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SATURDAY, JUNE 29, 2019
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MEET THE LINEBACKER’S CLUB
B1
WOMENS’ WORLD CUP
QUARTERFINALS
USA 2, FRANCE 1
CLASS OF 2019
The Pendleton Linebacker’s
Club welcomes 14 new
members to their Hall of
Fame
By BRETT KANE
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — For 14 former Bucka-
roo all-stars, the glory days are a gift that
keeps on giving.
On Friday night, the Pendleton Line-
backer’s Club welcomed over 300 friends,
family, and past inductees alike to the
Pendleton Convention Center, where they
honored a select group of standout for-
mer Pendleton High School athletes and
added them into their longstanding and
ever-growing Hall of Fame.
“Every one of these inductees had a huge
impact on Pendleton High School Athlet-
ics,” said Linebacker’s President Dennis
Hunt. “And they all went on to compete at
the collegiate level. That’s really special.”
The induction followed an evening of
cocktails, dinner, and an auction of items
that ranged from Portland Trail Blazers
tickets and parking passes to a University
of Oregon Ducks football helmet.
This year’s class of honorees was voted
on by the Pendleton athletic community at
the beginning of the year.
The 14 new members joined the likes of
former Bucks softball coach Steve Cary,
former PHS basketball and golf coach Dale
Warberg, and Pendleton alumnus Bob
Lilly, who went on to play 14 seasons with
the Dallas Cowboys.
Casey Hunt
From 1995-98, Hunt was a 10-letter
Buckaroo athlete who competed in foot-
ball, wrestling, and baseball. He was a
receiver and defensive back for one year
under coach Wayne Looney, and played
for former coaches Cary, Lyle Phelps, and
Mike Hodgen on the baseball diamond,
where he earned four of his letters.
However, neither of those accomplish-
ments compared to his time as a wrestler,
where he would become one of the school’s
most-decorated athletes. Hunt won a state
title at 135 pounds for his senior season,
where he went 35-0.
After graduation, Hunt would enroll in
Portland State University and transfer to
the University of Oregon, where he earned
three more wrestling letters at 141 and 149
pounds.
“I’m honored and I’m humbled,” Hunt
said. “The Pendleton community is very
supportive of their athletes.”
AP Photo/Francois Mori
United States’ Megan Rapinoe celebrates
after scoring her second goal in their quar-
terfi nal soccer match between France at
the Parc des Princes, in Paris, Friday.
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
Three members of the 1963 Pendleton football team pose together before they and other team
members were inducted Friday evening into the Pendleton Linebacker’s Club Hall of Fame.
Home-fi eld advantage
didn’t faze the Americans
By ANNE M. PETERSON
Associated Press
A three-year football letterman, Larson
played football, basketball, and track from
1997-2001.
For his fi nal season, Larson caught 28
passes for 703 yards, including 11 touch-
downs. He averaged over 25 yards per
See HOF, Page B3
See USA, Page B3
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
Casey Hunt, one of Pendleton’s most deco-
rated grapplers, speaks after being induct-
ed into the Pendleton Linebacker’s Club
Hall of Fame.
1998-99, a two-time All-State mention, and
earned an array of other honors, including
Umatilla County’s Female Athlete of the
Year, Oregon’s Top 20 Female Athlete of
the Year, and USA Today‘s All-American
Honorable Mention for her senior season.
At the University of Washington, Keeler
joined the Huskies basketball team, which
won the Pac-10 Conference once and twice
made a run in the NCAAs. She led the
team in blocked shots.
After college, she coached at the Uni-
versity of Portland and Central Washing-
ton University.
“I was lucky to be a part of such great
teams and have great coaches,” Keeler
said. “I can’t say enough about my experi-
ence as a Buckaroo.”
year, and led that team to a sixth-place fi n-
ish in the state tournament.
At Oregon State University, he was a
four-year golfer, playing at No. 1 for his
last two years. He was also co-captain of
the team. His post-college career earned
him four Round-Up City Amateur Cham-
pionship titles.
Mike Hodgen
From 1974-78, Peterson collected nine
letters during his time as a football, bas-
ketball, and baseball athlete. He was a two-
year starting quarterback, leading his team
to the semifi nals in 1977. To this day, he
remains in the top 12 Buckaroos in passing
yards and touchdown passes.
On the court, he aided in a state champi-
onship run in 1978.
On the diamond, Peterson amassed
a .316 hitting career and tallied over 70
career hits. He was named to the All-Con-
ference First Team as a shortstop.
Peterson continued his baseball career
at Blue Mountain Community College,
Lane Community College in Eugene, and
the University of Oregon Club Team.
He eventually returned to BMCC to
coach basketball, as well as girls basketball
at Pendleton and Gresham High School.
Hodgen is a Pendleton athletics main-
stay from the Class of 1967. He played
baseball at Eastern Oregon University,
and has coached high school baseball for
the past 44 years, including 27 years with
Pendleton’s American Legion teams.
From 1995-99, Keeler was an honor stu-
dent who joined Pendleton’s basketball,
softball, soccer, and track teams.
Although she earned an All-Conference
mention in track, basketball was her sport
of choice. She was a four-year starter and a
four-year alternate conference player each
year, a two-time IMC Player of the Year in
PARIS — Controversy didn’t drive
Megan Rapinoe, the big moment did.
Rapinoe turned turmoil into tri-
umph Friday night, scoring twice in the
much-anticipated clash with host France
to send the defending champion United
States into the semifi nals of the Women’s
World Cup with a 2-1 victory.
Two days earlier, Rapinoe had been
called out on social media by President
Donald Trump after video surfaced of
her saying she wouldn’t visit the White
House if the United States won the tour-
nament, and the critics pounced. Rapinoe
shrugged them off by facing the crowd
with her arms raised in celebration after
both her goals.
“I don’t really get energized by hat-
ers or all that, I feel there are so many
more people that love me,” she said with
a laugh. “I’m more energized by that.”
Now the top-ranked Americans are
headed to Lyon to
face No. 3 England
“WE HIT
in a semifi nal
THEM WHERE
match Tuesday.
France had been
IT HURT. WE
vying
to become
TOOK OUR
the fi rst nation to
CHANCES.
s i m u l t a n e o u sl y
hold the men’s and
THIS TEAM
women’s
World
— UNREAL,
Cup trophies but
UNREAL
fell well short as
their
aggressive
AMOUNT OF
play, home-fi eld
HEART.”
advantage
and
Megan Rapinoe
fl ag-waving crowd
that belted out “La
Marseillaise” failed to faze the ever-con-
fi dent U.S. team.
Rapinoe, her hair highlighted with a
pastel pink, scored on a free kick in the
fi fth minute that bounced between French
players and past goalkeeper Sarah Bou-
haddi. She did it again in the 65th minute
after blasting a cross from Tobin Heath
that Bouhaddi dove for but couldn’t stop.
It was her fi fth goal of the tournament.
Fourth-ranked France pulled back
on Wendie Renard’s header off Gaetane
Thiney’s free kick in the 81st. It was the
6-foot-2 defender’s fourth World Cup
goal and gave the home crowd at the sell-
out Parc des Princes hope.
“I mean, you have to give it up to the
French team. I think they outplayed us
for sure with the ball, but we were so
Sarah Keeler, who lettered in basketball,
softball, soccer and track, speaks Friday
evening after being inducted into the
Pendleton Linebacker’s Club Hall of Fame.
Jon Peterson
Sarah Keeler
Rapinoe
scores twice
to lead USA
past France
Sara Jane Rosenberg
A decorated volleyball and track ath-
lete, Rosenberg was a four-time long jump
champion from 2001-04, and still holds the
district record in the event. She was also
a two-time triple jump champion from
2003-04.
She was also a member of the girls
4x100 relay teams for all four years, and
was a part of the district championships
in 2001 and 2004, where the team placed
fourth in the state both years.
Rosenberg received a track scholarship
to the University of Idaho.
Bill McCrae
The 1963 class president, McCrae was
a starting guard for Warberg’s champion
basketball team, and played football as a
sophomore for coach Don Requa.
He was also Pendleton’s top golfer for
four years, from 1961-64, gaining four let-
ters. He won the district title his senior
Michael Corey
Corey played football, but baseball is
where he shined. He threw a no-hitter in
a 1992 state title game against La Grande.
He was also a top pitcher at Willamette
University from 1994-98.
He went on to play semi-pro for the
Atlanta Braves. He also helped the Myrtle
Beach Pelicans win a championship with
their debut season of pro baseball.
He fi nished his pro career with the Mil-
waukee Brewers organization.
John Fossatti
After earning All-Conference and All-
State honors during his time on the Bucks
football team from 1956-58, Fossatti was a
freshman linebacker and center at the Uni-
versity of Oregon.
Fossatti was also a catcher and out-
fi elder for the Bucks from 1957-59 under
coach Bob White and competed in the state
golf tournament in 1958.
He brought his athletic knowledge
to Lake Oswego High School, where he
coached football from 1966-71 and golf
from 1967-71. He also coached at Laker-
idge. His skills earned him three Coach
of the Year awards and a National High
School Golf Coach of the Year nomination
in 1985.
Drew Larson