Sports
6A
Tuesday, April 13, 2021
Th e Observer
Prep football
roundup
Local high school cross-country
teams shine at championships
By BRETT KANE
For The Observer
Wallowa Valley,
Union/Cove boys
claim victories;
girls take second
Enterprise fi nishes with
win over Cove
COVE — Despite the
loss of three starters, the
Outlaws managed to round
out their abbreviated season
with a win on their fi rst and
only road contest of the year
Friday afternoon, April 9,
defeating the Cove Leopards
40-18.
“On off ense, we started
three freshmen, and on
defense, two,” Enterprise
head coach Rusty Eschler
said. “They stepped up and
played well. They were a
little nervous at kickoff , but
as the game went on, they
settled in real well.”
Eschler said the lack of
their regular lineup took
some getting used to for the
remaining Outlaws, who
ended up tallying 408 total
off ensive yards on the night.
“We were missing our
quarterback, tight end, out-
side linebacker and starting
guard,” he said. “It took
some time, but the team
adjusted.”
Enterprise’s 3.5-game
2020-21 season began with
a 42-0 home loss to Wal-
lowa, followed by a 48-12
EO Media Group
LEBANON — It may
not have been “offi cial”
in the eyes of the Oregon
School Activities Asso-
ciation, but the Wallowa
Valley Outlaws boys cross-
country team again proved
it is the best in the state.
Buoyed by three top-
fi ve fi nishes and by having
its top fi ve runners inside
the top 20, Wallowa Valley
breezed to the de facto
Class 3A state champion-
ship — as it was expected
to on paper — Saturday,
April 10, at Cheadle Lake
Park in Lebanon.
“It was just a great team
eff ort by the kids,” head
coach Dan Moody said.
“They pushed themselves.
They were going hard.
They don’t take anything
for granted. It’s great.
Sometimes kids do that.
They don’t. They went
after it.”
And the Union/Cove
high school boys cross-
country team also took
to the winner’s podium,
earning the title for the
2A/1A cross-country
championship.
The Oregon School
Activities Association
did not sanction a state-
wide event in the culmi-
nating week of Season
2, but instead East Linn
Christian hosted a state-
style event in Lebanon that
brought in many of the
top-ranked teams.
Kellen Peters, East Linn
Christian athletic director
and cross-country coach,
had reached out to fellow
small-school cross-country
coaches about putting
together an unoffi cial state
championship for runners
at the 3A/2A/1A level.
“Back when we found
out there would be no
OSAA state champion-
ships, I saw the look on
my students’ faces,” Peters
said. “I know I’m not the
only coach who is seeing
those faces. I understand
why the OSAA can’t do it,
Tom Nordtvedt/Contributed Photo
The Wallowa Valley boys cross-country team poses with the state ti-
tle trophy after winning the 3A state meet Saturday, April 10, 2021, in
Lebanon.
Jill Pedro/Contributed Photo
The Union/Cove high school boys cross-county team stands on the po-
dium Saturday, April 10, 2021, in Lebanon after winning the boys 2A/1A
cross-country championship.
but with some help, we are
able to do something for
the kids.”
The Outlaws scored 34
points as a team to easily
outpace second-place La
Pine, which scored 68
points. Third-place West-
side Christian closely fol-
lowed with 74 points.
“We knew that La Pine
was probably our main
competition,” Moody said.
“We’ve got the target on
our backs.”
Wallowa Valley, which
returned the core of its
state-title-winning team
from 2019, was nothing
short of dominant. Henry
Coughlan led the pack
for the Outlaws by taking
second in a time of
16:01.15. Shortly after him
in third was Zac Knapp
in 16:18.81, and Bayden
Menton placed fi fth in
16:59.01.
The Wallowa Valley
girls cross-country team
scored 81 points in Satur-
day’s de facto 3A/2A/1A
state championship in Leb-
anon to place second, and
in the process fl ipped the
EOU volleyball, women’s
soccer head to nationals
The Observer
KANSAS CITY, Mo.
— Eastern Oregon Univer-
sity’s volleyball team has
earned its seventh straight
bid to compete for the
national championship. And
the Mountaineers wom-
en’s soccer team quali-
fi ed for the fourth year in a
row to attend the national
tournament.
The National Associa-
tion of Intercollegiate Ath-
letics released its fi elds
for the Women’s Volley-
ball National Champion-
ships and the Women’s
Soccer National Champi-
onships. The Mountaineers
join 48 teams qualifying to
compete for the volleyball
crown, according to reports
from EOU Athletics, and a
40-team fi eld vying for the
soccer title.
The Mountaineers will
play host to the Bobcats of
University of California,
Merced, in the opening
round. EOU earned an auto-
matic qualifying bid to this
year’s national tournament
after fi nishing the regular
season undefeated at 15-0
overall and going 14-0 in
Cascade Collegiate Con-
ference play. Entering the
NAIA postseason, EOU
boasts a 16-1 overall record.
The Mountaineers and
Bobcats will square off
Saturday, April 17, with
fi rst serve set for 5 p.m.
inside Quinn Coliseum, La
Grande.
Eastern Oregon Univer-
sity also is in the fi nal cut
for the women’s soccer and
will be the No. 2 seed in the
Santa Barbara bracket.
The Mountaineers will
travel to Santa Barbara,
California, and are grouped
with No. 1 seed Westmont
(California), No. 3 seed La
Sierra (California), and the
Oregon Institute of Tech-
nology. Westmont is the
host for the group.
script from the district
meet earlier this month
by edging Heppner. The
Mustangs, who on April 2
topped Wallowa Valley on
the way to the district title,
scored 83 points Saturday
to place third.
Alex Wittwer/The Observer
Cody Hibbert (12) of La Grande performs an ankle grab on Drake Harp-
er (16) of Baker on Friday, April 9, 2021, preventing Harper from rushing
down the fi eld at Community Stadium in La Grande. The Baker Bulldogs
defeated the La Grande Tigers 22-7 in the fi nal match of the season.
win over Union and a two-
quarter matchup with Imbler
on April 2. The Outlaws
were set to face Union in
a rematch, but the Bobcats
had to cancel due to a lack
of players.
“Imbler was gracious
enough to play us two quar-
ters after they played Ione,”
Eschler said. “It’s been a
tough season. It was a way
diff erent year than we’ve
ever had before. But the kids
got to play three-and-a-half
games. That’s better than
nothing. You wish you could
have all six games, but it is
what it is.”
The Outlaws wrapped up
the season with a 2-1 overall
record in 1A Special District
2 play. Cove fi nished 0-4.
Baker topples La Grande
LA GRANDE — The 4A
Greater Oregon League’s
top-ranked La Grande
Tigers saw their win streak
and season come to an end
Friday night, April 9.
La Grande’s four-game
season ended in a heart-
breaker in their lone home
appearance of the year, losing
to Baker 22-7. The Tigers
were coming off a 54-6 road
win over Ontario last week
and ended the season 3-1.
Baker fi nished at 3-3.
Wallowa wins on the road
ELGIN — The Wallowa
Cougars (4-1) prevailed on
the road Friday, April 9,
against the Elgin Huskies
(0-2) 58-42.
COVE/UNION FINISHES
STRONG
All seven of the boys
running for Union/Cove
fi nished in the top 50
out of a fi eld of 111 at
the 2A/1A cross-country
championship. Three run-
ners fi nished in the top
20: sophomore Taylor
Fox at No. 4 with a time
of 16:48.99; senior Israel
O’Reilly at no. 7 with
17:02.12; and freshman Eli
Williams at No. 15 with
17:51.98.
The boys team fi nished
the day with 48 points,
edging out Bandon by 2.
The Union/Cove girl’s
team earned 81 points Sat-
urday to place second to
Bandon, which took the
5,000 meter championship
with 46 points.
Grande Ronde Hospital and Clinics proudly welcomes:
Jennifer Hoffman, FNP-C
To the GRH Urgent Care team as a Family Nurse Practitioner
Nurse Practitioner Jennifer Hoffman joins the GRH team from an urgent care facility in Peoria,
Illinois. She is a Midwest native and grew up on a small hobby farm, caring for many kinds of animals
throughout her upbringing. She loves the outdoors, including fishing, camping, hiking, hunting,
boating, and skiing, and fell in love with the western united states many
years ago. After a recent vacation to mountains in the area, she and her
family concluded it was time to plant some new roots “out west”.
Jennifer enjoys working in urgent care, particularly the variety and
challenges that the field presents. She is passionate about her work,
meeting patients where they are at in their healthcare journey, and treats
everyone as if they were her own family. She looks forward to building
new memories in beautiful Eastern Oregon. Join us in welcoming
Jennifer and her family to Union County!
GRH Urgent Care
Jennifer Hoffman, FNP-C
10303 S. Walton Road, Island City • 541.962.7845 • grh.org/urgentcare