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Greg Kovach is an athletic enthusiast and artist who runs a local business entitled The Sign Factory which provides many services, including computer numerical control machining, making custom signs, restoring classic cars, air brushing and concrete work. He is the artist who created UCC’s new rock wall, located on the track. Kovach is locally best known for his concrete sculpting work which often resembles objects from the natural world. Kovach is a student of an array of visual arts. He works with countless materials, paints canvasses of contemporary street art and has tailored highly detailed Halloween costumes. Kovach frequents gym training classes and also enjoysRead More →

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RiverHawks wrestling went to Pacific University to compete at the Mike Clock Open on the weekend of Nov. 11 and 12. Twenty-six teams from community colleges and universities in British Columbia, Idaho, Washington and Oregon battled it out on the mats to try and win in their weight classes. Most wrestling matches during the tournament seemed to either win with a pin in the first minute or took longer than the three hour car trip from Roseburg to the Portland area tournament. Could that be that I did not see all the good matches when there, or was that because of the vast difference inRead More →

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The Umpqua Community College men’s basketball program hosted an alumni game on Saturday, Nov. 11 in Roseburg for the 50th anniversary of the program. UCC men’s basketball started in 1967 and has proven to be a successful basketball program on the court as well as helping students continue to be successful. UCC won their first championship during the 1971-72 season in the OCCAA Tournament, a runner-up finish during the 1988-89 season, and have since won four Southern Region championships with multiple appearances in the Final Four during the Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges (NWAACC) Tournaments in years past. UCC finished third in the FinalRead More →

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   UCC’s athletic programs are engaged in multiple fundraising activities to help support team expenses. The wrestling department is running a donation campaign through eTeamSponsor.    At this point, the UCC men’s wrestling eTeamSponsor pages have raised $5,112 and say that donations “will contribute towards expenses required for travel, team gear, wrestling room and competition equipment.”    UCC men’s basketball eTeamSponsor pages have raised $5,180 in total.    UCC women’s basketball eTeamSponsor pages have raised $12,300.    Combined, all three sports have raised $22,592 at time of printing with Athletic Director Craig Jackson raising $11,381 of that total to date.    Donations can be givenRead More →

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    The Umpqua Community College men’s wrestling team won their first dual meet at Lassen Community College in the Lassen Invitational Wrestling Tournament in Susanville, California, where they traveled for their season opener.    The RiverHawks were missing wrestlers in their first three weight classes 125, 133, and 141 respectively, including multi-sport athlete Grant Laiblin, who could not participate because he was competing in the cross country NWAC Southern Region Championships.    The RiverHawk men started the 2017-18 season in Susanville wrestling against Eastern Oregon University. Unlike other sports at UCC belonging to the Northwest Athletic Conference, UCC’s wrestling programs participate in the NationalRead More →

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What a year it’s been for sports at Umpqua Community College. UCC hired new Athletic Director Craig Jackson in July 2016 and UCC Athletics is about to become more diverse and exciting than ever. Since Jackson’s hiring, UCC has added three new sports programs: cross country, obstacle course racing, and wrestling. “The addition of our new sports is exciting because it provides opportunities for many Douglas County residents to stay at home and go to college while also participating in athletics” Jackson said. “Recruiting is going well and next year should be very exciting.” If the addition of more sports programs wasn’t exciting enough, UCC’sRead More →

kyle temple

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When your role model is one of the top 50 winningest high school coaches of all time, and when that role model honors you with a scholarship, you want to make that man proud as you follow in his legacy. New UCC wrestling coach Kyle Temple, a graduate of Sweet Home High School, is following Norm Davis, his role model, in his career decision to build a legacy. Davis was a wrestling coach at Sweet Home High School for 30 years. After those 30 years, Davis was honored in 1997 by the National Wrestling Hall of Fame with their Lifetime Service to Wrestling award forRead More →

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UCC will soon boast the first obstacle course racing team in U.S. community college history, a sport that can be viewed as one of the most challenging and difficult. Obstacle course racing is comparable to military training. Practice doesn’t necessarily mean working on specific skills like shooting or ball handling in other sports, but instead, athletes train the entire body to prepare for any obstacle. Those include climbing cargo nets, crawling under barbed wire, crawling through PVC pipes, running a quarter mile while carrying a cinder block and more. The most common analogy to OCR is American Ninja Warrior. Although OCR is a taxing andRead More →

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The year is 1989. The United States’ women’s wrestling team is competing for the first time at the world championships in Switzerland. Asia DeWeese, UCC’s new wrestling coach, is there earning what she calls “my greatest achievement.” “I was part of the first women’s national team that went to world championships,” DeWeese says.  In a time when “USA wrestling didn’t want us” and when their team “didn’t get any money,” she and her teammates were competing against the odds. In spite of the odds, coach DeWeese won second at the 1989 world championships, her biggest wrestling accolade. DeWeese wasn’t always respected, however. When she wasRead More →

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Life must be easy being a college athlete. Student athletes have all the friends, they receive all the glory and attention from playing a great game and some might have better relationships with professors because they’re athletes. They go to school for free because of their scholarships — at least that’s the stereotype. And, the stereotype is that student athletes get away with whatever they want. They don’t have to dedicate themselves to anything except their individual sport; they avoid all the responsibility. Contrary to this ridiculous stereotype, the truth is that it takes an incredibly dedicated and motivated person to be a college athlete.Read More →

men basketball

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The UCC men’s basketball team lost a closely contested game against the Chemeketa Storm 81-78 Wednesday, March 1 in Roseburg, Oregon. Although the Riverhawks couldn’t get the win against the Storm, UCC finished the season well enough to earn a share of the Southern Region Championship and an opportunity to play against the Bellevue Bulldogs in the NWAC Tournament in Washington. “I told the guys in the locker room that I’m very proud of this team and their effort,” head coach Daniel Leeworthy said. “I think we’ve got a team that’s built for a big run in the playoffs,” Leeworthy continued. “I told the guysRead More →

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The Umpqua Community College Riverhawks weathered the storm Wednesday, March 1 in Roseburg, by defeating the Chemeketa Storm 84-45. With the victory, UCC finished their season with a 27-2 record overall and claimed a perfect 16-0 regional record for the first time under head coach Dave Stricklin. UCC will now gear their attention towards Treasure Valley, as the Riverhawks will play against the Chukars in their first matchup in the Northwest Athletic Conference Tournament.   “The women have experienced a special season up to this point,” UCC Athletic Director Craig Jackson said. “To finish Southern Region play with a perfect record for the first timeRead More →

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Staff share their March Madness picks March Madness. This college basketball regular season has had no shortage of surprises. There has been six different number one ranked teams this year. Competition throughout the country has been balanced, and no team can automatically be looked at and indisputably say they’re the best in the country. But this is it. The NCAA Tournament. Where game winning shots and shocking upsets are seen almost daily. This is when the madness truly begins. Players work so hard to have a chance for this moment. When back sides get tired and palms get sweaty, which team is going to gutRead More →