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:
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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