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Tuesday, May 11, 2021
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A11
Oregon State wraps up spring practice
Fans watch football
in Reser stadium for
first time since 2019
By NICK DASCHEL
The Oregonian
CORVaLLIs — a father
and son threw the football to one
another in Reser stadium’s park-
ing lot.
several long lines of people
wearing Oregon state univer-
sity athletic gear waited outside of
Reser’s east gates to open.
a group of students ran across
Karl Maasdam/OSU Athletics
26th street on the way to the Oregon State tight end Luke Musgrave (88), a graduate of Bend High, catch-
stadium yelling “Ohhhhh-es- es a pass in front of defensive back Alton Julian (7), during the Beavers’
ssssss-You … Oregon State fight, spring scrimmage at Reser Stadium in Corvallis on on Saturday, May 8, 2021.
fight, fight!”
College football took another State. For the first time since the football do something in Reser
step on saturday, May 8, toward pandemic struck 14 months ago, stadium.
becoming whole again at Oregon fans were allowed to watch Beaver
It wasn’t close to a traditional
Pendleton
lifters
set state
records
dan Logman sets
Oregon masters
bench press record
with 485 pounds
By ANNIE FOWLER
East Oregonian
RICHLaNd, Wash. — a trio
of Pendleton powerlifters set nine
Oregon state records on saturday,
May 8, at the usPa PaC Cartel
Kilos at Power athletics Compound.
dan Logman, competing in
the Masters 308-pound class, set
an Oregon masters bench press
record in the united states Power-
lifting association with a lift of 485
pounds.
“I didn’t do as well as I expected,
but I still set a state record,” Logman
said. “On my second attempt at 501,
I came up weird on my right side.
They let me fight that last inch and
a half, but I couldn’t get my lockout.
I almost had 501 again on my last
attempt. We go out, compete and
learn from it.”
Logman’s son, Christopher, a
freshman at Pendleton High school,
set four state records in the Teen
13-15, 275-pound class.
He benched 237 pounds, squatted
380 and deadlifted 342 on his second
attempt. His combined total of 959
pounds also is a state record.
donald “eagle” Williams set
four state records in the Masters
275-pound class.
He benched 308 pounds, just
missing a PR on his next two
attempts. He also squatted 446 and
deadlifted 479.5 — 5 pounds more
than the previous record. His total of
1,233.5 also is a state record.
spring practice-ending scrimmage.
Coach Jonathan smith consistently
referred to the 65-minute workout
as a “showcase.”
With more than a dozen players
out due to COVId-19 protocol and
others sidelined with minor injuries,
the Beavers were limited as to what
they could do.
The “showcase” highlights were
five offensive series in the red zone,
and defensive tackle Isaac Hodgins
proposing to his girlfriend Taylor
Lawson at midfield. Take your pick.
Oh, and fans. a few thousand,
maybe 3,000, sat in Reser stadium’s
seats for the first time since the 2019
football season. Combined with the
band and cheerleaders, it gave the
Beavers a taste of what they missed
in 2020, and what to expect this fall.
“It felt so much better, even
having those limited fans,” said
tight end Luke Musgrave, who
caught the lone touchdown of the
day. “We were all really happy to
have them out there. The energy
was noticeably higher with those
fans.”
smith said it became apparent
by midweek they wouldn’t be able
to cut loose during the spring finale.
among the absentees were nearly
half the receiving corps, including
Zeriah Beason and silas Bolden,
and quarterback Ben Gulbranson.
With only five healthy receivers and
two quarterbacks available, smith
decided to pare the 11-on-11 compe-
tition down to five red-zone series,
and a couple of two-minute drills.
The 65-minute workout also
included warmups, several one-on-
one drills and special teams compe-
tition.
Fans may have learned little
from what they saw, but it was
meaningful to smith.
See OSU, Page A12
BACK ON THE COURT
Hermiston
basketball
teams return to
the court May 12
By ANNIE FOWLER
East Oregonian
H
e R M I sT ON —
The Hermiston girls
basketball team lost
just one player from
last year’s squad to graduation
— point guard Jazlyn Romero.
Coach Maloree Moss was
expecting to have a treasure
trove of players to work with this
spring, but a string of unfore-
seen circumstances has had that
list go from one to six.
“Missing Jaz this year will be
hard,” Moss said. “she is a tough
player to replace. We had a
couple of girls who chose not to
come out. We have good expe-
rience, but we have to figure out
where our depth is. Our rota-
tions will be different.”
Hermiston opens Mid-Co-
lumbia Conference play on
Wednesday, May 12, hosting
Hanford at 7 p.m. Boys and
girls will play at opposite venues
because of COVId-19 protocols.
With COVId restrictions in
umatilla County, each Herm-
iston player will get two tickets
for family members. Visiting
teams will not be allowed to
have fans, but the games will be
livestreamed.
all fans must wear masks
and practice social distancing.
Fans will be allowed into the
facility 20 minutes prior to the
game.
For games in the Tri-Cities,
Washington, home rostered
players will receive five tickets
per game, while visiting players
will receive two.
“It’s kind of a bummer,”
Moss said of the restrictions. “I
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian, File
Hermiston’s Katelyn Heideman (1) puts up a shot against the Chiawana Riverhawks at Hermiston High
School on Jan. 28, 2020.
feel bad for the visiting teams
because they don’t get to watch
their kids play. Makes me sick
to my stomach. I’m hoping that
will change soon.”
Returning for the Bulldogs
this year are Jayden Ray, last
year’s Mid-Columbia Confer-
ence defensive Player of the
year, Kaylee young, Bailey
young, Katelyn Heideman, Mia
Hernandez, Morgan Brown and
Madi Feigum, who will start the
season on the injured list.
“I’m really excited to have
the combination of Bailey and
Morgan inside,” Moss said.
“Morgan is more of a finesse
player, and Bailey is more of
a brute. They both are tough
defenders and rebounders. They
likely will not play at the same
time, but will play key roles for
us defensively and offensively.”
a good portion of the Bull-
dogs are coming off of their
track season, but they have put
in time on the court.
“They came to practice a
couple of times, but we wanted
them to be fresh for their district
(track) meet,” Moss said. “They
did some shooting and knocked
the rust off.”
Moss will have to find a way
to replace the experience of
Kendall dowdy, sydney seavert
and Paige Palzinki, who missed
last season with a knee injury.
One player also moved, and
eseta sepeni, who was a key
junior varsity player last season,
has decided to wrestle this year.
“a lot of these kids have had
to grow up and sports are not a
priority right now,” Moss said.
“all the girls who chose to do
other things, I support their
decision. The kids who are
there will work hard, and work
hard for each other. It’s a weird
year. We play so many games so
quickly, there isn’t time for too
many adjustments. We are going
to do the best we can.”
Hermiston boys
rebuilding after
graduation losses
Graduation gutted the boys
program two years ago, leav-
ing the cupboard pretty bare
last season for new coach drew
Preuninger.
The Bulldogs will be back in
rebuilding mode this season as a
handful of returning guys have
See Basketball, Page A12
SPORTS SHORT
Mountaineers part ways with men’s basketball coach
East Oregonian
La GRaNde — eastern
Oregon university men’s basket-
ball coach Carlito Labarda Jr.
are parting ways, according to
an announcement by director of
Athletics Anji Weissenfluh.
In four seasons leading the
Mountaineers, Labarda Jr. posted
a 61-49 overall record and was
36-34 in Cascade Collegiate
Conference play. His best finish
came in his first season, when he
led eOu to a 21-8 overall record.
“I would like to thank
Carlito for his service to east-
ern Oregon university and to
the men’s basketball program,”
Weissenfluh said. “Carlito has
been a positive presence in the
La Grande community and an
ambassador of eOu.”
The coach expressed his grat-
itude for the time he spent in La
Grande.
“I want to thank the La
Grande community. I tried to
give back all that I could. I think
this experience was huge for me,”
he said.
While at the helm of east-
ern Oregon, Labarda Jr. helped
guide the Mountaineers to a
2020-21 season that saw multi-
ple delays before finally being
able to compete in late February
for the spring season. His group
was 8-12 overall and went 3-9 in
CCC spring play.
“Maybe I didn’t win enough.
But I had the highest winning
percentage and highest team
GPa out of all the mens sports
in the last four years,” he said.
“I wasn’t in the plans, which I
accept, and I (will) move on.”
Labarda Jr. was hired in June
2017 and was the 16th head coach
in the program’s history. Prior to
taking over the Mountaineers,
Labarda Jr. spent four previous
seasons as an assistant coach at
Carroll College where the saints
posted a 79-45 record during
Labarda’s four-year career in
Helena, Montana.
“a national search for our next
men’s basketball coach will start
immediately,” Weissenfluh said.
Labarda Jr., who said he is “in
a good place,” began his coach-
ing journey at Purdue university,
where he was the team’s manager
and student assistant coach from
1994 to 1999 under Purdue
legend Gene Keady.
Labarda called the past season
his best coaching job, even if it
didn’t elicit his best win-loss
record on the court, citing the
challenges of coaching during
a pandemic and dealing with
COVId-19 cases and injuries
within the team.
“With protocol, keeping guys
safe was higher on my priority
list,” he said. “Relationship was
built to an all-time high to where
I truly had a (strong) relationship
with all 10 of my guys.
“They understand the busi-
ness, (but) they were all shocked
it happened so fast.”
William McLaughlin/Eastern Oregon University
Eastern Oregon University has parted
ways with men’s basketball coach Carli-
to Labarda Jr., the school announced on
Monday, May 10, 2021.