As the year comes to a finale many Wallowa County parents, students and residents look for answers about what the future may bring. Many schools in our corner of the world and across our nation have experienced more and more budget cuts and declining enrollment this year. We can look to the positive to help us through these tough times. Hopefully these glimpses at the past year will help us all to reflect on a brighter future for our schools and the sports that help mold individualism and confidence in our youth.

January

The Joseph Eagles headed into the Wapiti League season boasting a 10-1 pre-season mark after taking the first place trophy at the Dayville Tournament. The Eagles dominated the games behind the scoring of Dollan Stroup, Cole Lathrop and Marcus Wells, outgunning their opponents Dayville and Crane by a total point margin of 135-75.

Enterprise’s boys basketball squad took second place honors at the Oregon Trail Classic in Pendleton. The Red and Black won an exciting overtime thriller out scoring Santiam 10-2 in the overtime victory. Enterprise was defeated by Heppner 58-32 in the second round. Tim Gilbert was high point man over the two games with 21 total points.

Culver dominated the Jo-Hi Wrestling Tournament scoring 269.5 team points. Enterprise finished third with 143 followed by Joseph in seventh with 78. Wallowa County wrestlers Austin Himes 125 and Joe Osborn 152 from Enterprise and JHS grappler Joel Lewis 215 stood on top of the winners’ podium for first place gold.

Joseph defeated EHS 86-49 in boys basketball action at Joseph. Tyler Nall and Marcus Wells led the Eagles with 18 points each in the contest. Tim Gilbert and Grady Rawls had solid performances for EHS with 15 and 12 points respectively.

The EHS girls basketball team downs Wallowa 58-49 and holds a 6-0 record in league plus a number five ranking in state.

February

The Joseph boys basketball squad moved up in the state rankings to the number three spot. The EHS girls move to fourth in state.

The Wallowa Coug-gals upset state ranked EHS 51-46 in an overtime thriller. Wallowa’s balanced scoring was led by Holli Barton with 12 points.

The Nyssa Bulldogs cruised through the Wapiti League dual wrestling championships at Enterprise, defeating Elgin 60-16, Joseph 50-12 and EHS 51-25 in the finals.

The EHS girls down Nyssa 73-40 and Union 45-39 building a 11-1 Wapiti League standing.

Joseph wins a hard fought contest behind a 30 point shooting performance by Marcus Wells over the Wallowa Cougars 75-56.

Enterprise and Joseph sent eight wrestlers to the sate competition in Portland. EHS’s Austin Himes, Jimmie Van Belle, James Nash, Joe Osborn and Jake McCleary and Joseph’s Ryan Barstad, Pat Lynn and Joel Lewis represent the county.

The Enterprise girls win the Wapiti Leagues title with a 55-36 win over Imbler and win an automatic berth into the state tournament.

March

Joseph boys coach Ron Lathrop was named Coach of the Year and senior Marcus Wells MVP at the district tourney in La Grande.

Enterprise center Ashley Anderson also receives Wapiti League MVP honors and is chosen as a first team all star at the district tournament.

EHS wrestler Joe Osborn won the state title at 152 pounds with a 12-6 victory over Jeff Hamon of Gervais. The win gave Osborn a 36-2 win/loss record for the season.

The 25-1 Joseph boys were upset by Regis 59-50 in the first round of the 2A state championships. Wapiti League MVP Marcus Wells led Joseph’s scoring with 16 points.

EHS girls basketball coach Mike Crawford was named Coach of the Year in the Wapiti League. The Enterprise girls finished their season with a seventh place finish at state, winning two of four games. The EHS squad won games against Amity 59-40 and Harrisburg 68-58 while falling to Santiam 52-46 and Knappa 68-41 in the consolation round.

EHS wrestling coach Dan Moody and Todd and Greg Blanchard were inducted into the Enterprise wrestling Boosters Hall of Fame.

EHS senior basketball standout Ashley Anderson receives a full ride, $110,000 scholarship to Gonzaga University in Spokane, Wa. Anderson averaged 13.0 points per game in her senior season, 12.4 rebounds per game, 2.3 blocked shots per outing and 3.3 assists.

Joseph’s baseball team opens the season defeating Umatilla 14-1 and 16-2.

EHS senior Kyle Crawford and JHS senior Joel Lewis were selected to play in the 2002 East West Shrine game in Baker City.

April

Snowboarder Kerri Gleasman, 13, of Joseph finishes fourth in the boarder cross event at the National Snow boarding Championships at Mammoth Lakes Ski Area in California.

Enterprise boys and girls golfers finish second and third respectively at the Small Schools Invitational at Echo. Cory Siebe led EHS’s boys with a a 78 for 18 holes. Kayla Miller led Enterprise’s girls with a 102 for 18.

The Eagles baseball team wins their home opener against Weston-McEwen 6-4 .

Joseph’s track team dominates the Jo-Hi Invitational meet winning ten of 17 events on their way to 152 points. JHS pole vaulter Eric Butterfield toppled JHS grad Mark Bales 1977 record of 12′ 8″ by clearing the bar at 12′ 9 1/2″.

Joseph senior Dollan Stroup threw a five inning no hitter against Elgin as the high flying Eagles won a double header over the Huskies 10-0 and 14-8.

May

Wallowa’s boys track team won first place at the Elgin Twilight Meet edging out Joseph 119 to 114. Wallowa’s girls squad finished in second place with 113 points behind first place finisher Elgin with 123 points.

Enterprise senior Cory Seibe shot a 70 to earn medalist honors at the Enterprise Invitational. The La Grande boys team won the event with a combined score of 305. EHS finished second three strokes off the pace with a 308.

Enterprise golfers finished 26 strokes off of the lead to place fourth at the state championships behind Santiam Christian. Kyle Crawford and Cory Siebe finished the tournament in sixth and seventh place respectively with two day totals of 161 and 162.

Marcus Wells grabbed the state title in the javelin for Joseph tossing the spike 176′ 3″. The JHS senior outdistanced Brandon Marr’s throw of 171′ 6″of Santiam Christian for the title.

June

Nine year old Cole Sajonia of Joseph was invited to play at the US Kids Junior World Golf Championships held in Colonial Williamsburg, Va. in August.

The Enterprise Education Foundation’s first Swing for the Arts golf tournament raised $1250 to go toward the Enterprise School Districts arts program.

EHS grad Clint Ables competed in his first Pro-Am golf tournament finishing 17th overall and eighth in the amateur division at the Oregon Open Golf Tournament held at the Mallard Creek Country Club in Lebanon.

July

Brother and sister duo Jarrett and Tausha Kuzmic of Knappa, Idaho ran away from the competition at the 21st Annual Lostine River Run. Jarrett won for the second year in a row posting a winning time of 36.05. His time was :16 seconds faster than the previous year. Tausha led the women’s 10K field for the entire event with a winning time of 39:28 a full : 52 seconds over her previous year’s time.

Lance Holman of Rockaway Beach shot a six under par 138 setting a new tournament record at the 41st Annual Elks Invitational Golf Tournament. The previous mark of four under par 140 was set by Greg Corn from Walla Walla, Wa. in 1992.

Russ Ruonavaara from Joseph and his partner Jody Marcum from Enterprise won the Sole Survivor portion of the tournament. The duo won on a 23′ putt by Ruonavaara.

August

Tony Currin of Dayton , Wash. walked away with the Harley Tucker Memorial Award Series plaque and $1450 for the second time after receiving the honor previously in 1996 at the 57th Annual Chief Joseph Days Rodeo. The 2002 All Around Cowboy honors went to Cash Meyers of Athens, Texas.

WHS junior Lynique Oveson along with 15 other athletes from Oregon and Washington traveled to the Gold Coast of Australia to compete in their respective events as part of the Park Royal Down Under International Games. The Wallowa teen placed fourth in the 2000 meters, eighth in the 800 meters and third in the javelin with a toss of 108′ for her only medal of the games.

September

Wallowa distance runner Hayley Oveson and Nick Johnson took first place honors at the Wallowa Invitational cross country meet. Oveson won her race in 19:17 in front of Ashley Sharratt from Union with a time of 19:35. Johnson crossed the finish line at the 16:40 mark defeating Enterprise’s Austin Himes finish of 17:20.

October

Oveson and Johnson finished in the top spots at the Jo-Hi Invitational cross country meet posting times of 18:57 and 21:32 respectively. EHS runner Michael Swart finished second in the boys race with a time of 19:13.

Enterprise junior Michael Swart captured the boys individual title at the Umatilla Invitational with a time of 18:17.

Wallowa’s volleyball team dominated their competition during the season, clinching first place in the Old Oregon League with a record of 18-1.

Hayley Oveson continued to dominate the girls cross country scene by capturing the individual title at district with a time of 19:21. The Coug-gals team finished second at the competition behind first place Union.

Enterprise’s boys cross country squad captured first place at district led by Austin Himes. The EHS senior finished the course in 17: 20.

EHS and Joseph went head to head in their cross county football dual with Enterprise coming out on top 23-21 by a Tim Gilbert field goal in the fourth quarter.

November

Hayley Oveson and the EHS boys cross country team returned from the state cross country meet with second place trophies to their credit. Oveson was just :14 seconds off of the course record finishing the race in 19:31. Austin Himes , Chris Lozier and Michael Swart were the top three EHS finishers placing in the number 16,17 and 19 spots.

Cove and Powder Valley defeat the Coug-gals at the district volleyball championships.

Wallowa County hunter Mike Zollman bagged a seven point bull elk on opening morning of elk season in the Imnaha Unit.

Joseph electrician Ray Hickman bench pressed 429.9 pounds at the Thermalink World Benchpress and Deadlift Competition held in Reno, Nev. The lift earned Hickman the world title in the 165 pound division.

December

Gardner and Willie Locke of rural Joseph submit a three part series on the Eagle Cap Ski Club and the ski run at Ferguson Ridge.

With only eight wrestlers on their team, the Enterprise grapplers took second place in the 11 team Enterprise kickoff tournament won by Clarkston. Enterprise, led by weight class champions Andy Wallace, Austin Himes and Jimmy Van Belle, placed four of their eight wrestlers in the finals and had three others scoring team points in consolation matches.

Basketball season opened with the Enterprise girls and boys splitting two games at the Ione tournament and Wallowa’s boys and girls losing road games at Pine-Eagle and Weston-McEwen. Joseph’s boys, led by 25 points from Cole Lathrop, upended Riverside 70-58 while the Joseph girls lost 59-45.

Randy Spaur scored 39 points to lead Wallowa past Ione 67-36 in the Pioneer Bank Invitational in Enterprise. The Enterprise boys and Wallowa girls won the tournament.

Grady Rawls of Enterprise was named tournament MVP.

Jimmy Van Belle won the 189 lb. weight class in the Mulenburg Invitational in La Grande which attracted schools out of Boise and Portland.

Joseph wrestlers placed four grapplers on the winners podium and Enterprise two at the Northeast Oregon Classic wrestling tournament. The tournament drew nine schools and was won by Pine-Eagle. Weight class winners for Joseph were Pat Lynn, Thane Shetler, Randall Eschler and Aaron White. Winners for Enterprise were Austin Himes and Jimmy Van Belle.