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SATURDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2021
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B1
Volleyball teams dig pink for breast cancer awareness
By ANNIE FOWLER
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — October is Breast
Cancer Awareness Month. Teams from
the NFL to local high schools do their
part in raising awareness and funds to
support organizations to help women
get mammograms, cancer-related
support, and for research.
The Pendleton Bucks held their Dig
Pink night Thursday, Oct. 7 against
Redmond.
“Quite a few of the players have been
affected by it somehow,” Pendleton
coach Amanda Lapp said. “They have
all been taught by Kathryn Youngman
(Spanish teacher) at the high school.
They have seen her go through it.”
Youngman has battled cancer three
times, and each time she has fought her
way through the treatments and back to
her students.
Pendleton senior middle Ashtyn
Brown has lost her grandmother to
breast cancer, making the night special
for her.
“I wish we could have done some-
thing big, but we had balloons, stream-
ers, and a sign that said Dig Pink on
it,” Lapp said. “They had their pink
uniforms. We had a lot of fans tonight.
We had a good time with it. It’s nice
they can be a part of something that is
bigger than them or this match.”
Pendleton also had a spirit day Oct.
7, where classes got points for those
wearing pink.
Echo had its annual pink game on
Oct. 5 when they played Ione/Arling-
ton. The Cardinals even joined the fun
by wearing pink uniforms.
All of the gate receipts, and part of
the 50/50 raffl e money will be donated
to a local breast cancer association.
“It’s a tradition, and a good one,”
Echo coach Des Thew said. “It makes
people feel good in a time when there
isn’t much good out there. We had a
pretty decent crowd here. The gal who
won the 50/50 gave $81 dollars of it
back.”
See Pink, Page B2
Kathy Aney/East Oregonian
Pendleton players have a jubilant moment after winning a
point during a game with Redmond on Thursday, Oct. 7, 2021,
at home on Warberg Court.
EVERY MILE COUNTS
ON THE SLATE
Saturday, Oct. 9
College football
Rocky Mountain College at Eastern Oregon, 1 p.m.
Prep volleyball
Heppner at Union, noon
Heppner vs. Enterprise (at Union), 2 p.m.
Pendleton at The Dalles Tournament, 9 a.m.
Weston-McEwen at Grant Union, noon
Weston-McEwen vs. Stanfi eld at Grant Union,
1:30 p.m.
Echo at Mitchell/Spray, 5 p.m.
Griswold at Pine Eagle, 11 a.m.
Prep cross-country
Hermiston, Pendleton, Weston-McEwen at Max
Jensen Classic, Richland, 11 a.m.
Prep boys soccer
Riverside at Sisters, 2 p.m.
Prep girls soccer
Richland at Hermiston, noon
College men’s soccer
Blue Mountain at WWCC, 2:15 p.m.
Eastern Oregon at Providence, 12 p.m.
College women’s soccer
Blue Mountain at WWCC, noon
Eastern Oregon at Providence, 2:30 p.m.
College volleyball
Eastern Oregon at Bushnell, 5 p.m.
Tuesday, Oct. 12
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
Hermiston cross-country runners Megan Joyce, left, Elizabeth Newman Garcia, Alexia Serna, Jackie Garcia-Sandoval, Madeline Franke
and Ashley Treadwell pose for a portrait Wednesday, Oct. 6, 2021, at Kennison Field in Hermiston.
The Hermiston girls put in
work to be one of the best
By ANNIE FOWLER
East Oregonian
HERMISTON — The hard work is done
when no one is watching.
The Hermiston girls cross-country team
put in the miles over the summer, ranging
from a minimum of 200 miles, to senior
Alexia Serna, who wore out a couple of pairs
of shoes in logging 330 miles.
“We have a group of girls who have
been training since June,” Hermiston
coach Troy Blackburn said. “Our top 10
girls put in more than 200 miles each this
summer.”
The results are proof that their hard work
is paying off .
The Bulldogs have fi nished in the top two
in the team standings in four of their meets,
including wins at the Runner Soul XC Fest,
and the fi rst Mid-Columbia Conference
meet in Walla Walla.
They were second to Kennewick at the
Hanford Jamboree and at the Oxford Clas-
sic, where they were second to 6A Summit,
which has won 12 consecutive state titles.
On Saturday, Oct. 9, the Bulldogs will
line up with some of the top 3A and 4A
teams in Washington at the 52nd annual
Max Jensen Richland Invitational.
“This will give us an idea of what district
will be like,” Blackburn said. “We will be
able to gauge where we are and what we
need to improve on. Us and Kennewick
are the top two schools in our conference.
Kennewick has a good team, but we have
put in the work. We can beat them.”
The Bulldogs have been led this season
by sophomore Megan Joyce, who has placed
in the top seven in all fi ve races run this fall.
Her personal best time is 19 minutes, 22.14
seconds, set at the Oregon City XC Invita-
tional on Sept. 18.
“Megan has had a breakout year,” Black-
burn said. “It’s good to have a front runner.
She is a competitor. She will run tough every
time. She has run sub-20 in all but one race
this year.”
Kennewick’s Macy Marquardt has the
top time in the state for 3A runners this
season with a time of 17:06.90. Among
the MCC 3A schools, Joyce ranks second
behind Marquardt.
Joyce admitted she has surprised herself
with her performances this fall.
“I had to take off July because of a hip
injury,” Joyce said before she and her team-
mates set off for a 6-mile run Oct. 6. “I
still ran about 300 miles. I thought that I
wouldn’t be No. 1. I was No. 3 all last year.
I didn’t expect to go to No. 1.”
While Joyce has enjoyed her success,
she’s more focused on her times and her
team.
“I’m very much competitive with the
other girls in the MCC,” she said. “It’s a
privilege to run with them. Saturday, we are
running Div. I, and all the teams are equal to
us or above us. It will be a brawl with who
we are going up against. I’m proud of our
girls for what we have achieved and for what
we’ve been through.”
The Bulldogs have had their share of
injuries this season, with injuries limiting
Hailey Melville and Cydney Sanchez to just
a couple of meets.
See Bulldogs, Page B2
Prep volleyball
Heppner at Weston-McEwen, 5 p.m.
Pendleton at The Dalles, 6:30 p.m.
Kennewick at Hermiston, 7 p.m.
Stanfi eld at Pilot Rock, 6 p.m.
La Grande at McLoughlin, 6:30 p.m.
River View at Riverside, 6 p.m.
Imbler at Nixyaawii, 5 p.m.
Bickleton at Echo, 5 p.m.
Ione/Arlington at Mitchell/Spray, 5 p.m.
Prep girls soccer
Kamiakin at Hermiston, 7 p.m.
Portland Christian at Stanfi eld/Echo, 4 p.m.
Prep slowpitch softball
Grandview at Hermiston (2), 4 p.m.
Wednesday, Oct. 13
Prep cross-country
Hermiston at MCC meet in Kennewick, 3 p.m.
College volleyball
WWCC at Blue Mountain, 6 p.m.
College men’s soccer
Columbia Basin at Blue Mountain, 4:15 p.m.
College women’s soccer
Columbia Basin at Blue Mountain, 2 p.m.
Thursday, Oct. 14
Prep football
Hermiston at Kennewick, 7 p.m.
Stanfi eld at Umatilla, 7 p.m.
Imbler at Pilot Rock, 7 p.m.
Prep volleyball
Heppner at Pilot Rock, 6 p.m.
Pendleton at Crook County, 6:30 p.m.
Hermiston at Chiawana, 7 p.m.
Union at Weston-McEwen, 5 p.m.
McLoughlin at Ontario, 5:30 p.m.
Enterprise at Stanfi eld, 5 p.m.
Echo at Sherman, 5 p.m.
Condon at Ione/Arlington, 5 p.m. (Dig Pink)
Prep slowpitch softball
Hermiston at Davis (2), 4 p.m.
Prep girls soccer
Pendleton at Redmond, 4:30 p.m.
SPORTS SHORT
EOU women open season at Simpson Classic
East Oregonian
LA GRANDE — Eastern
Oregon University and women’s
basketball coach Anji Weissenfl uh
released the team’s 2021-22 sched-
ule.
The unoffi cial start to the Moun-
taineers’ season will tip-off on
Saturday, Oct. 9, with the team’s
annual Alumni Game, set for
5 p.m. at Quinn Coliseum. Of the
32 games for the Mountaineers,
only one will be denoted as a scrim-
mage, which is Oct. 12 against
Lower Columbia College at home.
Including the scrimmage, East-
ern will play 13 games at home
this season and 11 of them will
be Cascade Collegiate Confer-
ence contests. Overall, the Mount-
ies will play 10 non-conference
games, with the majority of the
opposition being from California
and Montana.
EOU offi cially tips off the season
Oct. 22-23 at the Simpson Univer-
sity Basketball Classic in Redding,
California. EOU will face Univer-
sity of California, Merced on Oct.
22, before playing host Simpson on
Oct. 23. The Mounties will have a
quick turnaround from the Simpson
Classic as they will remain in Cali-
fornia to take on William Jessup
University on Oct. 25.
The fi rst offi cial home game for
the Mountaineers is set for Nov. 5
against Whitman College. Follow-
ing the home opener, EOU will be
back on the road for the LC State
Women’s Basketball Tournament
Nov. 12-13. Eastern will play a
pair of Montana schools in Rocky
Mountain College (Nov. 12) and
Montana Tech (Nov. 13).
Toward the end of November,
the Mountaineers will play four
games in Caldwell, Idaho. The fi rst
game will be a neutral site match-up
against Montana Western on Nov.
20. EOU will then play in its CCC
opener Nov. 23 at College of Idaho.
Thanksgiving weekend, Nov.
26-27, the Mountaineers will play
in the Best Western Caldwell Inn
and Suites Classic hosted by C of I.
Their fi rst opponent will be Simp-
son on Nov. 26, followed by Rocky
Mountain on Nov. 27.
Samantha Flett/Eastern Oregon University Athletics
Beverly Slater, center, and the rest of the Eastern Oregon University
women’s basketball team will open their season Oct. 22-23, 2021,
at the Simpson University Basketball Classic in Redding, California.