A10
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, November 14, 2018
WEDNESDAY
November 14, 2018
G IRLS BASKETBALL
New
coach
leads
Pros
Moore is Grant Union
dean of students
By Angel Carpenter
Blue Mountain Eagle
The Eagle photos/Angel Carpenter
Grant Union Gold dance team members strike a pose during a dance performed in practice, including, from left, front,
Ali Chobo, Nikki Jones and Zinny Locke and, back, Emilie Updegrave and Celine Hicks.
Grant Union Gold dance team
steps up, ready for season
Holiday Showcase
set for Dec. 6-7
By Angel Carpenter
Blue Mountain Eagle
T
he Grant Union Gold dance team
is optimistic as they prepare for
competition and their annual Hol-
iday Showcase.
Dancers were busy at practice Nov.
7, warming up with ballet moves and
running through a couple performance
routines.
With all team members returning,
except two who moved out of the area,
this year’s four seniors say they have a
positive outlook.
“I’m excited to see how this year
plays out,” said senior Ali Chobo. “This
group of dancers is so motivated, and we
all have the same goal.”
Chobo is a senior team captain along
with Celine Hicks, and the other seniors
are Andrea Comer and Nikki Jones.
Head coach Kattie Piazza, in her third
year leading the team, has help from as-
sistant coach Brandi Hicks this season.
Piazza said they are focused on go-
ing back to the basics of dance to build a
foundation in both technique and team-
work. The team has increased condition-
ing and added a weights program this
year, she said.
“On top of that, we’re doing ballet
regularly, which requires an extreme
amount of focus and strength,” she said.
“Ballet is the foundation of all dance,
and we can’t be successful in Oregon
as a team without a ballet foundation
because it’s the basis of all dance tech-
niques — even with hip-hop, you have
to have ballet. You’ve got to walk before
you can run.”
This year, Piazza was voted to the
board of directors for the Dance and
Drill Coaches Association of Oregon.
See DANCE TEAM, Page A13
Grant Union Gold dance team seniors are, from left, Andrea Combs, Nikki
Jones, Ali Chobo and Celine Hicks.
Grant
Union Gold
dance
schedule
Dec. 6 and 7: Holiday
Showcase at Grant
Union at 6:30 p.m.
Feb. 9: Tigard Compe-
tition at 10 a.m.
Feb. 23: Pendleton
Competition at 10 a.m.
Grant Union Gold dancers Shanniyah
Hall, left, and Leah Comer work on double
pirouettes in practice Nov. 7 at the school.
“
I’m excited to see how this year plays out. This group of
dancers is so motivated, and we all have the same goal.”
March 8: Spring Show-
case (kickoff to state)
at Grant Union at 5:30
p.m.
March 16: OSAA
Dance & Drill State
Championships
Other competition dates
are being finalized.
New Grant Union girls varsity basketball
coach Kristi Moore said she’s excited for the
season, and the team is eager to start practice.
Grant Union finished last season in fourth
place at the OSAA State Championships,
coached by Casey Hallgarth.
Hallgarth left the coaching post when he
began this school year as the
superintendent/principal for
Prairie City School.
Moore, who coached
the Grant Union girls junior
varsity team last year, is tak-
ing the reins this year.
“The girls have high ex-
pectations of themselves,”
Kristi
she said. “They know what
Moore
it takes to be successful,
and they’re willing to work
as hard as they need to in order to attain their
dreams.”
Moore started as an English teacher at
Grant Union Junior-Senior High School last
year, and this year is the dean of students and
career coordinator.
Last summer, she led the AAU volleyball
team, which included several Grant Union
volleyball team members, to the AAU Na-
tional Tournament held in Orlando, Florida.
Before working at Grant Union, Moore
coached basketball and tennis at Sunnyslope
High School in Phoenix, Arizona, for eight
years, and also coached soccer and volley-
ball.
Moore graduated from Dayville High
School and played basketball for four years
with the Dayville/Monument team when they
first combined schools for the sport.
“Sports teach you not just the athletic part
of it but working with a team and adapting to
difficult situations,” she said.
She said the team is raring to go and hopes
to fill the stands.
“The girls love it when community mem-
bers come to the games,” she said, adding they
also enjoy interacting with people, whether at
the grocery store or other places in town.
“I think it’s an honor to coach here and
work with them this season and guide them
and help them,” she said. “The girls are more
than ready.”
The Prospectors have their first game on
the road Wednesday, Nov. 28, against the
Burns Hilanders. Their first home game will
be Tuesday, Dec. 11, hosting the Crane Mus-
tangs, and they host Burns on Friday, Dec. 14.
S HOOTING THE B REEZE
Learning
wisdom
senior Ali Chobo
By Rod Carpenter
For the Blue Mountain Eagle
D AYVILLE /M ONUMENT 1A S PECIAL D ISTRICT 5 SIX - MAN FOOTBALL HONORS
Contributed photos/Tanni Wenger Photography
Wesley Adams
First Team
Punter
Tell Cox
Honorable mention
Linebacker
JT Hand
Honorable mention
Kicker
Cade Milton
First team
Defensive lineman
Mark Thomas
Honorable mention
Defensive back
Gabe Walker-Hopkins
Honorable mention
Running back
My 13-year-old son, Tucker, drew a
buck tag this year. Filled with excitement,
we backpacked a couple
of miles into the wilder-
ness and set up camp.
After long hours of
glassing, we turned up a
few bucks way down in
a hole. In the excitement
of youth, Tuck was ready
Rod
to go get them. I tried to
Carpenter
explain to him that we re-
ally didn’t want to shoot
a buck down there, and he reluctantly
agreed.
However, we couldn’t turn up any oth-
er bucks, and after some badgering, I re-
lented. We dropped down into the hole,
See COLUMN, Page A13