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Fifteen Years of Motivation
Fifteen Years of Motivation
Students work hard for Eric Hisaw, Walla Walla High’s Big 9 Track and Field Coach of the Year.
Written by Lisa Cummins
W
hen the Columbia Basin Big 9 track coaches voted to award the 2010 Big 9 Track and Field Coach of the Year, Walla Walla High School’s Eric Hisaw earned the honor. For his part, Hisaw saw the award as one that he would have liked to share with others. “I wish it was a staff award instead of an individual award because it’s a reflection of the staff and the students,” he said.
Football and track have been in the coach’s life since his freshman year of high school. He used to be a student, helping his team members in any way he could to make sure they reached their goal of being the best. He has now been standing on the sideline, coaching and giving inspiring words of encouragement to his students for the past 15 years.
He graduated from the University of Idaho where he majored in Physical Education and minored in Spanish. He now teaches and coaches, just like his parents did. “I always knew I wanted to teach,” Hisaw said. “The kids are great and I want to influence other people’s lives just as my parents did.”
His past coaches were truly inspirational in his eyes. He thanks his high school football coach Tom Oswald, his college track coach Mike Keller, his college quarterback coach Greg Olson, and his college head football coach John L. Smith for teaching him so much about life and giving him the desire to help others in his coaching career.
Hisaw displays his knowledge and love for sports out on the track. The Walla Walla High School track team has had a great run the last ten to twelve years with the girls receiving no less than third place in recent years. Hisaw is hoping to win titles on both sides this year. “We are reloaded and ready to go chase down that Big 9 league title for both boys and girls teams this year,” Hisaw said.
Some of the promising track members for this upcoming season are senior hurdler Kyle Jameson, junior long-jumper Jonah Hoe, junior thrower Logan Reardon, and senior distance runner John Paul Wolpert.
“I think he is an excellent coach. Kids work hard for him because they trust him and trust the program he has set up for them,” Jonah Hoe said. “I like having him as a coach because he is an energetic, positive role model who will build you as an athlete but also as a person.”
This is his eleventh year as head track and field coach and first year as head football coach. Though the Wa-Hi football team didn’t have a stellar season this year, he describes the team’s effort as incredible. “We made a lot of strides this year and had a lot of bridges to cross,” Hisaw said. “They had zero problems working together, and they got better throughout the year due to their hard work and trust in one another.” This year’s football team had more fun playing together than in previous years. They got along better and learned they needed that family bond to be successful.
Coach Hisaw runs a training camp set up on the Wa-Hi campus to help students stay in shape between sports. He opens the weight room up to anyone and everyone for an hour after school, four days a week. He says right now they have between 12 and 25 students attending, but he’s hoping a lot more will take advantage of the opportunity.
He started out as a football player and track member but has come a long way and is now an admirable physical education teacher, football coach and track coach. He likes making a positive impact on people’s lives as well as seeing confidence grow in his students. He is a truly inspirational coach.
Fever win Again - Move to 5-0
The Fever win again. See photos of the game here.
First ever marriage proposal during half-time of Fever game.
The Flagrant Foul Fiasco
The Flagrant Foul Fiasco
Under national condemnation, the small community of Connell is forced to protect its native son and its reputation.
Written by Ryan e Rowe
“Sports play a societal role in engendering jingoist and chauvinistic attitudes. They are designed to organize a community to be committed to their gladiators,” Noam Chomsky once famously said.
In the matter of the flagrant foul fiasco, of Connell High School basketball fame, Chomsky appears to be a prophet of sorts.
More than 6.5 million viewings of wazzumichael’s YouTube video have demonized Cole Vanderbilt (#34) and everyone associated with him. Comments target Vanderbilt, the team, Coach Garza, and all of Connell, WA, as a clan of roughnecks, blind to violence. These days Connell fights an uphill battle of saving face, while at the same time attempting to shelter Vanderbilt from publicized societal and athletic condemnation. In the end, Connell may realize that the two actions cannot coexist.
Connell’s local newspaper has encouraged the community to commit to its gladiators. Katherine Bingham of the Franklin County Graphic, based out of Connell, quotes local bystanders Jamie Utecht and Daniel Purkeypyle, both Connell High School graduates, in the article “Lessons to be learned as video thrusts North Franklin into viral world.” No matter how unaffiliated to the high school basketball team, the bystanders’ comments position the viral video as an issue to be dealt with by the entire community, rather than one for the high school administration alone.
In comparison, the Tri-City Herald seems to maintain some distance from the fiasco by quoting only superintendents and athletic directors in Craig Craker’s article, “Basketball video first goes viral, then national.” Thus Connell and its newspaper find themselves in the position of being left alone to face the millions of disputers and rabble-rousers who have banded together, demanding that the coaches and administration—or anyone at all—take action regarding the hostile on-court behavior demonstrated against Highland High School’s basketball team.
Fifteen minutes of fame would seem like a dream come true to any small town athlete who ever hoped to become a household name, if featured in clips of poised play and acclaimed victories. But with wazzumichael’s video and its five minutes and 17 seconds of smash-mouth game play—of a kind seen more often on a football field than a basketball court—Cole Vanderbilt has instead become a target of instantaneous hatred.
According to comments attached to the video, anyone or anything remotely associated with Vanderbilt’s performance is criticized, from “the coaches and parents” by ginarossify, to pointing out his use of “Doc Martens” on the basketball court by quisqueya100. However, most notable in these trending comments is how Vanderbilt’s actions are used to label his character. For instance, olywa1978 shared this opinion: “I can just tell that #34 is one of those jock bullies that think they’re big and bad and feed their own egos and ‘cool point’ collection by picking on smaller, weaker kids. Somebody needs to completely destroy that kid!”
A majority of the viewers who commented on the video used the debacle as an opportunity to describe Vanderbilt as the epitome of a bully, encouraging other readers to “bring him down” on behalf of all bully victims. One went so far as to create a Facebook page dedicated to distributing his personal information—including his cell phone and his family’s home phone numbers—resulting in hate mail and death threats.
In cyberspace, this is the modern equivalent of grabbing the torches and pitchforks, and the small community of Connell faces the daunting task of protecting its infamous basketball player from the outside world.
No matter the stance, every function of media seems to fuel the rabble-rousing. Attention to the flagrant foul fiasco reached its pinnacle when the video clip aired on CNN, with ESPN’s LZ Granderson nationally embarrassing Vanderbilt and the high school he represents by saying that Vanderbilt was “physically trying to intimidate and bully, not just be physical with the player.”
Although the fiasco seems to be on its last leg of attention, the high school administration’s sheltering of the student-athlete from discipline and its hiding behind a wall of silence has left the community of Connell with a repugnant scar.
In the absence of any public disciplinary action, Connell is perceived as an enabler of bullying, and its image has not been helped by the basketball coach’s characterization of Vanderbilt as a “teddy bear,” which has itself been met with scorn.
From this experience, we see the kinds of battles small communities face when forced into the limelight, and we see how easily coverage of sports gives birth to public controversy. All the world is a stage, especially in a spectator sport like basketball. It is now an era when every trespass can be captured and exposed and every person held accountable for his or her actions.
The Connell community has been put to the test, and hopefully can rebuild its reputation with the ethics and fair play it knows its “gladiators” are capable of performing.
The Will to Win
The Will to Win
Richland’s Coach Jacobs has high expectations for his baseball team.
Written by Stephen Johnston
A
s I waited in the office, students hurried to and from classrooms. Baseball season was quietly coming around the corner as it seems to do every year. The Super Bowl has ended and thoughts of sports drift to springtime, specifically baseball.
I had not waited very long when Ben Jacobs came to greet me, and it was a very interesting visit. The excitement surrounding the coming baseball season was easy to pick up on. This year certainly holds exciting prospects for the Richland club. Not only will they have a chance to snatch another title, but the big game will be played at GESA Stadium in Pasco.
“It would be a disappointment to not reach the final four at least,” says Jacobs. One could see why by looking at this team. Although Richland has lost quite a few players, they still command a respectable group of seniors. Victor Weitz, Corey Morris, Dilan Klute, Conner Moore, Dalton Johnson and Tyler Fuller will all lead this year’s club. Not to mention, they have a recent history of success in the tournament.
Last year they finished third. The year before last they finished second and the year before that they finished first. They also won it all at Safeco Field in 2007 (pictures proudly displayed in the coach’s office covering almost every inch of the walls). There is no doubt that the seniors would love to go out on top. “GESA Stadium is no Safeco, but it would be special to play at home,” says Klute.
Overall, this culminates into five straight final fours for the ball club. However, repeating this success will not be easy. Jacobs is aware of the target on their backs. Similar to any sport where one team has dominated the landscape, the opponents (and the media) put you on a pedestal. “Walla Walla celebrated for around 10 minutes after they beat us last year,” recalls Jacobs, who was also quick to point them out as one of their biggest rivals. Don’t worry, Davis and Wenatchee, Jacobs remembers you as well, although he holds much respect for these clubs. Klute added Kamiakin to that list. It is never easy to repeat success despite the preparation put in or how good a team looks on paper.
Still, there is a quiet confidence about this team. Speaking with both Jacobs and senior starter Dilan Klute (OF/1B/pitcher) resulted in more or less the same attitude (team chemistry evidently solid). I pressed Jacobs to name an MVP of the team and he could not, hinting that everyone must hold their own on the team. “Newcomers have to play like seniors,” said Jacobs. Klute was a little bolder saying, “Critics say we won’t be as good as last year—don’t underestimate us,” but he did admit there is some pressure to reach their goals given all their recent success. However, I got the impression from both that Corey Morris would have a big impact on the team’s success this year (Morris’s name came up more than a few times during the visit).
Klute is looking for a big year as well. His personal goals for the season include winning the state title, having a good personal season, and maintaining team chemistry. Klute hinted that team chemistry was a problem last year that was quietly corrected behind the scenes. However, he did mention that “we are a lot closer than previous years.” I got the impression he wanted to move on from that and focus on the season. Fortunately, he has a good backing with his teammates and Corey Morris, whom he has known since he was nine years old. “Morris is the natural leader of the team. If you were ever around practice you would see Morris makes it fun and brings the team together,” says Klute.
Whether or not all of this camaraderie and team chemistry will lead to wins remains to be seen. The good news for Richland is that they have as good a chance as ever to claim another title this season. They still maintain a strong core of upperclassmen, and Jacobs has bestowed a winning mindset on the team. Spring training starts at the end of February.
Fever win Home Opener 70-44
The Tri-City Fever win their first game of the season. The Fever crushed Everett 70-44.
See more photos here.
State Gymnastics Champion
Southridge freshman Kiya Bjorge is the first girl from the Tri-Cities to take the all-around state title.
Written by Heidi Fryer
Few people have the chance to make history in their lives, and rarely before they are even old enough to drive. Kiya Bjorge, a freshman at Southridge High School in Kennewick, WA, became the first female gymnast from Tri-Cities to capture the all-around title at the 3A state gymnastics championships on Feb. 17–18. The only other gymnast from Tri-Cities to do this was male—her club coach, Brett Garland, in 1978. “We could start a club,” jokes Garland. It would be an exclusive club, to say the least.
Bjorge’s road to the state title began when she was two years old. “I was taking dance in the upstairs room of the [gymnastics] gym, and I looked down and said, ‘I want to do that.’” The 15-year-old has now competed in gymnastics for three different area clubs, plus Southridge High School, and is currently a Level 9 at Garland’s Gymnastics. All this club experience means is that she is used to stressful situations. “[At state], I wasn’t really that nervous. I’ve been in big meets before, so I just relaxed and had fun.” This attitude proved to be successful, as Bjorge also won the floor and vault, and placed third on beam and fifth on bars.
For the past four months, Bjorge has been juggling club and school practices, which combine to keep her in the gym more than 30 hours each week. As a freshman, she is taking a fully loaded honors schedule, and finished first semester with a 3.6 GPA. “She’s a really hard worker,” says her mom, Heather Bjorge, who is also the Southridge assistant gymnastics coach and teaches her daughter in honors algebra. “Her grades are really important to her.”
Balancing grades and practices was not easy for Bjorge, but she enjoyed competing with a new group of athletes and making friends with her high school teammates. “The team really came together,” Bjorge says, which is evident in their increasing team scores. This year the Southridge gymnasts improved each week, ending the season with their highest team score (148.65) in over seven years at the regional championships in Spokane.
What’s next for the youngest star of the team? “I want to compete in college and maybe get a scholarship,” says Bjorge. As for this year, her high school season may be over, but she is just beginning her club season, which will culminate with Western Nationals in Boise in May. “I love it,” Bjorge says of the sport. “My teammates are like my family, and it’s cool to do big tricks that other people can’t do.”
Connell’s Record-Breaking Running Back Started Out "scrawny"
Matt Hadley’s phenomenal career started with his work ethic and a willingness to learn.
Written by Scott Forsyth
I first met Matt Hadley at the tail end of his freshman year. Having no connections with the football team at that time, I was asked by an assistant coach to come down to the high school and help out with the after-school lifting program. I’ve always wanted to give back in this regard, as I was taught in my youth by a phenomenal lifting coach and an incredible person named Dean Moore, of Richland, WA (a local legend). He was my track and field coach in high school and the man who taught me Olympic lifting. He threw for WSU, and both his sons threw in college (WSU and University of Arizona). If not for him I would never have learned the skills that I teach at Connell High School and to him I owe great gratitude.
So when I first met Matt it was at the high school weight room. I took the offer to help out at the high school and was introduced to him that day. He was 15 years old and relatively scrawny. I had heard so much about his older brother Spencer, who received a scholarship to play football at BYU, that I was anticipating a mighty specimen, but mighty he was not—at least at first appearance.
I had him set up a bar for cleans and I observed his form. When I coach lifting I will typically have the athlete do the lift with little instruction so I can see his strengths and weaknesses then correct them from there. After he performed the first set I told him his form was not good, not good at all; in fact, it was terrible. I proceeded to show him the basic principles of a proper clean and had him do it again, and he did much better. He was a freakishly quick learner and, for someone so young, was highly adept at making his body do complex movements based on verbal instruction alone. I knew right then that I was working with someone very special.
Years later Matt told me that he hated me after our first meeting. I can understand why. I don’t sugarcoat anything when it comes to lifting. If your form is bad I will let you know. That’s how I was taught. My coach demanded good form and I demanded it too. Funny thing is I remember going home that night and talking to my wife about this new student, how I thought he was the real deal, how quickly he learned. He reminded me a lot of myself and I was excited to give him the knowledge that I’d been given.
So what did he accomplish in three years? His cleans went from 155 (four sets of 4-6 reps) to 285 (four sets of 4-6 reps) and a max of over 315; his bench from 165 (four sets of 4-6 reps) to 265 (four sets of 4-6 reps) and a max over 300. He became bigger, faster and stronger. But it wasn’t easy. We are talking about a kid who in the summertime would come to the gym and perform a rigorous workout, such as cleans, clean pulls, snatch, shoulder press, shrugs and abdominals—all to failure. After the lifting was done he could often be seen carrying 135 pounds for 100 yards, followed by a dead sprint of 100 yards, done ten times, for a total of 2,000 yards (signifying the rushing yards he would work to achieve during the football season). After his workout he would go home, change his clothes, and put in an eight to ten-hour day on his family’s dairy farm (wrestling calfs, dehorning, putting up fence, etc.) It was not easy.
Now Matt’s success was not due to his genetics alone. Although he had elite talent, it was not what drove him to be one of, if not the greatest, running backs in the history of the state of Washington. It was his work ethic that drove him to success. Never have I seen a kid who can flat out do work like Matt can. As a coach it is inspiring: Put on more weight, run faster, jump higher, be quicker. He would give me everything he had. He wanted to be the best that he could be. It was his dream to play at BYU alongside his older brother, and there was nothing that would stop him from achieving that.
I still remember the first game I coached Matt. It was the first game I had ever coached. We were getting ready to play Othello and it was obvious that Matt was nervous. A lot was on his shoulders. Being the younger brother of a star athlete put a target on this young man’s chest and he was feeling it. As he was fielding punts in pre-game, I remember telling him to be confident, in fact the words I used were “quiet confidence.” I explained to him that he was ready for this, that he needed to be confident, to internalize everything and put his best effort on the field. That he did. He had an interception and several touchdowns that game, very admirable for a sophomore.
That quiet confidence would grow game by game until at year’s end he had put up 32 total touchdowns, earned, with his team, a state championship, and garnered himself 1A player of the year honors.
Now we all know the rest of the story: 124 career touchdowns, 746 career points, 50 touchdowns in a season (all state records), and a phenomenal career. I know if that were me I would let everyone know about it. I would have my own t-shirt, hat, etc., showing off my accomplishments. But that ain’t Matt. He is the first to tell you that he couldn’t have done it without his teammates. He gives credit to everyone but himself. And I guess that is what this kid is all about. He is a genuinely good human being. He is, in my opinion, the total package. BYU is fortunate to have him.