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THURSDAY, AUGUST 19, 2021
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A8
Wildbill takes over Nixyaawii
cross-country program
Kathy Aney/East Oregonian
Nixyaawii Community School cross-country coach Weyekin Bill leads some of his runners Tuesday, Aug. 17, 2021, across a fi eld near the Tamastlikt Cultural Institute on the Umatilla
Indian Reservation.
By ANNIE FOWLER
East Oregonian
MISSION — As a new
coach, Weyekin Wildbill
just hoped someone showed
up for practice on the fi rst
day.
The Nixyaawii Commu-
nity School cross-coun-
try team started practice
Monday, Aug. 16, and fi ve
runners showed up. Wildbill
is hopeful that number goes
up once school starts.
“I had two girls and three
boys the first day,” said
Wildbill, who accepted the
coaching job Aug. 4. “I do
know a lot of the kids, it’s a
matter of trust. For a second,
it ran across my mind that
no one would show up. I did
have parents tell me their
kids would show up. That
was reassuring.”
Wildbill, 26, who works at
the Nixyaawii Government
Center, said he wasn’t really
looking for a coaching job,
but when someone told him
the job was open, he eagerly
applied.
“It’s always been some-
thing I wanted to do,” he said.
“It was the perfect opportu-
nity. I really missed the sport.
No better way to get back into
it than coaching.”
Leading the pack for
the Golden Eagles is Saint
Schimmel, who last year was
the fi rst Nixyaawii runner to
qualify for the 2A/1A state
meet.
Schimmel fi nished 69th at
state in a time of 19 minutes,
57.83 seconds.
“It’s hard to tell from
the fi rst practice, but he is
motivated,” Wildbill said
of Schimmel. “I know his
family quite a bit. They have
quite the reputation as an
athletic family.”
Running is his thing
Wildbill, a 2014 graduate
of Pendleton High School,
ran cross-country and track
for the Bucks.
“I qualifi ed for state with
the team in cross-country
from my sophomore to senior
year (2011-13),” he said. “I
was a team captain. We were
kinda hiding in Hermiston’s
shadow.”
The same thing happened
with track.
“I ran the 800, 1,500 and
3,000,” Wildbill said. “I didn’t
have such a good time in high
school — those Hermiston
kids were really fast.”
From Pendleton, Wildbill
ran at Clackamas Commu-
nity College, Bacone College
in Muskogee, Oklahoma, and
fi nally for Eastern Oregon
University, La Grande, where
he ran for two years.
With the Mountaineer
cross-country and track
and field teams, Wildbill
competed in a number of
events. He placed 41st at the
CCC Cross Country Cham-
pionships in 2019, and ran at
the national meet in 2020. In
2019, he ran at the CCC Track
& Field Championships, plac-
ing 14th in the 10K race.
“The 10K was the only
race I was pretty decent at,”
he said. “Everything always
Kathy Aney/East Oregonian
New Nixyaawii Community School cross-country coach
Weyekin Wildbill, second from right, works out with his team
Tuesday, Aug. 17, 2021, on the Umatilla Indian Reservation.
seemed too short for my
liking.”
Wildbill has laced up his
Brooks running shoes and
joined the kids at practice.
He fi gures it’s better to show
them what he’s trying to get
across than tell them.
“There are a lot of diff erent
aspects to consider,” he said.
“Running as a pack, chal-
lenging them individually. I
want to give them a positive
outlet. I’m probably in the
same shape they are. I have
taken time off since college.”
AP Top 25 Reality Check: How often do ranked teams fl op?
By RALPH D. RUSSO
AP College Sports Writer
The preseason AP Top 25
is all about hope and opti-
mism.
Reality Check is all about,
well, being realistic. Some-
times the truth can be painful.
As has become tradition,
the first AP Top 25 Real-
ity Check of the season is a
reminder that your promising
college football team, newly
minted with a cool ranking as
it heads into the season, might
turn out to be not as good
as you and the poll voters
thought.
Alabama is No. 1, followed
by Oklahoma, Clemson
and Ohio State in the poll
presented by Regions Bank
and released Monday.
From 2010-2020, on aver-
age, 9.5 teams that appeared
in the preseason Top 25
fi nished the season unranked
— about 38% of the picks.
During that time, the fewest
preseason ranked teams to
fi nish outside the fi nal Top 25
was seven in 2011; the most
was 12, in 2010.
Even in an anything-but-
normal 2020 season played
through the pandemic, the
number of teams that started
the season ranked only to
fi nish unranked was a typi-
cal 10.
What was unusual about
last season was the number
of fl ameouts that came from
the upper half of the presea-
son Top 25.
Over the last 11 seasons,
17 teams that started the
season ranked in the top 10
fi nished unranked, just 1.5
per season. But last year,
three top 10 teams — and
fi ve among the top 12 in the
preseason rankings — did not
fi nish the season ranked, led
by 2019 national champion
LSU, which was No. 6 going
into last season.
As expected, most of the
preseason ranked teams that
fail to make the fi nal Top 25
come from the bottom of
the rankings. Teams ranked
21-25 in the preseason make
up 27% of the teams (28 total)
that fi nished unranked.
To put it another way, a
little more than half the teams
that started the season ranked
between 21-25 from 2010-20,
fi nished unranked.
At the top of the poll? Only
seven preseason top-five
teams over that span have
failed to be ranked some-
where in the fi nal Top 25.
How likely is your team
to be one of the disappoint-
ments?
No. 1 Alabama (13-0 last
year)
Opener: vs. Miami in
Atlanta, Sept. 4.
Reality check: The Crim-
son Tide have not fi nished
ranked lower than 10th the
last 13 seasons. There is no
reason to believe this season’s
defending champion is
vulnerable to an LSU-type
tumble.
No. 2 Oklahoma (9-2)
Opener: at Tulane, Sept. 4.
Reality check: The Soon-
ers have their most balanced
team in years, with a quality
defense to go with Lincoln
Riley’s usual potent off ense.
For whatever it’s worth:
Twice in the last 12 seasons
(2009 and ‘14) Oklahoma
has been a preseason top fi ve
team and fi nished unranked.
No. 3 Clemson (10-2)
Opener: vs. No. 5 Georgia
in Charlotte, North Carolina,
Sept. 4.
Reality check: The Tigers
are on a six-year run of top
four finishes and haven’t
fi nished unranked since 2010.
Coach Dabo Swinney’s team
has lost one ACC game since
October 2017 and it’s to a
team (Notre Dame) that is not
in the conference this season.
No. 4 Ohio State (8-1)
Opener: at Minnesota,
Sept. 2.
Reality check: The Buck-
eyes have fi nished unranked
just once since winning the
national title in 2002, and
have 16 top-10 fi nishes over
that span. Coach Ryan Day
has yet to lose to a Big Ten
opponent in 16 games.
No. 5 Georgia (8-2)
Opener: vs. No. 3 Clem-
son, Sept. 4.
Reality check: The Bull-
dogs have been recruiting like
the perennial playoff teams
ranked in front of them and
have four straight top-seven
fi nishes under Kirby Smart.
Georgia is a better bet to
break its four-decade national
title drought than to tank and
fi nish unranked.
No. 6 Texas A&M (9-1)
Opener: vs. Kent State,
Sept. 4.
Reality check: Heading
into Jimbo Fisher’s fourth
season as coach, all signs are
pointing in the right direc-
tion for the Aggies. But A&M
has only fi nished the season
ranked fi ve times this century
and hasn’t had consecutive
top-10 fi nishes in 27 years.
No. 7 Iowa State (9-3)
Opener: vs. Northern
Iowa, Sept. 4.
Reality check: This
whole ranked in the top-10
thing is new and different
to the Cyclones. Iowa State
fi nished last season ranked
for just third time in program
history. Can Matt Campbell’s
program continue to outper-
form its DNA?
No. 8 Cincinnati (9-1)
Opener: vs, Miami, Ohio,
Sept. 4.
Reality check: The Bear-
cats have finished ranked
each of the last three seasons
under coach Luke Fick-
ell, improving each season.
They’re loaded for another
run in the American Athletic
Conference, with nonconfer-
ence games at No. 17 Indiana
and No. 9 Notre Dame likely
to determine just how high
they can go in 2021.
No. 9 Notre Dame (10-2)
Opener: at Florida State,
Sept. 5.
Reality check: The Fight-
ing Irish have fi nished the
season ranked four straight
seasons. The last time that
happened was when Lou
Holtz’s teams ended seven
straight seasons ranked from
1987-1993.
No. 10 North Carolina
(8-4)
Opener: at Virginia Tech,
Sept. 3.
Reality check: Coach
Mack Brown tries to make
it two straight seasons with
a ranked fi nish for the Tar
Heels. That hasn’t been done
in Chapel Hill since the fi nal
two seasons of Brown’s fi rst
stint at UNC in 1996-97.
No. 11 Oregon (4-3)
Opener: vs. Fresno State,
Sept. 4.
Reality check: There has
been a lot of buzz around the
Ducks because of the way
See Teams, Page A9
SPORTS SHORT
NCAA investigating Nebraska’s storied football program
Associated Press
LINCOLN, Neb. —
Neb r a sk a a n nou nc e d
Wednesday, Aug. 18, that
the NCAA is looking into its
football program amid alle-
gations Cornhuskers staff
improperly used analysts and
consultants with the knowl-
edge of coach Scott Frost
and even moved workouts
off campus last year when
such activities were banned
during the pandemic.
Alberts confirmed the
investigation fi rst reported
by The Action Network
while Frost said any work-
outs were approved by his
superiors.
“Everything we did
through COVID was in the
best interest and health of our
players in mind and every-
thing we did was approved
by athletic department
administration and campus
administration,” Frost said
after practice.
Citing u nidentif ied
sources, The Action Network
report said Nebraska has
“significant video foot-
age” confirming practice
violations occurred in the
presence of Frost and other
assistants.
Alberts said the investiga-
tion started before his hiring
was announced July 14 and
that he found out about it
after he started.
“We thought it was
important the two of us come
out and validate what you all
have read on the internet and
the reports that are out there
nationally,” Alberts said.
The NCAA has inter-
viewed Frost, current and
former staff members,
administrators and football
players, and Frost has hired
an attorney. The alleged
violations occurred in the
last 12 months.
“We want you to know
we have complied 100%
with the NCAA, been
very collaborative in our
approach with them in
terms of all of their investi-
gation,” Alberts said. “We
will continue to do what-
ever the NCAA has asked
us to do. Our coaches,
including coach Frost, have
done a great job and have
been very accessible in
working with the NCAA as
we’ve worked through these
allegations.”
Alberts said he couldn’t
comment further because of
the ongoing investigation.
Nati Harnik/Associated Press, File
Nebraska head coach Scott Frost listens to a question March
9, 2020, during a news conference on the fi rst day of NCAA
college football spring practice in Lincoln, Nebraska. The
NCAA is looking into allegations that Nebraska’s football
program violated pandemic rules about practices.
