FOUR-PAGE PULLOUT
A5
S PORTS
THE BULLETIN • TUEsday, JUNE 22, 2021
bendbulletin.com/sports
TRACK & FIELD
Murphy wins 800
in huge upset
EUGENE — Clayton
Murphy won the 800 me-
ters at the U.S. Olympic tri-
als to lead a field that will
not include the reigning
world champion Donavan
Brazier.
Murphy, the bronze
medalist at the Rio
Games, finished in 1 min-
ute, 43.17 seconds. Isaiah
Jewett and Bryce Hoppel
grabbed the other two
spots.
Brazier, who won world
championships two years
ago in Doha and was con-
sidered a favorite in this
race, came in eighth.
It was the second big
upset at the trials in the
span of 10 minutes, com-
ing on the heels of Jenny
Simpson’s 10th-place fin-
ish in the women’s 1,500.
It was 94 degrees at
Hayward Field when the
starting gun went off. An
NBC thermometer on the
track showed the mercury
pushing 120.
Also on Monday at the
Olympic trials:
Elise Cranny used a late
kick to pull away for the
win the women’s 5,000
meters and make her first
Olympic team.
Joining her in Tokyo
will be Karissa Schweizer
and Rachel Schneider.
Cranny, who went to
college at Stanford after
winning state titles as a
high schooler in Colorado,
finished in a season-best
15 minutes, 27.81 sec-
onds.
Chris Nilsen was a sur-
prise winner in the pole
vault, edging two-time
world champion Sam
Kendricks.
The 23-year-old Nilsen
cleared 19 feet, 4¼ inches
to earn a spot at the Tokyo
Games. He held off Ken-
dricks and KC Lightfoot,
who tied for second after
both missed three times
at Nilsen’s height.
Kendricks captured the
bronze medal at the 2016
Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
He also won the world ti-
tle in 2017 and ’19.
Curtis Thompson cap-
tured the javelin title.
Thompson’s top throw
was 271 feet, 7 inches
(82.78 meters) to beat
runner-up Michael Shuey,
whose top throw was 260
(79.24). Riley Dolezal fin-
ished third with a throw of
252-10 (77.07).
The Olympic standard
in the event is 278-10 (85).
—Associated Press
YOUTH SOCCER
Deadline for rec
soccer is July 1
The deadline to regis-
ter for the 2021 Bend Uni-
fied Recreational Soccer
League (BURSL) fall sea-
son is July 1.
Jointly run by the Bend
Park and Recreation Dis-
trict and the Bend FC Tim-
bers, the program is open
to all boys and girls in
Central Oregon entering
first through eighth grade
in the 2021-22 school
year.
Fall soccer is Bend Park
and Recreation District’s
most popular youth sport,
according to a news re-
lease. The park district is
anticipating high regis-
tration numbers again
this year.
Grouped by school and
divided by grade, teams
practice twice a week and
play games on Saturdays.
The league runs Sept.
7 through Oct. 30. The
league also offers oppor-
tunities for adults to serve
as volunteer coaches.
For more information,
visit bendparksandrec.org
or contact Rich Ekman,
BPRD sports coordinator,
at rich@bendparksan-
drec.org.
—Bulletin staff report
U.S. Olympic Track & Field trials
LEGIT CONTENDER
Photos by Christopher Pietsch/The Register-Guard
Bend’s Mel Lawrence (No. 4) competes in the first round of the women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase on Sunday night at the U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials at Hayward
Field in Eugene.
After a successful prelim, Bend’s Mel Lawrence is ready to
run for a spot in Tokyo in the women’s steeplechase finals
BY MARK MORICAL
The Bulletin
E
mma Coburn, Courtney Frerichs
and Colleen Quigley have been
the fastest American women’s stee-
plechasers over the past several
years.
But Quigley is not competing at the U.S.
Olympic Track & Field Trials at Eugene’s
Hayward Field due to an injury, leaving
that third Olympic spot for the Tokyo
Games wide open.
Bend’s Mel Lawrence hopes she can take
it on Thursday in the women’s 3,000-meter
steeplechase finals.
“Courtney and Emma have run 9-flat
and 9:02, so they’re on this step-up level,”
Lawrence said on Monday. “But I really
think there will be five or six of us gunning
for that third spot. It’s gonna be intense.”
Lawrence stayed with leaders Coburn
and Leah Falland for much of her prelim-
inary race on Sunday night at Hayward,
easily qualifying for the finals by finishing
third in her heat.
Lawrence, 31 — who runs for Littlew-
ing Athletics in Bend and ran collegiately
for Washington — finished with a time of
9:29.30. Her personal best is 9:27.34, which
she will need to break to make the team for
Tokyo.
“I think the final will be a lot like my pre-
lim,” Lawrence said. “I think it will be faster
in the beginning, because so many steeples
this year have started off slow and closed
hard, and a lot of athletes have shown they
can do that. So I think it’s gonna be some-
thing that goes out fast, and then, it’s just
who can hang on.”
See Lawrence / A6
Bend’s Mel Lawrence (center) competes in the women’s steeple-
chase on Sunday night at the U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials at
Hayward Field in Eugene.
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
MLB | COMMENTARY
Bird, Taurasi earn spots on fifth
U.S. Olympic basketball team
Mariners
really know
how to enjoy
close games
BY DOUG FEINBERG
AP Basketball Writer
Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi will
try and become the first five-time
Olympic gold medalists in basket-
ball as they lead the U.S. women’s
team at the Tokyo Games.
The duo was selected for their
fifth Olympics on Monday, joining
Teresa Edwards as the only basket-
ball players in U.S. history to play in
five. Edwards won four gold med-
als and a bronze in her illustrious
Olympic career.
“It’s just been a tremendous jour-
ney when you think about playing
for that long,” Taurasi said. “We’re
trying to take it to the next gener-
ation. Focused on what we have to
do to come home with gold. Tre-
mendous competition like no other
because of COVID, the delay of the
Olympics. We’re really focused on
winning gold.”
There have been five interna-
tional basketball players to play in
five Olympics: Spain’s Juan Carlos
Navarro, Brazil’s Adriana Moises
Pinto and Oscar Schmidt, Austra-
lia’s Andrew Gaze and Puerto Rico’s
Teofilo Cruz.
The 40-year-old Bird and 39-year-
old Taurasi will lead a veteran group
in Japan, including 6-foot-6 Sylvia
Fowles, who will be playing in her
fourth Olympics. Tina Charles will
be in her third while 6-8 Brittney
BY MATT CALKINS
The Seattle Times
Jessica Hill/AP file
Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi will try to become the first five-time Olympic gold
medalists in basketball as they lead the U.S women’s team at the Tokyo Games.
Griner and Breanna Stewart are
back for a second time.
There will also be six newcomers
to the Olympic stage led by reign-
ing WNBA MVP A’ja Wilson. The
Las Vegas Aces star helped the U.S.
win the World Championship in
2018 in Spain. Others making their
Olympic debuts are Skylar Dig-
gins-Smith, Chelsea Gray, Ariel
Atkins, Jewell Loyd and Napheesa
Collier.
“Happy for the roster we have.
There’s a great mix of very experi-
enced players to first-time Olym-
pians,” said Dawn Staley, who will
be the first Black head coach of the
team. “You need a good mix espe-
cially if you’re going to take care of
winning a gold medal today and
what the future looks like.”
See Basketball / A7
When did you know that the Mariners
had the game won?
Was it the second the ball came off Shed
Long’s bat?
Was it the moment it appeared out of
right fielder Manuel Margot’s reach?
Or was it before that? Has this team man-
aged to convince you that, when it’s close,
they’ll end up with the cigar?
Sunday’s 6-2 win over the Rays marked the
Mariners’ fourth come-from-behind victory
in as many games. When Long ripped a two-
out grand slam in the bottom of the 10th, it
spawned Seattle’s third walk-off celebration in
four contests. The M’s’ extra-innings record
this season? That’d be 8-1. And their 38-36
record marks the first time they’ve been two
games over .500 since May 8.
You can point to an array of areas to ex-
plain their recent success (they’ve won seven
of their past eight and just completed a
four-game sweep of the reigning American
League champs). But perhaps the main rea-
son the Mariners can still dream of a playoff
berth at this point in the season is because of
their ability to convert winning opportuni-
ties into actual wins.
See Calkins / A6