Four Mounties Earn Athlete of the Week Honors
By Garrett Christensen on Tuesday, February 21st, 2023 in More Top Stories Northeastern Oregon News
LA GRANDE – (Release from Eastern Oregon University) Eastern Oregon University had four athletes earn Cascade Collegiate Conference Rize Laboratory Player of the Week honors for their performance over the last week. Winning the award was Maggie Ledbetter, Phillip Malatare, Israel Miles, and Hunter Nichols.
EOU Track and Field led the way with three members of the team earning the award. The Mounties swept the men’s side with Hunter Nichols earning Track Athlete of the Week and Israel Miles earning Field Athlete of the Week.
Nichols, a senior runner from Heppner, Ore., was all over the track posting a strong weekend while competing in four separate events at the EOU NAIA Last Chance Invite. Highlights came in the 4×800 meter relay (7:53.74) and the 1,000 meter run (2:31.27) where he posted two “A” standards winning each event. Nichols also finished first in the 4×800 meter relay with a time of 3:34.93.
Miles, a redshirt junior from Oregon City, Ore. competed in the Heptathlon at the EOU NAIA Last Chance Invite. He posted a season-high score of 4,732 points, received an “A” standard, and won the event.
On the women’s side it was Maggie Ledbetter who won Field Athlete of the Week for her impressive performances in the throws. Ledbetter, a graduate student thrower from Cove, Ore., finished out the indoor regular season with her strongest performance of the year at the EOU Last Chance Invite. She got two “A” standards and won in the Shot Put (14.06m) and the Weight Throw (16.76m). Both marks were facility records at the new EOU Field House.
Phillip Malatare was the only Mountie not on the track and field team to win the award. Malatare, a senior guard from Arlee, Mont., closed out the season with another big weekend, helping his team secure two more wins. He averaged 20.5 points, 5 assists, and 4.5 rebounds while shooting over 70% from the field and beyond the arc. Malatare also scored his 1,000 point as a Mountaineer on Friday evening.
Eastern Oregon Indoor Track and Field wrapped up the regular season and now awaits the Indoor National Championships held in Brookings, South Dakota at the beginning of March. Malatare and the men’s basketball team are also entering postseason action kicking off CCC Tournament play this evening (Feb. 21) in Quinn Coliseum with a quarterfinal matchup against Oregon Tech. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m.
