Sports
6A
Saturday, April 4, 2020
The Observer
Callie Glenn leads area 2A honorees
Brianna Kohr,
Keegan Glenn and
Ashlyn Gray also
earn honors
J
By Ronald Bond
The Observer
UNION — The Union
girls basketball team went
on a run in 2019-20 that
proved it to be one of the
best in the state.
Two of Union’s players
received a similar recogni-
tion following the season.
Sophomore guard Callie
Glenn and senior guard Bri-
anna Kohr were named to
the 2A all-state team, which
is voted on by the coaches.
Glenn was tapped as
a first-team all-state per-
former for the Bobcats,
who finished 25-5 and
placed fifth, while Kohr was
named honorable mention.
“I am pleased for them,”
Union girls head coach
Rhondie Rickman-Jo-
hansen said. “One thing
I really want to stress is
they weren’t able to get
those kind of awards and
acknowledgment without
the girls around them. They
know it was a team effort.…
It’s a great achievement
because that means other
coaches around the state are
seeing your hard work.”
Glenn has proven her-
self as one of the state’s pre-
mier players at the 2A level
in just two years and, Rick-
man-Johansen said, has a
bright future ahead of her.
“Callie again had a com-
plete season,” the coach
said. “She’s the driver on
the team. She has a passion
for the game. She works
hard at the game in the off-
season, and it shows when
it comes to her performance
on the court. She brings so
many things to the game
and to our team. She’s the
player you can count on and
kind of depend on to do all
those things nightly.... Cal-
lie’s also just such a humble
girl about it. Sometimes
she doesn’t even recognize
in her own self what she is
capable of.”
Glenn herself was
shocked at the accolade.
“I was very surprised. I
was not expecting it at all,”
she said.
Glenn noted when her
coach sent her the all-state
list, she couldn’t find her
name on it.
Turned out, it was
because she was looking
too low.
“I was looking on third
team and honorable men-
tion,” she said.
Glenn added part of the
surprise in the award was
being named with the other
high-caliber players on
teams Union saw at state.
“When we went to the
state tournament there were
a lot of good players there,”
she said. “You don’t realize
how many good players
there are.”
Kohr finished her prep
hoops career with a feather
in her cap in getting recog-
nized by the state’s coaches.
“She really earned that
this year,” Rickman-Jo-
hansen said of her daughter,
Kohr. “She made it her goal
to be a factor to be reckoned
with in the Blue Mountain
Conference with her scoring
and her defense. She really
stepped up this year as a
scorer, a teammate and as a
leader.”
The coach added it was
icing on the cake for Kohr
“as a senior and being an
integral part of the program
for four years. It’s a good
ending for her.”
More honors for
regional athletes
Up in Wallowa County,
Ashlyn Gray capped off
her high school basketball
career by earning third-
team all-state after helping
steer the Enterprise girls
Staff photo by Ronald Bond
La Grande’s Chris Woodworth, who won two individual
state championships for the Tigers, has signed to wrestle
at Eastern Oregon University.
Woodworth to continue
wrestling career at EOU
He intends to hone
in on small details
at college level
J
By Ronald Bond
The Observer
Photo by Ben Lonergan/EO Media Group
Union sophomore Callie Glenn, left, was named first-team all-state following the con-
clusion of the 2019-20 season. Glenn helped Union to a 25-5 record and a fifth-place
finish at state.
File photos/EO Media Group
Union’s Keegan Glenn (above left) was
named honorable mention all-state on the
boys side after helping the Bobcats to a 17-
10 record.
At right, Enterprise’s Ashlyn Gray earned
third-team all-state after helping the Out-
laws to a 17-7 record and a berth in the
state playoffs.
to a 17-7 record and a near
upset of eventual state run-
ner-up Monroe.
“I thought that her ver-
satility, her ability to play
whatever we needed (were
key),” EHS head coach
Mike Crawford said of
Gray, who was a post but
had the ability to play any-
where on the floor. “She
brought it down the court
as much as my (point
guard) did.”
Crawford said a facet of
Gray’s senior year was that
she stepped up and turned
in her best efforts when the
team needed her the most.
“When we went to state
at Monroe, she was our
top player,” the coach said.
“She did that over and over
in games. She did that her
whole career.”
Her all-around ability
also showed in the stat
sheet. Crawford noted
Gray led the team in every
statistical category except
assists, and wasn’t far off
the team lead there.
“I’m just really happy
for her,” he said. “I think it
was totally deserving to
be in the top three teams.
It wouldn’t have surprised
me if she was higher. I
would have been surprised
if she was lower.”
On the boys side, Union
junior Keegan Glenn gar-
nered honorable mention
for the Bobcats, perhaps a
more impressive feat con-
sidering Union, though
going 17-10, missed the
playoffs, and most all-
state players are on playoff
teams.
“That’s how you get
your exposure. You get
to state, you get to play
in front of coaches and
people,” Union head coach
Odin Miller said.
“For Keegan to get rec-
ognized is a testament to
how good he is.”
Glenn averaged 18.5
points, 9.8 rebounds and
3.6 assists for Union on the
season.
“You’re not going to
find a kid that works harder
than him,” Miller said.
“He’s dedicated. He’s a
great young man, and he
deserves this. I’m proud of
him. I feel fortunate he got
that accolade.”
Miller noted, though,
that Glenn is already
looking to reach higher
next season.
“He was excited, but at
the same time he’s the kind
of kid who wants to do
more,” he said.
LA GRANDE — The
Eastern Oregon Univer-
sity men’s wrestling team
is adding a two-time state
champion to its roster —
and it didn’t even have to
leave town to find him.
The Mountaineers have
signed La Grande senior
Chris Woodworth, who
in late February won his
second straight state title en
route to helping the Tigers
win state for the first time
since 1996.
Woodworth said the
decision to sign came in
part due to realizing there
was more he could do on
the mat, and winning the
195-pound title helped
prove that to him.
“After I won that second
state championship this
year, I realized my wres-
tling career wasn’t over
and that I could excel
much more and get much
better than I am right now,”
Woodworth said.
Woodworth went 29-4
his senior season, wrapping
up with a memorable 4-3
decision over Nat Brown of
Elmira/Crow, one where he
scored the winning take-
down in the closing sec-
onds to also secure the state
championship for the team.
EOU head coach Dustyn
Azure said he has watched
Woodworth develop over
the years and noted he
started to really come into
his own during his junior
year.
“Watching him wrestle
his junior year was when
he really caught my atten-
tion, and having him at my
camp,” Azure said. “That’s
when I started asking more
about him, trying to fill in
some blank spots (in our
roster) where he would fill
in.”
Azure said Woodworth
“looked like a junior or
senior as a freshman but he
still was not grown into his
body yet. He’s been devel-
oping each year.”
Azure added Wood-
worth fits the model of
what he wants to bring to
EOU.
“He’s an ideal student
athlete,” the coach said.
“He’s smart, he can come
in and wrestle, he can
compete hard, he’s an all-
around good kid. That’s
what we’re looking for in
our program.”
Woodworth said he
received consideration from
Corban but wanted to stay
in La Grande and attend
Eastern even if he didn’t
wrestle.
“I was thinking of just
staying at EOU even if it
wasn’t for sports anyway,”
he said. “I was thinking
originally of walking on
and playing football … but
after thinking about it a
little bit, and since Dustyn
was offering me a scholar-
ship, (I thought wrestling)
would be better.”
Woodworth said his
intent is to hone in on
smaller details as he
develops at the collegiate
level. He noted in conversa-
tion with Azure, the coach
said the key is “just really
focusing on small things,
little things, little tech-
niques, focusing on those
every day. For me, in high
school, you can get away
with a lot of not really good
technique.... Now, being at
the college level, you can’t
just get away with athlet-
icism. (I plan to) focus on
working on overall tech-
nique and knowing what I
like to do.”
The coach added Wood-
worth has the tools to
develop into a top-level
wrestler.
“What he has right now
is an ability to score when
he wants to,” Azure said.
“With his confidence, that
can get him here.”
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Staff photo by Ronald Bond
Union’s Brianna Kohr was
named honorable mention
all-state after helping the
Bobcats to a 25-5 record
and fifth-place finish at
state.
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