Sports
A9
Saturday, April 9, 2022
La Grande
Swim Club
holds its
own
Four swimmers
compete at Western
Zone Short Course
Senior Championships
The Observer
ST. GEORGE, Utah
— The La Grande Swim
Club recently competed
well against a large field of
regional competitors, placing
highly at the Western Zone
Short Course Senior Cham-
pionships at Dixie State Uni-
versity in St. George, Utah.
The regional event, which
included more than 70 teams
and north of 600 swimmers,
took place from Wednesday,
March 30, through April 2.
Four swimmers from
the La Grande Swim Club
— Tim Koza, Kaleo Theis,
Sarah Koza and Becca Koza
— competed at the regional
club competition, three of
whom placed at this year’s
4A/3A/2A/1A state meet for
Cove.
Tim Koza earned the
highest finish of the event,
placing 13th in the 200-yard
breaststroke with a time of
2:10.9. He also placed 18th
in the 200-yard individual
medley with a time of 1:56.91
and 20th in the 400-yard indi-
vidual medley at 4:12.03 to
conclude the event with three
top-20 placements. In addi-
tion, he earned 29th place in
the 200-yard backstroke at
1:57.7, 26th in the 100-yard
backstroke with a time of
1:01:38 and 51st in the 200-
yard freestyle at 1:48.38.
Becca Koza garnered a
high placement in the 200-
yard freestyle, taking 17th
overall with a time of 1:54.39.
She also placed 18th in
the 1,650-yard freestyle at
18:05.36 to conclude the event
with two top-20 finishes.
She also earned 24th in the
50-yard freestyle at 25.2, 26th
in the 100-yard freestyle with
a time of 53.32, 32nd in the
500-yard freestyle at 5:16.46
and 40th in the 100-yard but-
terfly with a finish of 59.93.
Sarah Koza earned
her top finish in the 200-
yard breaststroke, placing
43rd overall with a time
The Observer, File
The La Grande softball team celebrates a home run hit by Jayce Seavert (1) during the 2019 state semifinals. Seavert, a former LHS standout, has become a key
player for the Oregon Tech softball team.
Making her mark
Former La Grande softball standout Jayce Seavert finds success in the collegiate ranks
By DAVIS CARBAUGH
The Observer
K
LAMATH FALLS —
A former local softball
standout is making her
name known on the big stage.
Former La Grande softball
player Jayce Seavert is excel-
ling in her time on the softball
team at Oregon Tech, playing
a key role in the team’s suc-
cess. In just her second year
in the collegiate playing field,
Seavert is near the top of the
Cascade Collegiate Confer-
ence in multiple stat categories
and an anchor for one of the
nation’s top-ranked NAIA soft-
ball programs.
Along with her consis-
tency in the lineup this season,
Seavert was recognized as the
Cascade Collegiate Conference
player of the week on Tuesday,
March 22.
“It felt really good to show
what I can do, especially
coming off an
injury and being
young,” Seavert
said. “It just felt
really nice. I was
pretty proud of
myself.”
Seavert
Seavert was
highly regarded during her
time at La Grande, graduating
as a two-time state champion at
the 4A level.
Since joining Oregon Tech,
Seavert has faced adversity
in switching positions from
catcher to infielder and over-
coming an injury during her
first year in the program. Even
so, the 2020 La Grande grad-
uate has settled into a solid spot
at second base for the Hustlin’
Owls.
“The transition was some-
what smooth after going at it
at practice and working at it,”
Seavert said of switching posi-
tions. “Definitely getting those
game reps pushed me into that
second base spot. Getting that
live action scenario helped me.”
Roughly two-thirds of
the way through the regular
season, Seavert has a .356 bat-
ting average with nine home
runs, 40 RBIs and 37 runs
scored. Seavert’s slugging per-
centage of .740 ranks fifth in
the Cascade Collegiate Con-
ference, while she is second in
home runs, third in RBIs and
fourth with 77 total bases.
On top of Seavert’s indi-
vidual success, Oregon Tech
has been a consistent pow-
erhouse in recent years. The
Hustlin’ Owls fell just short
in the NAIA World Series
last season, finishing as run-
ners-up. Oregon Tech has
staked its name near the top of
the national ranking throughout
this season, with Seavert and
her teammates eying a post-
season run. While the Hus-
tlin’ Owls are looking poised to
compete with the nation’s top
teams, Seavert emphasized that
the collective focus remains on
conference competition first
and foremost.
“Overall as a team, our
goal is to win the conference
and host the conference tour-
nament here at Oregon Tech,”
Seavert said. “From then on,
we hope to win that conference
tournament.”
Not only is Seavert thriving
in Oregon Tech’s lineup, but
the Hustlin’ Owls have several
players on the field performing
near the top of the Cas-
cade Collegiate Conference.
Infielder Kaila Mick ranks
tops in the conference with 51
runs scored and 58 hits, while
infielder Kennedy Jantzi is
right next to Seavert at second
in the conference with 40 RBIs.
In the pitcher’s circle, Sarah
Abramson leads the conference
with 20 wins, a .184 opposing
See, Seavert/Page A10
See, Swim/Page A10
SPORTS SHORT
Idaho approves basketball shot clock
Shot clocks in Oregon are
likely inevitable says OSAA
By NIK STRENG
The Oregonian
PORTLAND — Three
of Oregon’s four neigh-
boring states either have a
shot clock, or may soon have
a shot clock, for high school
basketball games.
The Idaho High School
Activities Association
on Wednesday, April 6,
approved a first reading of a
new rule that would imple-
ment a shot clock for state
tournament play. The rule
change will need to pass
a second round of voting
during a June meeting to
become final.
If passed, Idaho will join
a cohort of states nation-
wide that have adopted a
high school shot clock that
includes Washington and
California. Nevada has not
yet announced any shot
clock additions.
Starting with the
2022-23 school year, the
National Federation of State
High School Associations
(NFHS) has changed its
rules to allow a 35-second
shot clock at the high school
level. The Oregon School
Activities Association had
one of its first official dis-
cussions on shot clocks in
Oregon during the Delegate
Assembly on April 4.
The members of the Del-
egate Assembly generally
supported the idea of a shot
clock in Oregon, with many
of the members saying that
it felt like an inevitability
in the state. Delegates from
the smaller schools added
that it would not be smart to
implement the rule for the
2022-23 school year to make
sure that all schools are able
to acquire a shot clock.
All of the delegates said
that a primary concern
will be finding someone to
operate the shot clocks for
every game, but added that
this would be a change that
coaches generally support.
Prior to April 4, OSAA
Executive Director Peter
Weber said the only discus-
Alex Wittwer/EO Media Group, File
Jace Schow (21) looks for options following a rebound during
the Tigers’ 61-43 rout of Nyssa on Wednesday, Dec. 8, 2021, at La
Grande High School.
sion on shot clocks came
as an update on the NFHS
rules. The implementation
of shot clocks in Oregon
would need to be voted on
by the OSAA Executive
Committee.
The next scheduled
meeting of the OSAA Exec-
utive Committee is May 2.
Find up-to-date scores and additional game coverage
for your local high school, available 24/7 at
www.lagrandeobserver.com.