6A — THE OBSERVER
Allexander Kosel
of Eastern Oregon
University competes
Saturday, March,
6, 2021, in the long
jump at the National
Association of Inter-
collegiate Athletics
Indoor Track and
Field Championships
at the Ruth Donohoe
First Dakota Field-
house in Yankton,
South Dakota. Kosel
and four teammates
won All-American
honors at the meet.
James D. Cimburek/Contributed Photo
Five Mountaineers win
All-American honors
Michelle Herbes
secures second
All-American honor
in the 1,000
By DICK MASON
The Observer
YANKTON, S.D. —
Eastern Oregon University
track and fi eld came away
from last week’s Indoor
National Championships
with fi ve All-American
honors to fi nish the 2020-21
indoor season.
The National Association
of Intercollegiate Athletics
meet in Yankton, South
Dakota, began Wednesday,
March 3, and wrapped up
Saturday, March 6. Going
into Friday, the Mountain-
eers had the chance to pick
up two or three All-Amer-
ican awards, according to a
report from EOU athletics,
and were guaranteed one.
Darrian Walker’s and
Michelle Herbes’ fourth-
place fi nishes sparked the
EOU men’s and wom-
en’s track and fi eld teams.
The two were among fi ve
EOU athletes who earned
All-American honors with
top-eight fi nishes. Herbes
placed fourth in the wom-
en’s 1,000-meter run, and
Walker took fourth in the
men’s pole vault.
Herbes, a junior from
Union, clocked 2:56.93 and
was closing rapidly on the
leaders at the fi nish. EOU
head track coach Ben Welch
said he believes Herbes
could have placed even
higher if the race had been a
bit longer.
“She just ran out of
room,” Welch said.
This was the second
straight year Herbes won
All-American honors. She
placed eighth in the 1,000
meter at the 2020 NAIA
indoor meet. Teammate Jas-
mine Devers came within
one place of advancing to
this year’s fi nals in the 200
meters with a time of 25.47
seconds, the ninth best at
the meet.
In the men’s competi-
tion Walker, a sophomore,
placed fourth in the pole
vault with a mark of 16 feet,
3/4 inches. It was a personal
best for Walker and marked
the fi rst time he cleared 16
feet.
Three other EOU men
also won All-American
honors — Hunter Nichols,
Allexander Kosel and T.J.
Davis.
Nichols placed fi fth in
the 1,000-meter run with a
time of 2:32.51; Kosel was
eighth in the long jump with
a leap of 22 feet, 6 and 1/4
inches; and Davis was sev-
enth in the heptathlon with
4,746 points.
Kosel also competed
in the triple jump, placing
ninth with a mark of 46
feet, 6 inches. Welch said
Kosel was the only person at
nationals in the men’s com-
petition to make the fi nals in
both the long jump and the
triple jump.
Other EOU men turned
in solid performances.
Sam Roddewig placed
11th in the heptathlon with
4,669 points, and Cody
Milmine placed ninth in the
60-meter dash with a time
of 6.87 seconds. Milmine
came within a hundredth of
a second of qualifying for
the fi nals in the dash.
“It takes a tenth of a
second to blink an eye.
Cody came inches from
competing in the fi nals,”
Welch said.
Welch noted many of
EOU’s athletics placed
much higher than they were
ranked coming into the
meet. They included Herbes
who was ranked 13th in
the women’s 1,000, Nichols
who was ranked 15th in
the men’s 1,000, and Davis
who was ranked 14th in the
men’s heptathlon.
“We competed very
well,” Welch said.
Eastern athletes per-
formed well despite the fact
the indoor meet was on a
fl at 200-meter track. Welch
said most of EOU’s athletes
never competed on that kind
of track before, unlike many
of the athletes from the
Midwest, where fl at indoor
200-meter tracks are more
common. Welch said some
of his runners had trouble
adjusting to the tight turns of
the track because they were
unfamiliar with the ovals.
The EOU men fi nished
tied for 24th place in a fi eld
with at least 61 teams, with
12 points.
The EOU women fi nished
36th in a fi eld with at least
66 teams, with fi ve points.
EOU places 18th at wrestling nationals
The Observer
PARK CITY, Kan. —
The Eastern Oregon Univer-
sity men’s wrestling brought
home hardware from the
National Association of
Intercollegiate Athletics
Wrestling National Cham-
pionships. Two Mountain-
eers earned All-American
status at the meet March 5-6,
in Park City, Kansas, and
the team scored 24 points to
place 18th.
Keegan Mulhill at 174
pounds and Noel Orozco at
285 pounds made their ways
to the podium, according
to the report from EOU.
Mulhill placed sixth in his
TUESDAY, MARCH 9, 2021
SPORTS/NORTHWEST
class with a 5-3 record and
scored 14 points for Eastern.
Orozco fi nished seventh,
going 4-2 and scoring 8.5
points for the team. For both
wrestlers, this was their fi rst
career All-American honors.
Mulhill pinned his fi rst
opponent, Don Doyle of
Texas Wesleyan, in 2:07.
Mulhill was on the fl ip side
of a pin in his next match to
go to 1-1. He won his next
three matches by decisions
to make it into day two and
guarantee All-American
status.
He was 4-1 on day two
and in the consolation
bracket and was 1-2 on the
fi nal day of action.
Orozco went 3-1 on day
one and managed to battle
to the quarterfi nals before
being knocked into the con-
solation bracket.
Orozco stayed in con-
tention for All-American
honors, closing the day as
he pinned Benito Hernandez
of Ottawa University in 57
seconds.
Orozco’s fi nal day of
action saw him fi nish
1-1. In the seventh-place
match, Orozco battled from
start to fi nish in a tough
4-3 decision victory over
Maleek Caton of Williams
Baptist University.
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PROTECTING our
Residents during this
Pandemic
Northwest wildlife agencies
warn of invasive zebra mussels
Associated Press
PORTLAND — Wild-
life agencies in Oregon,
Washington and Idaho are
urging pet stores to stop
selling a popular aquarium
product after discovering
invasive zebra mussels
inside them.
The mollusks breed
quickly and can wreak
havoc on natural water-
ways. Unexpected sight-
ings in Northwest pet
stores have wildlife offi -
cials sounding the alarm,
Oregon Public Broad-
casting reported.
“It would be devas-
tating to our environment
if these ever got estab-
lished in Oregon or the
Pacifi c Northwest,” said
Rick Boatner, the invasive
species wildlife integrity
supervisor at the Oregon
Department of Fish and
Wildlife.
A PetCo employee in
Seattle found zebra mus-
sels in “Betta Buddy
Marimo Ball” moss ball
products in February.
“I work in the aquatics
department, and almost
every shipment of these
moss balls that I have
unpacked for the past two
months has had mussels
nestled in the moss balls,”
reads a fi ling with the U.S.
Geological Survey.
The Oregon Depart-
ment of Fish and Wildlife
this week found them at a
pet store in Salem in the
same product. The Idaho
State Department of Agri-
culture’s Invasive Spe-
cies Program also said
this week that zebra mus-
sels were found in those
products.
Zebra mussels are small
but destructive. They eat
algae that native species
need to survive. They can
also incapacitate native
mussels. They clog storm
drains, drinking water sys-
tems, irrigation and dams.
Zebra and quagga mussel
infestations in the Great
Lakes region have cost
hundreds of millions of
dollars annually.
People can safely dis-
pose of the marimo balls
by freezing or boiling
them before putting them
in the garbage. Don’t fl ush
the balls down the toilet,
ODFW says, as the mus-
sels could get into the
water system.
The agency also
encourages people to clean
aquariums by removing
fi sh, then letting a diluted
bleach solution sit in the
aquarium for 10 minutes.
Disinfect fi lters, gravel
and other items in the
aquarium before disposing
of the solution down the
sink or toilet.
Oregon — and much of
the region — has largely
avoided a zebra mussel
invasion through strict
monitoring of watercraft,
according to Fish and
Wildlife offi cials.
“We were not expecting
zebra mussels from moss
balls,” Boatner said.
STATE NEWS BRIEFS
4 hotels to pay
$105K over wildfi re
price-gouging
PORTLAND — Four
Oregon hotels will pay
$105,600 in penalties and
reimburse at least 100 cus-
tomers to settle allegations
of price gouging during
wildfi res last year.
The fi res burned more
than 1 million acres and
forced thousands of Ore-
gonians from their homes.
Some people reported
increased hotel prices and
Gov. Kate Brown issued a
directive to crack down on
price gouging.
Attorney General Ellen
Rosenblum said Thursday,
March 4, the hotels have
agreed to settle price-
gouging allegations by
paying fi nancial penalties,
The Oregonian/Oregon-
Live reported.
The Department of Jus-
tice reported Capital Inn
& Suites in Salem typi-
cally charged $60-$80 a
night for rooms but was
charging as much as $146
during the wildfi res. Cap-
ital Inn has refunded
$1,342 to those customers
and has agreed to reim-
burse others. The hotel
also will pay a $38,000
penalty to the state.
The other hotels are
Le Chateau Inn in Flor-
ence, the Rodeway Inn
Willamette River in Cor-
vallis and the Days Inn in
Roseburg.
Oregon is investi-
gating other allegations,
according to the Jus-
tice Department. It’s also
looking into hotel price-
gouging allegations during
last month’s ice storm.
Helicopter crew
rescues hiker who
fell from cliff
SEASIDE — A man
who fell more than 100
feet from a cliff near
Cannon Beach in north-
western Oregon has been
rescued by helicopter.
The U.S. Coast Guard
says the hiker fell late
Friday afternoon, March
5, from a cliff at Hug Point
State Park south of Cannon
Beach.
The Coast Guard says a
helicopter crew hoisted the
hiker to safety after fi rst
responders on the ground
reported they were unable
to reach him. Authorities
say the hiker was taken to
an area hospital. The hik-
er’s name and types of
injuries weren’t released.
— Associated Press