UHS Football-Austin Beiren

UMATILLA
Memory of lost twin lives with athlete
Bieren struggles to keep intensity from flaring into temper

By MATT ENTRUP
The East Oregonian

Mention Austin Bieren to players and coaches that have faced him on the playing field and the response is bound to be less than glowing.

That's because the Umatilla senior has built his reputation on the football field and basketball court with a relentless drive and a short fuse.

But to the people that know him the best, Bieren is much more than just another talented player with a wild temper.

To truly understand what fuels Bieren, one must know the tragedy he carries with him every day.

It's one Bieren finds difficult to talk about, and rightfully so.

Three years ago, in early summer between his eighth grade and freshman year, Bieren lost the most important person in his life.

While swimming with some friends in an area of the Umatilla River called Chinaman's Hole, Bieren's identical twin brother Thomas dove into the water and didn't resurface.

According to Umatilla Fire Chief Mike Roxbury, it was unclear whether Thomas was pulled down by the undertow or hit his head on a rock, but he did not break the surface of the water until reaching the exit of the swimming hole.

Thomas was pulled to shore by some bystanders but it was too late for paramedics to revive him.

"It was just tough, it's hard to explain. It was the worst thing ever," said a visibly emotional Bieren. "He was so close to me, he was my best friend. We played all the sports together. We used to play football, basketball, baseball together. We made each other better. But I don't have that anymore."

"It has been really rough because they were inseparable," said Bieren's mother, Tracy Finck. "It's not like they didn't have other friends but they didn't really have any other kids they hung out with. They were everything to each other."

The events of that day continue to haunt Bieren, but also give him the drive that has made him a standout and team captain for the Vikings football and basketball teams - though his desire to play basketball is rooted firmly in honoring his brother.

"I've considered not playing basketball sometimes but I know he'd be mad if I didn't play," Bieren said.

The 6-foot 190-pound middle linebacker and fullback has never returned to Chinaman's Hole, but wearing his brother's No. 12 and a black sticker on his helmet with he initials "TB", Thomas is never far from Austin's mind.

"Every football game I play, I play for him," he said. "I want to play my best to honor his memory. I don't want to be somebody who's not really recognized, I want to be recognized. I play for him and I give it my all."

Sometimes Bieren's "all" leads to the incidents that have given him the reputation as a poor sport.

His temper has been a constant struggle for Bieren, a struggle his coaches are understanding of.

"I couldn't imagine being a twin and having that part of my life disappear and still being able to survive," said Umatilla football head coach Kelly Allen. "I would say that it's really put a chip on his shoulder, as far as his life.

"A lot of people have seen Austin in the negative light. He gets technical fouls in basketball, he gets personal fouls in football. He plays with a lot of emotion, plays with a lot of passion. If he harnessed that and he could just focus then I think he could be the complete player."

Bieren is not far off from becoming that complete player. He already has the statistics to warrant consideration from colleges. As a junior Bieren had 146 tackles (56 solo) and averaged 13.3 per game. This season Bieren is averaging 101 yards a game rushing (6.73 per carry, 303 total yards) and has six touchdowns. On defense he has 50 tackles (35 solo)?and is averaging 16.7 per game. He also has two sacks.

Since he was a freshman, Bieren also has made considerable headway in his attempt to control his emotions on the field.

"He is learning to control his anger in everything," Finck said. "We used to tell him to use his anger in the games. He would use it on the floor but he would be mean. Now it's not intentionally."

"He is so close, and he's working with it," Allen said. "The Austin of today is tenfold what Austin was two years ago when I showed up. He was insecure, liked to get angry at the littlest thing. But he's not the same kid and I think he's slowly learning to deal with it."

Sports and family have been the two biggest influences in helping Bieren work through his personal tragedy.

Finck said his older sister Brianne, 20, was a huge help in that first year when Bieren was a freshman at Umatilla High.

Brianne was a senior and often a stabilizing force in the young teenager's topsy-turvy world.

"People would look at him wrong and he'd want to beat them up," Finck said of hallway encounters that year.

"It was a big part, we were always there for each other," Bieren said of Brianne, adding his mom played a huge role as well. "I know I didn't talk to anybody after it happened but my mom came to me and talked to me a lot. I couldn't talk to anybody."

Finck said taking Bieren to counselors seemed to have little impact on the boy's temper.

But with added maturity and time, Bieren has developed a calmer side.

Allen, who came to Umatilla to coach football when Bieren was a sophomore, has seen it firsthand.

"He can be a little turkey sometimes, he absolutely can. But I think a lot of kids can,"?he said. "I know that he's a very caring kid. I have a little three-year-old and I bring him (to the school) a lot and Austin's always kind of the guy talking to him, teasing him. In a good way, playful."

Another person that has had a big impact on Bieren during his high school career is Roxbury, who was on the scene the day of the accident and also serves as the Umatilla football team's athletic trainer.

"Those two, I've seen them talk and Mike talks to Austin and Austin responds," Allen said. "There's a bond between those two because he knows Mike did everything he could to try and save his brother, I do know that."

It's something Roxbury has not always been sure of.

"Because we weren't able to save him, I worried for a long time he might in some way blame me," Roxbury said.

Roxbury, like so many in the small river community, still feels the effects of that day at Chinaman's Hole.

"Every time you see Austin you see Thomas," Roxbury said. "I'd kind of like to forget about it but I don't think I ever will. It's been a long time and just talking about it today is making me relive it and that's something I'd like to do without."

One way members of the Umatilla football team have made sure they don't forget are those little black "TB" stickers.

"Once a couple kids saw that I had those they wanted them," Allen said. "It was like gold, these little stickers."

Allen said he thought he'd given all of them out prior to this season, but when going though an old box found one more sheet.

"Well I didn't say anything about it, I just kept it in the packaging," he said. "I noticed a couple of the kids had the "TB" sticker on the back of their helmet and I opened it up the other day and about eight of those stickers were gone."

Just like that last sheet of "TB" stickers that seemingly appeared out of nowhere in an old box, Bieren got another unexpected reminder of his brother this football season.

One of the colleges that has contacted him is the Air Force Academy. Bieren did not let on how significant that occurrence was, but Finck said it was "huge."

"That was his and Thomas' plan," she said. "They talked about going into the service together and travelling and seeing the world."

At the rate Bieren is going this season, he may get the chance to see that dream realized.