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About The Bulletin. (Bend, OR) 1963-current | View Entire Issue (May 21, 2021)
FOUR-PAGE PULLOUT B3 S PORTS THE BULLETIN • FRIDAY, MAY 21, 2021 bendbulletin.com/sports COLLEGE FOOTBALL PREP BOYS LACROSSE UO, Ohio State reschedule series EUGENE — It’ll be 12 years later than originally planned, but Ohio State will finally play at Autzen Stadium. Oregon and Ohio State have scheduled a home- and-home series on Sept. 11, 2032 in Eugene and Sept. 10, 2033 in Colum- bus, a source confirmed . The teams were sup- posed to meet on Sept. 12, 2020, with the Ducks hosting the Buckeyes in what would’ve likely been a top-10 matchup, but the game was canceled due to the pandemic. Ohio State athletic di- rector Gene Smith told Ohio State fan site Eleven Warriors the school will now pay Oregon $3.5 million for the game in Columbus on Sept. 11 (9 a.m. PT, FOX) this sea- son, provided Ohio Sta- dium is at full capacity this fall. “We just couldn’t find a date next year or the year after or even before ’26, there was no way that we could return the game. And that’s why we had to up the guarantee,” Smith told Eleven Warriors. Ohio State is the first nonconference opponent on Oregon’s schedule for the 2032 and 2033 sea- sons. Oregon’s nonconfer- ence schedules are filled through 2026 and it has two opponents scheduled from 2027-29, with Michi- gan State set for 2030. — The Oregonian GOLF Corey Conners has early lead at PGA KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. — Amid the wind and the havoc at Kiawah Island, there was a semblance of simplicity to the way Corey Conners navi- gated his way around the Ocean Course for a 5-un- der 67 and a two-shot lead Thursday in the PGA Championship. He birdied all the par 5s. He made a couple of long putts for birdie. He dropped only one shot. The scorecard alone made it look like a walk on the beach. It just didn’t feel that way. “I’d say it’s impossible to be stress-free around this golf course,” Conners said. “You can’t fall asleep out there on any holes. It’s very challenging. I was for- tunate to have a good day. Made it as least stressful as possible on myself.” He led by two shots over a half-dozen play- ers. That group included Brooks Koepka, who started his day with a double bogey and stayed largely out of trouble the rest of the way; and Cameron Davis, who over- came a triple bogey on the sixth hole. Keegan Bradley, Viktor Hovland, Aaron Wise and Sam Horsfield also were at 69. The seven players to break 70 were the fewest for the opening round of the PGA Championship since there were five at Hazeltine in 2002. Phil Mickelson had four bo- geys through six holes and nothing but bird- ies and pars the rest of the way to join the large group at 70 that included defending champion Col- lin Morikawa and former U.S. Open champion Gary Woodland. More telling were those on the other side of par, including Dustin Johnson (76), Justin Thomas (75), Rory McIlroy (75) and Jor- dan Spieth (73). — Associated Press Area teams find success Courtesy Chris Crowder Summit’s Liam Ross runs up the field during the Storm’s 17-3 win over Sisters on May 4. Summit and Mountain View boys cap off impressive seasons, going a combined 19-2 “The beauty of this season is it gave us a sense of urgency. Every moment counted. Everything was important. It was a level of focus and appreciation that doesn’t always find its way late into the spring season.” BY BRIAN RATHBONE The Bulletin T he 2021 boys lacrosse season proved to Mountain View coach Dan Marut the value of high school athletics. Despite the uncertainty of what could happen with Oregon high school lacrosse, which was coming off a canceled year due to the pandemic, Mountain View and Summit boys were able to turn in great records this spring. — Summit boys lacrosse coach Luke Hansen “This year really showcased what youth sports are all about,” Marut said. “It was about learning life lessons. They came to practice knowing that the season could be canceled.” Collectively, the two programs went 19-2 on the season, with Summit winning all eight of its games. When it came time to gear up and hit the field, the teams felt ready after working throughout the long offseason. “The beauty of this season is it gave us a sense of urgency,” said Summit boys lacrosse coach Luke Hansen. “Every moment counted. Every- thing was important. It was a level of focus and appreciation that doesn’t always find its way late into the spring season.” The Oregon High School Lacrosse Association instituted a 150-mile radius travel restriction for the season. That meant that the Central Oregon high school teams — Summit, Mountain View, Bend, Ridgeview and Sisters, all playing in the High Desert League — could not play against the Portland-area squads, which are considered the top teams in the state. Typically, the best Central Oregon teams would compete in a postseason tournament against Port- land-area teams and other teams from throughout Oregon. Not long ago, in 2016, Summit advanced all the way to the semifinals of the tournament. See Lacrosse / B4 PREP TRACK AND FIELD Central Oregon athletes are primed for state meets BY BRIAN RATHBONE The Bulletin N Ryan Brennecke/The Bulletin Summit’s Kohana Nakato races towards the finish line while competing in the 4x100-meter relay at Summit High School on Wednesday at the Central Oregon Large School Championships. Nakato has the state’s best mark in the javelin going into the 6A Track and Field Showcase in Oregon City on Friday and Saturday. o official Oregon School Activities Asso- ciation track and field state meets? No problem. State champions in running, throw- ing and jumping events will be crowned this weekend, just without the sanctioning of the OSAA. The state meets for the dif- ferent classifications will be staged throughout different parts of the state on Friday and Saturday. The 6A Track and Field Showcase will be held at Pi- oneer Memorial Stadium in Oregon City; the 5A Invita- tional at Wilsonville High School; the 4A State Track and Field Championships at Siu- slaw High School; the 2A meet at Union High School. None of the Class 1A schools are competing at state meets and the 3A meet was staged Tuesday in Harrisburg. Central Oregon has several track and field athletes who could very well find themselves at the top of the podium in their events this weekend. Here are eight Central Oregon athletes who enter their state meets with the top marks in their classifications. See Track / B4 COLLEGE SOFTBALL UO to face former coach in regional at Texas BY JAMES CREPEA The Oregonian EUGENE — Mike White recognizes the NCAA Re- gional pairing of No. 12 seed Texas with Oregon will natu- rally draw interest, but don’t count the former Ducks coach among those who find the likely postseason matchup en- tertaining. White, who spent nine years at Oregon and led the Ducks to a 435-111-1 record with five Pac-12 titles and five Wom- en’s College World Series ap- pearances, left UO for Texas in the summer of 2018. He and former Ducks Lauren Burke, Shannon Rhodes and Mary Iakopo will host their former team, as well as Saint Francis (PA) and Texas State, in Austin starting Friday afternoon. “It’s something you kind of expected that the political forces would get together and want to do something like this,” White said. “Oregon doesn’t deserve a (No.) 21 seed given their record in a lot of people’s eyes. You could say the same for Clemson. You can say the same for Washington not be- ing the 16 seed. There’s a lot of things that could have been and maybe should have been but they weren’t. See Softball / B4 Leon Neuschwander/For The Oregonian Oregon catcher Terra McGowan, left, and pitcher Samaria Diaz discuss strategy against UCLA in Eugene on April 10 .
