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TUESDAY, AUGUST 24, 2021
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Oregon, OSU to require vaccination proof to attend games
The Associated Press
EUGENE — Oregon and
Oregon State became the fi rst Power
Five schools to announce they will
require proof of vaccination or a
negative COVID-19 test for people
over the age of 12 to attend football
games.
In its announcement Friday,
Aug. 20, Oregon said the decision
was made with public health author-
ities and “peer institutions in the
state.”
The mandate went into eff ect
Aug. 23 and came at the end of a
week when state offi cials warned
of rapidly fi lling hospitals as daily
reported cases reached record
numbers.
Oregon is one of several Pac-12
schools that is requiring students
and employees to be vaccinated or
apply for an exemption.
The Oregon football team opens
its season at 54,000-seat Autzen
Stadium in Eugene on Sept. 4
against Fresno State. Oregon State
begins its home schedule at Reser
Stadium on Sept. 11 against Hawaii.
Earlier in the day, Hawaii
became the fi rst major college foot-
ball school to say it would have no
fans in attendance for its opening
sports events of the season because
of a recent COVID-19 surge.
Hawaii’s fi rst home football game
is Sept. 5 against Portland State.
The moves come about a week
after Tulane in New Orleans became
the fi rst school that plays football at
the NCAA”s highest subdivision to
require proof of vaccine or negative
test to attend sporting events.
Tulane’s decision followed a
mandate set by city offi cials that
also impacts the NFL’s Saints, but
schools officials said they were
moving toward instituting the
policy on their own.
NEW, RETURNING BUCKS CONVERGE
ON THE MORROW COUNTY RODEO
The 99th annual rodeo
brought record-breaking
crowds to the competition
By NICK ROSENBERGER
East Oregonian
HEPPNER — It was anyone’s game at the
Morrow County Rodeo on Saturday, Aug. 21,
in Heppner. The day brought dozens of rodeo
newcomers and old-timers from across the
region to watch competitors face off in the
99th annual Northwest Pro Rodeo Associa-
tion Oregon Trail Pro Rodeo for a shot at prize
money in front of a record-breaking crowd.
Kelton Maxfi eld, a novice bareback rider
coming from Nampa, Idaho, was the fi rst
winner of the night and was the only bareback
rider who managed to stay on for the full eight
seconds to receive a score of 81, winning the
event in the Oregon Trail Pro Rodeo.
“I’m feeling great,” Maxfi eld said. “I mean
I’m having a blast.”
Maxfield, who attends Columbia High
School in Nampa, said this is his second year
rodeoing but has squeezed in somewhere
around 150 rodeos between school in that time.
During his summer break from school, he said
he’s able to go to a lot more rodeos but that he’s
been training every day on the spur board that
he built himself.
“Sometimes it just hurts and you’re not
having any fun but for the most part it’s just a
blast,” he said. “The feelings that come with it
are just amazing.”
Brailey Shaye Murray, of Harrisburg, felt
similarly about her own path in the rodeo
world. Having ridden horses her whole life,
Murray really only started to get serious a few
years ago and marked this weekend as her fi rst
time at the Heppner rodeo.
“I loved it,” she said. “I love the ground, I
loved the community.”
Murray said she’s been roping for about
three years and barrel racing for about fi ve
and rode her horse, Materbug, in both events
on Aug. 21.
“Just the atmosphere, the people, you can’t
get it anywhere,” she said.
Her parents were familiar faces to the area,
however, after being involved in rodeos all
over the state for decades. Her father could
even be seen helping out inside the arena on
Aug. 21. when they were down a volunteer.
But it wasn’t just the competitors that saw
the crossroads of returners and newcomers.
With red sequins fl ashing and fl ags fl utter-
ing through the air, members of the Owyhee
Nite Dazzlers fl ew out of the gates, their horses
churning the ground into a dusty mist.
Coming from Treasure Valley, the group
is comprised of long-time flag fliers and
newcomers alike with a grandmother-grand-
daughter duo while another rode with a current
rider’s mother while pregnant with her.
Many of them had grown up around horses
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
Kelton Maxfi eld, of Nampa, Idaho, hangs onto a bronc in the novice bareback competition for a 78-point ride Saturday, Aug. 21, 2021,
at the Oregon Trail Pro Rodeo in Heppner.
and it had been a logical jump into the arena;
for others, however, it took a little bit more.
“I used to be scared of horses,” said Cami
Cullen, who’s only recently got involved. “I
just got hit in the head by one and stopped
being scared.”
“Everyone here is amazing,” she said.
Billy Gentry, a 92-year-old vet and long-
time rodeo fan, has seen generations of
newcomers come through the Morrow County
Fair. After moving to the Heppner area in 1948
from Missouri and working for Columbia
Basin Electric for 35 years, he’s seen his fair
share of changes.
His children and grandchildren, now
fully grown, have had their own experiences
at the rodeo and, according to Gentry, his
son won the saddle bronc a while back and
all his grandchildren have won the saddle
bronc event as well. Although never having
competed himself, he said this was one of his
favorite moments through his history with
the rodeo.
With a gruff voice, a smile on his face and
energy belying his age, Gentry recounted
helping rebuild the stadium: replacing wood
with metal and climbing the poles to fi x lights.
“You take away from the community,” he
said, “you gotta help put something back.”
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
Brailey Shaye Murray, of Harrisburg, rounds the fi rst barrel Saturday, Aug. 21, 2021,
during the barrel racing competition at the Oregon Trail Pro Rodeo in Heppner.
SPORTS SHORT
”It’s time”: Star goaltender Henrik Lundqvist retires at 39
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — The King has
called it a career.
Henrik Lundqvist, one of the
greatest goaltenders of his generation,
announced his retirement Friday,
Aug. 20, less than nine months after
heart surgery.
“It’s time,” the 39-year-old Lund-
Kathy Willens/Associated Press qvist wrote in a social media post.
New York Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist (30) reacts after the “For the last 30 years, I have devoted
Rangers defeated the Washington Capitals on May 12, 2012, in my life to the game of hockey and
Game 7 of a second-round NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff se- now it’s time to walk away from the
ries at Madison Square Garden in New York.
game I love and begin a new chapter.”
Lundqvist also told the Göte-
borgs-Posten newspaper he needs a
new heart procedure.
“We will see how extensive it will
be,” he said. “Treatments are getting
better, so we will see if they’ll open
up the chest or not. But that will be a
problem for the future.”
The Swede starred for years for the
New York Rangers, where he piled up
459 wins along with a a 2.43 goals-
against average and 64 shutouts in 15
seasons.
He is sixth in NHL history in wins,
seventh in saves (23,509), eighth in
games played (887), ninth in starts
(871), ninth in time on ice (51,816:51)
and 17th in shutouts, according to the
NHL.
He also helped Sweden win gold at
the 2006 Turin Olympics.
The Rangers bought out Lund-
qvist’s contact in September 2020
and he signed a one-year, $1.5 million
contract with the Washington Capi-
tals in October. He never took the
ice after announcing he had a heart
condition. The fi ve-time All Star had
surgery in January, but didn’t begin
workouts until last month.