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About The Bulletin. (Bend, OR) 1963-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 16, 2021)
FOUR-PAGE PULLOUT A5 S PORTS THE BULLETIN • TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2021 PREP SPORTS OSAA updates guidelines for certain counties The Oregon School Activities Association recently updated its guidelines for outdoor and indoor recreation in high and extreme risk counties. Deschutes County is currently at high risk, while Crook and Jefferson counties remain at ex- treme risk. Indoor volleyball com- petition is allowed in lower, moderate and high risk counties, but remains prohibited in extreme risk counties, according to the OSAA. Volleyball is set to start its official season with practices on Feb. 22 and matches starting the week of March 1. Indoor full-contact sports — basketball and wrestling — remain pro- hibited. In outdoor full-con- tact sports (football) the maximum capacity on the field is 120 people. As of Monday, spectators are prohibited at football games in extreme and high risk counties. According to the OSAA, schools that opt-in to competing must pro- vide on-site responsive testing for symptom- atic individuals and for those with known expo- sures to individuals with COVID-19. This applies to athletes, support staff and volunteers. For more information, visit osaa.org. bendbulletin.com/sports WEST COAST LEAGUE BASEBALL Bend Elks ready to play ball come June BY BRIAN RATHBONE The Bulletin Ryan Brennecke/Bulletin file Bend Elks’ Jack Johnson (21) is greeted by his teammates after hitting a grand slam during the second inning against the Portland Pickles at Vince Genna Stadium in 2019. The West Coast League season was canceled last summer, but the Elks are planning a return to play this coming June. When June rolls around, the Elks will be ready to play ball at Bend’s Vince Genna Sta- dium. The three Oregon teams of the West Coast League — the Corvallis Knights, Portland Pickles and Bend Elks — on Monday announced the for- mation of Team Oregon, an alliance focused on the prepa- ration of achieving a healthy, safety-conscious return to play this summer. “It came together because as a league and Oregon teams we have been talking about ways to bring baseball back to our communities,” said Bend Elks owner Kelsie Hirko. “The idea behind this is we are bringing awareness to our communities that we are here, and we are ex- cited to play baseball in 2021.” In a Monday news release, Team Oregon noted that it is committed to working with state and local health author- ities to be prepared when the season opens in June. Last spring, the West Coast League — a collegiate summer wood-bat league — canceled its season while the Portland Pickles played an independent schedule in a league called the Wild Wild West. The organi- zation claims that there were zero reported COVID-related issues among fans and staff in the 60 games it hosted with as many as 100 fans in atten- dance. To make playing in 2020 possible, the Pickles instituted several safety measures to host games at Portland’s Walker Sta- dium, according to the release. See Elks / A7 Alpine ski World Championships GOLDEN GIRL —Bulletin staff report NFL Seahawks in trade talks for Ertz The Seattle Seahawks could be looking to add to the tight end position and reportedly have en- gaged in trade talks with the Philadelphia Eagles’ for Zach Ertz. The Seahawks’ didn’t get much production from their tight ends during the 2020 season and could be looking to bolster the position in 2021. Veteran Greg Ol- sen, an injury-plagued disappointment, retired after the season. Will Dis- sly didn’t seem comfort- able coming back from a serious knee injury in 2019. Jacob Hollister, of Bend, led the team with 25 receptions, but he’ll be a free agent in 2021. The trio combined to post 73 receptions, 669 yards and seven touchdowns in 2020. Dissly and Colby Par- kinson are currently the only tight ends on the roster. Ertz caught 36 passes on 68 targets for 335 yards and one touch- down in 11 games. Ertz, 30, was slowed by an ankle injury while play- ing for the Eagles, who posted a 4-11-1 record in 2020. Ertz has averaged 71 receptions, 759 yards and four touchdowns a season during his eight- year career. Ertz, who will be in the final year of a five-year, $42.5 million contract in 2021, has a $8.25 million base salary and a $12.4 million salary cap hit in 2021. The Seahawks, who currently have $14.4 mil- lion in salary cap space, would likely need to make some financial ad- justments to accommo- date Ertz’s salary, unless he agrees to restructure his contract. — The Oregonian Gabriele Facciotti/AP United States’ Mikaela Shiffrin competes during the slalom portion of the women’s combined race, at the alpine ski World Championships, in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, on Monday. Mikaela Shiffrin sets records with 6th gold, 9th overall at worlds BY ERIC WILLEMSEN Associated Press C ORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy — Mikaela Shiffrin’s latest gold medal from the ski- ing world championships moved her past both Lindsey Vonn and Ted Ligety. Shiffrin won the combined on Monday, giv- ing her a sixth gold and a ninth career medal from the worlds — one more than Vonn at the top of the all-time list of American medalists. “I can’t wrap my head around it. It’s a num- ber, right? I don’t even know what the number is. But it’s a number,” said Shiffrin, who took bronze in Thursday’s opening event, the su- per-G. “So, in that way, sure, I can say, ‘That’s Marco Tacca/AP Mikaela Shiffrin shows her gold medal for the wom- en’s combined race, at the alpine ski World Champi- onships, in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, on Monday. cool.’ But today I was focused on today and in the super-G I was focused on the super-G,” she added. Shiffrin also set an American record with her sixth world championship title after shar- ing the mark with Ligety, who retired last week. She has four golds in slalom and one in super-G from previous worlds and is among the main contenders in slalom and giant sla- lom later this week. “It takes away the pressure of ‘winning a medal’ and all of the things, the records, or the talk around what I’m able to accomplish with specifically medal count,” she said. See Shiffrin / A7 MEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL Elite programs stuck on the NCAA tournament bubble BY JOHN MARSHALL AP Basketball Writer The NCAA Tournament bubble is typically populated with teams from small confer- ences and middle-of-the-pack big conference schools. A pandemic that has wreaked havoc on the college basketball season is also re- shaping the curve. Perennial power Duke is cur- rently bubbling. So is North Car- olina. Kentucky is so far down it can’t even see the bubble. “The season hasn’t gone how we wanted it, but we just try to keep our head down and keep working,” Duke sophomore forward Matthew Hurt said. “Every day, don’t take a day off, not try to listen to the outside, the social media, what every- one else says but us.” Duke entered the season with loaded expectations, as it always does. The Blue Devils had key holdovers from last year’s team and coach Mike Krzyzewski brought in another stellar recruiting class. Duke’s season has mostly been a dud so far. The Blue Devils are 8-8 and 6-6 in the ACC after beating North Carolina State on Satur- day, a win that ended a three- game losing streak. Duke is No. 66 in the latest NET rankings — up 11 from the previous rank- ings — and needs a strong finish to the season to avoid missing the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1995. “You’ve just got to stay with it,” Krzyzewski said. “That’s what our program’s done and see what happens. Just see what happens if you do that.” See NCAA / A7