Sports
A8
Thursday, December 30, 2021
WALLOWA COUNTY
New
leagues
set for
2022–26
County schools
stay put for now
By RONALD BOND
Wallowa County Chieftain
SALEM — Enterprise, Joseph
and Wallowa offi cially have new
district opponents.
The Oregon School Activities
Association approved the fi nal
district proposal for the 2022-26
time block on Monday, Dec. 13.
The Wallowa County schools
all stayed where they have been
for several years — Enterprise in
the 2A Blue Mountain Confer-
ence, and Joseph and Wallowa in
the 1A Old Oregon League.
Both districts, however, are
welcoming new competition.
Enterprise, Grant Union,
Heppner, Stanfi eld and Weston-
McEwen all will stay in the BMC.
Returning to the district will be
Irrigon, which is dropping down
from the 3A Eastern Oregon
League, to round out the six-team
district.
The Knights have formerly
played in the BMC, the last time
being part of it in 2013-14. Since
then, Irrigon spent two years in
the Columbia Basin Conference
before moving up to 3A at the
start of the 2016-17 school year.
Irrigon claimed a boys basket-
ball title the last time it was part
of the BMC, the fi rst of two con-
secutive boys basketball champi-
onships won by the school.
The BMC is losing two teams
— Pilot Rock and Union — to
the OOL.
The addition of the Bobcats
and Rockets to the OOL makes
it an 11-team district. In addi-
tion to Joseph, Pilot Rock, Union
and Wallowa, the OOL will
include Cove, Elgin, Griswold,
Imbler, Nixyaawii, Pine Eagle and
Powder Valley.
The addition, especially of
Union, to the OOL adds a team
that has been strong in girls bas-
ketball and volleyball in recent
years. The Bobcats are off to a 9-2
start on the hardwood this winter,
and a month ago reached the 2A
volleyball quarterfi nals. The team
also took fourth at state in vol-
leyball in 2019 and fi fth in girls
hoops in 2020.
Volleyball, basketball and
track will be the sports most
impacted by the change. The
schools compete either as co-ops
or in combined classifi cations in
cross-country, wrestling, baseball
and softball.
See, Leagues/Page A9
Alex Wittwer/The Observer, File
La Grande senior Jarom Huntsman (8) readies to attempt a header from a corner kick alongside Pendleton’s Renee Ortega Cruz (11) at Community Stadium in
La Grande on Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2021. Huntsman concluded his high school soccer career by being named 4A fi rst-team all-state.
STANDOUT SEASON
La Grande senior
Jarom Huntsman
earns 4A first-team
all-state honors
By DAVIS CARBAUGH
The Observer
A GRANDE — A solid season
of boys soccer at La Grande
was rounded out by its anchor
in defense earning all-state
honors.
Jarom Huntsman, a four-year varsity
player, ended his high school career by
being named fi rst-team all-state by a vote
from coaches across Oregon. The senior
was the only recipient from La Grande,
L
earning a spot alongside the top 4A soccer
players in the state.
“He defi nitely deserves that fi rst-team
spot,” head coach Sid Rangel said. “He’s
always putting in the extra work.”
The Tigers fi nished the year 5-3-3 and
earned a spot in the 4A playoff s after
defeating North Valley/Rogue River 3-2
on Oct. 30. La Grande’s season came to
an end in the fi rst round in a 7-0 defeat to
Phoenix.
Huntsman helped anchor a defense
that recorded fi ve shutouts over 11 games
played. The Tigers held opponents to 1.9
goals per contest last season and are just
one season removed from allowing only
two goals over eight contests in the 2021
spring season.
“Defensively he’s really solid, but he
made the most of all his opportunities,”
Rangel said. “He can jump really high and
win balls in the air.”
For Rangel, Huntsman is a part of a
senior group that marks the fi rst athletes to
play all four years under his coaching. He
noted that his ability to read the game well
and pick off forwards has been huge for La
Grande.
“Jarom was one of the fi rst players that
I’ve coached all four years, so I’m really
excited for him,” Rangel said. “He’s a
great athlete on and off the fi eld and shows
great leadership.”
Huntsman also joined six other La
Grande players in earning all-league
honors. Senior Lamar Langidrik and
junior Owen Rinker were both named to
the Greater Oregon League fi rst team,
while seniors Carter Perry and Brady
Hutchins and juniors Brayden Sudbrock
and Gage Mathson earned second-team
honors.
Huntsman is one of four graduating
seniors on this year’s La Grande roster,
alongside Perry, Hutchins and Langidrik.
Rinker, Sudbrock and Mathson will be
three of the eight juniors from this year’s
roster looking to step up next season.
Kyle Seager retires after 11 seasons with Mariners
The Associated Press
SEATTLE — Kyle Seager
announced his retirement
Wednesday, Dec. 29, after 11 sea-
sons in the majors, all with the
Seattle Mariners.
Always one to eschew social
media, Seager made his decision
known through a short statement
posted by his wife, Julie, on her
Twitter account.
“Thank you to all of my
family, friends and fans for fol-
lowing me throughout my career.
It’s been a wonderful ride but
I am unbelievably excited for
the next chapter of my life,” the
statement says.
The 34-year-old Seager
became a free agent after the
season when Seattle opted not to
exercise a club option on his con-
tract. Rather than test the open
market and with the uncertainty
created by the ongoing lockout,
Seager chose to call it a career.
Seager’s retirement is a bit
surprising considering he was
coming off one of his best sea-
sons. He hit a career-high 35
home runs and had a career-best
101 RBIs last season as Seattle
made a late run into playoff con-
tention only to fall short in the
fi nal days.
Seager was tearfully removed
from Seattle’s fi nal game on Oct.
3 in the ninth inning after the
Mariners had been eliminated
from the playoff race.
“That was pretty special for
me. That was a real moment,”
Seager said after the season
fi nale. “Obviously, you know this
moment is gonna happen. You
think about it, you think about
how you’re going to feel but you
can’t prepare for that. That was
really special.”
He had a solid fi nal season
for Seattle, playing in 159 games
and posting a .212/.285/.438 slash
line with 29 doubles, a triple, 35
home runs, 101 RBIs, 59 walks
and 161 strikeouts. He admit-
tedly focused on power and pro-
ducing runs for a top-heavy
lineup that struggled to score all
season. The approach sunk his
batting average to a career low
for a full season, but also resulted
in career-high totals in homers
and RBI. He was named a fi nalist
for the American League Silver
Slugger award at third base.
See, Seager/Page A9
SPORTS SHORT
EOU ranked No. 40 in NAIA
Learfi eld Directors’ Cup standings
The Observer
LA GRANDE — The fi nal NAIA
Learfi eld Directors’ Cup fall standings
were released and Eastern Oregon Uni-
versity fi nds itself in the top 50 among
NAIA schools.
The Mountaineers are one of four
Cascade Collegiate Conference teams
ranked in the top 50, while a total of 10
CCC institutions are in the top 100.
Eastern sits 40th in the fi nal fall
standings with 104 points after having
a pair of teams qualify for the NAIA
National Championships earlier this
year. The Mountaineer men’s cross-
country team collected 54 points in the
standings with a 20th-place fi nish at
nationals in November. The volleyball
team collected 50 points after qualifying
for nationals for the eighth year in a row.
They fi nished the season
No. 16 in the NAIA.
Out of the CCC, Oregon Tech leads
all of the NAIA in the overall fall stand-
ings with 275.5 points. College of Idaho
fi nishes the fall with 175 points to sit in
14th place after sending three fall teams
to nationals.
Lewis-Clark State College (33rd,
120.5 points) and Southern Oregon Uni-
versity (35th, 117.5) also sit in the top
50. Corban University (60th, 64 points),
Bushnell University (70th, 59 points),
Northwest University (78th, 53 points),
Multnomah University (90th, 38 points)
and Warner Pacifi c University (92nd, 25
points) each rank in the top 100.
The Learfi eld Directors’ Cup was
developed as a joint eff ort between
the National Association of Collegiate
Directors of Athletics and USA Today.
The winter standings will begin distri-
bution on Thursday, March 31.
Alex Wittwer/The Observer, File
Jet Taylor (16) and Breanna Shaff er (14) beam after scoring against Columbia International at Quinn
Coliseum on Saturday, Nov. 20, 2021. The Mountaineers are No. 40 in the NAIA Learfi eld Directors’
Cup standings. The volleyball team collected 50 points after qualifying for nationals for the eighth
year in a row. They fi nished the season No. 16 in the NAIA.