A3
THE ASTORIAN • SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2022
Knight makes
Utti on a roll at Long Beach $250K campaign
Mitchell sets school
donation to Johnson
record at Oregon State
SPORTS
HOMETOWN REPORT
Nike co-founder backs
former state senator
By GARY HENLEY
The Astorian
Seaside’s Maddi Utti is making
the most of what could be her fi nal
season of college basketball.
The senior at Long Beach State is
leading her team in almost every cat-
egory, following a standout senior
season last year at Fresno State.
Now 14-3 overall, the Beach
(formerly the 49ers) is 7-2 in the Big
West Conference following a 74-63
win Thursday night over California
State University, Bakersfi eld.
And Utti is playing a big part in
the team’s success, as she played all
40 minutes and scored a team-high
21 points in Thursday’s win, with
10 rebounds and three assists, her
fourth double-double of the season.
The graduate of Seaside High
School and a former star at Fresno
State, Utti was granted an extra year
of athletic eligibility, and she’s mak-
ing the most of it.
Utti leads Long Beach in several
statistical categories at both ends
of the fl oor. She leads the Beach
in scoring (13.3 points per game),
rebounding (8.7 per game), steals
(53) and blocks (17).
For her eff orts, she has twice
been named Big West Conference
Player of the Week.
Oregon State University
Long Beach State
Seaside graduate Maddi Utti is
lighting up the scoreboard in her
2021-22 season at Long Beach State.
Mitchell sets
Oregon State record
Kaylee Mitchell, who attended
Astoria High School for two years
before transferring to Sprague
High School, is now an offi cial
record-holder at Oregon State.
After graduating from Sprague
and attending Seattle Pacifi c Uni-
versity, Mitchell transferred to
Oregon State, where she has added
to her already impressive list of
accomplishments in track and
cross-country.
Mitchell, who competed in the
women’s steeplechase at last sum-
mer’s Olympic t rials but failed to
Kaylee Mitchell, one-time runner for
Astoria High School, on her way to a
school record in the 3,000 meters
for Oregon State last weekend.
make the U.S. track team, recently
shattered the Oregon State record
in the 3,000 meters.
As the Beavers were closing
out competition at the UW Invi-
tational in Seattle last Friday and
Saturday, Mitchell fi nished third in
the 3,000 in a time of 9 minutes,
3.26 seconds.
It was a new personal best for
Mitchell and also set a new Ore-
gon State school record, previously
9:23.36, set by Juliana Mount in
2019.
In her fourth year of college,
Mitchell is still just a redshirt
junior in athletic eligibility.
Knappa teams split games with Portland Christian
The Astorian
It took exactly 30 minutes, 54 sec-
onds for the Portland Christian Royals
to get their fi rst lead Thursday night
at Knappa, and once they got it, the
Royals hung on for a thrilling 48-46
win over the Loggers in a Northwest
League girls basketball game.
Making up for early foul trou-
ble to teammate Hannah Dietrichs,
Knappa sophomore Ariana Miller
scored six points in the fi rst quarter
for the quick seven-point lead.
The Royals managed to keep
themselves in the game, with sharp
shooting from the outside by Anna
Humphrey (12 points, including a
pair of 3-pointers in the fi rst half).
Dietrichs fi nished with nine
points before eventually fouling out,
but teammates Kendall Jackson and
Taryn Barendse picked up the scor-
ing slack in the second half.
Barendse drilled a 3-pointer with
4:20 left in the game, and Knappa’s
lead reached 46-38 after a three-
point play from Miller.
But those would be the fi nal
points of the night for the Loggers,
as Portland Christian freshman
Maiya Hardy put on a fourth quarter
scoring exhibition, pouring in 16 of
her game-high 25 points in the fi nal
period.
Miller scored 14 and Barendse
added seven for Knappa, which
drops to 1-6 in league play, while the
Royals improve to 4-6.
Boys basketball
Loggers 85, Royals 29
The Knappa boys basketball team
overcame a rough start, but the Log-
gers eventually heated up and went
on to score an easy 85-29 win over
Portland Christian in a Northwest
League contest Thursday at Knappa.
Ranked second in the latest 2A
coaches poll with three fi rst-place
votes, Knappa is the NWL’s lone
unbeaten team (9-0) in league play,
17-1 overall. Portland Christian
drops to 1-19 overall.
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of Johnson’s campaign donors,
heavy equipment dealer The Papé
Group, which also gave John-
son $250,000, according to state
By HILLARY BORRUD
campaign fi nance records. Her
The Oregonian
next largest donors are Colum-
bia Sportswear CEO Tim Boyle,
Nike co-founder Phil Knight who gave $225,000, followed by
has written his fi rst big check to a subsidiary of oil and gas distri-
a candidate in this year’s Ore- bution company Global Partners,
gon governor’s race: $250,000 to which has holdings that include
unaffi liated Betsy Johnson.
a transloading terminal in Clats-
Johnson’s campaign received kanie, at $160,000.
Knight’s contribu-
the donation on Mon-
tion is by far the larg-
day and disclosed it in
est any Oregon guber-
the state’s campaign
natorial candidate has
fi nance system Thurs-
accepted from an indi-
day morning. The
vidual or organization
six-fi gure
donation
so far this cycle. Salem
could mean Johnson
oncologist and Repub-
has locked down a com-
lican candidate Bud
mitment from Knight to
Pierce, who ran for gov-
supply her campaign
ernor and lost to Brown
with more cash in the
Betsy Johnson
in 2016, has given
months ahead.
$374,000 to his own
Knight is one of just
a handful of billionaires in Ore- campaign, according to state cam-
gon and has made large dona- paign fi nance records. Christine
tions in recent governor’s races, Drazan, the former House Repub-
mostly to Republican candidates. lican leader, accepted $150,000
In 2018, Knight gave $2.5 million from the company Team Manage-
directly to moderate Republican ment based in Keizer.
Former New York Times col-
lawmaker Knute Buehler, who
was attempting to unseat Gov. umnist and Democratic candi-
Kate Brown, and Knight also sent date Nicholas Kristof accepted
$1 million to the Republican Gov- $75,000 from the Oregon Labor
Policy Network, and state Trea-
ernors Association.
In 2010, Knight gave $400,000 surer Tobias Read, a Demo-
to Republican gubernatorial can- crat, accepted $50,000 each from
didate and former Portland Trail Steve Silberstein, of California,
Blazers player Chris Dudley. and William Bloomfi eld Jr., of
Knight gave less — and switched Utah .
Former House Speaker and
teams — in 2014, when he spent
$250,000 to help Democratic for- Democrat Tina Kotek’s largest
mer Gov. John Kitzhaber win political check so far is $51,000
re election against Republican from the Local 48 Electri-
cians union, although her recent
Dennis Richardson.
The billionaire has also spent endorsement by the state’s largest
large sums on other Oregon polit- public employee union, Service
ical races. In 2016, Knight con- Employees International Union
tributed a total of $380,000 to Local 503, means that union is
Republicans in competitive leg- likely to spend huge sums on her
islative races. Last month, Knight campaign.
During Brown’s 2018 reelec-
donated $100,000 to Washington
County District Attorney Kevin tion campaign, SEIU 503 spent
$400,000 in a single day on
Barton’s reelection campaign.
With the $250,000 contribu- Brown’s campaign shortly before
tion, Knight is tied with another the general election.