FOUR-PAGE PULLOUT
A5
S PORTS
THE BULLETIN • TUESDAY, MARCH 2, 2021
HIGH SCHOOL
ALPINE SKIING
Summit skiers
dominate regional
High school alpine ski-
ing regional finals were
staged this past week at
Hoodoo and Willamette
Pass ski areas.
The R.A.C.E.S. league
included teams from
Summit, Mountain View,
Redmond, Sisters, Marist,
South Eugene, Sheldon,
Churchill, Corvallis, Cres-
cent Valley and West Al-
bany.
In the boys giant slalom
on Saturday at Willamette
Pass, Harrison Schock of
Summit won with a two-
run combined time of 2
minutes, 9.82 seconds.
Summit’s Preston Schock
was second (2:10.77) and
Bela Chladek of Sisters fin-
ished third (2:11.16).
In the girls giant slalom,
also Saturday at Willa-
mette Pass, Zoe Doden of
Summit won in 2:13.13.
Erin Kirksey of Moun-
tain View took second in
2:15.09 and the Storm’s Ni-
cole Fournier placed third
(2:15.30).
In the boys slalom at
Hoodoo on Wednesday,
Chladek won in 1:52.66.
Preston Schock finished
second (1:55.09) and Har-
rison Schock was third
(2:01.26).
In the girls slalom, also
at Hoodoo Wednesday,
Morgan Berg of Moun-
tain View won in 2:01.47.
Brooke Leggat of Sum-
mit took second (2:05.70)
and Lily Nelson of South
Eugene placed third
(2:10.17).
High school alpine ski
teams in Central Oregon
were allowed to start
training and racing Feb. 1.
The 2021 Oregon High
School Alpine State Cham-
pionships are scheduled
for Thursday and Friday at
Mt. Hood Skibowl.
—Bulletin staff report
PAC-12 WOMEN’S
BASKETBALL
bendbulletin.com/sports
PREP SPORTS | SOCCER
Madras nets big win as sports return
BY BRIAN RATHBONE
The Bulletin
Madras started off the high
school sports season with a re-
sounding win.
In its season opener, the
White Buffaloes boys soccer
team rolled Molalla 6-1, get-
ting two goals each from junior
Luis Benitez and senior Leo
Gutierrez.
It was the first high school
sports played in Central Or-
egon in nearly year, since the
COVID-19 pandemic started
in March 2020.
“I think we were a little more
prepared and a little more
skilled at the skill positions,”
said Madras coach Clark Jones.
“A unit of eight to 10 kids have
been playing consistently two
to three times a week since Au-
gust. The leadership and the
Creswell 1, La Pine 0
The girl’s soccer battle
against Creswell fell short, as
the Hawks fell 1-0 on a muddy
football field in their season
opener in La Pine.
Creswell broke the scoreless
tie with 10 minutes left in the
second half. It was an evenly
played game with Creswell tak-
ing one more shot on goal than
La Pine (6-5). Although the
shots were close, there was a
feeling the team left some goals
on the field.
See Preps / A7
“THE PLACE WHERE
WIND IS BORN”
GARY
LEWIS
K
nelt down in the sandy soil next
to a bison, before the good hard
work begins, one cannot help but
to run fingers through the rich
wool. Silky soft. In February and March, the
woolly “down” of the bison is at its longest.
There is no finer robe.
At once, a person marvels at the great
store of meat, the uses of hide and the fiber,
and on the hoof, its superior fitness for the
plains.
The Lakota called it tatanka. To the Sho-
shone, it was bozheena. The Blackfeet called
it real food.
Through the Sand Hills of Nebraska, even
the roads are built on the buffalo trails be-
cause over thousands of years the animals
found the best ways to water, food and shel-
ter.
See Lewis / A7
—The Oregonian
Molalla again on Thursday for
back-to-back matches.
“To get a successful team, you
have to have discipline and fo-
cus,” Jones said. “We are hoping
to keep that the next three days
and get another positive result.”
Outdoors | Bison hunting
Beavs on roll going
into tourney
Oregon State’s 88-77
win over Oregon, the Bea-
vers’ sixth win in seven
games, is resonating in
places that have national
implications.
The Beavers (9-6, 7-6
Pac-12) appeared in the
Associated Press’ Top 25
poll for the first time in
nearly two months. The
Beavers didn’t crack the
top 25, but received votes
for the first time since
Jan. 4.
The last time OSU was
ranked among the top 25
teams was Dec. 14.
OSU also shot up seven
spots to No. 29 in the
NCAA NET rankings, a key
tool used by the women’s
basketball tournament
committee in determining
berths and seeds.
To gauge how far the
Beavers have come in the
NET rankings, in mid-Jan-
uary they were No. 102.
And, in what proba-
bly matters most to Ore-
gon State’s program, the
Beavers are solidly in the
NCAA tournament accord-
ing to ESPN’s Bracketol-
ogy. In Monday’s iteration
of the bracket, OSU was
10-seed, an improvement
from last week, when the
Beavers were one of the fi-
nal four teams in the field.
Oregon State is 4-5
against top 50 teams in
the NCAA NET rankings.
As a comparison, Oregon
is 4-7 against top 50 op-
ponents.
Oregon State, No. 5
seed, opens at 11 a.m.
Wednesday against 12-
seed California. Should the
Beavers win, they’ll face
4-seed Oregon at 11 a.m.
Thursday.
chemistry was there.”
Junior Manny Flores and
senior Isarael Penaloza each
pitched in to the scoring while
senior Javier Sedano finished
with three assists on the team’s
six goals.
After one of the more mem-
orable season openers for
Jones, it will be a quick turn-
around, as Madras travels to
face Tri-Valley League rival
From left, Tracy Wilson, of
Vancouver, Washington, Super
Bowl champ John Howell and
Gary Lewis walk a windy ridge
on a bison hunt in Nebraska.
Photo courtesy Samuel Pyke
A herd of bison in Nebraska’s Sand Hills. This
herd has been on the Howell property for 25 years.
Gary Lewis/For The Bulletin
NFL DRAFT 2021
Kiper shares evaluations of Sewell, other Ducks
BY JAMES CREPEA
The Oregonian
EUGENE — Mel Kiper Jr.
sees several Oregon players be-
ing selected in this year’s NFL
Draft, headlined of course by
offensive tackle Penei Sewell.
The ESPN draft analyst
shared his early evaluations of
five former Ducks including
Sewell, who he sees going in
the top five.
“I think it’s ideal at Cincin-
nati at 5,” Kiper said. “I think
you get a left tackle. People say
well he was a little overrated,
I’m not buying that. He didn’t
play this year. Had he built on
what he did in 2019 he would
have been regarded as the next
(Tony) Boselli, (Jonathan) Og-
den or (Orlando) Pace. I get
why you wouldn’t put him in
that category right now be-
cause he didn’t play this year,
but for Cincinnati he’s exactly
what they’re looking for and I
think he would be an ideal pick
at that point. I would think
Sewell to me would be no later
than five. Some are project-
ing him down at 10, I don’t see
that happening, that’s just me.
I think the Bengals will be the
ideal spot.”
The 2019 Outland Trophy
winner and the third unani-
mous All-American in Ore-
gon program history, Sewell
opted out of the 2020 season.
He did not allow a sack as a
sophomore and led the Ducks
with 58 knockdowns and led
the nation with a run-blocking
grade of 95.3 from Pro Foot-
ball Focus and was third with a
pass-blocking grade of 91.1.
Kiper also has draftable
grades for four UO defensive
backs: Jevon Holland, Thomas
Graham Jr., Brady Breeze and
Deommodore Lenoir.
Holland, who was among
the players to opt-out of the
2020 season, had 66 tackles
with 4.5 for loss, four intercep-
tions and four pass breakups
and averaged 15.25 yards per
punt return in 2019.
See Ducks / A7
The Oregonian file
Former Oregon offensive lineman Penei Sewell is projected to be a top
NFL draft pick.