Sports
7A
Tuesday, March 30, 2021
Th e Observer
Sophomore is committ ed to speed
La Grande’s Dima McCarthy takes training to the next level
By COREY KIRK
For The Observer
Samantha Flett/Eastern Oregon University Athletics
Eastern Oregon University quarterback Kai Quinn prepares to pass Saturday, March 27, 2021, while playing on
the road against Rocky Mountain College in Billings, Montana. Quinn led the team to fi ve touchdowns and an
overtime victory.
Mountaineers improve to 2-0 with
comeback win over Batt lin’ Bears
The Observer
BILLINGS, Mont. —
Eastern Oregon University
football improved to 2-0 on
the season with a comeback
to defeat Rocky Mountain
College in overtime on Sat-
urday, March 27.
EOU Athletics reported
the Mountaineers trailed
30-16 late in the fourth
quarter before scoring 14
straight points to force the
overtime, then sealed the
win with a touchdown to
win 36-33 over the Battlin’
Bears.
As a team, the Moun-
taineers (2-0, 2-0 Frontier)
racked up 452 yards of total
off ense to edge out the Bat-
tlin’ Bears (0-3, 0-3 Fron-
tier), which fi nished with
423. EOU quarterback Kai
Quinn guided the off ense
fi nishing with 341 total
yards and fi ve touchdowns.
Rocky Mountain scored
fi rst with a 47-yard fi eld
goal in the opening quarter.
EOU responded, tying the
game at 3-3 when Zachary
Cahill hit a 42-yard fi eld
goal with 3:40 to play in the
fi rst quarter.
The Battlin’ Bears
retook the lead early in
the second quarter with
a 37-yard field goal,
going up 6-3.
EOU BY THE NUMBERS
• EOU quarterback Kai Quinn had 341 yards of total off ense with fi ve touch-
downs. He rushed for 85 yards and scored twice. Through the air, he completed
24-35 passes for 356 yards and three touchdowns.
• Wide receiver Tanner Zenke caught all three of Quinn’s touchdown passes and
fi nished with six catches for 130 yards with a long catch of 36 yards.
• Linebacker Zak Donato led the way for the defense with 11 total tackles, with
fi ve coming on a solo eff ort.
• EOU Athletics also reported the football team is off to its fi rst 2-0 start since the
2016 season. The Mountaineers have not won each of the last two matchups
against the Battlin’ Bears. Dating back to last season, EOU has won its last four
games.
Quinn scored the fi rst of
his fi ve touchdowns with
a 31-yard pass to Tanner
Zenke to cap a seven-play,
59-yard drive. But the point
after was no good, leaving
Eastern with a 9-6 lead. He
scored his second touch-
down with 5:13 remaining
in the fi rst half to put EOU
ahead 16-6.
Rocky Mountain tacked
on a third fi eld goal just
before the fi rst half ended to
bring the score to 16-9.
But in the second half,
the Battlin’ Bears scored
three straight touchdowns,
putting the team up 30-16
with less than 9 minutes left
in the fourth quarter.
EOU responded when
Quinn connected again
with Zenke for a 21-yard
touchdown pass with 4:11 to
play in the game. The point
after was good, edging the
Mountaineers closer, 30-23.
The defense made a piv-
otal stop and Quinn hit
Zenke for a third touch-
down with 1 second left on
the clock. The point after
was good, tying the score
30-30 to send the game into
overtime.
The Battlin’ Bears got
the ball fi rst and were able
to kick a 27-yard fi eld goal.
Quinn delivered for EOU
as he rushed in for a 6-yard
touchdown to complete
the comeback and seal the
36-33 win.
Head Coach Tim Camp
has now reached 73 career
wins.
Eastern returns home
this upcoming weekend for
the fi nal home game of the
regular season to take on
College of Idaho. Kickoff is
1 p.m. Saturday, April 3, at
Community Stadium.
THE WEEKEND IN NATIONAL SPORTS
NCAA president gets
thumbs up
two teams just two days
before the faceoff .
INDIANAPOLIS — The
chairman of the NCAA’s
Board of Governors gave
President Mark Emmert
a vote of confi dence Sat-
urday, March 27, saying the
association’s top governing
body was satisfi ed with how
he has addressed inequi-
ties in the college basketball
tournaments and with his
leadership through a tumul-
tuous 10 days.
Georgetown University
President Jack DeGioia told
The Associated Press the
board met Friday, March
26, along with the Divi-
sion I Board of Directors,
to hear from Emmert and
discuss issues that have in
some ways overshadowed
the women’s games in San
Antonio and men’s tourney
in Indianapolis.
Auburn bass fi shing team
suspended for COVID
violations
Boston Pride becomes
fi rst two-time winner of
the Isobel Cup
BOSTON — Lexie
Laing and Taylor
Wenczkowski scored power
play goals and the Boston
Pride on on Saturday night,
Mach 27, became the fi rst
two-time winner of the
Isobel Cup with a 4-3 win
over the defending cham-
pion Minnesota Whitecaps
It was a NWHL cham-
pionship the Pride, regu-
lar-season champions, had
hoped to win a year earlier,
before the COVID-19 pan-
demic forced the cancella-
tion of the championship
game between these same
AUBURN, Ala. —
Auburn University has sus-
pended the school’s bass
fi shing team over allega-
tions it repeatedly violated
COVID-19 policies.
A memo to team mem-
bers says the suspension
is for the rest of this year,
Al.com reported.
The team violated the
travel and events policy in
July 2020, February 2021
and March 2021, the doc-
ument states. During the
suspension, no member of
the team will be allowed to
compete, recruit or repre-
sent the Auburn University
Bass Fishing Team.
Auburn’s team is one of
the country’s top-ranked
programs. Several former
members have gone on to
compete in professional
bass fi shing competitions.
Ngannou takes
UFC heavyweight
championship
LAS VEGAS — Francis
Ngannou claimed the UFC
heavyweight championship
on Saturday night, March
27, stopping Stipe Miocic
with ferocious punches
early in the second round at
UFC 260.
Ngannou (11-2) avenged
his blowout loss to Miocic
in 2018 by demonstrating
everything he has learned
in the ensuing three years
during a dominant victory.
The fi rst UFC heavyweight
champion from Africa fl at-
tened Miocic (21-3) twice
early in the second, fi n-
ishing the fi ght 52 seconds
into the round.
The fi ght ended quickly
after Ngannou won the fi rst
round. Miocic recovered
from his fi rst knockdown
in the second round and
even landed a right hand
that stung Ngannou, but
the challenger replied with
a picture-perfect left hook,
depositing Miocic on the
canvas again for the fi nish.
Utah hires men’s
basketball coach
SALT LAKE CITY —
The University of Utah has
hired Utah State’s Craig
Smith as its men’s basket-
ball coach.
The school announced
Saturday, March 27, that
Smith will replace Larry
Krystkowiak, whom the
university fi red March 16.
Smith turned Utah State
into one of the nation’s
best mid-major programs
in a short span, leading the
Aggies to the NCAA Tour-
nament twice in three years.
Utah State won the Moun-
tain West Conference Tour-
nament title in 2020, but
didn’t get a chance to play
in the NCAA Tournament
because of the pandemic.
Utah State won the
MWC Tournament this
season and won 20 games
before losing 65-53 to Texas
Tech in the opening round
of the NCAA Tournament.
— Associated Press
LA GRANDE — Over
this past summer, one
sophomore from La Grande
High School would go
through his regular routine.
In the middle of his day,
with his shoes tied and his
headphones plugged in, he
would run numerous miles
with one goal in mind: to
get better.
That was the Tigers
own cross-country/track
and fi eld runner Dima
McCarthy.
Last year, McCarthy
entered Alma Crow’s cross-
country program in the fall.
Knowing his career in run-
ning was young, just begin-
ning in middle school the
year before, Crow saw how
diffi cult the training was
for him at the beginning of
last year.
“He just didn’t have that
base that all the other kids
had, where they’ve already
been running with me
since middle school, or that
whole summer. Dima was
new to the program com-
pletely,” Crow said.
After competing in his
fi rst full high school cross-
country season, and never
given the chance to com-
pete in track and fi eld due
to COVID-19, McCarthy
decided to amp up his
training, running every day
in summer to prepare for
this year.
“Every day I would run
and it would make me feel
good that I would get better
times, and it would make
me want to get better times
every time I would run,”
Prep Sports Schedule
Tuesday, March 30
GIRLS SOCCER
La Grande at Ontario, 3 p.m.
BOYS SOCCER
Ontario at La Grande, 4 p.m.
VOLLEYBALL
Baker at La Grande, 6 p.m.
Joseph at Imbler, 6:30 p.m.
Wednesday, March 31
BOYS SOCCER
La Grande at Baker City, 4 p.m.
Thursday, April 1
GIRLS SOCCER
McCarthy said. “Also, my
dad would say to fi nd out
how great you would be,
and what your body can
do, so for me I know what I
actually could do and how
great I could succeed in
this sport.”
So McCarthy began to
run about 20 miles a week,
running paths and dis-
tances he had run in the
past, especially one that
Crow makes her program
run on Island Avenue.
Crow even saw McCa-
rthy running early in the
morning.
“I thought, ‘Gosh who is
that kiddo?’” she said. “And
it was Dima. So I was very
impressed, and I pulled
over and started to honk at
him, and I was like, ‘Good
job, Dima,’ and he was just
in the zone. It is 8:10 in the
morning, it is windy, going
on Island Avenue, and this
kid has been running.”
The hardest part of this
training for McCarthy was
sticking to the training
schedule and avoiding
Baker City at La Grande,
4 p.m.
VOLLEYBALL
Enterprise at Elgin, 5 p.m
Wallowa at Joseph, 5 p.m
Ontario at La Grande, 6 p.m.
Cove at Imbler, 6:30 pm.
Friday, April 2
FOOTBALL
Joseph at South Wasco
County, 3 p.m.
La Grande at Ontario, 6 p.m.
— Source: Oregon School
Activities Association
taking time off .
McCarthy’s hard work
seemingly paid off . He
surpassed his personal
record (from the Oregon
School Activities Associ-
ation state championship
meet last fall with 19:18.10)
at the Baker meet March
12 with 19:17.50. After
the weekend, at the Tour
de Willowcreek in Vale,
McCarthy eclipsed his last
run by nearly a minute,
gaining a personal record
time of 18:20.30.
“It’s a tremendous leap.
That just shows how hard
he has been working all
season, because with run-
ning you have to have that
base,” Crow said. “If you
don’t have that base, there’s
just no way you will have
those times.”
McCarthy is content
with his most recent time
running out in Vale.
“If you work hard, you
can achieve the things
you (want to) achieve
and that will make you
happy,” he said.