FOUR-PAGE PULLOUT
A5
S PORTS
THE BULLETIN • THUrsday, MarcH 25, 2021
bendbulletin.com/sports
TRACK & FIELD
Ducks set to host
meets at Hayward
The Oregon track and
field team will host five
meets at the new Hay-
ward Field this spring,
the school officially an-
nounced in a news release
Wednesday.
The Ducks will host
their first meet the week-
end of April 2-3, the first
meet Oregon has had
at home since the 2018
NCAA Championships.
The season and the
five-meet home slate
will conclude with the
NCAA Championships on
June 9-12, the 17th time
Hayward Field will have
hosted the NCAA meet.
“The excitement level
for this upcoming outdoor
season and the return
of Hayward Field to the
competition schedule is at
an all-time high,” Oregon
coach Robert Johnson
said in the news release.
“We can’t wait to have
track and field meets back
in Eugene, and seeing the
student-athletes compet-
ing at Hayward Field again
will be a special moment
for this program.
“This has been a long
time coming and we are
incredibly thankful to ev-
eryone involved in getting
us to this point.”
The capacity limits
established through the
updated public health
guidance and county risk
level will permit a lim-
ited number of guests
of student-athletes and
coaches during meets at
Hayward Field, beginning
with the Hayward Pre-
miere on April 2-3. The Or-
egon athletic department
will continue to work with
public health authorities
and the UO Incident Man-
agement Team regarding
welcoming the public into
campus athletic venues.
The remainder of the
Ducks’ home schedule at
Hayward Field includes
the West Coast Classic
(April 17), Oregon Relays
(April 23-24), Oregon Twi-
light (May 7) and NCAA
Championships (June
9-12). The West Coast
Classic will be held in
conjunction with an addi-
tional site hosted by the
University of Arizona in
Tucson.
— (Eugene) Register-Guard
WOMEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL | NCAA TOURNAMENT
Ducks return to Sweet 16 with win over Georgia
BY KRISTIE RIEKEN
Associated Press
Eric Gay/AP
Oregon’s Sedona Prince, center, celebrates with teammates after the
Ducks defeated Georgia in the second round of the women’s NCAA
Tournament at the Alamodome in San Antonio on Wednesday. Oregon
won 57-50.
The 2021 season
schedule is set for the
Portland Timbers as they
begin their 11th season in
Major League Soccer.
Portland’s first two
games previously had
been announced, but
on Wednesday MLS re-
vealed the full 34-game
schedule. The Timbers
open April 18 against
the Cascadia-rival Van-
couver Whitecaps in Salt
Lake City, and their home
opener is April 24 against
Houston.
The Timbers will
take on the rival Seattle
Sounders at Providence
Park on May 9 and Aug.
15, and then visit the
Sounders on Aug. 29.
Portland will have
three-game homestands
twice, in early August and
late September, with five
consecutive road games
sandwiched in between.
Current Oregon Health
Authority regulations
cap fan attendance at
Timbers games to 25%
capacity, or about 6,300
fans. Timbers fans will be
welcomed back to Prov-
idence Park for the first
time in more than a year
when Portland takes on
C.D. Marathón in CONCA-
CAF Champions League
play on April 13.
— The Oregonian
Jenna Staiti had 18 points
and nine rebounds for Geor-
gia (21-7), which was looking
to reach its first Sweet 16 since
2013.
Staiti was encouraged by the
step forward the Lady Bulldogs
took this season.
“This is the standard,” she
said. “This group of seniors
and this team put Georgia back
where it needs to be.”
After Sabally put the Ducks
ahead to stay on a layup with
2:20 left, Georgia appeared
to have tied the game with a
jumper, but the officials said a
foul was called before the shot.
The foul call didn’t stop play
because the referee lost her
whistle in her mask.
See Ducks / A7
RODEO
Rodeo is back in Redmond
The High Desert Stampede
makes it return with sold-out
performances Thursday
through Saturday
BY BRIAN RATHBONE • The Bulletin
A
fter a year hiatus due
to the COVID-19
pandemic, the High
Desert Stampede rodeo makes its
return to the Deschutes County
fairgrounds’ First Interstate Bank
Center in Redmond this week.
Rodeo performances are
scheduled for Thursday through
Saturday, starting at 7 p.m. each
night.
MLS
Portland Timbers’
schedule released
SAN ANTONIO — Sedona
Prince scored 22 points, Nyara
Sabally took over late and
sixth-seeded Oregon beat No.
3 Georgia 57-50 on Wednesday
in the women’s NCAA Tourna-
ment to advance to its fourth
straight Sweet 16.
Sabally scored six straight
points to break open a tie game
and give the Ducks a 54-48 lead
with less than a minute to go.
She finished with 15 points, in-
cluding 10 in the second half,
and nine rebounds.
“Ny and I talked before the
fourth quarter and we were
like: ‘We’re going to go to the
Sweet 16,’” Prince said.
Oregon (15-8) is in the tour-
nament for the 16th time over-
all, but this Ducks team came
in less heralded than those
led by Sabrina Ionescu, who
missed out on her final chance
at a national title last year be-
cause of the pandemic.
“Everybody knows what we
had and the opportunity and
capability of doing in this tour-
nament last year and it was
taken away from us … and the
expectations weighed heavily
on them,” coach Kelly Graves
said. “
And then when you start
losing a few games and people
start to question your program
and then your own players
sometimes maybe question
themselves, (this) is great re-
demption.”
The High Desert Stampede is part of
the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Asso-
ciation (PRCA) ProRodeo Tour, and is
anticipated to be “one heck of a rodeo,”
according to High Desert Stampede
chairman Denis Fast.
“The show itself is going to be big-
ger and better,” Fast said. “We have a
great list of entries, contestants from all
over the country, and multiple world
champions coming. The talent is as big
as I have ever seen in the Northwest. It
is going to be a great rodeo. I just wish
more people could see it live.”
Due to COVID-19 protocols, at-
Ryan Brennecke/Bulletin file photo
Kenny Haworth, of Orofino, Idaho, rides Scarlett Pearl during the bareback event of the High Desert Stampede rodeo in Redmond
in 2019.
“The show itself is going to be bigger and better. We have a great list
of entries, contestants from all over the country, and multiple world
champions coming. The talent is as big as I have ever seen in the
Northwest. It is going to be a great rodeo. I just wish more people could
see it live.”
— Denis Fast, High Desert Stampede chairman
tendance is limited to 25% capacity,
Fast said. Tickets for the event are sold
out for each night, but rodeo fans can
watch the action on the Cowboy Chan-
nel (www.thecowboychannel.com).
Face coverings will be required, as
will 6 feet of social distancing. The an-
nual Redmond rodeo has been a big
draw for Northwest rodeo fans since
2015.
But this year, many would-be specta-
tors have been turned away due to the
capacity limit.
“People really want to come,” Fast
said. “But because of the safety plan, we
have to limit (ticket sales), and that has
been difficult.”
While the event will be downsized,
the talent of the competition will not
be. Some of the top rodeo riders from
throughout the West are expected, as
are cowboys and cowgirls from Can-
ada, Louisiana, Texas, Florida and Vir-
ginia.
See Rodeo / A6
GOLF | LPGA TOUR
New mom Wie West makes her return
BY BERNIE WILSON
Associated Press
Chris Carlson/AP file
Michelle Wie, left, walks off the ninth green with Jonnie West during
the 2019 LPGA Tour ANA Inspiration tournament in Rancho Mirage,
California.
SAN DIEGO — New mom
Michelle Wie West is looking
forward to being nervous again
on the golf course.
It’s been nearly two years
since she played a competitive
round on the LPGA Tour and
nine months since she gave
birth to daughter Makenna.
She figured the beginning of
the West Coast swing was the
perfect place to return, partic-
ularly because she now lives in
San Francisco with husband
Jonnie West, the director of
basketball operations for the
Golden State Warriors, and
their daughter.
Wie has been away long
enough that when she arrived
this week for the Kia Classic at
Aviara in Carlsbad, she didn’t
recognize a number of her fel-
low tour pros, in part because
there are a lot of rookies and
also because it’s more difficult
because everyone is wearing a
mask. But playing in the pro-am
brought back a familiar feeling.
“I’m definitely nervous but
also grateful to feel nervous
again,” Wie West said in a vid-
eoconference Wednesday from
the course in northern San Di-
ego County.
Wie West said she’s been
practicing in earnest for her re-
turn since the first of the year.
She said it’s hard to tell where
her game is because she’s been
away so long. “But I’m pretty
proud of myself for grinding it
out there. I’ve been grinding.
Like I said, I’m just grateful I’m
out here. I’m enjoying myself
and having a lot of fun.”
She tees off Thursday after-
noon in the first round of the
tournament being played with-
out fans.
“You know, it’s fun hitting
balls on the range, fun to kind
of mess around, hit a couple
chips, but there is nothing like
hitting golf shots that matter
and you kind of feel those first-
tee jitters,” she said.
See Golf / A6