SPORTS
A8 — THE OBSERVER
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2021
Receiver Mycah Pitt man leaving Oregon Ducks
Third-year sophomore
has just 12 catches for
197 yards this year
By JAMES CREPEA
The Oregonian/OregonLive
EUGENE — Oregon is losing
a receiver to transfer.
Mycah Pittman has left
the Ducks, Oregon coach
Mario Cristobal confirmed
Wednesday, Nov. 17.
“He’s moving on and we’re
moving on,” Cristobal said. “We
wish him the best and we don’t
judge.”
Pittman has 12 catches for
197 yards and 15 punt returns
for 151 yards this season. How-
ever, he didn’t have a catch
during the last two games and
wasn’t targeted at all in Ore-
gon’s win over Washington
State last week, after which
he tweeted “So disrespected,”
LOCAL STANDINGS
COLLEGE MEN’S BASKETBALL
Cascade Collegiate Conference
Team
League
Overall
Lewis-Clark State 0-0
5-0
Northwest
0-0
1-0
Corban
0-0
3-1
Eastern Oregon
0-0
3-1
Multnomah
0-0
4-2
College of Idaho
0-0
3-2
Warner Pacifi c
0-0
2-2
Bushnell
0-0
1-2
Oregon Tech
0-0
1-3
Southern Oregon 0-0
1-3
Evergreen
0-0
0-2
Walla Walla
0-0
0-4
COLLEGE WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Cascade Collegiate Conference
Team
League
Overall
College of Idaho
0-0
5-0
Oregon Tech
0-0
4-0
Lewis-Clark State 0-0
3-0
Southern Oregon 0-0
3-1
Northwest
0-0
2-1
Eastern Oregon
0-0
2-3
Corban
0-0
1-3
Evergreen
0-0
0-2
Warner Pacifi c
0-0
0-2
Bushnell
0-0
0-3
Walla Walla
0-0
0-3
Multnomah
0-0
0-4
The Associated Press, File
Oregon’s Mycah Pittman, right, looks for extra yards against Arizona in a 2019
game. Pittman is the second player to leave the Ducks mid-season this year.
which he has since deleted.
The third-year sophomore
has two years of eligibility
remaining.
“I want to start off saying this
is been the hardest decision of
my life and I am so
honored and blessed to play
for a university like Oregon,”
Pittman wrote via Twitter. “I
have made countless memo-
ries with teammates, coaches,
trainers that I can never pay
back. My love and respect for
Oregon will remain. This is
what I feel is best for me and
my future. I have a tremendous
amount of respect for coach
Cristobal and only wish great
things for his program. I’d like
to thank (receivers coach Bryan
McClendon) for being the best
mentor and coach I could ever
ask for. To all my teammates I
love y’all boys for real, it’s sad
to say goodbye. We’ve made
many memories and jokes in
that lockeroom (sic). Thank you
guys for lifting me up whenever
I was down and having my back
and all situations. To the fans,
y’all are crazyyyyy never quiet
EOU cross-country makes its mark at nationals
Mountaineers men’s
team places 20th,
Michelle Herbes takes
158th in women’s race
By DAVIS CARBAUGH
The Observer
VANCOUVER, Wash. —
It was a solid showing from
the Eastern Oregon University
cross-country program, which
made some noise at the national
championships.
The men’s team, led by a
13th-place fi nish from senior
Travis Running, took 20th place
overall out of 36 teams at the
NAIA National Championships
in Vancouver, Washington, on
Friday, Nov. 19. The Mountain-
eers scored 498 points.
“We were disappointed to
fi nish 20th because we wanted
to place in the top 15, but it
wasn’t a disappointing perfor-
mance because everyone com-
peted well,” head coach Ben
Welch said. “I was really happy
with how we competed.”
Running clocked a 25:25.7 in
the 8K to break into the top-15
and fi nish with the fourth best
time from a CCC runner.
“I was very pleased with
Travis,” Welch said. “He ran tac-
tically well and put himself in
good positions.”
The next fi nisher was
freshman Justin Ash at 121st
overall. The former Powder
Valley High School standout
ran a time of 26:56.5 at his fi rst
career NAIA National Champi-
onships. Another true freshman,
former La Grande High School
runner Cristian Mendoza, was
the next fi nisher for Eastern at
27:07.5. Mendoza fi nished 145th
overall, averaging a time of 5:28
per mile.
Sophomore Jonathan Wind
(27:11.3) and senior Benjen Lilly
(27:26.5) were the next two fi n-
ishers for the Mountaineers at
153rd and 181st.
Junior Hunter Nichols placed
187th with a time of 27:30 after
fi nishing as Eastern’s second
faster runner at the conference
championships. Nichols lost a
shoe early on in the race and had
to work his way up from near
the back of the pack.
“To end up as high as he did
was really good,” Welch said.
Sophomore Bennett Welch
rounded out Eastern’s men’s
runners with a time of 28:00.1 to
place 242nd overall.
In the women’s 5K race,
Eastern senior Michelle Herbes
placed 157th out of 339 runners
with a time of 20:02.5. Herbes
dealt with injuries throughout
the season and missed races
early in this year.
“It was a quality eff ort,”
Welch said. “Obviously she isn’t
satisfi ed with her fi nish, but I
thought she did some things
better at this meet than in the
past.”
Herbes came in at 93rd at the
one-kilometer mark and 99th
at the two-kilometer check-
point. Herbes was in 171st at the
four-kilometer mark and turned
on the jets to close out the fi nal
kilometer.
time in Autzen thank you guys
for loving on me and supporting
me. I can tell you guys I gave
you everything I had.”
Pittman had eight catches for
123 yards in only four games of
real action last season, missing
the games against Washington
State and UCLA and practices
before the Oregon State game,
when he played only a few snaps
due to contact tracing.
In 2019, a preseason shoulder
injury suff ered during the
second fall scrimmage knocked
Pittman out for four games and
he had 14 catches for 197 yards
and two touchdowns over six
games before breaking his right
forearm against Arizona and
missed three games.
He returned for the Rose
Bowl and had four catches for
30 yards.
He’s the second Oregon
player to leave the program mid-
season, joining freshman off en-
sive lineman Kingsley Suamataia.
ON THE SLATE
Saturday, Nov. 20
PREP FOOTBALL
Powder Valley vs. St. Paul, Class 1A
semifi nals, Caldera High School, Bend,
6 p.m.
COLLEGE VOLLEYBALL
NAIA National Tournament
Columbia International at Eastern
Oregon, 4 p.m.
COLLEGE WOMEN’S
BASKETBALL
Eastern Oregon vs. Montana Western,
Caldwell, Idaho, 2 p.m.
Sunday, Nov. 21
COLLEGE MEN’S WRESTLING
Eastern Oregon at Spokane Open,
Spokane, Washington, TBA
COLLEGE WOMEN’S
WRESTLING
Eastern Oregon at Spokane Open,
Spokane, Washington, TBA
COLLEGE MEN’S BASKETBALL
Eastern Oregon at Menlo College,
1 p.m.
COLLEGE WOMEN’S
BASKETBALL
Eastern Oregon vs. Rocky Mountain,
Best Western Inn and Suites Classic,
Caldwell, Idaho, 2 p.m.
epic adventures await
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