A11
SPORTS
East Oregonian
Costello:
Continued from Page A10
been snowing and the fl oor in
the bus was wet. It was so cold
it froze and it was like a skat-
ing rink.”
Thanks, mom
Costello graduated from
South Albany High School
in 1974. He went to Pacifi c
University where he played
baseball. He later got his
teaching degree at Western
Oregon University.
Between his college stints,
he worked at the Albany Boys
Club.
“I thought that’s where I
was going to be,” he said. “We
had great programs, then we
had someone come in and cut
most of the programs. Poof. I
retired at 23 and went back to
school and got my teaching
degree.”
Costello’s mom was a busi-
ness manager at the Education
Service District in Albany
when he got out of college, and
she was hell bent on getting
her son a job.
“She sent my resume out
all over the place,” he said.
“One day, I found out I had a
job interview in Boardman.
That was 1985.”
The interview was for a job
at Sam Boardman Elementary
School. He got the job, which
included teaching classes at
A.C. Houghton Elementary
in Irrigon.
“I worked there for 15
years as the PE teacher, and
taught reading for one year
at Columbia Middle School,”
he said. “From 2001 to now,
I have been the PE teacher at
Riverside.”
In 2007, students at River-
side had the option to stay, or
attend the new high school in
Irrigon.
Irrigon had shut down its
original high school in 1959,
and all the students went to
Riverside.
“My basketball kids stayed
and we placed third at the 3A
state tournament,” Costello
said.
The 2007 season is one
Costello remembers fondly.
“We had Robert Turner
and we had to play the No.
1 team in the state to open
things,” he said. “We beat
Clatskanie by about 10. You
remember those times. We
had two communities, Irri-
gon and Boardman. When
Irrigon left, it was like losing
a brother. With them, you had
a chance to win. It took its toll
for a while in sports.”
In 2006, the Pirates were
one game away from going
to state. A loss to Sherwood
derailed their plans.
“We had teams that were
pretty good, but we couldn’t
get past teams like Horizon
Christian,” he said.
Costello coached a handful
of players who went on to play
at the college level.
“We’ve had some pretty
good kids come through
here,” he said. “When you are
from a small school, it’s tough
to get in there. I always told
them to try. Kyle Killingbeck
played at (Oregon Institute
of Technology), and Kevin
Baker was there too. He was
the (National Association of
Intercollegiate Athletics Divi-
sion II) National Player of the
Year when they won. Keith
Baker played basketball at
Lane for a year, then went to
Alabama for track. He was a
decathlete, and he was pretty
good.”
When it comes to small
schools, coaching more than
one sport is not unusual, but
there was one sport Costello
never saw himself doing.
“I coached volleyball from
2012-16,” he said. “There were
only two girls back from the
year before and the coach had
left. We had some girls who
said they had never played
before. I said, ‘great, I haven’t
coached before.’ ”
Retirement plans
Costello said he and his
wife, Cheryl, don’t have
anything extravagant planned
once retirement hits. Cheryl,
who is Dirksen’s secretary,
also is retiring.
“We might go on a vacation
or two,” he said. “We might
move to Boise where our
daughter Carly is, and she has
our only grandchild. I think
we will stay put for a while
until we fi gure things out.”
Tuesday, May 17, 2022
Highlights:
Continued from Page A10
“No better time than now,” Young
said. “I don’t have any more throws.
It’s nice to end it on a high note.”
Young won the discus title May 14
with a throw of 120-1, and teammate
Eseta Sepeni was second at 114-5.
The Hermiston girls, with a bulk
of their points coming from the fi eld
events, fi nished second in the team
standings with 128 points. Walla Walla
won with 142.
In the boys’ meet, Ryker McDonald
added another gold medal to his stash
as he won the 200 meters May 14 in a
personal best time of 22.49 seconds.
He won the 100 meters May 13.
“It was fun today,” McDonald said.
“It felt really good. It was really nice
having the 200 on a diff erent day than
the 100 and 4x100. You have a little
more gas in the tank for that race. Most
times, you have already run two races
and thrown the shot. You are muster-
ing up whatever you have left for that
race.”
McDonald also placed second in
the shot put with a PR throw of 50-8,
finishing behind teammate Caden
Hottman who had a winning throw of
56-4.
Hottman’s throw moves him to
third on the Hermiston leaderboard
behind Faafi aula Ena (56-8) and Tre
Neal (56-7).
5A Intermountain Conference
Championships — Senior Andy Oja
swept the hurdle events, and ran legs
on both relay teams that qualifi ed for
state as the Pendleton boys ran away
with the team title May 14 for the
second consecutive year.
Oja won the 110 hurdles in a time
of 15.40, and will be joined at state by
teammate Drew Reyburn (16.98), who
fi nished fourth. In the 300 hurdles, the
Bucks took the top three slots, with
Oja turning in a winning time of 40.45,
followed by Thaiden Cannin (41.79)
and Reyburn (42.72).
Sam Jennings demolished the jave-
lin fi eld with a toss of 210-2 — more
than 31 feet further than the next man.
The Bucks’ 4x100 relay team of
Gabe Browning, Brock Mackey, Oja
and Jennings fi nished fi rst in a time
of 43.60.
In the girls meet, Pendleton’s Reilly
Lovercheck was named MVP of the
meet after qualifying for state in four
events.
Lovercheck won the triple jump
with a leap of 37-1 ½, and placed
second in the 100 hurdles with a PR
Rod Bragato/Contributed Photo
Hermiston’s Bailey Young competes in the shot put at the Mid-Columbia Confer-
ence District Track and Field Championships on Friday, May 13, 2022, at Kenni-
son Field, Hermiston. Young won the event with a mark of 47-1.
time of 15.81. She then placed second
in the 300 hurdles with a time of 47.02,
just a nose behind winner Jillian
Bremont of Redmond, who clocked a
47.0. She also placed second in the long
jump (16-4).
3A Special District 3 Champion-
ships — Riverside freshman Pedro
Chavez earned a trip to state after
winning district titles May 14 in the
200 (23.63), 400 (51.26) and the high
jump (5-6) at LaPine High School.
In the girls meet, Riverside’s Julie
Magana won the 300 hurdles (50.04),
and fi nished second in the 100 (13.31).
Teammate Crystal Sanchez was
second in the long jump (14-4).
Umatilla’s Taylor Durfey won the
shot put with a mark of 38-8. She also
was second in the discus (110-0 ½) and
the javelin (101-0 ¾).
Greater Oregon League Cham-
pionships — McLoughlin German
exchange student Luis Wolf punched
his ticket to state after winning the
high jump (6-0) and long jump (20-5)
at Baker High School.
In the girls meet, Kadey Brown
won the discus with a mark of 99-8,
and picked up a second-place fi nish in
the shot put (28-8 ½). Star Badillo was
second in the discus (85-4).
Madi Perkins had a PR throw of
111-1 to win the javelin.
1A Special District 3 Champion-
ships — Freshman Ellery Flerchinger
was the lone Griswold athlete to earn
a trip to state after she placed second
in the discus at South Wasco County
High School in Maupin.
Flerchinger threw a personal best
92-2. Sophie Hulke of Sherman won
the title with a throw of 106-11.
The Ione boys 4x100 relay team of
Thomas Rudolf, Gary Walls, Martin
Medina and Cedrick Dayandante
finished second in a time of 49.11
seconds to earn a trip to state.
5-Days Only!
OFFER ENDS May 23, 2022
Don't Wait! Call and make your
appointment now!
Mention Code: 22MayAlzheimer
Hermiston: 955 SE 4th St. Ste. B Hermiston, OR 97838
(541) 716-5092
Pendleton: 29 SW Dorian Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801
(541) 224-8661