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About The Observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1968-current | View Entire Issue (April 21, 2022)
Sports Molalla fans land school in trouble Racial taunts at basketball game land Indians on year-long OSAA probation A9 Thursday, April 21, 2022 MAKING A RUN Enterprise standout Zac Knapp to continue running at Division I level By RONALD BOND By NIK STRENG Wallowa County Chieftain The Oregonian PORTLAND — Fol- lowing an independent investigation into a January boys basketball game where Gladstone boys basketball players claimed they were met with racist taunts from Molalla fans, the Oregon School Activities Associa- tion has placed the Molalla High School Indians on probation. The one-year probation period started on March 31, 2022, when the OSAA first released its findings to the two schools. The proba- tion enacted by the OSAA means that the school needs to take certain actions to ensure that an incident like this doesn’t happen in the future, and also the school will incur harsher penalties for any further violations during the probationary period. The incident in question stems from a boys basket- ball game on Jan. 28, 2022. During the game, Glad- stone students claimed they faced racism and intimi- dation, including an adult displaying a photo of a Confederate flag in their direction, a Molalla stu- dent adorned in blackface and monkey noises chanted from the Molalla student section. Three of the OSAA’s findings were redacted by Molalla River School Dis- trict, as they include per- sonally identifiable infor- mation related to students. The one unredacted finding was that heckling from people seated in the Molalla student section, which included fans from another school, “was poor at times but was not determined to be racially motivated.” E NTERPRISE — Zac Knapp has put together a career that rivals the best in the history of the Enterprise cross-country and track and field programs. Now, he’s going to run at a col- legiate level that he didn’t think was possible a year ago — Divi- sion I. Knapp has signed to run for the University of Idaho starting next season, and his joining the Van- dals adds another Northeastern Oregon runner to the program. “Immediately when they started telling me about their phi- losophy and how they treat their athletes, I knew I could buy into that and do that four more years,” Knapp said. “They had a long track record of a lot of fantastic athletes. I know I can be like them in a year or so.” Knapp had a senior campaign to remember in cross-country, winning every race he took part of — and each in dominant fashion. Nobody stayed within 20 seconds of him. His closest race was a win by 23.9 seconds. Six wins were by more than 30 sec- onds, including a 36-second vic- tory in the state championship race. Three were by more than a minute, with his widest margin of victory at 83.6 seconds. He’s undefeated in individual races on the track this spring, as well, with a top mark in the 3,000 of 8:37.37, shattering his own per- sonal best set earlier this season — which was a school record. “That’s an exceptional time,” EHS head track coach Dan Moody said. “He was in a groove. I really think that he was way over what I was planning for him. He wanted to break 8:50.” Davis Carbaugh/The Observer, File See, Knapp/Page A10 Enterprise’s Zac Knapp, front, runs during the La Grande Invitational track meet at La Grande High School on Friday, April 8, 2022. See, OSAA/Page A10 SPORTS SHORT Mountaineers softball earns Team of the Week honor The Observer LA GRANDE — The Eastern Oregon University Mountaineers softball team is the Under Armour Team of the Week for April 11-17, the Cas- cade Collegiate Conference announced. The recognition came after the team went 4-0 in weekend play and secured a spot in the 2022 CCC Championship. Despite a spring snowstorm that delayed EOU’s departure from La Grande, the Moun- taineers made it to Bellevue, Washington, and took down the Eagles, 4-0. The sweep brought the team’s overall record to 34-11 overall and 19-5 in league play. The Mountaineers’ 34 wins are now the third most in a single season and a career best in a season for third-year head coach Nicole Christian. Eastern also continues to receive votes in the NAIA Soft- ball Coaches’ Top-25 poll. With their spot locked in for the CCC Championships, the Mountain- eers now have made the con- ference postseason each of the last two seasons. Eastern sits third in the league standings behind No. 6 College of Idaho and No. 2 Oregon Tech entering the final two weeks of regular season action. EOU will return home next weekend to face league leader No. 2 Oregon Tech for Senior Weekend. The series will take place Friday-Saturday, April 22-23, at Peggy Anderson Field. Day One will begin at 2 p.m. for the doubleheader. Day Two action is set for an 11 a.m. start. It will be Senior Day and EOU will honor eight seniors between the two games. Isabella Evans/Eastern Oregon University, File Eastern Oregon University’s Madison Stateler takes a swing Friday, Feb. 15, 2022, against Northwest University in Bellevue, Washington. In April, the Mountaineers swept the Eagles 4-0 in weekend play, earning a spot in the 2022 Cascade Collegiate Conference. Find up-to-date scores and additional game coverage for your local high school, available 24/7 at www.lagrandeobserver.com.
