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East Oregonian
TUESDAY, JULY 27, 2021
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Running with the Wolves
Heppner’s Wolters
to continue football
career at WOU
have taken. My dream is to be a
strength or conditioning coach at a
D-I college or an NFL team.”
A mighty Mustang
As a junior, Wolters was a fi rst-
team Blue Mountain Conference
selection at running back and as
a defensive lineman. He was a
second-team 2A all-state pick at
both positions as the Mustangs won
the 2019 state title.
Wolters ran for 999 yards and 16
touchdowns, and had 70 tackles and
four quarterback sacks.
He was primed to have a stellar
senior year until a hamstring injury
derailed his season. He missed all
fi ve games.
“It was the worst thing I have
experienced as an athlete,” Wolters
said. “Not being able to compete,
especially with the people you
love in your last year. It hurt like
no other. I am ready to get back to
work.”
Through rest and physical ther-
apy, Wolters is good to go. He
recently was asked to play in the
East-West Shrine All-Star Game on
Aug. 7 in Baker City. He will play on
the East team with Heppner team-
mates Wilson and Jackson Lehman
(Eastern Oregon University).
“Apparently, the East coaches
emailed Grant and asked if I wanted
to play,” Wolters said. “They had
some kids back out. I’m pretty
excited. It will be nice to get one
last game with Jayden and Jackson.”
The players also have resumed
their workouts, which makes the
average person tired just watching.
“Since everything is opened
back up, we can use the school
weight room,” Wolters said. “We are
getting ready for the Shrine Game
and the upcoming season.”
By ANNIE FOWLER
East Oregonian
HEPPNER — During the
COVID-19 pandemic, and the high
school gym off -limits to everyone,
Blake Wolters and Jayden Wilson
created their own workouts.
The Heppner seniors weren’t
going to let anything stand in their
way of being prepared if and when
football season got underway.
Wolter’s hard work paid off , as
the 5-foot-8, 185-pound running
back will continue his playing days
as a preferred walk-on at Western
Oregon University.
“I had a couple of other off ers,
and I had a couple things on my
mind,” Wolters said. “I kept in
touch with Western. It was the right
school.”
Wolters will stick to the off en-
sive side of the ball for the Wolves.
He knows he doesn’t have the size
to play on the defensive line at the
college level.
“Will be playing running back
for Western,” he said. “That’s the
position I really love. That’s what I
have wanted to do and what I have
worked for. I was always quicker,
that’s what I used to my advantage
when I played on the defensive line.
I prefer running behind the off en-
sive line.”
While the Wolves will get a lot of
mileage out of Wolters on the fi eld,
he also brings an aspect to his game
that you cannot coach — work ethic.
“I defi nitely think my work ethic
is the biggest thing I will bring,” he
Staff photo by Ben Lonergan, File
Heppner running back Blake Wolters (26) holds up the OSAA trophy following his team’s 12-7 win over the Ken-
nedy Trojans in the 2019 OSAA Class 2A state title game at Kennison Field in Hermiston. Wolters is heading to
play football for Western Oregon University in Monmouth.
said. “No one will work harder to
earn a spot. I get my hands dirty and
work 110% every day, every play.
That is woven into my DNA.”
Heppner coach Greg Grant can
attest to that.
“I don’t think he is going to
impress you the fi rst day he walks
out there, but day after day you will
see how hard he works and the eff ort
he puts out,” Grant said. “He will not
let anyone else put out a better eff ort.
They will be pleased.”
Western also offers Wolters
independence, but is close enough
to home that his parents can come
watch him play, and Wilson is just
20 minutes down the road at Linfi eld
University.
“It’s defi nitely nice being close
to home,” he said. “Being in a place
like this (Heppner) when you love
county life. At Western, we are 20
minutes from Linfi eld. Jayden and
I talked about keeping in touch.
He is defi nitely my best friend and
I can’t wait to see the greatness he
puts out.”
At WOU, Wolters plans to major
in sports science, kinesiology and
sports nutrition.
“It has been my whole life,”
Wolters said. “That’s the path I
Page fi nishes sixth at Timbersports Series Cowboys have success and
By ANNIE FOWLER
East Oregonian
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Kate
Page has improved her placing
every year she has competed in the
STIHL Timbersports Series, and
this year she fi nished sixth among
the 12 women during the July 23-25
event.
“I shouldn’t complain,” Page
said. “I was eighth in 2018 and
seventh in 2019. I was in the middle
of the pack without points in one
event. Next year, I have to be in the
top fi ve.”
Martha King of Chadds Ford,
Pennsylvania, won the event for the
second consecutive time.
Page, 30, who works as a fi re-
fighter in the Heppner Ranger
District on the Umatilla National
Forest for the U.S. Forest Service,
qualifi ed for the U.S. Champion-
ships at the West Coast qualifi er
June 6 in Centralia, Washington.
With nationals nearly two
months away, Page thought she
would have training time to hone
her skills. The recent fires in
Oregon threw a monkey wrench in
her plans.
“We had the Lovlett Fire and I
didn’t get in the training I wanted
to,” she said. “We were working
12-hour days.”
At nationals, the competitors
started with the stock saw, then
moved to the standing chop, the
single buck and the underhand.
Kate Page/Contributed Photo
STIHL Timbersports Series compet-
itor Kate Page fi nished sixth at the
U.S. Championships on July 23-25,
2021. Page is a native of John Day
now living in Heppner, and moved
up from placing seventh in 2019.
It was the stock saw event that
Page was disqualifi ed in because
the second piece of wood (cookie)
that she cut was too thin.
“Right out of the gate, I disqual-
ifi ed in the stock saw,” she said.
“It was so close. The edge of your
thumbnail was how close. They
make a line all the way around the
log with a Crayon. Usually when
I disqualify, it’s because I cut a
Crayon line. I’m looking at my log
and I thought it was good. I turned
my saw off and set it down, which
means you are done. My second
cookie was super thin. It was too
thin.”
Page fi nished fourth in the stand-
ing chop, fourth in the single buck
and seventh in the underhand.
“I set a personal record for
myself in the underhand,” she said.
Other than that, Page was not
totally pleased with her perfor-
mance.
“The whole weekend was crap,”
she said. “I was all over the board,
but I took sixth. It was a little wild
this year. I didn’t break any equip-
ment, which is good.”
Page also took the time to add up
some numbers.
“If I would have taken sixth
place (in the stock saw), I still
would have been in sixth — 3 points
behind fi fth,” she said. “Unless I
had a really good time, I would have
been stuck at sixth place.”
S o m e c o m p e t it o r s we r e
surprised that Page showed up at
the competition with all the fi res
raging in the Northwest.
“They talk about me being a
fi refi ghter and stuff , and saying,
‘Shouldn’t you be out fighting
fi res.’” she said. “They are waiting
for me when I get back. There’s a
400,000-acre fi re (Bootleg Fire)
going on right now.”
heartbreak at NHSFR
Stewart and
Mahoney each won
a performance in
their event
By ANNIE FOWLER
East Oregonian
LINCOLN, Neb. — Team
roper Jett Stewart of Heppner,
along with partner Brayden
Schmidt of Benton City, Wash-
ington, finished 28th at the
73rd National High School
Finals Rodeo July 18-24 at
the Lancaster Event Center in
Lincoln, Nebraska.
Stewart and Schmidt had a
time of 6.53 seconds on their fi rst
run to win their performance and
fi nish sixth in the go-round, but
their second trip out of the chutes
did not go as well.
“I caught him, but my part-
ner lost his rope,” said Stewart,
who is the header. “It was kind
of disappointing, but it happens.”
Stewart and Schmidt will take
some time off before going to the
Wrangler National Team Roping
Championships in September in
Billings, Montana.
Blane Mahoney of Heppner
finished 40th overall in steer
wrestling with a time of 21.74
seconds on two runs.
His fi rst run of 17.39 seconds
came with a 10-second penalty
for breaking the barrier out of the
chute.
He was 4.35 seconds on his
second run, winning his perfor-
mance and placing sixth in the
go-round, but his combined
time wasn’t enough to reach
the fi nals.
“The second run was pretty
good,” Mahoney said. “I didn’t
do the math, but without the
penalty I might have been close
to making the fi nals.”
In pole bending, Lauryn
Riney of Milton-Freewater
fi nished 21st in the average with
a time of 42.182 seconds. She
also was 65th in barrel racing
with a time of 36.875 seconds.
In her fi rst run through the
poles, Riney had a time of
21.719 seconds to fi nish 53rd.
On her second run, she was 15th
in a time of 20.463.
In barrel racing, Riney’s
fi rst run came with a time of
18.595 seconds, good enough
to fi nish 89th. She was 68th on
her second run (18.28).
Also in pole bending, Alyson
Terry of Hermiston was 65th
with a time of 46.033. Terry had
a time of 20.268 seconds on her
second run to fi nish ninth, but
her fi rst run was not as impres-
sive (111th, 25.765).
SPORTS SHORT
Oregon State reports three NCAA Level III violations
By NICK DASCHEL
The Oregonian
CORVALLIS — Oregon State
committed three NCAA Level
III violations during the 2020-21
school year, a signifi cant drop from
recent years.
Level III infractions are consid-
ered minor, are usually self-re-
ported and minimally penalized.
Oregon State’s Level III infrac-
tions came in baseball, women’s
track and fi eld, and wrestling.
In 2019-20, Oregon State had
nine Level III infractions, 14 the
previous year and an average of
about 15 per year dating back to
2014-15.
The baseball violation actually
occurred in May of 2020, when an
assistant coach gave an impermis-
sible endorsement of a recruiting
service. Action came during the
summer of 2020, with the base-
ball coaching staff instructed to
undergo mandatory education for
recruiting and scouting service
regulations.
Oregon State did not reveal the
sport for the other two violations
in a public records request by The
Oregonian/OregonLive, though
one was committed by women’s
track and field, and the other
was wrestling.
One infraction involved partic-
ipation by an ineligible athlete,
resulting in a $5,000 fi ne by the
NCAA, and rules education. The
other involved a recruiting call to
a prospective athlete whose name
wasn’t entered in the NCAA trans-
fer portal. The penalty was addi-
tional education.
Amanda Loman/The Associated Press, File
Oregon State pitcher Kevin Abel fi elds a ball during an NCAA baseball
game against California April 16, 2021, in Corvallis.