SPORTS
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2016
1B
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College Football
Oregon calls on Taggart
Ducks fl y south to pick next football coach
By ANNE M. PETERSON
Associated Press
AP Photo/Chris O’Meara
In this Nov. 20, 2015, fi le photo, South Florida head
coach Willie Taggart looks on during the second half of
an NCAA college football game against Cincinnati, in
Tampa, Fla.
Willie
Taggart
has
become known for rebuilding
programs
at
Western
Kentucky and South Florida.
His next endeavor will be
much more high profi le,
trying to turn around the
struggling Oregon Ducks.
Oregon
announced
Wednesday that it had
hired Taggart to take over
following a disappointing
4-8 season and the dismissal
of coach Mark Helfrich.
Taggart has been coach at
USF for the past four seasons,
guiding the team from a 2-10
record his fi rst year to a 10-2
mark this year and a spot in
the Birmingham Bowl.
Before he arrived in
Tampa he spent three seasons
at his alma mater, Western
Kentucky,
inheriting
a
winless program that he
turned around with back-to-
back winning seasons.
“Willie
places
an
emphasis on ensuring a
positive
student-athlete
HERMISTON
Rodeo
Bulldog senior named all-state
Freddy Rodriguez
caps prolifi c
career with fi rst
team honors
Former
T-Wolves
win 7th
round
Landingham,
Eldridge continue
strong finals
By ERIC SINGER
East Oregonian
For the past four years, Freddy
Rodriguez was an integral part of
the Hermiston boys varsity soccer
team.
He quickly rose through the
ranks from freshman role player to
being elected a team captain as a
junior, and being an electric offen-
sive player every step of the way. As
a senior this year, Rodriguez led his
Bulldogs to the quarterfi nal round
of the state playoffs and earned
all-league honors for the fourth-
straight year.
But this week, Rodriguez added
one more accolade to his prolifi c
Hermiston career — all-state player.
Rodriguez was selected to
the fi rst team all-state roster for
Class 5A as voted by the coaches,
the lone Hermiston player to
be recognized on the teams. He
scored 24 of the team’s 66 total
goals (36 percent) and also led the
team with 12 assists as a senior,
helping the Bulldogs to a 12-4-1
overall record.
“It’s absolutely deserved,” Herm-
iston head coach Rich Harshberger
said of Rodriguez’s honor. “He was
a four year letterwinner, a four year
all-league guy and this is just the
cherry on top for his senior year.
“He was absolutely an integral
part of this team beyond physical
skill on the fi eld, but also by being
a leader and working hard and
leading by example, showing the
younger guys what it takes to play
at this level.”
Though no teammates joined
him, Rodriguez was joined on
experience and on winning,
and his previous stops have
proven his success at both,”
Oregon athletic director Rob
Mullens said in a statement.
“We have a very bright future
under his leadership.”
A news conference to
formally introduce Taggart
was set for Thursday.
Taggart, 40, is the fi rst
coach Oregon has hired from
outside the program since
See OREGON/2B
East Oregonian
EO fi le photo/Kathy Aney
This Saturday, Oct. 29, 2016 fi le photo shows Hermiston’s Freddy Rodriguez (9 going against San-
dy’s Henry Ruiz (14) during a state playoff game at Kennison Field. Rodriguez was named to the 5A
All-State fi rst team.
the all-state team by three players
from Hermiston’s Columbia River
Conference rival Hood River
Valley as seniors Jorge Campos and
Noe Magana made fi rst team and
junior Angel Sonato made second
team. State champion Woodburn
— who knocked Hermiston out of
the state tournament with a 2-1 win
in the quarterfi nals for the second
straight year — led the way with
fi ve all-state selections as well as
Coach of the Year honors for Stan
Baker.
Player of the Year honors for
each classifi cation will be released
later this week.
————
5A Boys All-State Soccer
First team
Jorge Campos, sr., Hood River Valley
Andy Ellingson, sr., Woodburn
Cade Ficek, jr., Marist
Noe Magana, sr., Hood River Valley
Raul Ochoa, sr., Springfi eld
Reggie Reyes, sr., Woodburn
Freddy Rodriguez, sr., Hermiston
Anthony Santillan, sr., Woodburn
Bryan Tapia Silva, jr., Hillsboro
Mack Van Der Velde, sr., Summit
Eddie Cabrera, sr., Woodburn
Second team
Cole Abbott, sr., Summit
Sean Hamel, sr., La Salle
Edgar Hernandez-Flores, sr., Wilsonville
Conner Karsseboom, sr., Woodburn
Rafael Lopez, sr., Corvallis
Calvin Lucas, sr., Wilsonville
Marco Reyes, jr., South Albany
Edwin Rivas, jr., Hillsboro
Angel Sonato, jr., Hood River Valley
Casey Weaver, sr., Summit
Cole Whritenour, sr., La Salle
Quintin Castner, fr., La Salle
Coach of the Year
Stan Baker, Woodburn
College Volleyball
Eastern Oregon nets three All-Americans
East Oregonian
LA GRANDE — Three key members of
Eastern Oregon University’s No. 6-ranked
volleyball team added some accolades to their
collection this week.
Senior setter Rachelle Chamberlain, junior
outside hitter Amanda Miller, and junior
middle hitter Madisen Garlie were all named
to the Tachikara-NAIA All-America teams on
Tuesday morning. Chamberlain was the high
honoree earning second team recognition,
while Miller was third team and Garlie was
Chamberlain Miller
Garlie
honorable mention.
Chamberlain had the sixth-best assist-
per-set ratio in the country at 11.18 this season,
and added 74 kills, 282 digs, and 71 blocks
along with it. It is the second-straight year
Chamberlain was selected as a second team
All-American, and also added Cascade Colle-
giate Conference Player of the Year honors this
season as well.
Miller was an honorable mention selection
in 2015 and improved immensely in 2016
to register a team-high 344 kills and a .333
hitting percentage. Garlie was playing in her
fi rst season at EOU after transferring from
Oregon Tech before the season, and was the
teams leading blocker with 124 to go along
with 219 kills.
LAS VEGAS — R.C.
Landingham saw his streak
of 80-point scores snapped
on Tuesday at the Wrangler
National Finals Rodeo, but
bounced back in a major way
on Wednesday by posting the
top score of the night to win his
fi rst round at Thomas and Mack
Arena.
For the second night in a row
Landingham
drew
a
bucker from
the Pickett
Rodeo pen,
and this time
he
topped
Scarlet Fever
for
84.5
points to edge
Landingham
world
and
aggregate
leader Tim
O’Connell for
the round win
and a check
for $26,231.
T h e
former Blue
Eldridge
Mountain
competitor
had ridden Scarlet Night for
78.5 points on Tuesday after
three-straight rounds in the 80s,
and heads into tonight’s perfor-
mance in seventh with 541.5
points on seven head.
O’Connell scored 83.5 points
for second in the round and has
590 on seven.
Also bringing back a round
win for BMCC alums on
Wednesday was steer wrestler
Dakota Eldridge after he turned
in his fastest time of the week at
3.5 seconds. Eldridge remains
in fi fth in the aggregate but was
just a tenth of a second from
overtaking fourth-place Nick
Guy after Wednesday’s run and
has 38.9 on seven.
Matt Reeves jumped back
into the aggregate lead with a
3.8 that was second on the night
and gave him 28 fl at on seven
See RODEO/2B
Sports shorts
OSU assistant is next
San Jose State head coach
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — San
Jose State has hired Oregon State
assistant Brent Brennan as its new
head football coach.
Athletic director Gene Bleymaier
announced Wednesday
that Brennan will replace
the fi red Ron Caragher as
coach for the Spartans.
The 43-year old
Brennan was an assistant
coach at San Jose State
Brennan
from 2005-10 under
Dick Tomey and Mike
MacIntyre. He spent the past six
seasons as wide receivers coach at
Oregon State, where he coached
standouts like Brandin Cooks and
Markus Wheaton.
“We told (Bautista’s) agent
that we are not interested
because our fans don’t like
him. Our fans don’t like Jose
Bautista, with good reason.“
— Dan Duquette
Baltimore Orioles GM speaking at the
MLB Winter Meetings that the Orioles
wouldn not pursue free agent Jose
Bautista. The Orioles and Bautista have
had numerous run-ins over the years,
including a shouting match with OF
Adam Jones, and being in the middle of
a bean-ball war with RP Darren O’Day.
Attorneys for Timbers’ Ridgewell
object to fi eld sobriety test
PORTLAND (AP) — Defense attorneys say
a Portland Timbers defender who was arrested
on intoxicated driving charges
shouldn’t have been asked to
perform a fi eld sobriety test.
The Oregonian/OregonLive
reports that Liam Ridgewell’s
attorneys Christine Mascal
and Sean Riddell say Lake
Oswego police offi cers didn’t have reasonable
suspicion to test Ridgewell for alcohol while
investigating an October crash involving his
teammate, Jake Gleeson.
Mascal and Riddell fi led a motion in Lake
Oswego Municipal Court to suppress the
evidence against Ridgewell, saying offi cers
knew he wasn’t involved in the crash or a
witness to it. Ridgewell arrived at the scene after
Gleeson called him for help.
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1961 — Philadelphia’s Wilt
Chamberlain scores 78 points
and grabs 43 rebounds in a
151-147 triple overtime loss to
the Los Angeles Lakers. Elgin
Baylor leads the Lakers with
63 points.
2011 — Three-time NL
MVP Albert Pujols agrees
to a $254 million, 10-year
contract with the Los
Angeles Angels on the fi nal
day of baseball’s winter
meetings.
2012 — Texas A&M
quarterback Johnny Manziel
becomes the fi rst freshman
to win the Heisman Trophy,
taking the top prize after a
record-breaking debut.
Contact us at 541-966-0838 or
sports@eastoregonian.com