Sports Memory Lane 112924

A look back at Yamhill County sports

10 years ago

n Sanity in McMinnville athletics has been restored this winter.

Newberg is back on the schedule.

Outside of a championship in a volleyball tournament, the Grizzlies and Tigers have not tangled in OSAA-sanctioned athletic competition since the body split the schools up. Prep basketball season has arrived just in time. Call it a tip-off classic, if you must, as the Tigers return to The Furnace on Wednesday to play the Grizzlies in Class 6A nonleague play. “I think they’re our rival and I think it’s good that we play them,” McMinnville boys coach Willie Graham said.

“A lot of kids know the players on the team,” girls coach Sean Coste said. “They’ve seen these kids a lot in their youth.”

n The Linfield College NCAA Division III football playoff win, 31-28 over Mary Hardin-Baylor was a second half shootout that wasn’t decided until the final Wildcat first down. The last Linfield possession was made possible by a Jordan Giza interception on the Wildcat 9-yard line as the Crusaders were a play away from taking the lead.

25 years ago

n When the Salem Masters 50-and-over softball team needed a left fielder, it didn’t have to look any farther than the farm fields of Dayton. That’s where 50-year-old farmer Dwight Ediger plies his trade when he’s not mowing ‘em down on the basepaths.

Ediger was asked to join a group of mostly Salem residents to compete in the Huntsman World Senior Games ibn St. George, Utah. Ediger is the oldest player on his regular team, in the Salem City League. He’s the youngest player on the Masters team. Ediger hit .450 for the tournament and legged out a three-run homerun in an 8-06 win over San Luis Obispo.

n Amity running back Justin Hubbard gained 223 yards and tallied three touchdowns to lead No. 4-ranked Amity to a 53-6 blowout over unranked Nyssa in the opening semifinal game in the Class 2A state football playoffs.

Amity was plowing its way through the West Valley League this season, proudly carrying the No. 1 ranking in Class 2A football when it ran into a wall named Dayton in week six. The Pirates mission was simple – reclaim their dominance in the league and state, avenging a 6-0 loss by Amity on its march to the 1998 state championship. And they did that, inflicting a 35-14 licking.

Now the two teams are set to play the rubber match for the 1999 title, Saturday in Hillsboro.

50 years ago

n The McMinnville Parks and Recreation department is considering opening a midweek cross-country skiing program with qualified leadership for ladies interested in breaking away on Thursdays for a day’s outing. This program would be geared for the non-skiing person who may or may not have previous experience on down hill or cross-country skis. If sufficient interest is demonstrated, the program would take place on the Mt. Hood slopes.

n Jenny Wiser, junior at McMinnville High School, recently was elected State President of the Girls’ Athletic Association (GAA). A delegation of five Mac High students and advisor, Margrett Kopf, attended the GAA state convention held in Klamath Falls.

Miss Kopf was one of five teachers to organize GAA in Oregon. “It was hard getting it started, but we worked hard going to school board meetings and advisory councils. To distinguish it from the Womens Recreation Association, we called it the Girls Athletic Association, but we used the wrong term. It isn’t athletics we want to be stressed, but recreation. Jenny is going to try to get schools involved in GAA again by emphasizing the recreation aspect.”