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A8
EOU football voted fi rst
in Frontier Conference
Preseason Coaches Poll
Umpqua Community College/Contributed Photo
Kathleen Brown/Eastern Oregon University Athletics, File
Fatima Izaguirre-Frasser (center) signs her wrestling letter of intent for Umpqua Community College as her mom, Karla Frass-
er-Parrish, and stepdad, Butch Parrish, look on. Izaguirre-Frasser also will run cross-country and track for the RiverHawks.
Eastern Oregon University quarterback Kai Quinn scrambles
during a play on March 20, 2021, while playing at home in La
Grande against Carroll College. Quinn was the Frontier Con-
ference’s Off ensive Player of the Year after completing over
63% of his passes for 811 yards and eight touchdowns during
the spring.
Ready to compete
By DAVIS CARBAUGH
The Observer
GREAT FALLS, Mont.
— The Mountaineers foot-
ball team is the one to beat
this year.
Eastern Oregon University
topped the preseason coaches
poll, which was announced
Tuesday, July 27, during the
Frontier Conference’s media
day in Great Falls, Montana.
The Mountaineers fi nished
with three of the eight fi rst-
place votes. College of Idaho
and Montana Western tied for
second and Carroll slotted in
at No. 4. Southern Oregon,
Montana Tech (two first-
place votes), Rocky Moun-
tain College and Montana
State-Northern rounded out
the back half of the poll.
“When we get all these
guys back, we have a great
opportunity to do some-
thing,” EOU head coach Tim
Camp said. “We’re excited
to play, but we want to win.”
T he Mou nt aineers
narrowly edged out the
College of Idaho and Montana
Western, who both tied for
second place with 36 points.
Carroll College was voted
fourth with 33 points.
Eastern Oregon tied atop
the Frontier during the short-
ened spring 2020 season with
Carroll and College of Idaho
after four spring contests,
giving the Mountaineers at
least a share of a conference
title for the fi rst time since
1980 and just the fourth time
since 1955.
Camp, who is entering his
14th year as head coach, was
named co-coach of the year
last season, while quarter-
back Kai Quinn won confer-
ence off ensive player of the
year and defensive lineman
Chase Van Wyck earned
conference defensive player
of the year. Through a tumul-
tuous season, the Mountain-
eers fi nished the 2020 season
ranked 21st in the NAIA.
Most coaches started their
press conferences at media
day by discussing the chal-
lenges of the 2020 spring
season and expressed their
sentiments about returning
to a more normal 2021 season
in the fall.
“Not being able to coach
against all of them in 2020
was a lot diff erent for me,”
Camp said.
Camp, who has compiled a
74-61 record with the Moun-
taineers, credited the Fron-
tier Conference for making
it through the pandemic
and pointed out the impor-
tance of Athletic Director
Anji Weissenfl uh and Pres-
ident Tom Insko in Eastern’s
eff orts to compete last season.
Camp said the unique season
brought his team closer
together and that because of
extended eligibility rules,
almost his entire roster from
last season is returning,
including Quinn and Van
Wyck.
“We got so much better,
not just at football, but at rely-
ing on each other,” he said.
Loaded off ense returns
for EOU
Quinn, who many consider
to be the best at the position
in the Frontier Conference,
returns after throwing for 811
yards and eight touchdowns
last season. Camp noted a key
component for 2021 will be the
return of the bulk of the team’s
off ensive line to protect Quinn
in the pocket.
“It’s important that you’re
great up front if you want to
protect the guy that’s supposed
to be making the big bucks in
the back, which is Kai Quinn,”
Camp said.
While the Mountaineers
are set to return Quinn and
the off ensive line, there will be
a new workhorse in the back-
fi eld next fall. John Lesser
graduated and left the program
following a year in which he
rushed for 340 yards over four
games. Camp suggested that
there will be a running back
competition in the off season
between Victor Rosas and
Nathan Reed.
Improvements on
defense
Camp stressed the impor-
tance of strengthening the
defense, mentioning the
Mountaineers’ abysmal defen-
sive performance in 2019.
Eastern allowed 30.9 points
per game and fi nished the last
full season with a 4-7 record.
The Mountaineers followed
up those eff orts in 2020 by
allowing just 22 points per
game in the four-game season.
“We’re starting to play
defense the way I think it
should be played,” Camp said.
“It starts with tackling, but you
have to get lined up and have
some enthusiasm behind doing
some things.”
The return of Van Wyck
and 2020 fi rst-team linebacker
Solo Taylor will be crucial for
Eastern as the team aims to
continue improving on the
defensive side of the ball.
According to Camp, bringing
back numerous upperclassmen
will allow the Mountaineers to
move players around to diff er-
ent defensive positions.
“We’ve got some dudes
coming back that I think can
play any place,” Camp said.
Eyes set on the regular
season
Eastern Oregon begins its
summer off season program on
Aug. 5 and the regular season
begins on Aug. 28. The Moun-
taineers open on the road at
Montana Tech, followed by
the fi rst Eastern home game
of the year on Sept. 4 against
Montana Western.
After a season of just four
games, Camp is excited to see
the rest of the Frontier Confer-
ence.
“We’re going to do every-
thing we can to make East-
ern Oregon University and
the community of La Grande
proud,” Camp said.
By ANNIE FOWLER
East Oregonian
HERMISTON — Fatima Izagu-
irre-Frasser was looking forward to her
senior year at Hermiston High School.
She was part of the cross-coun-
try and track teams, and participated
in wrestling. On top of that, she was
getting ready for college. Because
of the COVID-19 pandemic, she had
already missed out on things students
look forward to during their senior year.
“I defi nitely had days where I was
freaking out,” she said. “It was my
senior year. I was hoping to have some-
thing. Once school started again, I was
very excited.”
While Hermiston students still were
in remote learning, Izaguirre-Frasser
contracted COVID-19.
“It was around December when
that happened, and it continued into
January,” Izaguirre-Frasser said. “I
was staying with my dad and he got it
from work. It messed up my breathing.
That’s why my performance was weak
in cross-country. I wasn’t hospitalized,
but I have an inhaler if I need it.”
While things didn’t look good at the
beginning of the year, there was a pot
of gold at the end of the rainbow for
Izaguirre-Frasser, who signed letters
of intent to run cross-country and track
at Umpqua Community College, Rose-
burg, as well as wrestle for the River-
Hawks.
“We are looking for her to come
in and contribute to our distance
runners,” UCC coach Alan King said
in a news release.
One sport is the norm, two is
admirable but three will keep Izagu-
irre-Frasser plenty busy.
“Our coaches (at Hermiston) really
push us to do our best,” she said “They
are supportive in what we do. That
pushed me to do more in college.”
Izaguirre-Frasser runs everything
from the 800 to the 3,200 in track.
This year, she hit a personal best of
2 minutes, 48.04 seconds in the 800,
and a personal record of 6:47.87 in the
1,600. She also ran on the Bulldogs’
4x400 relay team.
At UCC, she will keep her distances
shorter.
“I will do the 800, 1,600 and 4x400
relay in college,” she said. “I prefer
more mid-distance. Long distance isn’t
that much of my favorite because of
my breathing issues.”
In cross-country, Izaguirre-Frasser
has a personal best of 22.05.3 in the
5,000 meters, and her personal best in
the 3-mile race is 21:41.8.
“The distances in cross-country are
easier because it is one race a day, not
three or four,” she said.
Izaguirre-Frasser, who plans to
major in criminal psychology, will be
joining a Umpqua Community College
team that fi nished second at the NWAC
Southern Regional this year.
Out of the three sports, Izagu-
irre-Frasser may like wrestling most
of all. She placed third at 105 pounds
in the Northern Section of districts as a
senior, and was named to the Mid-Co-
lumbia Conference honorable mention
team.
“It makes me feel powerful, and I’m
in control,” she said of wrestling. “I
love the teamwork and just wrestling
in general. It’s fun. I like working out.
In a way, it’s harder than cross-country
and track. Since I run a lot, it’s easier
for me. It gets hard because you are
using all of yourself.”
The RiverHawks ended the 2019-
20 season as the top-ranked junior
college program in the county. They
fi nished second at the NCWA National
Championship and eighth in the
WCWA National Championship. They
crowned three National Champions,
10 All-Americans, and four Academic
All-Americans that season.
“Fatima will help to add depth
to our lower weights and will bring
a strong work ethic and skill base to
our team and room,” Umpqua coach
wrestling Craig Jackson said in a news
release.
Izaguirre-Frasser is excited to join
the RiverHawks on the mat.
It’s a big privilege to wrestle for
them,” she said, “and be wanted to
come and wrestle for them.”
With the college season right around
the corner, Izaguirre-Frasser will start
college cross-country practice Aug. 2.
Umpqua Community College
has on-campus housing for female
athletes, which was a relief for Izagu-
irre-Frasser, but she heads to Roseburg
not knowing a soul.
“I don’t know anyone there at all,”
she said. “It will be a new experience
for me. It’s exciting, but a little scary.
Mom (Karla) is happy for me to start a
new life on my own, but she’s sad her
fi rst child is leaving the nest.”
SPORTS SHORT
Oregon picked by media to win 3rd straight Pac-12 title
The Associated Press
LOS ANGELES — After taking
an unusual route to its second straight
Pac-12 title last season, Oregon is the
preseason favorite to make it three
in a row.
The Ducks received 27 of 40
fi rst-place votes in the annual poll
of media members released Tuesday,
July 27, before the start of Pac-12
media day. Southern California got
10 votes, and Utah received three.
Oregon beat the Trojans 31-24
in the conference title game last
December, representing the Pac-12
North after Washington could not
participate because of a COVID-19
outbreak among its players. It was
the second conference title in three
seasons under coach Mario Cristobal,
rewarding his emphasis on recruit-
ing that has seen Oregon bring in the
likes of junior edge rusher Kayvon
Sean Meagher/The Oregonian, File
Oregon wide receiver Devon Wil-
liams (2) tries to avoid a tackle af-
ter the catch during a game against
UCLA at Autzen Stadium in Eugene
in November 2020. A media poll re-
leased Tuesday, July 27, 2021, picked
the Ducks to win the Pac-12 title.
Thibodeaux, who could be the fi rst
player selected in the next NFL draft.
Although the teams did not play
each other in the shortened confer-
ence-only season last year, Oregon
got the nod over the Pacifi c North-
west rival Huskies to represent the
North. The Ducks received 38 fi rst-
place votes in the division, with
Washington getting two.
California, Stanford, Oregon State
and Washington State rounded out
the voting in the North, which has
won nine of 10 title games since the
Pac-12 expanded in 2011.
USC, which won the Pac-12
South’s lone conference title in 2017,
was picked to represent the division
again. With star quarterback Kedon
Slovis returning, the Trojans received
27 fi rst-place votes.
Utah and Arizona State each got
six fi rst-place votes, but the Utes
edged the Sun Devils for second
place.
UCLA, which got the remain-
ing fi rst-place vote, was picked to
fi nish fourth, followed by Colorado
and Arizona.
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