Tri-Cities stadium lights will shine Friday in honor of Class of 2020 seniors

From a sports perspective, it’s hard not to feel for those high school seniors who were planning on playing a spring sport during their final months of school.

And because COVID-19 forced all high schools to shut down in-person classes, that also means those spring sports are done for the year.

Last week, some schools around the Northwest honored all spring athletes — and especially seniors — by turning on the football stadium lights at 8:20 p.m.

That’s 20:20 military time — in honor of the 2020 graduates.

And the lights were on for 20 minutes and 20 seconds.

It’s called the Be The Light Movement.

On April 10, it happened at Hermiston High School, where there was a steady stream of cars passing, with all of the drivers honking their horns.

Columbia-Burbank High School did the same. And as an added bonus, the local fire department had a truck there with the ladder raised high and an American Flag at the top — just like Friday nights in the fall.

Now the majority of Tri-City area schools are doing it Friday, April 17.

At 8:20 p.m., the stadium lights will come on, and then go off at 8:40.

Here’s who’s doing what:

• Chiawana will honor its athletes at the high school with its stadium lights going on. The school asks if you’re in the neighborhood to drive by and honk.
• Hanford High will have its football field lights turned on at the school’s campus.
• Both Kamiakin and Kennewick will celebrate at Lampson Stadium. The Kennewick School District reminds everyone that this is not a live event to attend, “but rather a way to recognize our senior athletes of 2020.” But if you’re driving by on Garfield, please honk.
• Pasco High will have Edgar Brown Stadium’s lights turned on, and the school asks if you’re driving by on Sylvester, honk.
• Richland High will celebrate with the Fran Rish Stadium lights turned on.
• All head coaches at Southridge asked its school officials if they could have the stadium lights on the Southridge campus turned on, and the officials agreed.
• River View High School in Finley will have its lights turned on to honor its seniors.
• And Tri-Cities Prep in Pasco is getting creative. Although Prep has no lighted fields, athletic director Dan Whitsett is asking parents to arrive by 7:30 p.m. and get lined up with their car headlights on.

Then, athletes, students and fans can drive through campus and honk their horns.

All of this isn’t much consolation to a senior who is not only missing his or her spring sport season, but also the prom and possibly graduation ceremonies.

But it’s a chance to show those kids that we all can empathize with them in this situation.

Notes

• Chiawana senior defender Nasyra Gibson announced on Twitter this week that she’ll be playing this fall for the Walla Walla Community College women’s soccer team.

• Got an email from O’Dea High School head football coach Monte Kohler on Tuesday afternoon.

He was responding to my request for some responses to questions I had about Nick Baker, his assistant of the past four seasons who was hired last week to be Hanford’s head football coach.

“Nick worked hard, has a great understanding of the game, and has been a tremendous help,” Kohler said. “We will miss him.”

Asked what Kohler likes about Baker, the coaching legend responded, “He is a good person and has a good football mind. He was respected by his players. If he didn’t know something, he would ask. He was hungry to learn.”

• Spokane Hoopfest organizers have pushed back the annual event to Aug. 22-23 because of the coronavirus. The original dates were June 26-27. Hoopfest is the largest 3-on-3 basketball tournament in the country, and a large number of Mid-Columbians compete in the event.

• Kamiakin track and field said this week that senior Derek Fischer is headed to Western Washington University next year.

Fischer had the fastest boys 100 meters time in the Mid-Columbia Conference last year at 11.02 seconds. He was also part of the fastest MCC 4x100 boys relay team that clocked in at 42.92 seconds.

Finally, Fischer had the third-best triple jump leap in the MCC last year at 42 feet, 11 inches.

• Senior Rian Clear of Walla Walla announced last week she has signed a letter of intent to play women’s basketball this coming winter for St. Martin’s University. Clear was the No. 2 scorer in the MCC girls basketball race this past winter, averaging 21.5 points a game in her only season at Wa-Hi.

She had transferred from Pullman High after her junior season.

• Scorebook Live Washington announced its first-team, all-state high school baseball team recently, and two Tri-Citians are on the team.

Tri-Cities Prep senior pitcher Logan Mercado, who has signed a letter of intent to pitch for the University of Oregon, made the team.

So did Chiawana senior Riley Cissne, who was the MCC Most Valuable Player in 2019 as a catcher for the Riverhawks.

Ironically, Cissne was named to the all-state team as an outfielder.

Cissne told the Herald last week that he was leaning toward playing both football and baseball at Whitworth University next season. But he hasn’t yet decided for sure.

• Blue Mountain Community College’s Carsten Manderbach (Hanford) has signed to play at Eastern Oregon University for baseball next spring.

Manderbach, a sophomore infielder, was leading the 7-5 Timberwolves in a number of offensive categories when the season ended early. He was hitting a team-best .378 (17 for 45), with four doubles, two triples and 12 RBIs.

Manderbach should be just one of a number of area players who sign with EOU, which is reviving its baseball program after the LaGrande school dropped the program 13 years ago.

Teammate Kyle Starcher (Kamiakin), a sophomore, has signed a letter of intent to play next year at Friends University in Wichita, Kan.

• Three members of the Columbia Basin College women’s golf team is moving on this fall to four-year schools.

Mahala LaForge, a sophomore from Pomeroy, will play this fall for the College of Idaho.

Abby Ostrander, a freshman from Richland, is headed to Corban Universoty this fall; and Grace Wilbur, a sophomore from Kamiakin, has signed a letter of intent to play this fall at Lewis-Clark State College.

• Two local athletes who played women’s soccer for Blue Mountain Community College in Pendleton have signed to play at four-year schools this fall.

Hermiston grad Alex Anteau will be playing for Multnomah University, and Irrigon grad Olivia Luna Castellanos is headed to Presentation College.