Sports
DAVIS
CARBAUGH
CARBAUGH’S
CORNER
Sammy Jo Hester/The Associated Press, File
Kalani Sitake is introduced as the new football head coach for
Brigham Young University during a news conference on Monday,
Dec. 21, 2015, at the BYU Broadcasting Building in Provo, Utah.
Sitake has interviewed with Oregon for the open head coach po-
sition.
L
See, Carbaugh/Page A8
Saturday, December 11, 2021
Paying tribute
Winter
sports
season
gets
underway
A GRANDE —
It’s that time of
year, folks. Local
athletes have put away
the football pads for the
winter and are hitting the
hardwood, wrestling mats
and swimming pools for
winter sports action.
Several standouts in
the area will be favorites
to bring home state cham-
pionships this year, while
a number of competitive
teams will aim to finish
the season on top.
One major impact
heading into the season
is a shortened offseason
for some, with teams like
Powder Valley having a
quick window to switch
from football to basket-
ball. Just six days after the
Badgers came one touch-
down shy of a 1A state
title in football, a large
number of those same ath-
letes hit the hardwood for
the team’s opening game
against Jordan Valley.
Football senior standouts
like Reece Dixon, Kaden
Krieger, Clay Martin and
Case Olson will all be
names to watch in basket-
ball this season. Kaiden
Dalke is another player
who will look to help the
Badgers achieve sim-
ilar success in the winter
sports season.
In wrestling, several
local standouts and com-
petitive teams should see
productive results this
year. La Grande returns
a large group of wres-
tlers from last year’s sec-
ond-place 4A state team,
who will be looking to
bring a state title back
home for the Tigers.
Imbler’s Garrett Burns
and La Grande’s Braden
Carson each have their
eyes on a third career
individual state cham-
pionships, which would
make history at both
schools.
A common trend
among basketball teams in
the area this year is either
a large group of upper-
classmen or a group of
entirely young athletes. At
Union, Odin Miller and
the Bobcats boys team are
looking to replace seven
graduating seniors from
last year’s team that made
it to the quarterfinals of
the 2A state tournament.
With a largely new squad
this year, Union will be
building on the same win-
ning tradition the Bobcats
established in the spring
season.
The Elgin and Imbler
boys teams will also be
counting on younger
players to step up, and
first-year Cove girls head
coach Kindra Wright is
doing the same with an
inexperienced group.
Another Wright, Brian
Wright of the La Grande
girls team, is working to
replace several key stand-
outs from last year’s team
that went 10-0 in the reg-
ular season.
With the complications
of last year’s pandemic-al-
tered spring season, many
teams in the area are
facing the similar chal-
lenge of building the pro-
grams back up. That is not
the case at every school,
however, as the Union
girls team will lean on five
seniors to lead the charge
for a competitive Bobcats
team this season.
A7
Alex Wittwer/The Observer, File
Powder Valley’s Kaden Krieger, left, and Clay Martin celebrate a touchdown while displaying Calvin
Hiatt’s initials on their helmets during the OSAA Class 1A state championship game on Saturday,
Nov. 27, 2021. Hiatt, a local referee and coach, died in an accident Nov. 3.
Local referee
and coach
honored at high
school
basketball
tournament
By DAVIS CARBAUGH
The Observer
NORTH POWDER
— A beloved high school
sports referee is having his
memory honored through
a local prep basketball
tournament.
Calvin Hiatt, who
was killed in a car acci-
dent on Nov. 3, will be
remembered at the inau-
gural Calvin Hiatt Bas-
ketball Tournament in
North Powder from Dec.
9-11. Twelve schools and
24 teams are competing
in the three-day tourna-
ment, which is being held
to raise money for Hiatt’s
wife and five children.
“Calvin was very
instrumental in athletics
and dedicated quite a lot of
time to athletics,” Powder
Valley Athletic Director
Brad Dunten said. “He’s
going to be missed.”
Hiatt spent decades
as a local referee in mul-
tiple sports and a coach for
youth and college athletics.
He served as an assistant
women’s basketball coach
at Treasure Valley Com-
munity College and was
a long-time youth sports
coach. He was a graduate
of Vale High School in
1997 and served a mission
with the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints
in 1998.
“We were really good
friends,” Dunten said of the
tournament’s namesake.
The coach and ref-
eree was well-known
and respected around
Eastern Oregon, which is
reflected in the wide array
of schools that traveled
in for the weekend tour-
nament. Union County
Oregon
interviews
Sitake, Wilcox
for opening
Ducks ask
permission to
interview UCLA’s
Chip Kelly, per
source
Powder Valley Athletics/
Contributed Photo
Former referee and coach Cal-
vin Hiatt was honored at the
inaugural Calvin Hiatt Bas-
ketball Tournament in North
Powder in early Nov. Hiatt died
in a car accident in early No-
vember.
schools competing at the
Calvin Hiatt Tournament
are Powder Valley, Imbler
and Union.
According to Dunten,
Hiatt helped put on a
32-team basketball tourna-
ment last summer in Baker
City and North Powder. He
was also big on recruiting
officials, which is an asset
that Eastern Oregon is
often short on.
See, Tribute/Page A8
By JOHN CANZANO
and JAMES CREPEA
The Oregonian
EUGENE — Oregon
has interviewed BYU’s
Kalani Sitake and Cal’s
Justin Wilcox, has
requested permission to
interview UCLA’s Chip
Kelly and is speaking to
at least two other can-
didates for its football
head coaching position,
according to a source
with knowledge of UO’s
coaching search.
Sitake, 46, is 48-28
over six seasons at BYU.
The Cougars are 10-2 this
season entering the Inde-
pendence Bowl and went
11-2 last season with No. 2
overall pick Zach Wilson at
quarterback.
During a televi-
sion appearance earlier
this week, BYU athletic
director Tom Holmoe said
the school is in negotiations
with Sitake, who signed a
contract extension through
the 2025 season this past
August, though terms are
not disclosed from a private
school.
Wilcox, 45, just went 5-7
in his fifth season at Cal,
which was picked to finish
third in the Pac-12 North in
the preseason media poll.
The Golden Bears have
gone 26-28 in Wilcox’s
five years, including 8-5
in 2019, but have fallen off
since, albeit amid the most
strict COVID-19 regula-
tions any FBS program has
had to navigate.
A UO alum who is
from Junction City, Wilcox
earned $3.3 million this
season and is under con-
tract through 2023. His
buyout is only $1.75
million.
See, Oregon/Page A8
Pendleton Round-Up wins Large Outdoor Rodeo title — again
East Oregonian
LAS VEGAS — The Pendleton
Round-Up won the Large Outdoor
Rodeo of the Year award for the
eighth time on Wednesday, Dec. 1,
at the annual Professional Rodeo
Cowboys Association Awards
Banquet.
The prestigious award is voted
on by members of the PRCA,
which is made up of cowboy
contestants and fellow rodeo
committees.
“There is no higher honor than
to be recognized by cowboy con-
testants, contract personnel and
fellow rodeo committees,” Pend-
leton Round-Up Publicity Director
Pat Reay said in a press release.
“It is because of the dedication of
many volunteers, staff, sponsors,
fans, the community and loyal
supporters that the Round-Up has
been able to be recognized by our
peers in the rodeo industry.”
Pendleton, which also won in
2003, 2010, and 2015-19, was one
of five finalists, along with Cody,
Wyoming; Deadwood, South
Dakota; Dodge City, Kansas; and
Cheyenne, Wyoming.
Pendleton’s streak of win-
ning the award five years in a row
came to a halt in 2020 when the
COVID-19 pandemic caused the
cancellation of the Round-Up for
the first time since World War II.
The 2020 award went to Dead-
wood’s Days of ‘76.
“To be crowned again in 2021
after not being able to host an
event in 2020 is bittersweet and
something we cherish and hold
in the highest regard,” Pendleton
Round-Up Past President Randy
Bracher said in the press release.
“We are very proud to bring this
award home to our community;
to the people who have helped
build and shape the traditions and
authenticity that make this an
event like no other in the world.”
The Pendleton Round-Up
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian, File
Cowboys sit in the infield Sept, 15, 2021, during the bareback competition on the opening day of the Pendleton Round-Up. The
Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association earlier this month, named the Round-Up the Large Outdoor Rodeo of the Year for the
eighth time.
also was a finalist for the Hes-
ston Sowing Good Deeds award,
which went to the Burke Stampede
Rodeo in South Dakota.
Three of Pendleton’s contrac-
tors also earned year-end awards.
Justin Rumford, who is a
delight year after year at the
Pendleton Round-Up, was named
the Clown/Barrelman of the Year
for the 10th time, while Matt
Twitchell was voted the PRCA
Pick-Up Man of the Year for the
second time. Molly Twitchell
was named one of the two PRCA
Timers of the Year.
The Pendleton Round-Up can
accommodate 17,000 fans per day.
The 2022 event is scheduled for
Sept. 14-17.
Kathy Aney/East Oregonian, File
Saddle bronc rider Ben T. Andersen, of Alberta, Canada, takes an ride on Strawberry
Rocket who veers toward a group of cowboys sitting on the arena grass on Sept. 17,
2021, at the Pendleton Round-Up.