Wednesday, April 27, 2022
A9
SPORTS
FOOTBALL
Ad hoc committee makes fi nal recommendation to OSAA
Executive board
to vote on football
plan in early May
By RONALD BOND
Wallowa County Chieftain
WILSONVILLE — The
fi nal recommendation of
the Oregon School Activ-
ities Association football
ad hoc committee has been
made — and little, if any-
thing, has been changed
from previous proposals.
The committee met
April 14, and released
its fi nal recommendation
April 20. The OSAA exec-
utive board will vote on the
proposal May 2.
The fi nal proposal includes
support for 1A six-man foot-
ball — which has been a pilot
program for the last four years
— being able to play for an
offi cial OSAA state champi-
onship. Six-man, under the
recommendation, will have
an eight-team bracket, con-
sisting of three teams from the
nine-team Special District 1,
and fi ve teams from Special
District 2, which has 14 teams
in it.
Joseph Charter School has
been among the most domi-
nant during the six-man pilot,
having won a de-facto cham-
pionship the fi rst season of
the six-man pilot and playing
for a title in Year 2. It, along
with Echo, Huntington,
Pine Eagle and Prairie City/
Burnt River, are the six-man
schools based in the north-
eastern corner of the state.
Eight-man football will
also see a shake-up at the
playoff level, as the 26 schools
slated to play at the larger 1A
level will be placed into a
12-team bracket, a change
from the 16-team format the
schools have had for decades.
Four teams will automat-
ically qualify from both SD1
and SD2, with four additional
at-large slots being fi lled
based on OSAA rankings.
Special District 2 has a
large local fl avor, as nine
of the 14 schools — Cove,
TRACK AND FIELD
Elgin, Enterprise, Imbler,
Ione/Arlington, Pilot Rock,
Powder Valley, Union and
Wallowa — are based in
either Union, Wallowa, Uma-
tilla or Morrow counties.
1A8-Special District 2,
in addition to the nine afore-
mentioned schools includes
Adrian, Crane, Dufur, Lyle/
Wishram/Klickitat,
and
Sherman/Condon.
And 1A6-SD1 has Day-
ville/Monument,
Harper,
Wheeler County and South
Wasco County, in addition to
the above-named schools.
The committee has com-
pletely done away with an
idea it fl oated of banning
schools who play down a
classifi cation from the post-
season, according to a report
from The Oregonian. Region-
ally, that keeps Enterprise,
Riverside and Umatilla, as
schools playing down, eligi-
ble for the postseason.
The proposal, if approved
by the board, will go into
eff ect this fall for the 2022-
26 time block.
BASEBALL
Wallowa Valley
splits with Irrigon
Chieftain staff
Ronald Bond/Wallowa County Chieftain
Joseph’s Reece Nelson competes in the long jump at the 1A/2A/3A Regional track meet Saturday, April 23, 2022, in La Grande.
Nelson’s strong day pushes
Joseph boys to second place
By RONALD BOND
Wallowa County Chieftain
Ronald Bond/Wallowa County Chieftain
See Track, Page A10
Enterprise’s Nevaeh James competes in the girls 100-meter run at the 1A/2A/3A
Regional track meet Saturday, April 23, 2022, in La Grande.
L
EHS track has strong eff ort at Athena
ATHENA — The Enter-
prise track and fi eld team
posted 20 top-four fi nishes
— a dozen on the boys side
and eight on the girls side
— at the 2A Special District
5 preview meet Tuesday,
April 19, in Athena.
The lone win April 19
came from Zac Knapp, who
won a thriller in the boys
800-meter run. Knapp, who
was aiming for the school
record in the race, missed
by fewer than three seconds,
but had enough to hold off
two fi erce competitors in
the race. His winning time
of 2:01.13 edged Trevor
Nichols of Heppner by 0.25
seconds, and was 1.25 sec-
onds ahead of Alex McIn-
tyre of Weston-McEwen.
Knapp only ran in the
800, but that didn’t pre-
vent the Outlaws from scor-
ing well in the distance
races. Weston Wolfe and
Andrew Hurley went sec-
ond and third in the 1,500
with respective times of
4:51.46 and 5:00.77, while
Liam Wolfe was sixth in
5:20.01, and Tyler Knapp
placed second in the 3,000
in 10:53.12.
Levi Ortswam and
Ransom Peters were in
on fi ve of the top plac-
ings. Ortswam took sec-
ond in the 200 in 24.90 sec-
onds, and third in the 100
in 12.50 seconds. He was a
tick ahead of Peters in the
100, as Peters took fourth
in 12.55 seconds, and fourth
in the 200 in 25.42 seconds.
The two were also half of
the third-place 4x100 relay
team, joining Cory Walker
and Alex Nordtvedt to earn
a time of 47.78.
The younger Knapp,
the Wolfes and Hurley
took fourth in the 4x400
in 4:16.53. Weston Wolfe
added a fourth-place fi nish
in the 300 hurdles in 46:98.
Roan Flynn was seventh in
the same race in 49.03, and
was fourth in the long jump
at 17 feet, 6-1/2 inches. And
Nordtvedt took fi fth in the
400 in 57.13, and eighth in
the 200 in 26.67.
For the girls, Althea
Komiskey, Maddie Nordt-
vedt, Lannie Stonebrink and
Nevaeh James took second
in the 4x100 relay in 54.82
to lead the EHS eff ort.
James took third in both
the 100 (14.00) and the 200
(29.20), and Sophia Espi-
noza added a third-place
fi nish in the discus throw
with a mark of 84-feet-10¾.
A handful of athletes
took fourth — as Madison
Wigen, Komiskey and Jada
Gray all reached a mark of
4-feet-6 to tie for fourth in
the high jump, and Gray
took fourth in the 100 hur-
dles in 21.93.
Nordtvedt,
Kendall
Wigen and Alisha Melville
went 5-6-7 in the 400 with
times of 1:08.19, 1:09.59
and 1:10.61, respectively.
And Stonebrink added an
eighth-place fi nish in the
200 in 32.19.
The EHS boys took
fourth as a team with 75
points, while the Outlaw
girls were sixth with 37.2
points.
See Baseball, Page A10
SOFTBALL
Outlaws bury Irrigon
Chieftain staff
A GRANDE — Reece Nelson
had a big day Saturday, April 23,
to help the Joseph track team to
second place at the 1A/2A/3A
regional track meet at Eastern Oregon
University.
The senior set three personal bests
as he won the high jump and long
jump and took second in the triple
jump. The eff ort helped the Eagle
boys take second with 65 points, just
one point behind meet winner Powder
Valley.
Chieftain staff
IRRIGON — The Wal-
lowa Valley baseball team
settled for a road split at
Irrigon in Special District
5 action Friday, April 22,
earning a 2-1 win in the
opener before falling in the
nightcap, 6-4.
The teams were score-
less in the opener until
Spencer Decker’s RBI
groundout in the sixth put
the Eagles ahead 1-0. Cody
Fent added a needed insur-
ance run in the seventh with
an RBI groundout for a 2-0
lead. He also earned the
win on the mound in relief,
striking out fi ve, and allow-
ing one unearned run on
two hits in 2-2/3 innings.
The Eagles won despite
having just one hit in the
game.
In the second game, the
Knights jumped out to a
6-0 lead after three innings
before Wallowa Valley
rallied.
Jaxon Grover’s two-run
double and a Maclane Mel-
ville RBI single in the fi fth
made it 6-3. Gabe Nobles
scored in the sixth to pull
the Eagles closer, and Wal-
lowa Valley had the tying
runs on in the seventh, but
fell short.
IRRIGON — It didn’t
take much for the Wal-
lowa Valley softball team to
get past Irrigon on Friday,
April 22.
Both Liz Rowley and
Aimee
Meyers
threw
three-inning no-hitters —
with Meyers’ being a per-
fect game — and the Out-
laws needed just six innings
to get two wins, 16-0 and
15-0. Both games were over
in three frames.
Rowley struck out eight
of the 10 batters she faced,
with just one getting on via a
hit by pitch. Meyers kept her
slate fl awless, striking out
four batters and facing the
minimum.
In the opener, Wallowa
Valley plated nine fi rst-in-
ning runs to set the tone for
the day. The Outlaws were
up by 11 after two and put the
15-run mercy rule in by place
with fi ve more in the third.
Rilyn Kirkland had fi ve RBIs
and fi nished 3-for-3 in the
opener. Sydney Hopkins was
also 3-for-3, and scored three
times. Ten players had at
least one hit and nine scored.
See Softball, Page A10
GOLF
Homan takes second in Union
Chieftain staff
UNION — Wallowa/
Joseph’s Chase Homan fi red
an 81 to take second over-
all at the Buff alo Peak Invi-
tational in Union Friday,
April 22.
Homan carded two bird-
ies on the day and shot a 39
on the front nine to put him
in position for the strong day.
Only Ontario Tyce Helmick,
who had a 73, was better.
Owen Gorham also
cracked 100, fi nishing with
a score of 98, and Jonas
McKee added a 119 for Wal-
lowa/Joseph, which had
just three golfers take part
April 22.
Enterprise took second as
a team with a score of 413,
trailing just Ontario, which
shot 367. Dylan Jennings
led the way with a score
of 97, with Alex Albanez
right behind him with a 99.
Nathan Lamb was third on
the team with a score of 106,
Parker Siebe shot 111 and
Caleb Sheahan rounded out
the scoring with 113.
For the Enterprise girls,
just three athletes scored:
Jordyn Stonebrink turned
in a round of 115, Ashlynn
Greer posted a 143, and
Kimber Stein shot a 159.
The girls team was on the
course again April 26 in La
Grande, and the full teams
return to the course April 29
in John Day.
www.main-street-motors.com
sales@main-street-motors.com
2019 CHRYSLER
300 TOURING
Stock # 11088
AWD, A/C, PS, PW,
Pwr Locks. 14,454 MI.
$31,485
2018 JEEP
COMPASS LATITUDE
Stock # 11067A
4WD, A/C, PS, PW,
Pwr Locks. 41,394 MI.
$25,685
2014 JEEP
2008 PONTIAC
GRAND CHEROKEE LAREDO
SOLSTICE SOFT TOP CONVERTIBLE
Stock # 11092
4WD, A/C, PS, PW,
Pwr Locks
$17,950
Stock # 11042
RWD, PS, PW, Pwr Locks.
40,374 MI.
Old Fashioned Values
Sales & Services
$14,985 541-426-2100
311 West Main St. • Enterprise