Sports
A9
Thursday, February 17, 2022
Crawford
retiring at
season’s end
Enterprise girls basketball
coach has roamed sidelines
for 33 years
By RONALD BOND
Wallowa County Chieftain
Andy Dieckhoff/Pamplin Media Group
Cove’s Tim Koza competes at the 4A Special District 2 swim meet in Madras on Saturday, Feb. 12, 2022. Koza took home first place in the 200-yard
IM and 100-yard breaststroke.
Ready to dive in
Local prep swimmers gear up for state championships
By DAVIS CARBAUGH
The Observer
M
ADRAS — Two local swim
programs recently excelled
at the district championships
and will be looking for similar success
at the state level.
The La Grande boys and girls teams
earned runners-up placements on each
side of the team standings, while Cove
made a big impression despite its small
roster. Both teams are set to travel to
Tualatin to compete at the 4A/3A/2A/1A
State Championships on Saturday, Feb.
19.
“I was thrilled,” Cove head coach
Steve Koza said. “Our team has come a
long way.”
Cove earned eight state qualifiers
among four total swimmers. Tim Koza
and Kaleo Theis placed first overall in
two events each at the district meet,
while Sarah Koza earned two individual
district titles on the girls side. Taylor Fox
earned qualifiers based on time in two
events.
Theis, a senior, placed first in the
50-yard freestyle with a time of 22.40
and took top marks in the 100-yard free-
style at 49.33. The transfer from Pend-
leton has been a big boost to Cove’s
overall efforts this year.
Senior Tim Koza has been on a roll
to end his prep career at the top, taking
the district crown in the 200-yard IM
(2:23.37) and the 100-yard breaststroke
(1:00.58). He enters the 4A state tour-
nament as a five-second favorite in the
200-yard IM and a two-second favorite
in the 100-yard breaststroke.
Sarah Koza has produced sim-
ilar results this year, culminating her
season with first-place finishes in the
50-yard freestyle (25.08) and 100-yard
breaststroke (1:10.43). The sophomore
swimmer has the second-best times
in each event heading into the state
championships.
Andy Dieckhoff/Pamplin Media Group
La Grande’s McKinley Kruse competes in the 200-yard IM at the 4A Special District 2 meet in Ma-
dras on Saturday, Feb. 12. Kruse helped guide the Tigers to a second-place team finish.
districts with a time of 24.19 and placed
sixth in the 100-yard butterfly at 59.12.
“I’m really hoping to see us come
home with some state champions,” Steve
Koza said. “Nothing is a given, but I like
where we’re sitting.”
Tigers aim for title contention
Andy Dieckhoff/Pamplin Media Group
La Grande’s Zane Ricker receives a medal for
placing third in the 200-yard freestyle at the
4A Special District 4 meet on Saturday, Feb. 12,
2022. The Tigers scored 195 points on the boys
side to place second.
“In her 50 free, (Sarah Koza) has
swam faster than the first-place time
right now. It’s her race to try to go get,”
the coach said.
Fox, a junior, earned his place at the
championships on time qualifications. He
placed fourth in the 50-yard freestyle at
La Grande had a strong team
showing at districts, hauling in 236
points on the girls side and 195 on the
boys side. The Tigers earned 14 indi-
vidual spots in the state championships,
while qualifying three relay teams.
Sophomore Shiloh Lynch garnered
an individual district title for La Grande,
taking first place in the 100-yard free-
style with a time of 58.01. She also
earned state qualifications in the 50-yard
freestyle and as part of the 400-yard free-
style and 200-yard medley relay teams.
La Grande’s 400-yard free relay team
of Lars Langens, Drake Adair, Glenn
See, Swimming/Page A10
ENTERPRISE — Longtime
Enterprise girls basketball coach
Mike Crawford has announced he’ll
call it a career and retire following
this season.
Crawford is in his 33rd year leading
the girls team, with his first season
being in 1989-90. Along the way, suc-
cess has been a theme for the pro-
gram. On Saturday, Feb. 12, Enterprise
secured its 24th season under Craw-
ford with a record of at least .500. The
Outlaws have reached 20 victories 14
times in that span, made it to the state
playoffs 17 times and 10 times placed at
state, with the peak being a 58-54 state
title victory over Santiam
Christian in 1996.
The program was most
dominant from the mid-
1990s to the early 2000s,
a stretch during which
Enterprise won the league
eight years in a row and
Crawford
claimed six district titles.
The team also won 20
games or more each of those years
and followed the ’96 title with a third-
place finish in ’97 and a runner-up per-
formance in 2001. The team’s record
during that time was 182-31.
Crawford told the Chieftain last year
that his players are a major factor in
the success he and Enterprise have had
over the years.
“I’ve been incredibly blessed to
be at one school and have the people
around me in that entire time to be able
to accomplish the feats we have done
together,” he said.
The coach was honored with a cere-
mony during halftime of the boys game
on Feb. 12 where more of the accolades
achieved by Crawford and the pro-
gram were highlighted. Along the way,
Crawford has amassed a record of 519-
273, having coached in 792 games. He
picked up his 500th win when Enter-
prise defeated Heppner in overtime,
40-38, during a Blue Mountain Confer-
ence district tournament contest Feb.
22, 2020.
His tenure at one school is the lon-
gest of any coach in Oregon girls
basketball history. His win total is
eighth all-time in girls hoops, and his
games-coached total is second behind
only Mark Stevens of Cascade, who
coached the Cougars for the 800th
time over the weekend. Crawford’s
been named state coach of the year,
and in 2021 was named the National
Federation of State High School Asso-
ciations Section 8 Coach of the Year,
which put him in the running for
national coach of the year.
Crawford wanted to wait to speak on
his retirement and career until the con-
clusion of the season, so the Chieftain
will follow up with more on Crawford’s
career in the coming weeks.
He did say Feb. 12, though, that
it was emotional as the final seconds
ticked away in the Outlaws’ 50-30 win
over Weston-McEwen — his final regu-
lar-season home game.
“Kind of had to catch my breath
and grab a hold of myself,” he said.
“There’s a lot of finality in it.”
SPORTS SHORT
Timbers unveil new ‘Heritage Rose’ pink uniforms
By RYAN CLARKE
The Oregonian
PORTLAND — In a full
social media blitz that included
a hype video and plenty of
close-up photos, the Portland
Timbers debuted a new sec-
ondary uniform Tuesday, Feb.
15, that serves as a nod to the
City of Roses.
The “Heritage Rose” kits
are, as described by the team,
“Vapour Pink” with “Victory
Crimson” rose patterns across
the design, featuring other
details that focus on one of the
franchise’s signature phrases.
Inside the collar reads,
“Rose City ’Til I Die,” which
is commonly shortened by fans
to the acronym RCTID. The
same message appears trans-
lated to Latin on a patch near
the bottom of the kit, which
features a skull sitting on a
stack of books with a rose in
its mouth and a king of clubs
playing card in the corner — a
nod to the Timbers Army.
“In collaboration with our
partners at Adidas, we are
excited to push the boundaries of
our traditional design aesthetic
and expand the club’s brand ico-
nography and color family,”
Mike Golub, president of busi-
ness for the Timbers, said in a
release. “We think this is one
of our most unique and distinct
kits in the history of the club and
are excited to share it with our
supporters.”
The Timbers noted that the
Heritage Rose kit is the club’s
first outside its traditional color
palette. The team will debut its
new kits in the regular season
opener against the New England
Revolution Feb. 26 at Providence
Park.
“When we started devel-
oping the Heritage Rose with the
Timbers, our combined objec-
tive was to pay homage to the
Rose City by developing a bold
and unique pattern, introduce a
new and vibrant color palette,
and stay authentic to the city and
Timbers fans,” Skate Noftsinger,
director of sports marketing
of Adidas soccer, said in the
release. “Our design process led
us to a jersey that both fans and
players will wear proudly for
Rose City.”
Craig Mitchelldyer/Portland Timbers
The Portland Timbers revealed new “Heritage Rose” kits on Tuesday, Feb. 15,
2022, a pink ensemble featuring rose patterns throughout.
Timbers defender Dario
Župaric modeled the uniform
in a video posted on the Tim-
bers’ social media accounts that
included rose-themed graffiti
on the wall behind him, unique
lighting and a bass-heavy beat
underneath.