A10
WEDNESDAY
March 8, 2017
Chieftain’s winter
athlete of the season is
JIMMY WELLS
‘‘
A LOT OF PLAYERS DON’T REALIZE THAT TALENT ONLY FIGURES INTO 25 PERCENT
OF THE EQUATION; 75 PERCENT OF THE GAME IS PLAYED FROM THE NECK UP.”
By Steve Tool
Wallowa County Chieftain
This is the Chieftain’s in-
augural award of athlete of
the season. This isn’t neces-
sarily awarded to the most
gifted athlete, but to the
player who best exemplifies
dedication to sportsman-
ship and the game’s essence.
In the Chieftain’s opinion,
Enterprise High School ju-
nior Jimmy Wells – point
guard for the Outlaws boys
basketball team – best exem-
plifies these traits.
Ellen Bishop/for the Chieftain
Morgan Anderson and her team were second in
the 82-mile race.
‘I
had a lot of fun
being out there with
Charlotte and I think it’s
a good start for me to do
the 100-mile race at Eagle
Cap Extreme next year.’
J
immy Wells didn’t al-
ways like basketball. As
a child, he watched his
father play on a 30x50
home basketball court and
wait for a chance to steal the
ball, so he could take it to the
swing set and trade the ball
for his favorite pastime – get-
ting pushed on the swing.
With time, things change.
At the age of five, Jimmy
Wells watched the movie “Air
Bud” – about a dog whose
talent at basketball elevates a
boy’s self-esteem, while pro-
pelling the boy’s basketball
team to a state championship.
Wells couldn’t get enough
of it – or of his newfound
passion for the game.
“You couldn’t keep him
off the court after that,” said
Wells’ father, Larry Wells,
who serves as the EHS athlet-
ic director.
Wells was eight when he
moved to this area with his
family. He started attending
school in Joseph in the second
grade. Wells’ EHS coach Ron
Lathrop, who was coach-
ing the Eagles’ high school
basketball team at the time,
said he remembered the boy’s
passion for the game showed
early. He was the team’s
water boy.
“He was always in the
gym; he loved basketball,”
Lathrop said.
Wells developed a knack
for the game and a love of
competition.
“I started playing com-
petitively in fourth grade. I
played every day after school,
and my talent came naturally
because of that,” Wells said.
He also credited his father for
taking an interest.
“My dad played with me a
lot and really helped me im-
prove. He is my role model,
an icon,” he said.
Although the family
still lives in Joseph, Wells
transferred to EHS starting
in his freshman year. Lathrop
had also taken over the head
coach position at EHS, and
he remembered Wells. By his
sophomore year, Wells was
starting at point guard for
the Outlaws because of his
dedication to the game.
Morgan Anderson
RACES
Continued from Page A1
Courtesy Photo/Ilene Wells
Jimmy Wells in action against the Hermiston JV team earlier this year.
Other schools
fear Wells
“He was starting as a
sophomore because he’s real
knowledgeable about the
game and he understands the
game well. A lot of players
don’t realize that talent only
figures into 25 percent of
the equation; 75 percent of
the game is played from the
neck up. You have to think
the game before you play
it, and Jimmy’s knowledge
of the game is his biggest
asset,” Lathrop said. He
added that other schools fear
Wells so much as a player
that on man-to-man defense
they send their best defensive
player to guard him.
Wells applied that knowl-
edge as a junior, helping lead
the Outlaws to a near state
playoff berth over the season.
“It was disappointing. I
don’t know what it was; we
had a lot of talent, and we
just weren’t able to do it,” he
said. Wells received first-
Courtesy Photo/Ilene Wells
Jimmy Wells, third from left, after receiving his first-team
Wapiti League honors at District this year.
team Wapiti League honors
at District at the end of the
season.
Beyond basketball, Wells
participates in FFA and is also
a 4.0 presence on the school’s
honor roll. His sights are set
on attending the University of
Montana and concentrate on
wildlife sciences.
In the meantime Wells still
attends open gym at Joseph
and plays competitive bas-
ketball as much as possible
to prepare for his senior year
and a trip to state.
“We’re not going to lose
too many guys. We have big
guys and guys who can shoot
the ball well. I have a feeling
we’re going to make it,” he
said.
The two girls had made a plan to run together
each day and on the first day Charlotte took off
first.
Anderson caught her within 10 miles and the
two stuck together through the avalanche danger
area and then Charlotte, whose team was better on
downhills, took off.
She went so far so fast, she left Morgan in the
powder behind her.
“I had an awesome team,” said Charlotte. “It
was just super fun and we really had a great time.”
“She thought something had gone wrong for
me,” Morgan said. “So she stopped and waited for
me for about 20 minutes, and I ended up winning
the first day.”
The next day Morgan took off first and when
Charlotte caught up to her she told Charlotte she
deserved the win this time – so Charlotte and her
faster team led the way for the rest of the race,
coming in eight minutes ahead of Morgan on Sun-
day.
The two ended their 82-mile race with Char-
lotte in first with a total time of 10:49:35 and Mor-
gan in second with 10:58:30.
“It was really cool, I had so much fun,” Morgan
said. “I had a lot of fun being out there with Char-
lotte and I think it’s a good start for me to do the
100-mile race at Eagle Cap Extreme next year.”
Morgan says she got interested in mushing
from learning about the Eagle Cap Extreme “from
kindergarten on.” Her dad, Craig Anderson, is also
very involved with the Wallowa County Race.
Her exchange sister Charlotte was not initially
interested.
“She thought she didn’t like dogs,” Morgan
said. “But I took her on a practice run, and then
started taking her every week, and she changed her
mind. I caught her cuddling dogs on my bed the
other day, so I think she loves dogs, now.”
“I definitely like dogs now,” said Charlotte. “I
think I’ll have a dog when I go back to Austria.
Having three dogs in the (Anderson) house and
having Morgan take me out on the sled, changed
my mind about dogs,” Charlotte said.
Charlotte will go home to Austria this summer,
but will never lose her sister or the memory of
their adventures.
Morgan, who plans to go to college in Alaska
and continue racing besides, has big plans for the
2018 ECX. She plans to run a team for the War-
ren’s, who will be bringing three teams to 2018
ECX: one for Morgan, one for Trevor and one for
200-mile ECX veteran Laurie Warren.
Dr. Jerald Rice will have his own dogs back,
with Charlotte back in Austria, and plans to race
himself in 2018.