Chiawana grad takes to the court in debut against WSU
What a whirlwind of a couple of weeks it’s been for Talia von Oelhoffen.
Last week, von Oelhoffen graduated early from Chiawana High School, then enrolled at Oregon State University for the winter quarter.
Von Oelhoffen, who signed a letter of intent to play for the OSU women’s basketball team last fall, decided she couldn’t chance not playing basketball this year for Chiawana, given that there’s no guarantee a season will be played (and if there is, it will be shortened).
By going to OSU now, she gets an extra half-year of school and it doesn’t count against her eligibility. She’ll still have four seasons to play for the Beavers, and the clock starts for her next fall.
Her mother, Tondi Redden von Oelhoffen, told me that Talia needed to clear all health protocols for OSU before she could play, and the goal was to get her first game in by Jan. 29.
But Talia was able to quickly pass those protocols and actually played this past Sunday in a game against Washington State.
While the Beavers lost 77-75 in overtime to the Cougars, it was a heck of a debut for Talia, who played 21 minutes off of the bench, scoring 6 points and grabbing 4 rebounds. Not bad for someone joining a top-level women’s college basketball team on such short notice.
▪ The Eastern Oregon University women’s basketball team is still waiting on the start of its Cascade Collegiate Conference season. Last month, the CCC announced it was revising the schedule because Walla Walla University, The Evergreen State College and Southern Oregon University had opted out.
A new schedule will come out soon, with the season set to begin in March.
EOU has two area players on its roster: redshirt sophomore Maddy Juul (Hermiston) and junior Sailor Liefke (Sunnyside Christian/Walla Walla Community College).
Baseball
Tri-City Dust Devils president Brent Miles told the Tri-Cities Sports Council a few weeks ago that while the Los Angeles Angels have invited the Dust Devils to be part of their organization, the agreement hasn’t been signed yet.
That’s because, at least at the time, he hadn’t seen it.
“We haven’t seen the whole thing, and we want to see the details,” Miles said.
Assuming when the agreement is signed, the Dust Devils will be in a better league. Tri-City — along with Everett, Spokane, Vancouver, Eugene and Hillsboro — will be in a High-A Northwest League, rather than the old short-season Class A circuit.
It means having 66 home games, rather than the old 38 scheduled contests at Gesa Stadium.
Major League Baseball already has told teams in Class AA on down that their teams won’t begin in mid-April, but will be delayed.
While MLB players, as well as Triple-A players will start spring training on time, all other players must wait to report until after the top-level players break camp. That way, there won’t be as many players around the spring training complexes at the same time during this pandemic.
Running
Pasco Parks and Recreation has a planned live running event Saturday, called The Big Cross Frozen Tundra 2.5-Mile Trail Run, starting at 9 a.m.
There are four different races set for the event at the Big Cross course, located at 3700 Road 36 near the airport. Runners will be sent off in waves of 10 every minute, and are expected to let runners pass them by safely.
The event is for runners ages 11 and older who can run 2.5 miles in 27 minutes or less.
There still are plenty of spots available, but deadline is 11:59 p.m. Jan. 28. To register, and to see all the safety rules, go to https://bit.ly/2Ye6Qql.
Men’s basketball
Some Columbia Basin College men’s basketball notes:
▪ The team, as a whole, averaged 3.0 as a grade point average in fall quarter. … Sophomores Carson Cloaninger and Jase Edwards each had perfect 4.0 GPAs.
▪ New head coach Anthony Owens said that there have been a few changes to the roster. Hanford High grad Evan Woodward, who signed with the team last spring, has decided to return back to Washington State University and concentrate on his studies
▪ Although he’s not currently listed on the roster, Richland High grad Cody Sanderson “will be able to play this year if we play. (We) just haven’t put Sanderson on the roster yet.”
▪ Perhaps the biggest coup is having Richland High grad Garrett Streufert on the Hawks roster. Streufert spent his freshman season last year playing for Walla Walla Community College, where the 6-7 forward averaged 6.5 points, 6.7 rebounds (No. 1 on the team), and 3.0 assists (No. 2) in 27 starts for the 13-16 Warriors.
Owens said because of COVID-19, Streufert wanted to be closer to home, and WWCC AD and men’s basketball coach Jeff Reinland gave Streufert his release.
College football
Chiawana linebacker Cameron Breier, who signed to play football for the Air Force Academy, recently told Todd Milles of Scorebook Live Washington that he has signed with his dream school.
“This may sound crazy,” he said, “but I would’ve taken that offer over any other school in the country.”
Hockey
▪ Tri-City Americans forward Sasha Mutala is in training camp this week with the Colorado Eagles, the AHL affiliate for the NHL’s Colorado Avalanche.
Mutala, who was selected in the fifth round of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft by the Avs, is still eligible to play for the Americans when they start their Western Hockey League season.
The 6-foot, 200-pounder, has played parts of the last three seasons with Tri-City, and in 2019-20 he scored 28 goals and 39 assists in 62 games for the Americans.
▪ Former Tri-City American Jesse Mychan was named the ECHL Player of the Month for December. Mychan, a left winger for the Allen (Texas) Americans, scored five goals and an assist in six games during December, which was the ECHL’s opening month.
▪ Through games of Jan. 24, Mychan has played in 12 games for Allen, scoring 7 goals and 2 assists.
Mychan played for the Tri-City Americans in 2011-12, participating in 78 goals, scoring 26 goals and 28 assists.