Wednesday, September 15, 2021
A9
SPORTS
TAKING THE LEAD
Wallowa Valley
kicks off season
at Catherine
Creek Scamper
By RONALD BOND
Wallowa County Chieftain
Alex Wittwer/The Observer
Bayden Menton, right, runs during the Catherine Creek Scamper Friday, Sept. 10, 2021. Menton coordinated the upcoming Wallowa County
Invitational as his senior project.
Senior project brings XC meet back to Wallowa County
By RONALD BOND
Wallowa County Chieftain
JOSEPH — Wallowa County
is going to be the site of a
cross-country meet for the fi rst
time in several years thanks
to the eff orts of a Joseph High
School student.
Bayden Menton, a senior
who runs for the Wallowa Val-
ley cross-country squad, did the
legwork that resulted in the Wal-
lowa County Invitational, which
will be run Friday, Sept. 17, at
Wallowa Lake State Park at the
south end of Wallowa Lake.
“It can pretty much be any-
thing you want that you’re inter-
ested in,” Menton said. “I’ve
always wanted to have a meet
up at the head of the lake. With
this senior project I (said), ‘Oh,
that is what I should do.’”
The last race hosted by the
Wallowa County schools was in
2016, due in part to other races
getting scheduled that same
weekend and teams not travel-
ing up to a race, head coach Dan
Moody said.
“Everyone was putting meets
on at the same time, and they
stopped coming,” he said.
Menton said the scenery Wal-
lowa Lake off ers, in addition to
what the course itself will con-
UNION — Zac Knapp posted
the winning time and Bayden Men-
ton took third as the two-time defend-
ing champion Wallowa County boys
cross-country team began the season at
the Catherine Creek Scamper Friday,
Sept, 10.
Knapp won by nearly 24 seconds
over Union/Cove’s Taylor Fox, as the
Outlaws’ senior turned in a time of
17:22. Menton, the only other runner
to break 18 minutes, was close behind
in 17:53.6.
Ian Goodrich, third for Wallowa
Valley, was 13th in 19:38.6.
The three were the top Outlaw run-
ners in the fastest fl ight of two boys
races, and took second as a team in the
race with 14 points, just behind Union/
Cove with 11 points.
In the second fl ight, Chase
Homan was eighth in 20:48.2, and
Weston Wolfe was ninth in 20:50.8.
Andrew Hurley was 16th in 21:43.6,
and Andrew Nordtvedt was 19th in
21:46.5.
Wallowa Valley’s second-fl ight run-
ners took third with 40 points.
On the girls side, which had just
one fl ight, the Outlaws were fourth
with 100 points. Wallowa Val-
ley was led by Iona McDonald who
had a time of 24:02.2, good for 14th.
Nevaeh James, in a time of 25:10, was
23rd. Maddie Nordtvedt was 31st in
25:27.9, Michalia Caine placed 36th in
26:52.4, and Isabella Brann took 41st
in 27:17.6. Lannie Stonebrink rounded
out the Outlaws in 45th in 27:44.3.
“I thought they ran OK, but we got
a lot of work to do,” head coach Dan
Moody said, “as always this time of
year. (I’m) not up on the fi rst of the
year meets, but we had some kids that
are fi rst-time runners that ran. That’s a
diffi cult course, and they ran OK.”
The Outlaws were on the course
for the fi rst time since the boys team
claimed the state title in the spring sea-
son in April.
See Scamper, Page A10
Jenny Reinheardt and Bayden Menton/Contributed Map
Shown is the route of the Wallowa County Invitational, a cross-country race Wallowa Valley runner Bayden
Menton orchestrated for his senior project. The race, run at Wallowa Lake State Park, takes place Friday,
Sept. 17, 2021.
Alex Wittwer/The Observer
tain, should make for an appeal-
ing race.
“The fact that it’s a scenic
place is defi nitely part of it,” he
said. “Also the course itself, in
the park, it has a lot of diff er-
ent elements. You can make the
course go down onto the beach,
along the river, grassy areas, and
also add in some trails.”
See Project, Page A10
Zac Knapp took fi rst place at the
Catherine Creek Scamper Friday, Sept,
10, 2021, to lead the Wallowa Valley
eff ort.
Cougars get into win column with two victories
Chieftain staff
Ellen Morris Bishop/For the Wallowa County Chieftain
Wallowa’s Zoe Hermens goes up for a block during the
Cougars’ home match against Pilot Rock Thursday,
Sept. 9, 2021. Wallowa won the match in fi ve sets.
WALLOWA — The Wal-
lowa Cougars picked up their
fi rst wins of the fall last week
as they bounce back from a
slow start to the season, one
impacted by having players
out due to COVID-19.
After a tough 25-10, 25-16,
25-18 road loss to Imbler on
Tuesday, Sept. 7, The Cou-
gars got into the win column
in a home thriller against Pilot
Rock Thursday, Sept. 9, win-
ning 25-19, 23-25, 21-25,
25-23, 16-14. They followed
with a win Saturday, Sept. 11,
against Elgin, dropping the
Huskies at home in four sets,
25-15, 25-27, 25-13, 25-11.
“We are starting to get our
team back,” head coach Janea
Hulse said. “We have had up
to seven in quarantine since
the beginning of school. We
had one practice with a few
of them back before our game
against Elgin. We are still
working through kinks, but
they are looking more and
more promising. The upper-
classmen are trying to pull
the team together and bond
as much as possible. I love
to see the interaction and the
growth of these girls. It takes
leadership to improve a team
Anniversary
Sale
and they are working hard at
that. The girls stayed aggres-
sive in the game but couldn’t
gain the intensity that I would
have liked to have seen. Then
again, this was the fi rst time
in a rotation with everyone
back (against Elgin). They
are all still fi guring each
other out.”
Against Elgin, Libby Fisher
had 22 digs and six kills. Zoe
Hermens had 28 digs and four
kills. Haley Brockamp had
fi ve kills, fi ve blocks and 18
digs and Sophie Moeller had
29 digs.
The Cougars (2-2 over-
all, 1-1 Old Oregon League)
hosted Joseph Tuesday, Sept.
14, and are at the East/West
Classic in North Powder Fri-
day and Saturday, where they
are slated for six contests.
Outlaws take down
competition
The Enterprise volleyball
team is fi nding a rhythm.
The Outlaws took two
more matches last week, drop-
ping Cove on Tuesday, Sept.
7, 17-25, 25-20, 25-17, 25-23,
and taking down Prairie City/
Burnt River in four sets Sat-
urday, Sept. 11, 25-22, 19-25,
25-13, 25-19.
See Volleyball, Page A10
September
23rd, 24th & 25th
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