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A10
Pendleton’s dance team ranks superior
Rhythmic Mode
has 5 dancers earn
all-state honors
By ANNIE FOWLER
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — Pend-
leton High School’s Rhyth-
mic Mode dance team has
been highly successful over
the years, and the dancers
did not let COVID-19 get in
their way of keeping the pro-
gram ranked as one of the
best in the state.
Five dancers — Elissa
Franks, Cortney Herrera,
Abi McFetridge, Kirsten
Mendel and Lily Volger —
earned all-state honors, and
the team earned a superior
rating when it performed in
front of a panel of judges on
May 8.
“Five of 11, that is really
impressive,” said Pendleton
dance coach Debbie Kish-
paugh, who had seven danc-
ers compete. “It’s never
been done before. To think
if they would have audi-
tioned in person. Your per-
sonality shows better with-
out a mask and in person.”
Despite the challenges,
Volger, a team captain,
appreciated the opportunity
to compete.
“I am ecstatic to have
been honored by becoming
a member of the 2021 All-
State team, and to do so with
four of the girls I grew up
dancing with was an even
bigger excitement,” Volger
said in a statement to the
Debbie Kishpaugh/Contributed Photo
Pendleton’s Rhythmic Mode poses for a photo at Pendleton High School earlier in 2021. Pendleton was one of only fi ve teams
throughout the state that won a superior rating this spring.
Franks
Herrera
McFetridge
Oregon School Activities
Association. “I am so grate-
ful for this opportunity to be
recognized, along with so
many other members of my
Rhythmic Mode family, on
the 5A All-State team.”
Each of the 102 senior
dancers who submitted
auditions had to learn a spe-
cifi c routine, then tape their
performance. Even though
they performed solo, and
had to tape their own per-
formance, each dancer had
to wear a mask.
“That was incredibly
Mendel
hard on them,” said Kish-
paugh, who has directed the
Pendleton program for 35
years. “They had to either
do it outside, in the garage,
the living room or their bed-
room, but we used my dance
studio. My girls truly did
have an advantage because
we could use my studio.
They went one at a time.
They had a small advantage.
Only thing I did was give
them the key and let them
in.”
Since they had time to
perfect their performance,
the dancers
would send
their vid-
eos to Kish-
paugh for
critique.
“They
Volger
kept
on
sending me
videos and I would tell them
what could be better. It was
super stressful on them.”
Once the videos were
to their liking, the dancers
sent them off to the Dance
Drill Coaches Association,
which spent weeks going
through the auditions. The
judges only knew the danc-
ers by name. They were not
allowed to say which school
they were from.
“A lot of credit goes to
the judges association,”
Kishpaugh said. “If they
wouldn’t have been willing
Pac-12 Conference to increase,
strengthen wrestling programs
Mid-Valley Media
SAN FRANCISCO —
The Pac-12 Conference
announced Thursday, June
3, a series of measures to
strengthen and grow the
sport of wrestling in the
conference, including an
initiative to add members to
its wrestling ranks beyond
the current membership of
six programs for the fi rst
time in more than a decade.
With the recent reinstate-
ment of the Stanford pro-
gram, the Pac-12 is com-
mitted to building upon
the foundation of success
earned this past season,
which included an indi-
vidual NCAA champion, a
fourth-place team fi nish at
NCAA championships and
eight All-American honors.
The decision to seek
additional wrestling mem-
bers represents a signifi cant
commitment to both bol-
ster competitive opportuni-
ties and success for Pac-12
wrestling student-athletes,
and strengthen collegiate
wrestling on the West Coast.
To support the growth of
Pac-12 wrestling, the confer-
ence recently adjusted some
of its wrestling policies,
including the following:
Keith Srakocic/The Associated Press, File
Oregon State’s Ronnie Bresser, left, takes on Ohio’s Christian
Moody in their 125-pound match in the fi rst round of the
NCAA wrestling championship March 21, 2019, in Pittsburgh.
The Pac-12 Conference announced a series of measures to
strengthen and grow the sport of wrestling in the confer-
ence, including an initiative to add members to its wrestling
ranks beyond the current membership of six programs for
the fi rst time in more than a decade.
• Eliminated a restric-
tion that capped the number
of wrestling affi liates to the
minimum number needed to
keep NCAA AQ status.
• Approved a policy
change that will allow affi li-
ate members to host the con-
ference championships in
future years.
• Approved the hiring
of an offi cials assigner for
conference matches and the
conference championships,
starting with the 2021-22
academic year.
• Establish a wrestling
schedule rotation so as to
evenly balance home and
away matches during the
conference season.
It is the hope of the con-
ference and its wrestling
members that this eff ort will
not only lead to more wres-
tling affi liates but will also
help create additional inter-
est in the sport for the next
generation of young athletes
on the West Coast.
“This is an exciting initia-
tive that not only stabilizes
wrestling on the West Coast,
but shows the Pac-12 Con-
ference’s commitment to
expanding Division 1 wres-
tling,” Oregon State coach
Chris Pendleton said. “I’m
looking forward to adding
more teams, and together we
can all push the Pac-12 Con-
ference to new heights.”
“It is our pleasure to join
the Pac-12 Conference and
its wrestling community in
this important initiative to
add future league affi liates,”
added Ray Anderson, Ari-
zona State vice president for
university athletics. “These
measures outlined by the
conference are an important
fi rst step in making this hap-
pen. The sport of wrestling
has always been an import-
ant part of Sun Devil athlet-
ics legend and lore. We must
do everything in our power
to strengthen and grow the
sport of wrestling, espe-
cially on the West Coast
where it is so essential to our
stability. Arizona State Uni-
versity will do everything it
can to assist in this eff ort.”
to do this, there would have
been no state this year.”
During a normal year,
dancers throughout the state
would have convened at one
school and performed in a
group of four (only one per
school in the group). From
there, judges might ask a
select group of dancers to
perform again.
“Your
showmanship,
your entire body, is telling
your story,” Kishpaugh said.
“I have been preaching that
since they were little. Use
those arms, use those hips.
All of these kids but one I
have had since they were 3-5
years old.”
For the team competi-
tion, a group of judges trav-
eled to schools to watch
teams compete.
“Only one other 5A team
got a superior rating, and
there were only fi ve (teams)
in the state that got a supe-
rior rating,” Kishpaugh said.
“I really, really applaud the
judges association. They
traveled around the state,
came to watch our state rou-
tine, then they went to the
next school. We actually got
to be at the school gym, and
we got to have 200 specta-
tors. That was a really big
deal.”
While COVID-19 altered
the sports scene through-
out the country, Rhythmic
Mode was fortunate to be
able to compete in Nampa
earlier this year.
“We were in the Civic
Center and you performed
by yourself,” Kishpaugh
said.
“Eighty
percent
of the teams were from
Idaho, only one from Ore-
gon and two from Wash-
ington. There were about
635 dance numbers from
kindergarten through high
school, and every genre
there is.”
Pendleton’s jazz perfor-
mance ranked second.
“With what little we had
to work with, we did excep-
tional,” Kishpaugh said.
“The only problem was that
no one got to see it.”
Rhythmic Mode has won
nine state titles since 2001,
and could have added two
more if not for COVID-19.
“We got as much that was
possible,” Kishpaugh said.
“You can’t compare this to
any other year. What was
possible, we nabbed up what
we could.”
ON THE SLATE
TUESDAY, JUNE 8
Prep boys basketball
Pendleton at Crook County,
7 p.m.
Ione/Arlington at Sherman,
7:30 p.m.
Mitchell/Spray at Echo,
7:30 p.m.
Umatilla at Nixyaawii, 7:30 p.m.
Stanfi eld at Riverside, 7:30 p.m.
McLoughlin at Irrigon,
7:30 p.m.
Prep girls basketball
Crook County at Pendleton,
6:30 p.m.
McLoughlin at Irrigon, 6 p.m.
Stanfi eld at Riverside, 6 p.m.
Umatilla at Nixyaawii, 6 p.m.
Ione/Arlington at Sherman,
6 p.m.
Joseph at Echo, 6 p.m.
Prep wrestling
Heppner, Irrigon at Riverside,
5 p.m.
Prep bowling
Walla Walla at Hermiston,
3:30 p.m.
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 9
Prep boys basketball
Nixyaawii at Baker, 7:30 p.m.
Umatilla JV at Griswold, 6 p.m.
Prep girls basketball
Nixyaawii at Baker, 6 p.m.
Prep wrestling
Hanford, Chiawana at Hermis-
ton, 5 p.m.
Pendleton, McLoughlin at La
Grande, TBD
THURSDAY, JUNE 10
Prep boys basketball
Kennewick at Hermiston,
7 p.m.
Riverside at Heppner, 7:30 p.m.
Grant Union at Weston-McE-
wen, 7:30 p.m.
Irrigon at Stanfi eld, 7:30 p.m.
Prep girls basketball
Hermiston at Kennewick,
7 p.m.
Riverside at Heppner, 6 p.m.
Irrigon at Stanfi eld, 6 p.m.
Powder Valley at Nixyaawii,
6 p.m.
Prep wrestling
Heppner at Riverside, 5 p.m.
Prep bowling
Hermiston at Richland,
3:30 p.m.
Prep swimming
Hermiston at MCC Champion-
ships, Richland, TBD
IMC meet at Pendleton, noon
FRIDAY, JUNE 11
Prep boys basketball
Ridgeview at Pendleton,
6:30 p.m.
Echo at Ione/Arlington,
7:30 p.m.
Pilot Rock at Heppner, 7:30 p.m.
Weston-McEwen at Stanfi eld,
7:30 p.m.
Irrigon at Umatilla, 7:30 p.m.
McLoughlin at Riverside,
7:30 p.m.
Prep girls basketball
Pendleton at Ridgeview, 7 p.m.
McLoughlin at Riverside,
6 p.m.
Irrigon at Umatilla, 6 p.m.
Pilot Rock at Heppner, 6 p.m.
Echo at Ione/Arlington, 6 p.m.
SATURDAY, JUNE 12
Prep boys basketball
Crosshill Christian at Nixy-
aawii, 12:30 p.m.
Pilot Rock at Grant Union,
3 p.m.
Umatilla at McLoughlin,
6 p.m.
Prep girls basketball
Umatilla at McLoughlin,
4:30 p.m.
Pilot Rock at Grant Union,
1:30 p.m.
Prep wrestling
Heppner at Pine Eagle, 11 a.m.
Hood River, The Dalles at
Pendleton, at Happy Canyon
Arena, 5 p.m.
SPORTS SHORT
Kidd removes himself from consideration
for vacant Trail Blazers coaching job
The Oregonian
PORTLAND — Los Ange-
les Lakers assistant coach
Jason Kidd has removed his
name from consideration
for the vacant head coach-
ing position with the Portland
Trail Blazers, according to a
report from ESPN’s Adrian
Wojnarowski.
“Portland’s a fi rst-class
organization and will have
great candidates … but I’ve
decided not to be one of
them,” Kidd said, according to
Wojnarowski.
According to a report from
Yahoo Sports on Friday, June
4, Blazers star Damian Lillard
identifi ed Kidd as someone
he would want to see replace
Terry Stotts.
Stotts and the franchise
mutually agreed to part ways
after nine seasons.
Kidd, a Hall of Fame point
guard and former 10-time All-
Star, has solid head coach-
ing experience with stints
at Brooklyn and Milwau-
kee with a 183-190 combined
record.
Four other candidates have
emerged as potential replace-
ments for Stotts: Juwan
Howard, Chauncey Billups,
Jeff Van Gundy and Mike
D’Antoni.
Kevin C. Cox/The Associated Press, File
Los Angeles’ LeBron James (23) talks with Jason Kidd during Game 4 of
the Lakers’ fi rst-round playoff series against Portland Aug. 24, 2020, in
Lake Buena Vista, Fla.