SPORTS
Wednesday, February 26, 2020
HerMIsTOnHeraLd.COM • A9
Hermiston swimmer on a mission to bring joy to the world
By KATHY ANEY
sTaFF WrITer
Rian Middleton —
the lone Hermiston High
School swimmer to com-
pete at the Washington state
swim meet last Saturday —
could once barely sit up and
his parents worried that he
might never walk.
As a baby and toddler,
Rian missed most of the
normal milestones. Instead
of crawling, he tended to
flop over as if his mus-
cles couldn’t hold him up.
Finally, Jason and Cindy
learned why. Their son had
a chromosomal abnormal-
ity and hypotonia, charac-
terized by profoundly low
muscle tone and high elas-
ticity. His left side is also
weaker than his right side.
“As a baby, he was a
floppy guy,” Cindy said.
“He had a couple of hip
surgeries to keep his hips
from coming out of their
sockets.”
The little boy learned to
walk using a walker. At age
three, he fell and broke a
femur and did physical ther-
apy in the swimming pool.
His parents pushed their son
to do as much as he could.
“We’ve always had high
expectations and worked
hard to make him the best
he can be,” Cindy said.
Rian loved sports and
decided he wanted to partic-
ipate. He not only walked,
but learned to swim and
play basketball, baseball,
soccer and golf.
The senior isn’t a stand-
out athlete talent-wise. His
personal best in the 50-meter
freestyle of 48.34 seconds is
slow in the world of high
school swimmers. He com-
petes in the “adaptive” divi-
sion for swimmers with dis-
abilities at district and state
and comes in last a lot in
the regular season. Rian’s
superpower is not swim-
ming, say those who know
him, but rather a contagious
exuberance that touches
everyone around him. Rian
Middleton loves everyone
and everyone loves him. It’s
just one of those truths, like
gravity.
Jason Middleton said his
son is fearless and relent-
lessly joyful.
“He has never met a
stranger,” Jason said. “He
gives high fives, handshakes
and hugs. He’s very. …”
“Funny,”
interjected
Rian, who sat nearby. “I like
people.”
And people like him.
Head swim coach Phil
Lusted, in his first year with
the HHS swim program,
marveled as he watched
Rian interact with other
swimmers, officials and
spectators at the meets.
Contributed photo
Rian Middleton trains during a recent practice at the Boardman Pool and Recreation Center, where the Hermiston swim team practices.
“The other coaches knew
him. The referees knew
him,” Lusted said. “He has
a community around him
during meets. He gives
everyone a high five on the
way to the blocks. Almost
all the swimmers from
the other teams know his
name.”
During the regular sea-
son, Rian swam in regular
heats, always taking up the
rear.
“He didn’t care if he won
or lost,” said Kevin Ham-
blin, who coached Rian at
various levels until last year.
Hamblin recalled the state
meet at Mt. Hood Commu-
nity College during Rian’s
sophomore season. Rian,
swimming the 50-meter
freestyle, kept on going
after 50 meters.
“He ended up swimming
75 meters,” Hamblin said.
“We stopped him. When he
got out, he raised his arms
and went over and hugged
the officials.”
On Thursday, HHS stu-
dents gathered to send off
the school’s wrestling team
and Rian before they left for
the Seattle area. As Rian and
his coach stood in front, ath-
letic director Larry Usher
talked about Rian and his
status as the school’s lone
state swimmer. Rian grinned
and pumped his fist to smiles
from his classmates.
Usher smiled too. He has
known Rian since Usher’s
time as Sandstone Middle
School principal. The two
like to talk sports. Usher
roots for the Ducks while
Rian prefers the Beavers.
The athletic director
made the trip to the King
Contributed photo
Rian Middleton catches his breath recently after working
out at the Boardman Pool and Recreation Center where the
Hermiston swim team practices.
County Aquatic Center in
Federal Way to cheer on his
young friend on Saturday.
The pool was colder than
Rian was accustomed to and
there was no ladder. That
threw him a little. Though
he earned personal bests at
almost every meet this year
in either the 50- or 100-
meter races, he swam two
seconds slower (about 50
seconds flat) during his state
50-meter performance. No
matter. When Rian received
his seventh place medal, he
beamed and pumped his fist.
That’s Rian, said his
older sister, Reed. He turns
every occasion into a posi-
tive, social event.
In December, she said,
the family stayed at a hotel
in Portland one night. The
next morning, Reed left
Rian on the front side-
walk for a moment. When
she returned, he had made
friends with the valet, the
bellhop and a lady walking
by with her dog.
“Rian’s mission in life is
to make friends,” Reed said.
“He’s so happy. Walk-
ing down the hall at school,
every kid gets a high five
from him,” said lifelong
friend Violet Mitchell, who
is a junior. “His high fives
are legendary.”
Hamblin, who teaches
fourth grade at Highland
Hills, said Rian has a way
of making people go out of
their way to give back some
of the joy he dishes out. In
eighth grade, he and Ham-
blin ran the chain for Sand-
stone Middle School foot-
ball program as a way to be
involved in football, a sport
his doctor forbids him from
playing. During one game,
the team decided to give
Rian an experience he would
treasure. Rian dressed down
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
Rian Middleton poses with his parents, Cindy and Jason
Middleton, who are two of the people in Rian’s extensive
“village” of supporters, friends and fans.
and went in for one play, an
extra point attempt, a play
that both teams had choreo-
graphed together.
“They handed him the
ball and he went in,” Ham-
blin said. “He spiked the
ball and put up his hands.
The (Sandstone) team
cheered for him. The other
team came over and shook
his hand.”
Longtime friend Kam-
ryn Cooke often picks up
Rian and gives him a ride to
school via the drive-up lane
at Dutch Bros. She called
him a positive force.
“He’s a good example to
me,” Cooke said. “I want to
be Rian. We all want to be
Rian.”
This spring, Rian will
leave swimming behind for
golf. He’ll walk with his
class in June at graduation,
though he’ll return in the
fall and continue there until
age 21 as a student with dis-
abilities. No doubt another
influx of students will expe-
rience the legendary high
five of Rian Middleton.
“He is on a mission
to bring joy to the entire
world,” Reed Middleton
said of her brother. “He
takes it to everyone.”
Hermiston’s Ray, Romero earn
MCC basketball honors
By ANNIE FOWLER
sPOrTs edITOr
Jayden Ray was named
Defensive Player of the
Year, and Jazlyn Romero
was named to the second
team of the girls Mid-Co-
lumbia Conference all-con-
ference basketball team.
“Coach (Maloree) Moss
called me
into
her
room this
morning
and
told
me,” Ray
said.
“I
Romero
was like,
‘is this for
the whole
league?’
I
was
excited. It’s
awesome
to see that
Ray
you put in
the work in
practice and games, and the
hard work pays off.”
Romero, a senior, aver-
aged 12 points a game for
the Bulldogs, who finished
14-9 overall and 10-6 in the
MCC.
Ray, a junior, was an
integral part of Hermis-
ton’s defense that allowed
an average of 49 points a
MCC ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM
Player of the Year: Talia von Oelhoffen, jr., Chiawana
Defensive Player of the Year: Jayden Ray, jr., Hermiston
Coach of the Year: Daron Santo, Kennewick
First Team
Talia von Oelhoffen, jr., Chiawana; Rian Clear, sr., Walla
Walla; Meilani McBee, sr., Kennewick; Madeline Gebers, jr.,
Kennewick; A’niyah Heavens, so., Pasco.
Second Team
Jazlyn Romero, sr., Hermiston; Iliana Moran, so., Hanford;
Mya Groce, so., Pasco; Laura Smith, jr., Richland; Jayda
Clark, jr., Richland.
Honorable Mention
Kylie Thorne, sr., Chiawana; Aislin Fiander, sr., Kennewick;
Amani Davis, jr., Kamiakin; Alyssa Agundis, sr., Chiawana;
Taija Mackey, so., Pasco.
Defensive Team
Jayden Ray, jr., Hermiston; Alyssa Agundis, sr., Chiawana;
Emmalynn Ogden, sr., Walla Walla; Taleya Maiden, so.,
Pasco; Nikole Thomas, fr., Kamiakin.
game. She also averaged
seven points a game.
“It’s awesome to see
Jazlyn on there,” Ray said.
“She has put so much hard
work and dedication into
our program.”
Hermiston was the No. 2
seed from the MCC into the
District 8 Tournament. The
Bulldogs beat Shadle Park,
held district champ Mt.
Spokane to a season-low 43
points, then dropped a los-
er-out game to Kamiakin.
Chiawana junior Talia
von Oelhoffen was named
the MCC Player of the
Year, while Kennewick’s
Daron Santo was named
Coach of the Year.
The Hermiston boys did
not have anyone selected
to the MCC all-conference
team.
Chiawana’s
Cooper
DeWitt was named Player
of the Year, while Chi-
awana’s Chad Herron was
named Coach of the Year.
Photo contributed by Erwin Watson
Stanfield’s Eastern Oregon Taekwondo program poses for a picture with their medals after
participating in the 28th Annual Walla Walla Karate-Do Invitational on Feb. 15, 2020.
Eastern Oregon Family Taekwondo
has 6 place first at Walla Walla Invite
By BRETT KANE
sTaFF WrITer
Stanfield’s Eastern Ore-
gon Family Taekwondo pro-
gram placed six athletes in
first, six more in second, and
11 in third place at the 28th
Annual Walla Walla Kara-
te-Do Invitational on Feb.
15.
The
Stanfield
dojo
brought 23 total students to
the competition.
Kionna Idris, 16, placed
first in both sparring and in
forms in her respective age
category. Jordan Velasco, 7,
and Zander Baher, 6, both
earned first in sparring and
second in forms. Zayden
Higareda, 4, placed first in
sparring, and Grant Liss-
man, 11, also took first in
forms.
Rebekah Pace, 7, took
second in forms, and Lil-
iah Brown, 8, earned second
in sparring. Jezly Higareda,
7, and Henry Lissman, 4,
placed second in sparring.
“There were more com-
petitors this year than there
were before,” EOFT owner
and instructor Erwin Watson
said. “We had three weeks
to prepare, and all they par-
ticipated in were forms and
sparring. They weren’t used
to the 3-point sparring and
how the rules go, but a cou-
ple did a good job prepar-
ing themselves. Of course,
I didn’t expect everyone to
bring any hardware or med-
als home, and I feel bad for
them because they worked
so hard, and now they
have to work for the next
tournament.”
Earning four additional
fourth-place medals, the
Stanfield dojo brought home
27 total awards.
Their next tournament
will be held in Portland in
May.