Wednesday, May 5, 2021
A9
SPORTS
Tingelstad having a strong freshman campaign for C of I
By RONALD BOND
Wallowa County Chieftain
JOSEPH — Ellyse Tingels-
tad had a solid freshman campaign
for the College of Idaho women’s
cross-country team.
Tingelstad, the former state
champion track standout for Joseph,
was named an all-American by
placing 33rd overall and was the
top runner on the C of I women’s
team, which fi nished second over-
all at the NAIA National Champi-
onships Friday, April 9, in Cedar
Rapids, Iowa, behind only St. Fran-
cis (Ill.) Tingelstad completed the
race in a time of 18:31.55, and
was among three Coyote athletes
to garner all-American status. Her
eff ort already puts her in the top 25
for national placings in program
history.
“Grabbing all-American means
a lot,” Tingelstad said. “It’s one
more thing to confi rm you have
improved this much, and the hard
work in this long season has paid
off .”
College of Idaho/Contributed Photo
Former Joseph track and cross-country standout Ellyse Tingelstad, shown
in a meet for the College of Idaho, earned all-American status in helping
the Yotes’ cross-country team take second at nationals last month. She is
also off to a stellar start to the track season.
“Weird” was a word Tingels-
tad used to describe the season on
multiple occasions, noting how
the season started in the fall, but
rolled into the spring because of the
COVID-19 pandemic. She added
that as cross-country ended, she
went straight into track — and even
at times was practicing for indoor
track and cross-country in the same
day.
“It’s been hard balancing things,
but I have a super awesome team,”
she said. “Coming down here and
being able to run with (these) girls
and always having people to train
with is great.”
It capped a season that saw her
quickly emerge as one of the top
runners for College of Idaho — if
not the top. After taking fourth on
the team in a 3K at Eastern Oregon
University in November, and sec-
ond behind teammate Erin Moyer
at a home 4K in early February,
Tingelstad became the tip of the
spear for the Yotes. The team often
ran in a pack, but the freshman
ended up leading out at the end.
She led fi ve C of I runners who fi n-
ished between second and sixth at
the Lewis and Clark Winter Invite
in late February, posting a time of
17:46 to help the Yotes easily win
the meet.
A month later, she turned in the
same time and took third overall at
the Cascade Collegiate Conference
championships to help lead C of
I to an easy conference title. Four
Coyote runners placed in the top 10
Evans to wrestle at Saint Mary
By RONALD BOND
Wallowa County Chieftain
ENTERPRISE — Enterprise
senior Trace Evans wants to dis-
pel a view that being from a small
town severely reduces an athlete’s
chances to play at the collegiate
level.
Evans, a standout wrestler for
the Outlaws, signed his letter of
intent Sunday, May 2, to wrestle
for the University of Saint Mary,
an NAIA program based in Leav-
enworth, Kansas.
“You hear a lot, ‘I’m from a
small school, I’m not going to go
anywhere,’” Evans said. “I really
hope ... in doing this (that) I help
set an example to younger kids
who (are) in the same position I
once was. Just because I’m from a
small school doesn’t mean I can’t
do good things.”
Evans, who said he was
recruited by roughly 40 schools,
landed a near full-ride scholarship
to Saint Mary, a combination of
his prowess on the wrestling mat
and in the classroom. He was the
runner-up at state in the Class 2A
classifi cation in the 2019-20 sea-
son — the last one before the pan-
demic started. Evans has wres-
tled in several tournaments for the
Oregon National Team since last
taking the mat in an Oregon State
Athletic Association event, and
carries a 3.76 GPA.
At the state level, he had a
third-place fi nish in 2018-19 to go
with his second-place eff ort a year
ago, both at 138 pounds.
He said he selected USM in
large part because of head coach
Chuck Kearney. Kearney was a
former two-time state champion
from Sandy, and a former Univer-
sity of Oregon head coach who,
BAKER CITY — Jericho
Peters and Zac Knapp both won
two races to lead the Enterprise
boys track and fi eld team to a fi fth-
place fi nish Thursday, April 29, at
the Baker 3-way meet in Baker
City. The Enterprise girls also fi n-
ished fi fth at the meet, while the
Joseph boys placed seventh and
girls fi nished eighth.
Peters collected wins in the
See Tingelstad, Page A15
ENTERPRISE GOLF
Amaro,
Albanez
take fi rst
and second
Chieftain staff
Ellen Morris Bishop/For the Wallowa County Chieftain
Enterprise High School wrestling standout Trace Evans signs his letter of intent to wrestle for the University of
Saint Mary wrestling program on Sunday, May 2, 2021, at the Enterprise Elks Club. Evans asked all four of his
high school coaches, from left, Court Fent, Troy Farwell, Kyle Crawford and Rusty Eschler, to stand with him as
he signed. “You’ve all been a greater infl uence on my life than I could ever say and thank you for,” Evans said to
his coaches and the friends and family who gathered for the ceremony.
according to the USM website,
has more than 30 years of coach-
ing experience.
“He was really easy going,”
Evans said. “(He said), ‘You are
going to be well taken care of
here.’ When I went and visited the
campus, it was a great campus.”
Evans also was a fan of the
approach Kearney takes to recruit-
ing, noting the coach said his
focus is to take a smaller number
of athletes and hone in on them to
try and build high-end wrestlers.
The EHS standout, who will
wrestle at 149 pounds for the
Spires, said many of the coaches
who recruited him commented on
his balanced wrestling skills, and
liked that he was moldable as a
grappler.
And although he’s a strong
technical wrestler, his smarts on
the mat may be what has set him
apart during his career.
“I’ve never been the biggest
guy, never been the strongest
guy, for sure,” he said. “I always
make it a point to attempt to be the
smartest. My dad always told me
to wrestle smart. … That, along
with having the willpower and
stuff to work harder every day and
go the extra mile, has helped me
in my high school career.”
Indeed, it has taken a lot of
self-motivation to develop into
a high-caliber wrestler given the
smaller size of the EHS program.
The fact, though, that he has
already had ample success in a
small program excites him for
what could be ahead.
“The biggest thing I have
going for me is my best wres-
tling is ahead of me,” he said. “I
have had to push myself hard, and
don’t have the same facilities a lot
of kids in college have.”
That’s not to say he has done
it alone. He was quick to com-
mend those around him, includ-
ing coaches and family, who have
helped build him.
“There have always been great
people to help me get to where I
am today,” he said.
Outlaws, Eagles have solid weekend on the track
By RONALD BOND
Wallowa County Chieftain
at the meet.
“The biggest thing I can attri-
bute (my improvement) to is hav-
ing those girls to train with,” she
said. “When we are given a race
plan we are told we are running
together. ...We’re all just as good as
each other.”
The amount of mileage she put
in each week also increased, and
she said building her foundation
helped improve her endurance and
time during that fi rst season.
“A big thing has been a shift
in training to do a little more vol-
ume. I am running a little more
than in high school,” she said.
“Both coaches (in high school)
were strong on low mileage. Hav-
ing a little more base under me has
been helpful. … I actually cross-
train twice a week, and only run
four days a week.”
At nationals, she competed
against 325 other runners, and
according to a C of I article on the
meet, was the fi rst CCC runner
100-meter dash (11.82 seconds)
and in the 200 (24.04), while
Knapp won the 1,500 in 4:18.26,
and the 3,000 in 9:53.43.
Roan Flynn had a strong day
for the Outlaws by taking sec-
ond in the long jump (17-feet-
11) and fi fth in the 300 hurdles
(51.45). Gideon Gray also placed
in two events, taking third in the
high jump (5 feet even) and fi fth
in the javelin (114-feet-8). Also
Thursday, Luke Clinchy was third
in the 110 hurdles (25.30), Bren-
den Moore was fourth in the 3,000
(11:00.26) and Byron Gallagher
was fourth in the high jump (5 feet
even).
For the EHS girls, the top per-
formance was by the 4x100 relay
team as Althea Komiskey, Maddie
Nordtvedt, Ailena McEntire and
Savannah Vaughn took second
in 57.01 seconds. Individually,
Vaughn was second in the 200 in
29.50. Asiya Salim was fourth in
both the javelin (81-feet-8), discus
(66-feet-8) and shot put (23-feet-
8), Komiskey was sixth in the high
jump (4-feet-4), and Nordtvedt
was seventh in the 100 (15.07) and
200 (30.86).
For Joseph, Reece Nelson
grabbed top honors in the high
jump (6-feet-2), and was third in
the long jump (17-feet-6). Kale
Ferguson was second in the dis-
cus (113-feet-7), third in the jave-
lin (125-feet-11) and eighth in the
200 (26.14). Keelan McBurney
See Track, Page A10
Mother’s Day %
15
Sale!
A
Special
OFF
PENDLETON — The Enter-
prise boys golf team had the
top three individual placers Fri-
day, April 30, at Birch Creek in
Pendleton.
Jacob Amaro edged out Alex
Albanez for the top spot, shoot-
ing an 88, one stroke better than
Albanez, who carded an 89. Dylan
Jennings followed in third overall
with a score of 96.
Parker Siebe added a score of
119 and Landon Greenshields had
a 121.
On the girls side Jordyn Stone-
brink led Enterprise Friday with
a score of 128. Greta Carlsen fol-
lowed closely behind with a score
of 132. Lannie Stonebrink shot a
134 and Codi Cunningham had a
144.
On Thursday, April 29, Lannie
Stonebrink shot a 110 to lead the
Enterprise girls eff ort at Heppner.
Cunningham turned in a round of
117, Carlson had a 122 and Jordyn
Stonebrink added a 123.
For the boys, both Amaro and
Jennings shot 83 to lead the Out-
laws at Heppner. Siebe added a 95
and Greenshields had a 109.
The team is next on the course
Friday, May 7, at home.
Mason Moore shot a score of 89
to lead three Wallowa/Joseph golf-
ers at the Heppner Invite on Thurs-
day, April 29.
Owen Gorham followed with
a score of 94, and Jesse Larison
turned in a round of 122.
On Friday, Gorham took third
overall with a score of 115 to lead
Wallowa/Joseph’s three Friday,
April 30, at The Dalles.
Moore fi nished just behind Gor-
ham at 117, and Larison carded a
round of 136.
The Dalles course was a par-71
course — much longer than Hep-
pner’s par-60 course.
“The wind was blowing a lot
there. It played a lot tougher,” head
coach Marvin Gibbs said. “I was
happy with all of them. Wish we
could have had more kids but that
is the way it goes.”
Wallowa/Joseph heads to Enter-
prise on Friday.