1-6-09: Mountaineer magic begins at the top

Eastern Oregon University women’s basketball coach Anji Weissenfluh has led many great teams in the past.

This season, she may be proving herself as one of the nation’s most elite coaches and making an early statement for conference coach of the year.

In a season that was supposed to be for rebuilding, the Mountaineers sit one game out of first place in conference play through the first four league games.

Last Friday night Eastern Oregon made another step closer to an unprecedented sixth straight conference title.

“It has been a priviledge to work with Anji,” EOU assistant coach Jami Huntsman said. “She not only has a lot of respect from her players but other coaches. She gives the players not only a great experience on the court, but a great college experience.”

Weissenfluh has molded a young and inexperienced group of players into league contenders over the past two months and now has them believing.

This year’s Mountaineers have only three players back from a team that finished in the nation’s sweet 16 last season.

Weissenfluh works teams out of potential crisises better than MacGuyver.

Last season, EOU lost its starting point guard and back-up point guard during the season, before making that incredible postseason run.

This season she lost her leading scorer to disciplinary reasons and played last Friday’s first half win without two starters and the team’s leading three-point threat.

“I’ll be honest, our success this season is a bit of a surprise,” Eastern’s lone senior Salena Leavitt said. “Coming into this season we didn’t know what to expect with nine new girls.”

Leavitt has been a part of the Mountaineers magical ride over the past four seasons. EOU has amassed a record of 94-28 over her career at EOU.

“It’s been a great career here,” Leavitt said. “Anji has been a great coach. I feel like this season has been our best relationship so far. She is intense, she wants to win and she makes us want to win.”

Not to downplay anything the Eastern Oregon men’s basketball team has done, but with all the notoriety they get, the women deserve just as much if not more.

“I think one thing that sets her aside from any other coach is how hard she works at it,” Eastern men’s basketball coach Ryan Looney said. “Coaching is no different than any other profession out there, the harder you work at it the better you will be.

“I don’t think there is any pressure when the women do well that we have to. Sometimes there is pressure perceived. But, I think if you ask Coach Weissenfluh, I think us as coaches put more pressure on ourselves than anybody else does.”

The record simply speaks for itself, five straight conference championships and six of the last seven.

The Mountaineers have a 120-31 record over the past five seasons winning at least 14 conference games and 20 overall games each season.

The Dec. 12 loss at Southern Oregon was only the 14th conference loss over the last five years for Eastern.

Weissenfluh has the most wins as a head coach in the programs’ history with 170 wins.

“I’ve had the opportunity to work with Anji now for eight years,” EOU athletic director Rob Cashell said. “It is a pleasure to work with her. She is a great coach who really cares about the kids.

“She gets the most out of every kid. She focuses in on their academics and on the court does not just make great players, but makes great team players.”

One of the most important keys to Weissenfluh’s success has been her eye for talent. She and her staff find the area’s best recruits.

“The truth is I was not going to play my sophomore year,” EOU junior transfer Tana Stickney said. “But, my coach told me Coach Weissenfluh was interested in me, and because of that I continued playing.”

Weissenfluh has coached many All-Conference players and one All-American.

“I loved playing for Anji,” former Eastern standout and All-Conference player Tiffanie Ulmer said. “She does a good job of enforcing that academics are the most important thing.

“I admit coming from a junior college to here, my junior college classes were much easier but my GPA was far higher here.”

In her nine seasons of coaching, Weissenfluh has had 10 NAIA Academic All-Americans.

Under her reign, the Mountaineers have been involved with many community outreach projects including the 12-hour drug free relay, Fire and Safety fair and Shelter from the Storm.

She was named the first softball coach at EOU and led the Mountaineers to fourth and fifth national rankings in 1999 and 2000.

During her 11 seasons of coaching softball she was named conference coach of the year five times.

In a time where money can sometimes seem more valuable than philanthropy, Weissenfluh continues to stay in La Grande.

Sports fans know all too well about coaching changes, whether it’s after a positive or negative season.

The community is fortunate to have a winner on and off the court stable in La Grande.