10A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2017
CONTACT US
FOLLOW US
facebook.com/
DailyAstorianSports
Gary Henley | Sports Reporter
ghenley@dailyastorian.com
Athletes of the Week
(FOR THE WEEK OF JAN. 22-28)
JOHN
WHITTLE
Seaside
LANDREE
MIETHE
Warrenton
Photos by Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian
he senior started her week last Monday by signing a letter-of-intent to
T
play softball at Lower Columbia College, and she fi nished by scoring 22
points in a win over Catlin Gabel Friday.
sophomore at Seaside, Whittle competed in the recent American
A
Powerlifting Association Winter Powerlifting meet in Clackamas, and
broke two state records in the squat and the deadlift in the age 13-15, 165-
Warrior coach Robert Hoepfl called it Miethe’s best game of the season: “She
was all over the place.”
Miethe scored eight the next night in a win over Riverdale, and had a team-
high 10 points against Oregon Episcopal as Warrenton completed a four-
game home stand with a 4-0 record.
pound division. Whittle also competes in football and golf at Seaside. Team
members of “Seaside Barbell” had a great meet, breaking fi ve state records,
with 14 personal bests.
Whittle lifted 280 pounds in the squat and 375 in the deadlift. He took the
records from teammate Skyler Yoshino, who broke the records of Patrick
Leary, who held the marks for three years. In addition to Whittle, team mem-
bers include Christopher Avery, Jr., Michael Bailey, Josh Chesnut, Jordan John-
son and Skyler Yoshino.
Oregon State
targets wide
receivers,
defensive backs
SPORTS
IN BRIEF
Ex-cheerleader
sues NFL over
low wages, rules
Associated Press
LOS ANGELES — A former
San Francisco 49ers cheerleader
fi led a federal lawsuit alleging
NFL executives and team owners
conspired to suppress wages for
cheerleaders.
The lawsuit fi led Tuesday by
the woman identifi ed only as “Jane
Doe” names the league and each
football team and seeks class-ac-
tion status for all NFL cheerlead-
ers, described in court papers as
“female athletes.”
The NFL and its owners con-
spired “with the purpose of reduc-
ing market competition among
female athletes and thus ensuring
female athlete earnings remained
far below fair market value,” the
suit alleges. NFL spokesman
Brian McCarthy said Wednesday
the NFL hadn’t seen the suit and
would have no comment.
The suit estimates damages
between $100 million and $300
million and demands cheerleaders
be paid commensurate with their
contributions as “brand ambassa-
dors” for teams.
SCOREBOARD
PREP SCHEDULE
TODAY
Girls Basketball — Jewell at Perry-
dale, 5:30 p.m.; Ilwaco at NW Christian,
5:45 p.m.
Boys Basketball — Jewell at Perry-
dale, 7 p.m.; Ilwaco at NW Christian, 7
p.m.
Wrestling — Warrenton at League
5-Way, Amity, 5 p.m.
FRIDAY
Girls Basketball — Valley Catholic at
Astoria, 6 p.m.; Scappoose at Seaside,
6 p.m.; Warrenton at Riverdale, 6 p.m.;
Faith Bible at Knappa, 6 p.m.; Jewell at
Delphian, 6 p.m.
Boys Basketball — Valley Catholic at
Astoria, 7:30 p.m.; Scappoose at Sea-
side, 7:30 p.m.; Warrenton at Riverdale,
8 p.m.; Faith Bible at Knappa, 8 p.m.
Swimming — Cowapa League Cham-
pionships, at Scappoose, 4:15 p.m.
SATURDAY
Wrestling — Cowapa League Cham-
pionships, Seaside, 10 a.m.
BASKETBALL STANDINGS
Cowapa League Boys
League Overall
Seaside
5-0
15-0
Valley Catholic 4-1
12-4
Banks
3-2
12-3
Tillamook
2-3
6-12
Astoria
1-4
10-8
Scappoose
0-5
5-10
Cowapa League Girls
Seaside
5-0
12-2
Banks
4-1
13-2
Valley Catholic 3-2
11-6
Astoria
2-3
6-12
Scappoose
1-4
2-13
Tillamook
0-5
4-13
By ANNE M. PETERSON
Associated Press
Andy Nelson/The Register-Guard
Oregon coach Willie Taggart discusses his first recruiting class for the Ducks during a an NCAA college
football news conference on national signing day at the Hatfield-Dowling Complex on Wednesday, in Eu-
gene, Ore.. Taggart replaced Mark Helrich who was fired after the 2016 season.
Taggart lures Florida
recruits, Arizona fl ippers
By ANNE M. PETERSON
Associated Press
Oregon’s recruiting class had such
a Florida feel under new coach Wil-
lie Taggart that it had its own social
media hashtag: Floregon.
Oregon has been infused with new
energy since Taggart was hired fol-
lowing a disheartening 4-8 season.
He has been crisscrossing the country
since he was hired away from South
Florida.
It’s perhaps unsurprising that he
was able to bring in a few recruits —
seven, actually — from the Sunshine
State. Among them are defensive
tackle Jordon Scott from Largo, run-
ning back Darrian Felix of Fort Mey-
ers, athlete Bruce Judson of Cocoa,
safety Billy Gibson of Miami, athlete
Demetri Burch of Apopka, receiver
Daewood Davis of Fort Lauderdale
and wide receiver Darrian McNeal of
Seffner.
“There are a lot of guys down
there that really, really like Ore-
gon, they just haven’t been offered
before,” Taggart said in announcing
the class Wednesday.
Taggart was also able to lure a
group of players who had originally
settled on Arizona, including four-
star quarterback Braxton Burmeister
and outside linebacker Cody Shear of
Eugene.
Other things to know:
Top 25 Class: Yes.
Best in class: Braxton Burmeister,
QB, La Jolla, California. Although
Oregon has a young quarterback in
Justin Herbert, who will be a sopho-
more next season, the Ducks demon-
strated the need for developing talent
at the position after bringing in gradu-
Octavio Jones/The Tampa Bay Times
Oregon football recruit Darrian McNeal, center, sits for a photo with his
mother, Deonzia Woullard, left, holding her 1-year-old son, Clarence
Gordon, and his brother Dyson McNeal, 5, at Armwood High School in
Seffner, Fla., Wednesday.
ate transfers for the past two seasons.
Burmeister threw for 4,461 yards and
53 touchdowns while rushing for
1,470 yards with 27 touchdowns his
senior year at La Jolla Country Day.
Best of the rest: College of San
Mateo transfer George Moore, con-
sidered the top JC offensive lineman
in the country. Among the team’s
four-star recruits were cornerbacks
Thomas Graham and Jaylon Redd,
and linebacker Isaac Slade-Matautia
from Honolulu.
Late addition: Four-star athlete
Deommodore Lenoir of Los Ange-
les waited until the afternoon to
announce he had signed with Oregon,
posting images of himself wearing
Oregon uniforms on Twitter.
Shear, who committed to Ari-
zona, changed his mind on Wednes-
day morning after Taggart offered
him a scholarship at 7:30 a.m. He
announced that he had switched to
the Ducks at a signing day gathering
at Sheldon High School.
One that got away: Sacramento’s
Josh Falo, considered one of the top
tight ends in the country, chose USC
over Oregon on Tuesday night.
How they’ll fi t in: Oregon’s big-
gest needs are on defense, and the
Ducks looked like they addressed
that side of the ball. Scott has already
enrolled at Oregon, as has defensive
tackle Rutger Reitmaier from Nash-
ville, Tennessee. Two more defen-
sive tackles from California, Popo
Aumavae and Austin Faoliu, signed
Wednesday.
A four-star junior college defen-
sive tackle expected to contribute
right away is among the highlights
of coach Gary Andersen’s third
recruiting class at Oregon State.
Craig Evans, a 6-foot-3, 305-
pound four-star prospect out of
Arizona Western College also
had offers from Arkansas, Col-
orado, Ole Miss and Kentucky
but selected the Beavers back in
December.
He posted a video on Twitter
that proclaimed “Beaver Nation!
Stand up!”
Evans was recruited by Ander-
sen when he was coach of Wis-
consin, but academic issues got in
the way. Andersen stayed in touch
when Evans went to Michigan
State and then to junior college.
“I think he won’t miss a beat
with the kids we have in the pro-
gram,” Oregon State defensive
line coach Chad Kauha’aha’a said.
The Beavers fi nished 4-8 last
season, including a 34-24 vic-
tory over Oregon in the fi nal reg-
ular-season game that snapped an
eight-game losing streak in the
Civil War.
Other things to know:
Top 25 Class: No.
Best in class: WR Isaiah
Hodgins from Walnut Creek, Cal-
ifornia. Hodgins, who selected
the Beavers over Oregon and
Nebraska, is already enrolled.
Hodgins originally committed to
Washington State, but a visit to
Corvallis changed his mind. His
dad, James, played under Oregon
State assistant Dave Baldwin at
San Jose State.
Best of the rest: The Bea-
vers were able to nab two run-
ning backs out of Texas, BJ Bay-
lor out of Wharton and Calvin
Tyler out of Beaumont. Recalling
Oregon State history, the Beavers
have had luck before with a run-
ning back from Texas: Jacquizz
Rodgers. Oregon State also got
three local in-state recruits: defen-
sive tackle Josh Bowcut and safety
David Morris from Sherwood, and
outside linebacker Travis Mackay
of Portland’s Central Catholic.
Late addition: Three-star line-
backer Kesi Ah-Hoy, who had
previously committed to Hawaii.
Andersen and his coaches got
help landing Ah-Hoy from a fel-
low recruit from Hawaii, safety
Charles Watson.
One that got away: Safety
Juliano Falaniko of American
Samoa signed with USC.