanfi eld Tour- nament Sept. 7. EAGLES OPEN WITH TWO LOSSES The Joseph Eagles dropped a pair of season-opening matches to Perrydale and Echo at the 1A season pre- view tournament at Country Christian High School in Molalla Thursday. Joseph lost to Perrydale in four set, and dropped a fi ve-set marathon to Echo, 25-20, 25-17, 21-25, 26-28, 17-15. Set scores for the Perrydale match, as well as stats, were not available. The Eagles (0-2 overall) continue play in Molalla to- day with three more matches on the schedule. Albany Democrat-Herald At least one name pops out when looking through the recently released Oregon State football depth chart. Nahshon Wright is listed as the possible No. 1 cornerback, along with Jojo Forest, opposite Isaiah Dunn. Some fans might be a bit surprised by the news. After all, Wright was a relatively late arrival at OSU. He announced his commit- ment on June 8, choosing the Beavers over Colorado and Boise State. “I love the family atmosphere,” Wright told Oregonlive after his commitment. “I always wanted to get out of California. This is right outside. I like the school, and the coaches are really welcoming, especially coach Blue (Adams), that’s my guy.” He played one season at Laney Junior College, giving him three years of eligibility to play three. He was available to play in 2019 and so immediately made his way to opened with a pair of losses at the Weston-McEwen three-way match Thursday, losing to Dufur 25-19, 25-23, 25-23, and to Weston-McEw- en 25-19, 25-11, 25-18. Stats were not available. Imbler (0-2 overall) next Corvallis to get ready for the fall. A few months later, Wright could start at corner against Oklahoma State on Friday night. “Obviously anytime you bring any recruit in out of a junior college you’re bringing them in so that they can have an immediate impact, but you never know,” OSU defensive coordinator Tim Tibesar said. “He’s got to go in just like the other guys and compete every single day and he’s got to go out and earn it. It wasn’t something that was prom- ised to him or anything like that, he’s got to go out and earn it every single day and that’s what he’s been able to do.” Wright said he didn’t have much of a reaction to the depth chart news. “I just knew I had to hold myself to a higher standard, just as far as locking in before the game and just understanding my role and my job on the fi eld. I think just get- ting into the playbook and understanding what I have to do and all the concepts.” plays at the Hanna Cashell Memorial Tournament in La Grande Saturday. ENTERPRISE GOES 2-1 TO OPEN SEASON Enterprise went 2-1 at the McLoughlin tourna- ment to open 2019, defeat- Friday thru Sunday, Sept 6 th -8 th At La Grande Country Club Proceeds benefit the Grande Ronde Hospital Foundation. Games and prizes throughout the tournament! Dinner and silent auction on Saturday following regular play. Tournament open to men and women with an established USGA Handicap index. Entry Fee: $125 includes tee prize and dinner ticket to charity dinner and auction on Saturday evening. PANTHERS DROP TWO TO OPEN SEASON The Imbler Panthers Oregon Tech (No. 7), College of Idaho (No. 9) and North- west Christian (No. 18). Madonna (Michigan) opened the season at No. 1 after being the runner up last fall. Both the men and wom- en’s teams open the season when they host the EOU Invitational Sept. 13. ing Mac-Hi 25-12, 20-25, 15-8 and Elgin 25-17, 10-25, 15-10, but losing to Wallowa 25-10, 25-14. Stats were not available. The Outlaws (2-1 overall) play at the Grant Union Tournament Saturday. Information & Register at: grh.org/ golf or 541-963-1431 Sponsors: Allstate Insurance Brent Wylam Pepsi Cola of Eastern Oregon B & K Auto Salvage, Inc. Banner Bank Boise Cascade Byrnes Oil Company, Inc. CAM Credits Carpet One Floor & Home Coffey Communications Desert Sage Wall Systems Farmers Insurance Group C&M/Subway GrandeScapes Nursery & Landscaping Hampton Paving Johnson Controls John Howard and Associates Koza Family Dental Care Life Flight Network, LLC Mountain West Moving OTEC Papa Murphy's/Hulden, Inc Physicians Insurance PKA Architects Regence BlueCross BlueShield Robert Brooks Painting Scott's Heating & Air Conditioning Sid Johnson & Co. Stoel Rives LLP Tri County Equipment A1A/JJ Dupuey/ Depuey Synths MRI Mobile Legacy Ford and Dodge Media In-Kind Sponsors: Elkhorn Media Group Pacific Empire Radio Grande Ronde Hospital proudly welcomes: Jeanna Romer, MD Joining the GRH Women’s Clinic team as a Doctor of Gynecology & Obstetrics Ronald Bond/The Observer Sid Rangel, a former Eastern Oregon player and La Grande assistant coach, has taken over the program. TIGERS Continued from Page 7A “He’s going to do great things. He’s very agile, very athlete, very strong,” Rangel said of Huntsman, who is also a standout pole vaulter for the Tigers’ track team. “I’m ex- cited to have him in the goal.” La Grande gets a pair of home matches right off the bat, hosting aforementioned Wood River today and Jerome, Idaho, Saturday — the latter of the two at Community Stadium. The Tigers’ open GOL play at home Sept. 21 against rival Baker, and host defending GOL champion Ontario in an early fi nal regular-season home game Oct. 2. Dr. Romer is a native Oregonian and Eastern Oregon University graduate. She was drawn back to the Grande Ronde Valley by her love of the people, the outdoors, and the desire to raise her family in a small community, all the while providing access to quality, non-judgemental, and compassionate healthcare for women throughout n internship p at a t the e University U iver Un e sityy of o f the area. Dr. Romer completed her medical education at OHSU, followed by an Hawaii on Oahu, and then completed her OB/GYN residency at the University of f es, Connecticut. Professionally, she is interested in minimally invasive surgeries, thyy healthcare policy and women’s health advocacy. She is passionate about healthy lifestyles including diet, exercise, and preventative medicine. She enjoys working ng g with women at various stages of their lives - whether they need a surgeon, are e uess trying to prevent pregnancy, seeking help to conceive, or dealing with issues surrounding menopause. Personally, Dr. Romer enjoys running, biking, hiking, rock ockk climbing, cooking, and spending time with her husband and three young children. n. Please join us in welcoming Dr. Romer and her family back to the area! a! GRH Women’s & Children’s Clinic 710 Sunset Drive, Suite E, La Grande • 541.663.3150 • grh.org/ob-gyn/ n/ Dr. Romer is now accepting new patients! Learn more about Dr. Romer in our online Provider Directory at www.grh.org today. Jeanna Romer, MD
