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Friday, January 31, 2020
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A8
OSAA proposals shift the landscape of local football
nixyaawii will no
longer co-op with
Pilot rock; umatilla,
irrigon drop to 2a
By ANNIE FOWLER
East Oregonian
PiLOT rOCK — Tyasin Burns
is a football player without a team.
The standout running back from
the Pilot rock/nixyaawii football
team will no longer be a rocket after
the OSaa Football ad Hoc advi-
sory Committee denied the schools’
ability to continue to co-op unless
they moved up to the 2a level.
While the team has had success,
the number of players out for the
sport, and the projected number of
upcoming players, do not support
the move to a higher level.
“We appealed to the very end,”
rockets football coach Mike Balez-
tena said. “it was a big no. it was
play 11-man or split. We could this
coming year, but after that, we
couldn’t. Ten kids will go away, and
we don’t have those numbers com-
ing in.”
Pilot rock athletic director TJ
Presley said he was disappointed
by the ruling, but that playing at the
8-man level is a better fit with the
participation numbers.
“We have a lot of boys in our
school, but not a lot of football play-
ers,” Presley said. “We have a lot of
students not participating in any fall
sports.”
The Pilot rock/nixyaawii deci-
sion was one of many the OSaa
committee has made over the past
couple of months. its recommenda-
tions will be presented to the OSaa
Executive Board for review and
potential adoption Feb. 10.
The committee’s work will
affect several local football pro-
grams, with some getting new
teams in their leagues, or shifting
classifications.
Burns is one of a handful of
nixyaawii student-athletes that
plays football for the rockets. Wil-
lie Sigo, aaron Barkley and Magi
Moses are others. all of them are
without place to play.
Burns, a junior, was the Spe-
cial district 3 West Player of the
Year. He was a first-team running
back and linebacker, a second-team
punter and a third-team kicker.
But where he shines is with the
ball in his hands.
He ran for 2,382 yards and 17
touchdowns. He also had 821 yards
receiving with six touchdowns,
threw for four touchdowns, and had
two more on returns. defensively,
he had 59 solo tackles, 37 assists,
three interceptions and four quar-
terback sacks.
“He was on his way to setting a
lot of state records,” Baleztena said.
“it’s sad. He had a legitimate shot of
going somewhere to play.”
The only option open to Burns
and the other players at this point is
to transfer to a school with football,
or for nixyaawii to possibly co-op
See OSAA, Page A9
Wayne Miller
to retire as
Helix’s longtime
athletic director
Jasmin Lopez
adds 10 points to
fourth-quarter
comeback over
Umatilla
Miller held the
Griswold High School
position for 21 years
By BRETT KANE
East Oregonian
By BRETT KANE
East Oregonian
B
OardMan — While the uma-
tilla girls were well in charge of
the first half of their season’s
second basketball game against
riverside; they were not prepared for Jas-
min Lopez in the second half.
The Pirates sophomore scored a game-
high 22 points, including 10 in the fourth
quarter, to rally past visiting umatilla
and emerge with a 41-35 Eastern Oregon
League victory on Thursday night.
“We had to slow down,” riverside head
coach Clair Costello said. “We were going
faster than we could play. in the second
half, we slowed down, ran our offense,
and got the shots. We still can’t shoot 3s
— we still have to be within three feet of
the basket — but we played well.”
The Vikings led 30-21 with 3:39 left in
the third quarter. But the Pirates fought
their way back into the game with a six-
point, quarter-closing streak that caught
them up 30-27 at the buzzer.
Pirates senior Megan Hegar opened the
fourth quarter with a basket to pull within
one point, and the Vikings attempted two
back-to-back treys to stay ahead, but both
Staff photo by Ben Lonergan
Riverside’s Jasmin Lopez (20) puts up a shot against the Vikings. The Riverside Pi-
rates defeated the Umatilla Vikings 41-35 at Riverside High School in Boardman
Thursday night.
See Pirates, Page A9
RIVERSIDE 6 12 19 14 — 41
UMATILLA 16 8 6 5 — 35
RIVERSIDE — Lopez 22, Hegar 4,
Altamirano 4, Ayala 4, Garcia 4, Diaz 2,
Myers 1
UMATILLA —Smith 11, Durfey 11, Mon-
real 5, Montez 5, Lemus 3
Staff photo by Ben Lonergan
Riverside’s Bianca Avalos (12) looks to pass the ball away from a trio of Umatilla
defenders. The Riverside Pirates defeated the Umatilla Vikings 41-35 at Riverside
High School in Boardman Thursday night.
Echo/Stanfield’s Lemmon signs with EOU wrestling
She is the first
wrestler from the
program to sign with
a college team
By ANNIE FOWLER
East Oregonian
STanFiELd — Women’s
wrestling is one of the fastest
growing sports in the nation,
and Katelyn Lemmon is part of
that movement.
Lemmon, one of two girls
on the Echo/Stanfield wrestling
team, signed a letter of intent
Thursday to wrestle at Eastern
Oregon university.
“i emailed them, and they
called me,” said Lemmon, who
plans to major in pre-med. “i’m
nervous. i haven’t been wres-
tling very long, and it will be
way harder.”
in fact, this season is Lem-
mon’s first on the mats. She
competes at 130 pounds, but
will occasionally wrestle some-
one heavier just to get in a
match.
“She is definitely one of the
hardest workers in the room,”
Echo/Stanfield coach Monte
Toombs said. “She has mental
toughness, and puts in 110% all
the time. With her work ethic
and better practice partners in
college, she will do well. i think
she will surprise the Eastern
coaches.”
The EOu program, under
the direction of first-year coach
Michael ayala, is in its fourth
season. The Mountaineers had
two naia all-americans last
season.
Staff photo by Annie Fowler
See Wrestling, Page A9
Stanfield senior Katelyn Lemmon signed a letter of intent on Thurs-
day to wrestle at Eastern Oregon University.
HELiX — after
21 years as Griswold
High School’s ath-
letic director, Wayne
Miller is ready to
close that chapter.
a longtime anchor
Miller
of the Grizzlies’ ath-
letic program, hav-
ing coached cross-country, basket-
ball and tennis, and spending the
past two decades as athletic director,
Miller’s retirement will go into effect
at the end of this school year, once all
OSaa-sponsored events conclude.
“it’s a decision i’ve been work-
ing on for a while,” Miller said. “i’ve
been out of the classroom for eight
years now, and stayed on as athletic
director. i just decided the time was
right, and to let some other people do
their thing. The school will go their
direction, and i can go my direction.”
Miller graduated from Griswold
in 1972, and then graduated from
Oregon State university in 1976. He
joined Griswold’s teaching and ath-
letic staff in the fall of 1976, where
he’s remained ever since.
“it’s been fantastic,” he said of
his time with the Grizzlies. “it’s that
95-5 rule — 95% of the time, every-
thing went great, and only 5% of the
time, things didn’t. i’m blessed to be
around good coaches, great adminis-
tration, and good parents. it was a lot
of fun. i made a lot of relationships
while i was there.”
Miller was not only Helix’s ath-
letic leader, but was also responsi-
ble for bringing funds to improve the
school. He started Helix’s Booster
Club and the annual Crab Feed —
a seafood buffet held in the school’s
gym that raises money to improve
facilities, fund scholarships and
school activities.
Since Miller founded it in 2000,
the Helix Booster Club has raised
$85,775 for scholarships, $132,725.78
for school improvements, and
$106,526.37 for the athletic programs.
The Booster Club’s final crab feed
with Miller will be held Feb. 27.
after two decades of dedicat-
ing his time toward the school from
which he graduated, Miller said he is
looking forward to doing things on
his own accord.
“i still have work in the area that
i’m doing,” he said. “i’m still referee-
ing and subbing once in a while, but
i’m looking forward to being able to
do things on my schedule and not the
school’s. That’s always been a chal-
lenge, but it was a challenge that i’ve
liked.”
Miller’s successor has yet to be
determined, and will be announced
once the school board gives its
approval at the beginning of
February.
“We’ve had interviews — it’s just
pending the school board’s approval,”
Miller said. “We’ve had some qual-
ified people come in who are inter-
ested in the job.”