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