SATURDAY, AUGUST 28, 2021
BAKER CITY HERALD — A5
SPORTS
BAKER VOLLEYBALL
Baker sweeps Badgers in opener
field said she was proud of how her
teammates responded to Powder
Valley taking the lead.
In front of parents and a
“We took that first set for
rambunctious student section, the
granted, we felt confident we were
Baker volleyball team started its
going to win the next one which
first fall season in two years on
Thursday night, Aug. 26, by sweep-
wasn’t that easy,” Churchfield said.
ing Powder Valley.
“We just have to keep fighting,
encouraging one another.”
It was the Badgers’ first loss
In the third set, the Badgers
since November 2019.
remained close throughout the
“We need to appreciate every
first half, with Baker leading by no
win,” Baker coach Ali Abrego said.
more than two points through the
“Obviously we had to earn it, they
15th point.
weren’t going to give it to us, so it
was nose to the grindstone.”
But Baker then pulled away late
Powder Valley swept Baker in
to win the set 25-19 and complete
the sweep.
two matches during the pandemic-
Although happy with the win,
abbreviated season earlier this
year, winning on March 4 at North
the Bulldogs will strive to maintain
Powder and on March 31 in Baker
their focus as the season continues.
City.
“I’m glad that we won but I am
going to look forward to the next
Abrego, a 2013 Powder Valley
graduate who played volleyball
game, this is just one, kind of like a
for the Badgers, knew the match
warm up game,” Churchfield said.
against the perennial Class 1A
“I don’t know how good McCall is
power wouldn’t be easy.
going to be, so I am expecting them
“Powder is a very fundamentally
to be a tough team.”
“Big things are coming,” Abrego
sound team so we had to be ready
Corey Kirk/Baker City Herald
said. “We are really hungry for it.
for long rallies, we had to be ready
Baker freshman Ashlyn Dalton, right, prepares to make a set during the Bulldogs’ match against
We are looking forward to compet-
for the hard to reach pockets and
Powder Valley on Thursday, Aug. 26 in the Baker gym.
the hard tipped shots,” Abrego said.
ing against our own league. We
the second set, taking a lead that
“Despite being young, they are well
our momentum to shift. We need to have McCall and then next Thurs-
Abrego said it’s important to
reached five points.
rounded (and) Marji (Lind, Powder set the tempo of a match, and the
be consistent moving forward.”
day we have Union and that will
Abrego called timeout. She told
Valley’s longtime coach) runs a good Bulldogs did that with the strong
The Bulldogs heeded their
be a good one, so that is where our
her players they needed to regain
program, so we should expect that.” first set.
coach’s advice, rallying to regain
minds are focused.”
the focus they had in the first set.
the lead in the middle of the set
“They grew in confidence for
Baker travels to Idaho today,
Baker forged a big lead in the
“We don’t want to be compla-
and going on to win 25-16.
sure,” Abrego said.
Aug. 28, to take on the McCall-Don-
first set and held it throughout,
Senior co-captain Lacy Church- nelly Vandals at 1:45 p.m. PDT.
The Badgers rallied early in
winning 25-12.
cent,” Abrego said. “We don’t want
By COREY KIRK
ckirk@bakercityherald.com
Bulldog boys,
girls win cross-
country meet
By COREY KIRK
ckirk@bakercityherald.com
Baker’s girls and boys cross-country teams
both finished first in the team standings at
the Vale Dash-N-Splash meet on Thursday,
Aug. 26.
It was the first meet of the season for the
Bulldogs, who competed against Nyssa and
Vale.
In the boys race, Baker junior Thaddeus
Pepera finished first in a time of 11:13.71.
In the girls race, Baker senior Emma
Baeth crossed the line first in 13:09.14.
Two Bulldogs also were the first fresh-
men to finish — Sofia Kaaen in the girls race
(14:22.3; fourth overall) and Daniel Brown in
the boys race (12:23.74; fifth overall).
Baker Coach Suzy Cole was pleased with
the results.
“I thought they did excellent — our vet-
eran runners had very good times and it was
our first chance to see where they were, and
they were where we were hoping they would
be,” Cole said. “Our novices competed really
strong. I was very happy across the board.”
Baker boys results
1.Thaddeus Pepera; 3. Jordan Mills,
11:44.14; 5. Daniel Brown, 12:23.74; 7. Seth
Mastrude, 12:32.6; 9. Payton Waters, 13:25.55;
12. River Clark, 13:34.84; 16. Tanner Lucas,
14:59.65; 19. Karsten Cikanek, 15:52.33; 22.
Tristan Mulkey, 20:00.51
Baker girls results
1. Emma Baeth, 13:09.14; 2. Sydney Lamb,
13:22.86; 4. Sofia Kaaen, 14:22.3; 5. Emma
Timm, 15:12.96; 7. Paige Marlia, 16:28.2;
9. Lilly Collins, 18:05.78; 10. Katie Spaugh,
18:32.74; 11. Avery Collier, 18:38.68; 13. Jes-
sica Dotson,19.32.2
La Grande cancels football opener due to COVID
 Tigers had
players test
positive before
practice started
The (La Grande) Observer
LA GRANDE — The foot-
ball season opener between La
Grande and Pendleton, set for
Sept. 2, has been canceled be-
cause of COVID-19 precautions.
“We had some kids who had
it before practice started,” La
Grande Athletic Director Dar-
ren Goodman said. “We are just
taking precautions in bringing
them back properly. There are
OSAA rules with players having
so many practices in pads and
such. We didn’t want to put
people in situations they weren’t
ready for.”
Goodman let Pendleton Ath-
letic Director Mike Somnis know
of the change Aug. 23.
“I wanted to give them as
much time as I could to find
something else,” Goodman said.
Somnis said the Buckaroos
are in search of a Week 1 game.
According to La Grande head
coach Rich McIlmoil, a number
of his players who had CO-
VID-19 late in the summer have
not recorded enough practices
to compete in the season opener.
Athletic trainer Brook Jor-
gensen monitors players heart
rates and lung condition prior to
returning from COVID-19.
“I work closely with her to
Alex Wittwer/The (La Grande) Observer
La Grande’s Kaden Burgess practices at La Grande High School on Thursday, Aug. 19, 2021. La
Grande Athletic Director Darren Goodman announced that the team had canceled its opening
game against Pendleton due to COVID-19 precautions amidst rising cases.
make sure our kids are healthy
enough to go full speed,” McIlm-
oil said. “It comes down to mak-
ing sure we have kids healthy
and in a good spot to play.”
La Grande’s protocol involves
participation in a minimum of
nine practices before a player
can compete in a regular season
game. A number of athletes on
the team did not meet that mini-
mum, which ultimately played
a role in the cancellation of the
opening game.
“Most of them are healthy, it’s
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about getting them to that point
where they can play full speed
now,” McIlmoil said.
According to McIlmoil, the
cancellation of the opener is a
preventive measure to ensure
the health and safety of the
athletes involved throughout the
entirety of the season.
“That’s my big thing, I don’t
want to put the season at risk
and get kids in a bad spot early
in the season,” he said.
The game had been the
season opener for both squads
in the four seasons prior to the
pandemic. They didn’t play in
the spring of 2021.
Pendleton has historically
dominated the series, but La
Grande won two of the last three
contests, including in 2019 when
the Tigers routed the Buckaroos
36-14 to kick off what became an
undefeated state-title winning
season.
La Grande’s next game
is at 7 p.m. on Sept. 10, a
Greater Oregon League battle
at McLoughlin.