Sports
6A — THE OBSERVER
SaTuRday, JunE 13, 2020
LABEL
6A
Saturday, June 13, 2020
The Observer
MERA continues biking competitions
By Ronald Bond
The Observer
LA GRANDE — Last month,
cyclists took part in a socially
distanced, month-long mountain
bike race around three trails at
Mt. Emily Recreation Area near
La Grande.
“I would say wildly successful
is pretty accurate by La Grande
standards,” Blue Mountain Sin-
gletrack Club member Elijah
Romer said. “Our Strava club is
up to 61 members. We got a ton
of positive feedback.”
The BMSTC is carrying the
competitions into the summer —
four weekly challenges for club
members to determine the king
and queen of the mountain when
it comes to downhill racing, as
well as a daunting challenge.
Beginning June 20 and run-
ning to the end of the month, the
Everest Challenge is an effort to
climb the same amount of eleva-
tion as the highest mountain in
the world, 29,029 feet.
Romer pitched the idea to the
club after seeing a similar chal-
lenge described on Strava, a
cycling app that tracks rides.
“I can’t take full credit for
it. The Strava app will do push
stories embedded in your feed.
Somewhere in the middle of May
I saw two guys had done one at
their ski resort.”
Romer is among at least
three individuals who are going
to try the task in a day, which
could mean biking up MERA
anywhere from 10-15 times,
depending on their starting point.
“You go through the ebbs
and flows of ‘This is the stupid
things I’ve every done’ and
(feeling) euphoric,” he said of the
challenge.
The club is opening the chal-
lenge for 11 days and gives
examples on its website of how
to break up the task into multiple
sections. The challenge, which
also will have prizes, is being
used to bring awareness for a
“pump track” BMSTC is trying
to bring to La Grande and has a
Go Fund Me page set up for.
This summer BMSTC also is
doing a “SoloDuro” competition,
which on its website is called “an
opportunity for BMSTC mem-
bers to compete against each
other for best time on a prede-
termined point to point downhill
course on MERA.”
According to the website,
there will be a total of four
courses or stages throughout
the month of June — one each
week. Weekly prizes are avail-
able to the winner of each stage
at the end of a week for that
stage’s “KOM” and “QOM,” and
the overall king and queen will
be determined at the end of the
month.
The SoloDuro courses all have
an elevation drop from start to
finish. The first week’s course
went down 778 feet in eleva-
tion from start to finish over
3.25 miles, and Week 2’s, which
concludes Sunday, has a drop
of 1,869 feet over 6 miles. The
Week 3 stage will be announced
as the previous stage wraps up,
and Week 4’s announcement will
follow.
A SoloXC contest also is
taking place on a weekly basis
for riders who don’t want to
do only a downhill ride. Both
courses have about the same
increase and decrease in ele-
vation in their duration, and
random prizes are available for
club members who complete
them.
“I’ve seen a few people
attempting the downhill that you
can tell by their times it’s not
their thing, but they’re trying
something new,” Romer said.
NAIA outlines plan for upcoming fall season
By Ronald Bond
The Observer
LA GRANDE — The
National Association of Inter-
collegiate Athletics has out-
lined what the Fall 2020
sports season could look like.
The NAIA’s Council
of Presidents last week
approved recommendations
for their collegiate sports,
one that gives a tentative
start date for matches, a prac-
tice plan and the number of
games that a team could play.
All fall sports are still
currently on the table, as is
a postseason late in the fall.
Under the plan, soccer, golf,
volleyball and cross country
would begin their seasons as
early as Sept. 5, and football
would start a week later. The
timeframe would give foot-
ball four weeks of practice
from an Aug. 15 first-prac-
tice date, and the other sports
three weeks.
The number of contests
will be lessened, however.
Teams can have a maximum
total of nine football games,
seven cross country meets, 14
soccer matches and 22 game
days for volleyball.
A threshold system will
trigger the start of each indi-
vidual sport’s season.
“The threshold goal is for
about half the participating
institutions in each sport to
receive clearance from local
authorities to return to com-
petition before the season can
begin,” according to a letter
from the NAIA announcing
Observer file photo
Observer file photo
Eastern Oregon University receiver Josh Mendoza, right,
tries to get around a College of Idaho defender during a
game last season. The NAIA has put forward a proposal for
the 2020 fall sports season that gives practice and game start
dates, and possibly a shortened seasons for fall teams.
the plan.
The example stated in the
letter notes there are 95 NAIA
schools that have football.
The NAIA would OK the
start of the football season,
then, when 47 of the schools
can proceed with football, the
letter states.
At Eastern Oregon Uni-
versity, there is a sense of
cautious optimism among
coaches in the reality that the
NAIA is working out a plan
to get the season started, even
if it is shorter and starts a bit
late.
“Obviously games are
better than no games,” EOU
women’s soccer head coach
Jacob Plocher said. “I can’t
complain too much in that
regard.”
One coach who surely isn’t
complaining about the pro-
posed format is cross county
head coach Ben Welch. His
teams traditionally have
not competed in even the
seven races annually that are
allowed as part of the adjusted
schedule, and weren’t going to
start practice until Aug. 31.
“The max has typically
been eight, but we normally
do four and occasionally five,”
Welch said. “They dropped it
back to seven but that doesn’t
affect us.”
Women’s soccer and vol-
leyball will be harder hit, and
perhaps volleyball the worst
of the two. Volleyball coach
Kaki McLean-Morehead
Eastern Oregon University
volleyball player Jet Taylor,
right, attempts a kill during
a match against Walla Wal-
la last season. The NAIA
has put forward a proposal
for the 2020 fall sports sea-
son that gives practice and
game start dates, and pos-
sibly a shortened seasons
for fall teams.
typically takes her teams to
two or three preseason tour-
naments. But with 22 game
dates and now 12 volleyball
programs in the Cascade Col-
legiate Conference with Lew-
is-Clark State College joining
this fall, those 22 days will be
filled with 22 CCC battles.
“I am disappointed that
I don’t get a preseason.
It’s going to be tough,”
McLean-Morehead said.
“Having eight new (players)
and not being able to play a
preseason, I think it’s going to
be a factor.”
Plocher will run into a
similar problem, with just two
preseason dates available for
matchups the women’s soccer
team traditionally uses for
junior college tuneups before
entering CCC play.
Both teams do have
two scrimmage/exhibi-
tion dates they could use.
Plocher figures to use his, but
McLean-Morehead said the
volleyball team won’t.
Football also will have
some rescheduling to do.
EOU’s first two games of the
season were before that cutoff
date of Sept. 12, and that day
actually is slated as a bye on
the current schedule.
Interactions with the
teams are another issue
coaches are facing. When
the NAIA announced this
plan, it also forbade practices
until the first day of practice
in mid-August, though con-
ditioning sessions still are
allowed.
Plocher said for the soccer
team, that could mean having
conditioning and then leaving
the players to have an “open
field” session afterward.
“We (also) have summer
packets they are encouraged
to do anyway,” he said.
How McLean-Morehead’s
team comes in Aug. 15 may
depend on how much indi-
vidual or even group work
they are able to do at home,
and that depends on a play-
er’s location. She noted a
trio of players in Idaho have
been able to be in open gyms
already, but players such as
her starting setter, Madison
Pilon, who is from Wash-
ington, haven’t.
She hoped to have a week-
long session in June with the
team, but isn’t too concerned
about not being able to.
“Not having that is not
necessarily a huge hindrance,
but it would have been a leg
up, especially for the newer
kids,” McLean-Morehead
said.
Welch traditionally gives
his incoming cross country
athletes a 12-week workout
plan for the summer in the
lead-up to fall practice and
did so again this year. His
worry isn’t so much about the
process leading up to the start
of practice and the season.
It’s if there will be enough
teams for a season.
“That’s a bigger concern
than the other changes, to be
honest. There are 200 schools
roughly in the NAIA that do
cross country,” he said. “We
need 100 of them to go for-
ward (with the season).”
He also is concerned about
where Oregon could be come
August when the season
would begin and if the team
can indeed proceed.
McLean-Morehead and
Plocher both were posi-
tive about the changes of the
season kicking off.
“Like anything, we don’t
know. It’s wait and see,”
Plocher said, “(but) I feel
pretty confident we’ll have a
season.”
EOU football coach Tim
Camp and men’s soccer coach
Jessy Watson did not return
calls for comment.
Portland Trail Blazers founder Harry Glickman dead at 96
Associated Press
PORTLAND — Harry
Glickman, the founder of the
Portland Trail Blazers and
general manager of the fran-
chise’s only NBA title-win-
ning team in 1977, died
Wednesday. He was 96.
The team announced
Glickman’s death; no cause
was given. In their tweet,
the Trail Blazers described
Glickman as: “The father of
professional sports in Oregon,
a true Trail Blazer.”
Portland was granted an
expansion franchise in 1970.
Glickman was part of the
original ownership team,
along with Herman Sar-
kowsky, Larry Weinberg
and Robert Schmertz, that
paid the league’s $3.7 million
expansion fee, according to
the team’s website. Glickman
was one of the shareholders
who sold the club to Paul
Allen in 1988.
Glickman held a number
of positions with the team,
including general manager,
before he retired in 1994.
He then became president
emeritus.
Under Glickman, the Trail
Blazers reached the NBA
Finals three times, winning
their lone title in 1977. Port-
land also won the Western
Conference championship in
1990 and 1992.
“Harry Glickman laid the
foundation and established
the benchmark
for small-market
success in the
NBA,” said Neil
Olshey, the pres-
ident of basket-
Glickman
ball operations
for the Blazers.
“He was the driving force
that set the stage for the 1977
NBA championship, a sem-
inal moment that elevated
Portland and allowed it to join
the elite of professional sports
franchises.”
Also while under
Glickman, the Trail Blazers
set an American sports record
with 814 consecutive home
sellouts, a feat later surpassed
by the Boston Red Sox.
“The Trail Blazers have
long been the beneficiary of
Harry’s vision, generosity, and
inspiration,” said Jody Allen,
chair of the Trail Blazers. “As
the team’s founder and first
general manager, his lead-
ership was instrumental in
igniting our city’s pride and
passion for sports. ... He will
be missed by many.”
Glickman was born and
grew up in south Portland. He
graduated from the Univer-
sity of Oregon in 1948 with
a degree in journalism. After
college, he served three years
in the U.S. Army and saw
action in the European the-
ater with the 12th Armored
Division. He was awarded a
Bronze Star.
Glickman founded the
Portland Buckaroos hockey
team in 1960. In 12 seasons
with him as co-owner and
president, the team won three
titles.
“Harry was the defini-
tion of a true Trail Blazer,”
said Chris McGowan, pres-
ident and CEO of the Trail
Blazers and Rose Quarter.
“Through his dedication and
persistence, Harry not only
created a successful sports
franchise in a small western
market, but has united hun-
dreds of thousands of people
around the world through a
shared love of basketball.”
Glickman is survived by
his wife, Joanne, son Mar-
shall, daughters Jennifer and
Lynn, two grandsons, and a
granddaughter.
Grande Ronde Hospital and Clinics proudly welcomes:
Tracey Tracy, MD
To the GRH Regional Medical Clinic team as a Primary Care Provider (PCP)
Tracey Tracy, MD, joins the GRH Regional Medical Clinic primary care team from a family
medicine clinic in Clackamas, Oregon. She attended medical school at Oregon Health & Sciences
University in Portland, and completed her residency with Providence Milwaukie Family
Medicine. Dr. Tracy welcomes patients of all ages and gender identities from infants to seniors,
and enjoys taking care of multi-generational families. Her goal is to partner with each patient to
achieve optimal management of their chronic health conditions and focus on preventive
medicine. In her free time, you'll find Dr. Tracy outdoors. She loves cycling,
hiking, golfing, snowshoeing, travel, and exercises daily as well. She spent
her childhood in eastern Oregon, then lived in Europe and in the Midwest.
After spending over 20 years in the Portland metro area, Dr. Tracy is
excited to be back on the sunnier and drier side of the state. Join us in
welcoming Dr. Tracy to the Grande Ronde Valley!
GRH Regional Medical Clinic
Tracey Tracy, MD
506 4th Street, La Grande • 541.663.3138 • grh.org/RMC/
Now accepting new patients!
Learn more about Tracy in our online
Provider Directory at www.grh.org today!