The 13th annual Matt Hartner Memorial (MHM) Volleyball Classic went off without a hitch for Day One of the tournament on Saturday, but due to road conditions event organizers canceled days two and three of the tournament.
The MHM was held at three sites, including the Bob Keefer Center in Springfield, and was scheduled to host 264 teams and more than 1,200 matches.
Area athletes competed mostly for two club teams, Webfoot and Game Day. The Webfoot 18-Elite team – with players like Creswell’s Lizabelle Osborn and Pleasant Hill’s Claire Crawford, Cheyenne Green, Ruby Jackson, and Emily Krauss – went 3-0 on Saturday, beating two Washington teams and one Idaho team.
Game Day’s 18-Brittanie team – with Springfield’s Sofia Yow and Emily Waddell on the roster – went 2-1 on Saturday as well, beating two Pacific Northwest teams and losing to a Washington club.
Roseburg football might join Class 5A
■ Springfield and Thurston could have a new opponent in football next season. Last week, the OSAA football ad hoc committee, in conjunction with Roseburg High School, proposed that Roseburg football move to Class 5A, at least for the 2024 season.
Roseburg has won only 12% of its Class 6A games during the past two seasons, meaning it meets the OSAA’s play-down criteria, which states a football program must have an in-classification winning percentage of 22% or less during a two-year period.
The proposal lands Roseburg in the Midwestern League with SHS and THS, and the committee will meet again later this month to discuss any feedback on the initial proposal.
Thurston adding girls football, boys volleyball
■ Thurston announced in early December that girls flag football and boys volleyball are coming this spring. Boys volleyball was sanctioned as the first “emerging sport,” meaning there is a chance for the sport to be officially sanctioned if 50 schools field teams this season.
Girls flag football has been on OSAA’s radar as another growing sport. The Colts join Creswell in adding a boys volleyball team for our area, and are the first school to announce a girls flag football team.
Class 5A state hoops location change
■ The Oregon School Activities Association (OSAA) announced that this year’s Class 5A state basketball tournaments will be at Linfield University in McMinnville. The state tournament, which is scheduled March 7-9, has been at OSU’s Gill Coliseum since 2015, except for ’20 and ’21 due to Covid.
OSU men’s basketball had a conflict with the dates as the Beavers will host Utah on March 7 and Colorado on March 9.
