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SATURDAY, MAY 21, 2022
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B1
Buff alo Peak Golf Course to host Eastern Oregon Junior Championship
By DAVIS CARBAUGH
The Observer
UNION — The state’s top youth
golfers are set to return to Buff alo
Peak Golf Course in Union.
The local course is gearing up
to host the Eastern Oregon Junior
Championship, the first leg of
the Oregon Junior Golf Associ-
ation summer tour. The tourna-
ment, which is in its second year in
Union, begins Saturday, May 21,
and concludes Sunday, May 22.
“It’s a pretty awesome thing for
our county,” Buff alo Peak General
Manager Dana Londin said.
The Eastern Oregon Junior
Championship is the fi rst of a full
slate of summer tournaments that
stretch across the entire state. The
tour extends through the months
of June, July and August, with the
season culmination in Septem-
ber. More than 80 golfers will
take the fairways at Buff alo Peak
for the annual competition.
After hosting the 91st Bob
Norquist Oregon Junior Amateur
tournament last summer, Buff alo
Peak secured the fi rst leg of the
junior tour for this season and
the following four years. Golfers
competing on the tour are between
the ages of 8 and 18, with the high-
est marks in the state. The tour fi eld
primarily consists of golfers from
the west side of the state, with many
of the young athletes visiting East-
ern Oregon for the fi rst time.
Last year’s tournament was a
success for the local golf course, serv-
ing as a showcase to the Oregon Golf
Association and the golf community
in the region. The tournament was a
large factor in the course receiving
the 2021 facility of the year award by
the Oregon Golf Association — the
award is given to the course with the
overall highest contributions to the
game of golf, the community and the
Oregon Golf Association.
A major diff erence between last
year’s tournament and this year’s
is a new and improved pro shop at
Buff alo Peak. Community members
donated materials necessary for the
renovations, which entailed new
wood paneling and new shelving.
The store is now stocked with top
golf brands like Ping, Callaway,
Cleveland, Titleist, Evnroll Putters,
Asics, Puma and more. The Island
See Golf, Page B2
BRAD
TRUMBO
UPLAND PURSUITS
Learning
patterns a key
to tricking
turkeys
S
Kathy Aney/East Oregonian
Pendleton’s Anders Oja competes in the 300-meter hurdles at the Intermountain Conference track and fi eld championships May 14, 2022,
in Prineville. Oja won the event with a time of 40.45 seconds to earn a trip to state. Pendleton swept the top three spots.
Hurdling toward success
Oja is looking to leave his mark on the Pendleton track team
By ANNIE FOWLER
East Oregonian
P
ENDLETON — Long
before Andy Oja burst
onto the track scene,
his grandpa George
Oja was forging a path
in the sport as a mara-
thon runner.
The Pendleton senior races
at the 5A state track and fi eld
meet Friday and Saturday, May
20-21, at Hayward Field in
Eugene, a place his grandpa once
competed.
“My grandpa did indeed run
at Hayward, although he said it
was not at a noteworthy event,”
Andy Oja said. “I’m sure excited
to run there. I went down there
and watched a meet. That facil-
ity is amazing. It will be fun to
run there.”
George Oja will be in the
crowd this weekend, watch-
ing his grandson run in the 110
hurdles, the 300 hurdles, the
4x100 relay and the 4x400 relay.
“You could tell he was going
to be something special his fresh-
man year, and having a year
where he could work with Lane
(Maher), Ty (Patrick) and Dustin
(Henderson),” Pendleton hurdles
coach Ben Bradley said. “We told
him he was going to be Lane’s
replacement. He has stepped in
and fi lled those shoes.”
It has been a long journey for
Oja to reach the state meet. His
able to run at the big meets,” Oja
said. “Lane’s got that cool record
of 38.75 in 300s, which is 1.2
seconds ahead of mine. It would
be great to have that record.”
This year, Oja has the third
best time going into state in the
110 hurdles at 15.40, and has the
top time in the 300s at 40.45,
which he ran last weekend at
“THESE GUYS HAVE BEEN
GETTING BETTER AND BETTER ALL
SEASON LONG. THAT HAS BEEN A
DIFFERENCE MAKER FOR US. GUYS
HAVE BEEN STEPPING UP.”
— Ben Bradley, Pendleton hurdles coach
freshman year he was behind
three outstanding hurdlers. The
coronavirus pandemic canceled
the 2020 meet, and Oja broke his
arm during the third meet of the
season last year.
“We had a pretty strong team
back then (2019) and I wasn’t
the Intermountain Conference
district meet.
Oja has won every 110 and
300 hurdle event this year except
one — he was fourth in the 110s
at the Nike/Jesuit Relays on April
29. There was not a 300 hurdle
race at the event.
“I’m following in his
(Maher’s) footsteps to win a
state title,” Oja said. “In 300s, I’m
ranked fi rst right now. Running
at Jesuit, I didn’t have my fastest
time, but it helps having that kind
of competition.”
While he is good at both, he
said he doesn’t prefer one over
the other.
“I like them both a lot,” Oja
said. “They are diff erent. They
are aggressive in their own ways.
In the 110s, the hurdles are closer
together. The 300 is tactical in its
own way, and it’s longer and you
are really pushing yourself that
last 110. The 110s, it’s a quick
blast and you are done.”
With the proper mindset and
a good start out of the blocks,
Bradley sees Oja on the top of
the medal podium.
“I think Andy has a great
chance at taking home fi rst in the
110s and 300s,” Bradley said. “I
still don’t think we have touched
what he is capable of. I hope he
taps into that and gets onto the
See Hurdles, Page B2
pring is upon us, and
with the return of
hummingbirds and the
onset of fl ower and fruit tree
bloom comes the wild turkey
breeding and hunting seasons.
The thunderous gobble of a
dashing mature tom (male)
puff ed up and strutting to
impress the ladies induces
heart-racing, palm-sweating
and immense anticipation for
the fanatic turkey hunter.
A wild turkey’s keen
vision and hearing makes for
a challenging hunt. Turkeys
are notoriously diffi cult to
call, and successful hunts
often require years of prac-
tice to perfect call techniques
and positioning for the bird’s
approach. Embracing and
learning from failure is part of
the game, but scouting fl ocks
and identifying their patterns
on patchwork landscapes
gives the hunter an advantage,
particularly when hunting
the Rio Grande (Rio) turkeys
of the Blue Mountains.
See Turkey, Page B2
ON THE SLATE
Schedule subject to change
SATURDAY, MAY 21
Prep Lacrosse
3A state quarterfi nals: Hermiston at
Roosevelt, TBD
Tennis
Pendleton at 5A state tournament,
Babette Hornstein Tennis Center, 8 a.m.
Umatilla, Weston-McEwen, Riverside at
4A/3A/2A/1A state tournament, Ore-
gon State University, Corvallis, 8 a.m.
Track and fi eld
Hermiston at District 8 Championships,
Spokane, TBD
4A state championships, Hayward
Field, Eugene, TBD
5A state championships, Hayward
Field, Eugene, TBD
THURSDAY, MAY 26
Track and fi eld
Hermiston at 3A state championships,
Tacoma, TBD
SPORTS SHORT
EOU women’s lacrosse coach announces resignation
team faced challenges related to the
COVID-19 pandemic.
LA GRANDE — Eastern
Eastern earned the program’s
Oregon University women’s lacrosse first official victory on Feb. 12,
head coach Monica Plut is
defeating Whitworth, 8-6.
set to resign, the universi-
The Mountaineers tallied
ty’s athletic director Anji
a 1-6 record overall in the
Weissenfl uh announced on
2022 season, which ended
in early April.
April 20.
In 2021 Eastern played
Plut served as the team’s
head coach from January
strictly exhibition matches,
2020 through April of this
taking the fi eld for the fi rst
season, leading the way for
Plut
time. The Mountaineers
Eastern’s fi rst two years as
tallied a 1-4 record.
an offi cial program.
Eastern is one of three schools in
The Mountaineers played their the Cascade Collegiate Conference
fi rst offi cial season in 2022, after the that sponsor the sport as an offi cial
The Observer
program. Plut put a large emphasis
on expanding the sport locally and
in the region during her time as head
coach at Eastern — the former coach
worked with local middle schools
and high schools, teaching the sport.
Plut previously coached at
Adams State University, a Divi-
sion II school in Colorado — she
also served as a high school coach
before joining the program at East-
ern Oregon.
According to the press release
from Eastern’s athletic department,
the university is in the process of
conducting a national search for the
team’s next head coach.
Samantha
Buckley (5) faces
off against Catie
Kawamura (19)
during the match
Feb. 19, 2022,
between Eastern
Oregon University
and Willamette
University at
Community
Stadium,
La Grande. The
Mountaineers lost
17-6 against the
visiting Bearcats.
EO Media Group, File