B2
SPORTS
East Oregonian
Twins:
Continued from Page B1
Rickman said she tried to implement
the change last year, but was met with
some resistance.
“They fought me on it all last year,”
she said.
Kelsey has one goal and a handful
of assists this season. While Reilly has
benefitted from the change, she also
recognizes her sister’s sacrifice.
“I owe a lot of my success to my
sister,” Reilly said. “She has sacrificed
so much. She loves scoring goals. She
has been my No. 1 supporter and team-
mate. I think this year has been so much
better. We are starting to click and we
are making something special this
year.”
After last year’s 1-10 season, there
was nowhere to go but up.
Two of a kind
Reilly and Kelsey, who just turned
18, are mirror twins, which occurs in
about 25% of identical twins.
Mirror twins is a term used to
describe identical twins whose features
are exact reflections of each other.
In the case of the Loverchecks,
Reilly is left-handed and Kelsey is right-
handed.
“We found out we were having twins
on the ultrasound,” said the girls’ father,
C.B. Lovercheck. “You would not have
seen two more surprised people than
my wife (Kirsten) and I. We had no
idea. We had to get a new car that would
fit three car seats instead of two.”
Reilly and Kelsey have an older
brother, Luke, who is a senior at the
University of Victoria in British Colum-
bia.
Reilly and Kelsey also run track
at Pendleton, and play hockey in the
winter on the small sheet of ice at Roy
Raley Park.
“My girls love hockey because their
mom is Canadian,” C.B. Lovercheck
said. “The girls played hockey until last
year. It’s a lot of fun, and a great alter-
native for those who don’t want to play
basketball. The program here has grown
exponentially. The Olympics around
our house are quite exciting, especially
when the United States plays Canada.”
Kelsey said hockey and soccer go
well together.
“Being in another competitive sport
helped me learn positioning and field
awareness,” she said. “The more you see
the field, the better you are. I really like
soccer. It’s very athletic. It’s a beautiful
game and I love it so much.”
The sisters would like to play in
college, and would like to continue to
play together, but they know that may
not happen.
“We are together all the time, that’s
what makes us such a good pair,”
Kelsey said. “Ultimately, we’d like to
go together, but if different opportuni-
ties take us in different directions, that
will be OK.”
An athletic family
Both C.B and Kirsten Lovercheck
were athletic when they were younger.
Kirsten was on her high school tram-
poline team in Merritt, British Colum-
bia, while C.B. played high school
football and basketball. His high school
team in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, won
state basketball titles in 1983-84. He
then went on to play football at the
University of Wyoming.
The Loverchecks met at Pacific
University College of Optometry, and
both have practices in Pendleton.
On the soccer field, Reilly wears No.
2, while Kelsey wears No. 3 to honor
their dad who wore No. 23 when he
played high school basketball.
“I wished my mom would have
passed on her flexibility to me,” Reilly
said. “I can barely touch my toes.”
Ovgard:
Continued from Page B1
Prize
Mudcats, cat-fesh, bullheads,
slimers and a host of other local
names all offer valid table fare
across much of their native range.
Though they can tolerate an array
of water conditions and even
salinities (I’ve caught brown bull-
head in Miami’s primarily salt-
water canals), they thrive in other
areas, too.
Though most farmed catfish
you’ll see at the store is channel
catfish, many parts of the Amer-
ican Midwest and South have
small, wild-caught catfish indus-
tries, which often sell bullheads
along with the larger channels,
flatheads and blues. In most states,
it’s illegal to sell sport-caught fish,
but commercial fishing licenses
open up many doors and many
more wallets.
In fact, according to the aqua-
culture tracking site, IntraFish,
America’s eighth-favorite seafood
to consume is catfish.
While traveling through the
South — particularly Missis-
sippi, where per capita catfish
OSAA:
Continued from Page B1
Five classifications would be a
tectonic shift.
“As the committee looks at
trying to meet some of the charges,
it’s certainly something that’s been
brought up,” Weber said. “There
seems to be some level of interest
Saturday, September 25, 2021
consumption is the highest in
the U.S. — you can find catfish
almost everywhere. Every diner
and American restaurant offers
catfish, many boasting “All You
Can Eat Catfish” on a certain day
of the week.
There are fast food chains you
won’t find anywhere else that sell
catfish by the boatload.
I’ve eaten fried catf ish
purchased at convenience stores
and gas stations when fishing out
in the sticks on numerous occa-
sions that wasn’t half bad.
Usually it’s been channel
catfish, but a couple of times, it
has been bullheads, fried and
battered so evenly that it all tastes
the same.
Though I still won’t go out of
my way to catch bullheads, I’ve
come to respect them a lot more
when in their native range, and if
fresh saltwater fish isn’t available,
and the bullheads are coming
from clean water, I’m more than
willing to chow down.
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in it. I don’t know if there’s heavy
momentum or not. It’s been tough
to engage schools just because
everybody is so busy.”
A major selling point of the
five-classification plan is it would
create bigger leagues and give
schools more flexibility with
scheduling, allowing them to
compete locally more often.
“That could be a way for people
to embrace that,” Weber said.
ON THE SLATE
Saturday, Sept. 25
College football
College of Idaho at Eastern
Oregon, 1 p.m.
Prep volleyball
Union at Heppner, noon
Pendleton at Oregon City
Tournament, 7 a.m.
Weston-McEwen vs. Grant
Union at Stanfield, 1:30 p.m.
Weston-McEwen at Stan-
field, 3 p.m.
Dayton-Waitsburg at
McLoughlin, 12:30 p.m.
Joseph at Nixyaawii, 10 a.m.
Wallowa at Nixyaawii,
1 p.m.
Wallowa at Griswold, 10 a.m.
Joseph at Griswold, 1 p.m.
Prep girls soccer
Hermiston at Richland,
1 p.m.
Pendleton at Lewiston, noon
McLoughlin at Ontario,
11 a.m.
Stanfield/Echo at Trout Lake,
1 p.m.
Irrigon at Four Corners,
10 a.m.
Riverside at Nyssa, 1 p.m.
Prep boys soccer
Lewiston at Pendleton, noon
McLoughlin at Ontario,
12:30 p.m.
Irrigon at Four Rivers, noon
Riverside at Nyssa, 11 a.m.
Prep cross-country
Pendleton at Three Course
Challenge, TBD
McLoughlin at Connell Invite,
1 p.m.
Pilot Rock at John Hascall
Memorial 3K, TBD
College men’s soccer
Blue Mountain at Spokane,
2:15 p.m.
Corban at Eastern Oregon,
4 p.m.
College women’s soccer
Blue Mountain at Spokane,
noon
Corban at Eastern Oregon,
6:30 p.m.
College volleyball
Eastern Oregon at Southern
Oregon, 7 p.m.