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A8
EOU softball enjoying sustained success
By DAVIS CARBAUGH
The Observer
la GraNdE — The Eastern
Oregon university softball program
is on the brink of a historic season.
With just three weeks left in
the regular season, the Mountain-
eers have tallied 30 wins and stand
at third in the Cascade Collegiate
Conference. Just one year removed
from a 16-32 record, Eastern is
eight wins away from securing the
program record for wins in a season.
despite the success and accolades
so far this year, the Mountaineers
are taking things one game at a time
in pursuit of competing with the
conference’s best schools.
“The girls are buying in and real-
izing that we’re one of the top teams
who can compete against top teams
in the nation,” Mountaineers’ head
coach Nicole Christian said. “it’s
those little things that build up the
program and the winning mental-
ity.”
Christian is in just her third year
Alex Wittwer/EO Media Group
Eastern Oregon University’s Taylor Dow (5) drives a pitch during the the
second game of a doubleheader March 25, 2022, against Providence Uni-
versity. The Mountaineers swept the series. Now with three weeks left in
the regular season, EOU has 30 wins and is eight wins away from setting
the program record for wins in a season.
as head coach, taking the reins of a
team that went 13-32 in the previous
season before her hiring in 2019. Not
much changed in terms of winning
percentage over the last two seasons,
but the 2022 campaign has seen a
PENDLETON VOLLEYBALL
Speer takes over
she coached
in the NWaC
at Mt. hood
and WWCC
P
Kathy Aney/East Oregonian
Pendleton High School’s new head volleyball coach Chelsie Speer poses
for a photo Wednesday, April 13, 2022. She begins the roll this fall after
coaching at Walla Walla and Mt. Hood community colleges. Speer grad-
uated from PHS in 2001 and coached at the school in 2008.
is redirecting us in another direc-
tion. Coaching is not just about Xs
and Os, but directing kids in life.”
in addition to speer losing
her teaching and coaching job,
her husband Justin, who was the
WWCC baseball coach, suffered
the same fate.
“That was a pretty traumatic
experience to go through,” speer
said. “it took awhile to get through
this. Just have to be patient and let
things play out. people have been
really supportive in the commu-
nity.”
When she was at Mt. hood,
Speer led the Saints to five Southern
region titles, one NWaC Champi-
onship, two NWaC second-place
finishes, one third-place finish and
one fourth-place finish.
speer also received southern
region Coach of the year in 2009,
2010, 2012 and 2013. her overall
record in five seasons at Hood was
175-43.
The saints won the NWaC title
in 2011, beating WWCC.
speer went to Walla Walla in
2014. she twice was named East
region Coach of the year. Through
her first seven years, her record was
211-98.
“she has an excellent track
record as a head coach and is a big
believer in building the volleyball
culture in pendleton,” somnis said.
“she is extremely student centered
See volleyball, Page A9
ON THE SLATE
Schedules are subject to change
THURSDAY, APRIL 14
Prep baseball
Pendleton JV at Heppner, 3 p.m.
Irrigon at La Grande JV, 4 p.m.
Prep softball
Pendleton JV at Irrigon, 4 p.m.
Boys soccer
Hermiston at Chiawana, 7 p.m.
Prep golf
Hermiston at MCC pod, Richland,
10:30 a.m.
Prep tennis
Weston-McEwen boys and girls at Pendle-
ton, 3 p.m.
Hanford at Hermiston, 4 p.m.
with a 1.82 Era, fourth in oppos-
ing batting average at .197, third in
innings thrown with 119, second in
strikeouts with 100 and third with
three saves. The senior was argu-
ably at her best all season on april 1
against Warner Pacific, throwing a
five-inning no-hitter.
On top of smith’s consistent
outings in the pitcher’s circle, abby
Giles and McKenna stallings have
totaled seven wins each. Giles ranks
second in the conference with a 1.54
Era and fourth in opposing batting
average at .206. according to Chris-
tian, Giles has been a crucial player
this year in being able to step in and
provide composed innings during a
bases-loaded jam or a difficult pitch-
ing situation.
“she has been our workhorse,”
Christian said. “abby has just been
that girl that goes in there with a
stellar attitude and takes care of
business. she’s been our savior
numerous times this year.”
See Softball, Page A9
Javelin showdown
pendleton’s Jennings,
Wa-hi’s sirmon are
nationally ranked
By ANNIE FOWLER
East Oregonian
By ANNIE FOWLER
East Oregonian
ENdlETON — Chelsie
speer is coming home.
The 2001 graduate of
pendleton high school
was named the Bucks’ volleyball
coach earlier this week, bringing
her back to where her coaching
career started.
“To be honest, it feels comfort-
able,” speer said. “i lived in Walla
Walla, but i always identify myself
as being from pendleton.”
speer (nee Freeman) replaces
amanda lapp, who stepped down
after last season after eight years.
“We hit a home run with Chel-
sie,” pendleton athletic direc-
tor Mike somnis said. “We are
extremely fortunate to hire a coach
of Chelsie’s caliber with such a
wealth of coaching experience at
the college level.”
speer coached the Bucks for one
season in 2008, and was named
the intermountain Conference
Co-Coach of the year after leading
the Bucks to a 16-5 overall record.
pendleton was 11-3 in iMC play.
she then moved on to Mt. hood
Community College, where she led
the Saints for five seasons.
she most recently was the head
coach at Walla Walla Community
College for eight years. she was
relieved of her duties at WWCC for
failure to get the COVid-19 vacci-
nation because of religious beliefs.
somnis said speer applied for
and received a religious exemption
with pendleton.
“it’s pretty crazy times,” speer
said. “it was hard to leave. i got
ripped away with a month of the
season left. We had a really good
record. i have strong faith and God
major shift in the momentum of the
program.
Eastern is 30-11 on the year and
16-5 in conference play, standing
just three games back of first-place
Oregon Tech. The Mountaineers
have 12 games remaining on the
schedule, four of which are against
the hustlin’ Owls. With the confer-
ence tournament and potential
Naia tournament appearance on
the horizon, Eastern is within reach
of the program’s all-time single-sea-
son win mark of 37 set in 2000.
“We’re putting ourselves in a
great place to get to the CCC and
possibly nationals, you never know
how the rankings will play out,”
Christian said. “We’re just playing it
day-by-day in regards to the games
we’ve got left and who we’re facing.”
a big part of the Mountaineers’
success has been its solid pitching
staff, led by senior Amanda Smith.
Eastern’s ace is 13-4 on the year,
a win total that is second highest
in the Cascade Collegiate Confer-
ence. Smith is fifth in the conference
Riverside at Sherman, 4 p.m.
Stanfield/Echo at Arlington, 4:30 p.m.
Track and field
Hermiston at River City Relays, Hanford,
TBD
Ione, Irrigon, Umatilla at Columbia River
Invitational, Riverside, 3:15 p.m.
FRIDAY, APRIL 15
Prep baseball
Burns at Riverside (2), 1 p.m.
Umatilla at Nyssa (2), 1 p.m. (MT)
Pendleton at The Dalles (2), 3 p.m.
La Grande at McLoughlin, 4 p.m.
Hermiston at Kennewick (2), 4 p.m.
Prep softball
Umatilla at Nyssa (2), 1 p.m.
Burns at Riverside (2), 1 p.m.
Elgin at Heppner/Ione (2), 1 p.m.
La Grande at McLoughlin (2), 2 p.m.
The Dalles at Pendleton (2), 3 p.m.
Pasco at Hermiston (2), 4 p.m.
Prep golf
Heppner vs. Grant Union, John Day Golf
Club, 10 a.m.
Prep tennis
Hermiston at Tri-City Invite, 1 p.m.
Prep lacrosse
Selah at Hermiston, 7 p.m.
Track and field
Griswold, Pilot Rock at Buck Track Classic,
Pendleton, 3 p.m.
Heppner, Irrigon, McLoughlin, Riverside,
Stanfield/Echo, Weston-McEwen at River’s
Edge, Umatilla, noon
pasCO — On the road, 45 miles
separate two of the top three high
school javelin throwers in the nation.
On the javelin runway, that distance
is 2 feet, 2 inches.
Top-ranked sam Jennings of
pendleton, and No. 3 dash sirmon
of Walla Walla, will face-off in the
javelin event saturday, april 16, at
the 59th annual pasco invite.
“i am super excited,” said
sirmon, who comes into the meet
with a personal best throw of 207-3.
“he is a great athlete. i am so excited
to be able to compete against him. it
will be good.”
Jennings, who hit 209-5 at the la
Grande invite last week, was a little
conflicted about the Pasco Invite
with a meet at pendleton the day
before.
“Competition is fun, but i would
rather my family and friends get to
watch,” Jennings said. “i’d like to
throw against him, but i don’t know
what that would prove. it’s about
who throws the best that day. i try
not to get caught up in the records
and rankings. i just try to get a good
mark for myself.”
The pasco invite is one of the
largest one-day track meets in the
nation, drawing schools from all
over the Northwest. participants
have to have qualifying marks and
times to compete.
The meet starts at 9 a.m., with the
boys javelin starting at 10 a.m.
The pasco invite and stadium
record for the javelin is 229-5, set by
derek Eager of Tahoma in 2010.
“it’s awesome,” Wa-hi coach
Eric hisaw said. “it’s just crazy they
are 45 minutes apart and they finally
get to compete against each other.
i think it will be really special for
them.”
pendleton coach larry Brizen-
dine said it’s important for his top
athletes to compete at meets such as
the pasco invite.
“We like to take them to bigger
meets,” he said. “When they are
winning handily, they need to be
pushed.”
Both throwers have division i
scholarships in hand, with Jennings
going to Byu and sirmon to the
university of Washington. Both
also hold their respective high school
records in the event.
Jennings’ personal best is 224-9
¾, which he hit July 10, 2021 at the
usaTF Oregon association youth
Track and Field Championships in
portland. since it was out of season,
the 209-5 stands as the school record.
Though they live relatively close
to one another, sirmon said they
have only thrown against each other
twice in the past four years.
“The first time was our freshman
year in sacramento, and second time
this past summer in the Tri-Cities,”
sirmon said. “in sacramento, i was
Kathy Aney/East Oregonian, File
Pendleton’s Sam Jennings pre-
pares to throw the javelin May
22, 2021 at the 5A state track and
field meet in Wilsonville. Jennings,
the top thrower in the nation this
spring, will throw Saturday, April
16, 2022, at the Pasco Invite.
Eric Hisaw/Contributed Photo
Walla Walla High School senior
Dash Sirmon topped the school’s
javelin record during the summer
of 2021 with his throw of 206 feet, 8
inches, at a meet in Cheney, Wash-
ington. He is No. 3 in the nation and
competes Saturday, April 16, 2022,
at the Pasco Invite, where top-
ranked Sam Jennings of Pendleton
also is throwing.
first and he was fourth, and this last
time he got me by a few feet.”
With one school in Oregon and
the other in Washington, the teams
don’t see each other often, and
Jennings said he doesn’t like the
javelin rules in Washington that
require throwers to have a rubber tip
on the end of their javelin for safety
purposes.
Washington is one of five states
that require the rubber tip, and the
only one west of the Mississippi.
pendleton also has andy Oja
entered in the 110 and 300 hurdles.
his best time in the 300s is 42
seconds, and 15.31 in the 110s.
Meet personnel at the invite
might look into padding the wall of
the locker rooms at the end of this
discus sector, which is roughly 200
feet from the front of the ring.
hermiston’s Caden hottman’s
school-record throw of 185-8 ranks
him 11th in the nation and second
See Javelin, Page A9