FOUR-PAGE PULLOUT
A5
S PORTS
THE BULLETIN • TUEsday, aprIL 13, 2021
RUNNING
Locals excel in
Salmon Run
The Salmon Run
half-marathon, 10-kilo-
meter and 5K races were
staged at Pronghorn Re-
sort northeast of Bend on
Saturday.
The half-marathon
and 10K courses included
paved trails and dirt roads
around the resort, while
the 5K was all on paved
trails. The event is typi-
cally staged in Bend but
was moved to Pronghorn
due to the COVID-19 pan-
demic.
A total of 884 runners
finished the races on Sat-
urday, including 278 in
the half-marathon, 337
in the 10K, and 269 in
the 5K. Runners started
spaced out in waves and
were required to wear
masks at the start and af-
ter finishing.
Nate Letavec, of Seat-
tle, won the half-mara-
thon in 1 hours, 17 min-
utes, 23 seconds. Brandon
Brasher, of Prineville, fin-
ished second in 1:19:50,
followed by Bend’s Ian
Sharman (1:19:57).
Melissa Hand, of Tu-
alatin, won the women’s
division of the half-mara-
thon in 1:24:58, followed
by Bend’s Suzanne Daley
(1:29:22) and Elizabeth
Broadbent (1:32:49).
Grant Grafentin, of
Bend, won the 10K in
34:11, followed by Bend’s
Brian Lindensmith (37:17)
and Liam Marley (37:58).
Bend’s Courtney With-
erspoon won the wom-
en’s division of the 10K
in 42:08. Donna Baldetti
(43:48), of Houston, took
second, and Bend’s Amy
Jaggard (44:19) claimed
third.
Bend’s Mason Morical
won the 5K in 18:14. Nico-
las Losee, of Wallsburg,
Utah, was second in 18:21
and Bend’s Sawyer Stolz
finished third (18:51).
In the women’s di-
vision of the 5K, Bend’s
Krista Morical won in
18:53, followed by Bend’s
Meg Lentz (19:48) and
Jaide Downs (21:39), of
Fields.
bendbulletin.com/sports
SNOW SPORTS
Bend skiers, boarders soar at regional event
Bulletin staff report
Several youth skiers and
snowboarders from Bend
posted top results in the USA
Snowboard and Freeski As-
sociation Pacific Northwest
Regional Championships at
Mt. Hood Meadows ski resort
Thursday through Sunday.
The Pacific Northwest Re-
gional Championship was a
first-ever event, held in lieu of
USASA Nationals, which typ-
ically takes place at the same
time of year in Copper Moun-
tain, Colorado, but was can-
celed in 2020 and 2021 due to
the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to Leslee Schader,
co-director of the USASA
Mt. Hood Series, the goal of
the event was to create a cap-
stone competition for North-
west-based athletes, ages 7 to
18, who participated in of-
ten-limited competitions this
past winter season. USASA
competitions in Central Ore-
gon were somewhat restricted
due to the pandemic.
Disciplines at the USASA
Pacific Northwest Regional in-
cluded boardercross, ski cross,
slopestyle, halfpipe and rail
jam. Nearly 130 athletes from
Alaska, Washington, Oregon,
Idaho and Montana partici-
pated in the three-day compe-
tition.
Standout competitors from
Bend included Aida Brown,
a 13-year-old snowboarder,
who won gold medals in girls
boardercross, slopestyle and
rail jam.
Tatym Smith, also a 13-year-
Submitted
Bend’s Aida Brown competes in the rail jam at the USASA Northwest Re-
gional Championships at Mt. Hood Meadows ski resort this past weekend.
old from Bend, claimed gold
medals in freeski girls slope-
style, halfpipe and rail jam.
Another 13-year-old skier
from Bend, Kainoa Pyle, won
a gold medal in the boys half-
pipe. Bend snowboarder Jaden
Freitas, 16, won gold in men’s
slopestyle.
The halfpipe competition
was scheduled for Saturday,
but winds gusting as high as
70 mph buffeted the Cascade
Mountains and prevented
Meadows from opening. The
halfpipe event was rescheduled
for Sunday and athletes com-
peted under calm, sunny skies,
according to Schader.
The USASA Mt. Hood series
hosted eight competitions this
winter. A typical competition
hosts up to 70 athletes. The top
three in each age group from
each discipline and each series
qualified for regionals.
USASA has a CDC-ap-
proved “Return to Play” pro-
tocol, which was adhered to
during the regional competi-
tion: face coverings, physical
distancing and all activities
outside.
COMMENTARY | WOMEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
TRANSFER
PORTAL:
GOOD FOR PLAYERS, TOUGH ON FANS
—Bulletin staff report
POLICE
SHOOTING
Minnesota teams
postpone games
The Minnesota Twins,
Minnesota Wild and Min-
nesota Timberwolves
postponed games sched-
uled for Monday because
of safety concerns follow-
ing the fatal police shoot-
ing of a Black man and
the potential for unrest in
the area.
Major League Base-
ball’s Twins and Boston
Red Sox were scheduled
to begin a four-game se-
ries Monday afternoon
at Target Field. The Twins
said their decision was
made in consultation with
Major League Baseball
and state and local offi-
cials “out of respect for
the tragic events that oc-
curred yesterday.”
The NHL’S Wild were
supposed to host the St.
Louis Blues on Monday, a
game the team said was
postponed “out of respect
for the community.” That
game was rescheduled
for May 12.
The NBA also an-
nounced that Monday’s
scheduled game be-
tween the Timberwolves
and Brooklyn Nets was
postponed “in light of the
tragic events in the Min-
neapolis area.”
The shooting of
20-year-old Daunte
Wright occurred Sun-
day after a traffic stop in
Brooklyn Center, a suburb
adjacent to Minneapolis.
—Associated Press
Isaac Brekken/AP
Oregon State guard Sasha Goforth (13) during the first round of the Pac-12 women’s tournament on March 3 in Las Vegas. After the end of the season, Goforth entered the transfer portal.
Beavers and Ducks both lose
players to the transfer portal
BY STEVE GRESS
Corvallis Gazette-Times
arly last week a social media post
stated there are more than 1,200
women’s basketball players across the
three NCAA divisions who have put
their names in the transfer portal.
Of those, some 900-plus came from Divi-
sion I.
So it really shouldn’t be a surprise that Or-
egon and Oregon State have lost two players
each to the obviously popular portal.
First it was Oregon State’s Sasha Goforth, a
E
five-star guard who started all 20 games during
her COVID-freshman season for the Beavers,
announcing she was leaving to be closer to her
home of Fayetteville, Arkansas.
It was, no doubt, a blow to the Beavers and
a shock to the fan base. How could someone
who had such tremendous success leave after
just one season?
Soon after, fellow freshman Savannah Sam-
uel opted to find a new home and entered the
portal.
Goforth certainly will play closer to home as
she signed almost immediately with Arkansas,
located in her hometown. Of course, that did
not sit well with many in Beaver Nation with
the memory of Destiny Slocum leaving Or-
egon State for the Razorbacks a year ago still
fresh in their minds.
Some thought there were some shady she-
nanigans with how quickly she signed with
Arkansas, but as her father stated on Twitter,
there really was no other school she wanted to
play for.
Samuel, from Georgia, will continue her
playing career at West Virginia as the Moun-
taineers made that announcement Friday.
Oregon lost two veteran guards as junior
Taylor Chavez and sophomore Jaz Shelley
opted to enter the transfer portal. The Ducks
have plenty of young talent but both players
will be missed, no doubt.
There are any number of reasons players
choose to leave. In the case of Goforth it was to
play closer to home. Samuel did not make an
announcement about her decision.
See Transfers / A7
SOCCER
Judge approves partial deal between women, U.S. Soccer
Associated Press
LOS ANGELES — A federal
judge approved a partial deal
between players on the wom-
en’s national team and the U.S.
Soccer Federation over un-
equal working conditions.
U.S. District Judge R. Gary
Klausner approved the Dec.
1 settlement during a hear-
ing Monday. The deal calls for
charter flights, hotel accom-
modations, venue selection
and professional staff support
equitable to that of the men’s
national team.
Players sued the USSF in
March 2019, contending they
have not been paid equitably
under their collective bar-
gaining agreement that runs
through December 2021,
compared to what the men’s
team receives under its agree-
ment that expired in Decem-
ber 2018. The women asked
for more than $66 million in
damages under the Equal Pay
Act and Title VII of the Civil
Rights Act of 1964.
Klausner dismissed the
pay claim last May, ruling the
women rejected a pay-to-play
structure similar to the one in
the men’s agreement and ac-
cepted greater base salaries and
benefits than the men, who
failed to qualify for the 2018
World Cup.
“We are pleased that the
court has approved the equal
working conditions that the
USWNT players have fought
for many years to achieve,”
players spokeswoman Molly
Levinson said in a statement.
“Finally, giving these athletes
access to facilities, training,
care and professional support
is the next step needed in the
long and hard work to grow
the game of women’s football.”
Klausner’s approval of the
settlement allows the players to
ask the 9th U.S. Circuit Court
of Appeals to overturn his de-
cision on unequal pay.
“We intend to appeal the
court’s equal pay decision,
which does not account for the
fact that women players have
been paid at lesser rates than
men who do the same job,”
Levinson said.
See U.S. Women / A6