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About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (March 6, 2019)
SPORTS/NEWS WEDNESDAY, MARCH 6, 2019 HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A7 EOL HONORS EASTERN OREGON LEAGUE SELECTIONS Irrigon, Umatilla have fi rst-team players GIRLS First Team Allie Hueckman, so., Burns, Gracee Jacobs, sr., Vale; Ana Zacarias, sr., Irrigon; Shai Skinner, sr., Burns; Samantha Moore, sr., Nyssa; Matyson Siddoway, so., Vale. Second Team JaLay Burns, fr., Irrigon; Aundraya Ceja, so., Burns; Faith Rose, sr., Riverside; Taylor Durfee, fr., Umatilla; Alexia Arredondo, sr., Nyssa; McKenzie Hoyt, sr., Burns; Emersyn Johnson, so., Vale. Honorable Mention Brendy Avalos, sr., Riverside; Mileah Skunkcap, sr., Burns; Madyson Hartley, sr., Nyssa; By ANNIE FOWLER STAFF WRITER Irrigon senior Ana Zacarias was named to the Eastern Oregon League fi rst team, and freshman JaLay Burns to the second as the all-league selections were announced last week. Zacarias averaged 13.8 points and three steals per game for the Knights (12- 11). Burns averaged 13.3 points and 3.2 assists per game. Sopho- more Allie Hueckman of Burns was named MVP, and H i l a n - Zacarias ders coach Brandon McMullen took the coach- ing award. Also named to the fi rst team were Gracee Jacobs and Matyson Siddoway from Vale, Shai Skinner of Burns, and Samantha Earl Garcia Moore of Nyssa. For the boys, Umatilla junior Andrew Earl and senior Uriel Garcia were named to the EOL fi rst team, while senior Trent Durfey was named to the second team. Riverside sophomore Francisco Barajas was named to the second team, as was Irrigon senior Keith Fleming. Rounding out the fi rst team are Omar Jaquez of Nyssa, Kade Haueter of Vale, and Dakota Ceja of Burns. Nyssa junior Pedro Chavez was named MVP, while Bulldogs coach Aaron Mills took the coach- ing award. Kyla Wright, sr., Vale; Hailey Castro, so., Nyssa. BOYS First team Pedro Chavez, jr., Nyssa; Omar Jaquez, sr., Nyssa, Andrew Earl, jr., Umatilla; Uriel Garcia, sr., Umatilla; Kade Haueter, sr., Vale; Dakota Ceja, jr., Burns. Second Team Zane Taylor, sr., Burns; Francisco Barajas, so., Riverside; Agustin Trujillo, sr., Nyssa; Tanner Hamilton, sr., Vale; Trent Durfey, sr., Umatilla; Keith Flemming, sr., Irrigon. YOUNG RAPPER RIDING THE BEAT Contributed photo Lil X-Rey, an up-and-coming rap artist from Hermiston engages the crowd during Feb. 15 performance at the Funhouse in Seattle. Lil X-Rey soaks in music streams, live shows By TAMMY MALGESINI COMMUNITY EDITOR T he pulsating beat and poetic words of urban rap and hip- hop provided an escape from boredom for a 16-year-old Hermiston youth. Lil X-Rey has parlayed his talents into hundreds of thousands of listens and gigs across the Northwest. A sopho- more at Hermiston High School, Rey is interested in business and marketing as a way to promote himself in the future. One of his classmates came up with the moniker Lil X-Rey from his given name of Rey Rodriguez. The teen was the sophomore prince on the HHS homecoming court in the fall. “It’s kind of a popularity thing,” he said about being crowned. “A lot of peo- ple know me for my music.” While he used to play a lot of basket- ball, Rey spends a lot of his time these days writing lyrics. He admits he’s just an average student, instead focusing his energies on riding the wave of his popu- larity on music platforms, writing lyrics and performing at shows. “I currently have over 250,000 streams of my music, 13,000 Instagram followers and have concerts all over Boise, Seattle, Tri-Cities and recently had one in Umatilla,” he said. Rey started out performing with his friends and putting a couple of his songs on Soundcloud and other music plat- forms. His fi rst song attracted 1,000 lis- tens within a week. “I thought that was a lot,” Rey said. “Then one song did like 20,000 in a week.” Currently, “Zooted Up,” a collabo- ration with Ghoulavelii, has more than 87,300 plays on Soundcloud. After net- working with other artists in the region, he got the attention of promoters. Last spring, Rey said his fi rst packed house performance in the Tri-Cities drew upwards of 500 people. “My Hermiston area crowd and Tri- City area crowd came supporting me,” he said. “It just blew up from there.” Rey is currently under a management company. He’s hopeful with continued success and additional knowledge, he can learn more about the business end of decision-making, managing and pro- moting himself. “I like making music,” he said. “I write all my stuff. I pretty much put on some LED lights for the mood and put on the beat.” Many of his songs have the Paren- tal Advisory label for explicit content. With lyrics featuring strong language and depictions of substance use, sex or weapons, Rey said it’s not really what he’s about. “It’s just part of the show,” he said. “I don’t really smoke. I don’t do drugs. It’s just all part of the show. You know, it sells.” Rey describes himself as a fun person who likes to make jokes and hang out with his friends. He’s excited about the future and a bit surprised by his success. “It does blow my mind, though, because I’m from Hermiston,” he said. Campus Life directors follow calling to teen ministry By JADE MCDOWELL NEWS EDITOR Jeff and Ashley Umbarger know Campus Life can do good things. It’s where they met. The husband and wife duo have been leading the nonprofi t, which provides wholesome activities and hangouts for teens, since September. But when they were teenagers themselves (Jeff grew up in Pendle- ton and Ashley grew up in Hermiston) they spent plenty of time in the blue metal-fabricated building across the street from Herm- iston High School. “It’s really cool that we’re here doing this, because there are so many stories we have here,” Jeff said. Jeff moved away after high school, but when he came back years later he looked Ashley up on social media and couldn’t believe she was still single. After asking a mutual friend to make sure she really was available, he asked her out for a day of four-wheeling and fi shing. The rest, as they say, is history. Although they had ini- tially followed different career paths, both felt called by God to work with youth. They eventually ended up running Jubilee Leadership Academy, a Christian board- ing school for troubled boys in “the middle of nowhere” near Prescott, Washington. The atmosphere there was different than Cam- pus Life — it was all boys, who were being forced to be there. But Ashley said a lot of the experience she and Jeff got at Jubilee has helped them better relate to the teens that hang out at Cam- pus Life. “We had a lot of training relating to kids with a lot of hurts, habits and hang-ups,” she said. Jeff said he learned to “look past the attitude” and realize that kids who were acting out were often doing so because something else was going on behind the scenes. Seeing former gang members from big cities get scared of coyotes or a rus- tling in the bushes helped him remember that even though they had seen a lot, they were still “just kids.” And there were students at Jubilee who started out try- ing to make his life miserable and later trusted him enough to confi de about trauma they had experienced. “You defi nitely have to have a heart for (working with teens),” he said. “You can’t just be doing it as a job.” Now the Umbargers host Photo contributed by Ashley Umbarger Jeff and Ashley Umbarger have been directors of Campus Life since September. For photos of recent Campus Life activities, see A11. high school night on Mon- days and a newer middle school night on Tuesdays at the Campus Life building, plus take groups of teens out on weekends for snow- boarding or rafting trips. They also open up the build- ing after high school football and basketball games to give students a safe place to hang out together after the game. On Monday, teens started to trickle in after 7 p.m. A group of boys and girls sat on a circle of couches, chat- ting, while one teen grabbed dinner from the snack shack and ate it while scrolling through his phone. Other groups gravitated toward air hockey or ping pong, and a few sophomore boys started a game of pool. At the pool table, Con- nor Carr, Logan Ham and Nate King said Campus Life provided a safe place where they could hang out with friends without being under the watchful eyes of their parents. “It’s nice to slow down on a Monday,” Nate said. Connor said he liked that the Umbargers were cool and “not very strict.” There are also more activities to choose from at the Campus Life building than at friends’ houses. Logan appreciated the Umbargers, too. “They’re really chill and easy to talk to,” he said. After free time on Mon- days and Tuesdays, students usually gather for some ice- breaker games and a 20-min- ute message. The high school night usually attracts about 30 students and the middle school nights some- times get as many as 50. Campus Life is an inde- pendent nonprofi t not run by a specifi c church, but it does have Christian over- tones. Sometimes the talks at the end of the night dis- cuss religious themes. Other times they show scenes from uplifting secular movies such as “Up,” then use it to discuss bullying, peer pres- sure or other topics relevant to high school and middle school students. Jeff said Campus Life isn’t meant to replace church youth groups, and he and Ashley try to make sure they aren’t infringing on local church activities. But some students who would never set foot in a church are will- ing to come play pool with their friends and might hear a positive message about Christianity in the process. Ashley said they are also planning on starting a Cel- ebrate Recovery night on Thursdays that will help teens deal with addictions, bad habits and “hang-ups” they might have. On Saturday, Campus Life is hosting a fundraiser dinner to support its mission. “The Gathering” will take place at 6 p.m. at the Herm- iston Community Center, 415 S. Highway 395. Tick- ets are $20 per ticket or $140 for a table seating eight, and the event will include a silent auction, dinner and live music. For more infor- mation or to purchase tickets contact Ashley Umbarger at 541-969-1017.