509J Newsroom

Join us as we celebrate the outstanding athletes, teams, and contributors who have left a lasting legacy at Madras High School. The Athletic Hall of Fame Class of 2026 will be honored on Friday, January 30, held at halftime of the varsity girls basketball game, with the formal induction ceremony immediately following the game.

MHS is officially inducting seven inductees. Those inductees are:

• Merlin Rodman

• Darrell Ceciliani

• Fran Moses Ahern

• Dave Randle

• Steve Rogers

• Dallas Stovall

• 1970 Boys Basketball Team

We encourage alumni, families, students, and community members to pack the gym and help us recognize these incredible individuals and team for their achievements and contributions to White Buffalo athletics.

January 30

Madras High School

Following the varsity girls basketball game

Learn more about the inductees here.

We are thrilled to announce Bailey Daniels as the next head coach for softball at Madras High School. Daniels spent her first year with the team last season serving as an assistant coach and head JV coach, and she is currently serving as a 6th grade PE and Health teacher for JCMS. She’ll be taking over the program following Shawna McConnell’s retirement. This will be the first new head coach for the program in 17 seasons. 

“She taught me a lot about the community and about the history of the program,” Daniels said. “I was very lucky to work under her and learn from her in my one year as a JV coach. I would give her a huge shout out and thank her for dedicating so many years to the team. That was amazing.” 

Daniels has been playing softball just about as long as she remembers. She’s loved the sport from the time she first picked up a glove around 8 years old. She grew up in Southern Oregon, calling Roseburg home. The years playing travel and high school ball there shaped her into who she became as an athlete, and as a person. 

“My coaches had a tremendous impact on me, not just in developing my skills, but in building my confidence, work ethic, and love for competitiveness,” she said.

Game after game, Daniels built a strong foundation in softball  that carried her into college athletics, where she competed as a Division I collegiate rower for Oregon State. 

“The discipline, teamwork, and resilience I learned on the softball field absolutely helped me succeed at that level,” she said.

She is thrilled to coach the young athletes that make up this program. She sees it as an opportunity for herself to give back and give these girls the same positive experience she had as a player. 

The countdown to Spring is on for Daniels already. She  is excited to watch these athletes learn, grow and gain confidence in themselves. Both as student athletes and young people. 

“I’m looking forward to bringing fresh ideas, a competitive mindset, and a clear vision for what Madras softball can become,” she said. 

Daniels takes over a program that struggled last season. They finished last in the Tri-Valley and had a run differential of -194. Her main goal for 2026 is to approach the year with a fresh, competitive mindset. Emphasis on competitive. 

“I want us to step onto the field ready to challenge ourselves and compete strongly within our league,” she said. “Establishing that confidence and grit early will set the tone for the program moving forward.” 

Another important goal for Daniels is to strengthen the program overall. This includes fundraising efforts, improving team facilities, and increasing involvement in the community through volunteer work. 

Lastly, she wants to continue the tradition of the Spring Break Lady Buff Classic tournament MHS has hosted the past couple of years. She sees this as a great opportunity to bring teams and families together and showcase what MHS Softball has to offer for the season. 

When she isn’t coaching or teaching, you can catch Daniels on the river in her driftboat fly fishing, or in the marsh waterfowl hunting, or spending her time camping in the woods. 

We are thrilled to announce Mario Mendoza as the next Head Coach for Track & Field at Madras High School. Mendoza has been a fixture around the program for the past several years serving as a volunteer assistant coach. He’ll be taking over the program following Mike Dove’s retirement. 

“I feel super blessed,” Mendoza said. “Mike was always very open to me helping out and being a part of the team. “I feel very lucky in regards to having learned from him but I also feel like he’s brought the team to such a good place. Both with other coaches and with athletes and with the organization.” 

Mendoza’s love for running started in high school, while attending Coast Union High School in San Luis Obispo County, California. He found himself sidelined from the soccer team after sustaining an injury. With soccer out of reach, he jogged around his school’s dirt track. 

“It was a fun way to rehab and heal from the injury,” he said. 

That injury changed the trajectory of his life though. Running quietly grabbed hold and never let go. His love for running led him to competing in track and field and cross country at first in high school and then in college.  

Mendoza attended UC Davis before transferring to St. Mary’s College of California in the bay area. 

“That was when I really started to do better,” he said. “I got my own rhythm, learned myself, and, ended up breaking a bunch of school records there, finished 4th at the West Coast Conference for division one, which was a pretty big and hard division to compete in. So, that’s where the running started to take off.” 

This stretch of running in college, finding his rhythm, learning his body and how to prepare for competition, did more than fill a record board. It built the foundation for what was to come, a successful professional trail running career that took him around the world. He took his love for running on pavement and around an oval to running singletrack trails in the mountains. 

“Since I was a kid, even when I wasn’t a runner, I loved exploring. I just loved being in the mountains. I love being in nature. What ended up happening is that as soon as I started dabbling more with trail running, like just got on the trails and in the mountains, I just completely fell in love with it.”

Three different companies signed Mendoza to their racing team throughout his career. The first was Nike Trail, then Skechers, and his last eight years have been with Brooks running. Throughout his career, he’s competed in more than 100 trail races ranging in distance from 10 to 100 miles. He capped his prolific career off with an exclamation point, winning his final race, Ultramarathon Guatemala 100k, in November. Now the next chapter of running will be leading the White Buffaloes Track & Field team.

“It’s exciting for me to now be able to jump in more,” he said. “I feel very connected to the team and I’ve seen the team just steadily kind of grow and steadily do better in competition. I’m excited just to bring a lot of knowledge that I have in terms of what it takes to succeed and what it takes to get to another level.”

He is ready to hit the ground running and has his eyes set on his goals for the 2026 season.

“My first goal is always that we become better people and better athletes,” he said. “We can win districts and we can take the whole team to state so I have a goal of that. I know that with patience and trust and discipline, I just think there’s a lot of talent in this team and in the coaches, and I think a lot of cool stuff can happen.”

Outside of coaching and competing, Mendoza prioritizes spending time outdoors with his family. Whether that be camping, fishing, or hiking with his wife, Jade, and two boys, Jair and Ezekiel.