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About The Bulletin. (Bend, OR) 1963-current | View Entire Issue (May 21, 2022)
INSIDE: COMICS, OPINIONS & CLASSIFIEDS S PORTS B Stay connected with local sports! Get text alerts with up-to-date scores and schedules from Central Oregon high school sports events. Sign up at bendbulletin.com/text or scan the QR code. THE BULLETIN • SaTUrday, May 21, 2022 bendbulletin.com/sports STATE PREP TENNIS Redmond, RV teams reach semis A Redmond boys doubles team and a Ridgeview girls doubles team advanced to the semifinals at the Class 5A state tennis champion- ships Friday at the Port- land Tennis Center. Redmond’s Tanner Jones and Nico Afti de- feated a Wilsonville dou- bles team 6-2, 6-3, Friday in the quarterfinals. They will take on The Dalles team of Paul Capek and Paul Kelly in the semifi- nals on Saturday. In 5A girls tennis, Ridgeview’s Rachel Les- ter and Sydney Cassaro defeated a Willamette doubles team 6-1, 6-4, in the state quarterfinals to advance to take on Zoe Hughes and Kara Pater- son on Saturday in the semifinals. In 5A boys singles quarterfinals, Redmond’s Yoshi Saito injury faulted to Wilsonville’s Ben Pinoli. Ridgeview’s Austin Allen won a consolation quarterfinal match over Willamette’s Jorien Flores, 8-0. In 5A girls singles Fri- day, Redmond’s Naya Lewis fell to Ashland’s Veronica Miller, 6-2, 6-3. Crook County’s Meredith Miller lost to Crescent Val- ley’s Sophie Katz, 6-1, 6-0. In 6A state boys singles consolation quarterfinals Friday at the Tualatin Hills Tennis Center in Beaver- ton, Caldera’s Aiden Cruz defeated South Eugene’s Blake Chandler 8-5 to ad- vance to the consolation semifinals on Saturday. In 6A boys doubles, Summit had two teams advance Friday to the consolation semifinals. The Storm’s Jake Seals and Owen Gurley de- feated a doubles team from Sheldon to advance to the consolation semifi- nals on Saturday. Summit’s doubles team of Hudson Snyder and Zack Olander de- feated a Roseburg team to also advance to the consolation semifinals. In 6A girls singles, Bend High’s Marin Mon- tagne defeated Sariah Plaisted of Century 8-1 to advance to Saturday’s consolation semifinals. — Bulletin staff report GOLF Zalatoris leads PGA; Woods makes cut TULSA, Okla. — The Oklahoma wind came sweeping through South- ern Hills and then swiftly left town in time for Will Zalatoris, Bubba Wat- son and yes, even Tiger Woods, to bring a sleepy PGA Championship to life on Friday. Zalatoris hit the ball on the button whether he was in the fairway or the rough, running off three straight birdies in gen- tler afternoon conditions for a 4-under 66 and a one-shot lead over Mito Pereira of Chile. Pereira missed a 7-foot putt on his final hole and had to settle for 64. About an hour later, Watson missed a birdie putt from just inside 25 feet on the 18th hole and still delivered the 18th round of 63 in PGA Cham- pionship history. Woods wasn’t that spectacular, yet no less compelling. Outside the cut line with seven holes to play, he made a pair of 15-foot par putts and two birdies on his battered right leg for a 69 to make the cut in his second straight major. — Associated Press PREP TRACK AND FIELD Vaulting, throwing to state titles Chris Pietsch/Photos for The Bulletin Summit’s Gavin Fleck clears the bar in the 6A boys pole vault Friday on his way to the state title at the state track and field championships at Hayward Field in Eugene. Summit’s Gavin Fleck wins Class 6A pole vault state championship loaded with Central Oregon placers BY BRIAN RATHBONE The Bulletin Ridgeview’s Zowie Nunes competes in the 5A girls javelin on her way to a state championship Friday at the state track and field championships at Hayward Field in Eugene. BY BRIAN RATHBONE The Bulletin EUGENE — Even Zowie Nunes was surprised by her throw of 138 feet, 2 inches, that won her the Class 5A state title in the javelin on Friday. “I didn’t think I would be able to do it,” Nunes said. “138 is a lot.” It was a rocky start for the the Ridgeview freshman, who faulted on one of her first tosses on the big stage of the track and field state championships at Hayward Field. See Girls track / B2 EUGENE — The Class 6A pole vault state title came down to two compet- itors on Friday at Hayward Field — Summit’s Gavin Fleck and Bend High’s Jen- son Molebash. Neither Fleck nor Mole- bash cleared 15 feet, 3 inches, so the pole vault title went to Fleck, who cleared the bar on his first attempt on all his previous jumps, giving him the tiebreaker and the state championship. “If I hadn’t gotten the first attempt each time then it would have been a lot closer,” Fleck said. “That was my strategy each time, then go for PRs.” The strategy was well ex- ecuted. By clearing 15-0, TENNIS Fleck set a personal best by 5 inches at the state track and field championships. The pole vault was domi- nated by three high schools in Bend, as Fleck and Mole- bash went first and second, and Mountain View’s Cal- vin Lewis finished fifth, clearing 14-9. Summit’s Bryce White cleared 14-0 to finish seventh in the event. “I’m glad I was able to score points for my team,” Fleck said. “I just wish we all could have gone higher.” Also on Friday at Hay- ward, Mountain View’s Sam Larson was nervous sitting and watching the other competitors throw the dis- cus. Larson’s throw of 148-7 was the best in the 6A field, but he knew that it likely would not hold. The senior was correct, as Tigard’s Elijah Jackman eventually won the event with a throw of 175-7. But finishing second would not stop Larson from soaking in the experience at Hayward Field. “I was just happy to get what I got,” Larson said. “It was a really great experience being out there with all the other guys. I was in a bit of a slump the past couple of weeks, so it was really good to get that mark. I couldn’t be happier.” Also landing on the po- dium on Friday was Sum- mit’s Jackson Keefer, who finished seventh in the 3,000 meters with a time of 8 minutes, 19.35 seconds, a personal best. See Boys track / B2 HORSE RACING Osaka gets rematch in return to French Open Near-record heat for BY HOWARD FENDRICH AP Tennis Writer PARIS — Naomi Osaka will not have the luxury of easing into her return to the courts of the French Open, facing a tough foe in her very first match. Week 2 at Roland Gar- ros, meanwhile, could be quite fascinating for Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz — the three leading favorites for the men’s title ended up on the same side of the bracket for the clay-court Grand Slam tour- nament, meaning only one can reach the final. Thursday’s draw at Roland Garros also set up two tan- talizing possibilities in the fourth round for No. 1-ranked Iga Swiatek, the 2020 cham- pion who is currently on a 28-match winning streak. She might need to go up against 2018 champion Simona Ha- lep at that stage or 2017 cham- pion Jelena Ostapenko — who just so happens to be the last woman to defeat Swiatek. The tournament begins Sunday. Osaka is a four-time Grand Slam champion who used to be No. 1 in the rankings but has slipped to No. 38 in part because of a lack of activity. That included time off for a mental health break after she withdrew from Roland Garros ahead of her sec- ond-round match last year, revealing that she has dealt with anxiety and depression. Because she isn’t seeded, she was not safe from facing a seeded opponent right away, so that’s what will happen against No. 27 Amanda Ani- simova, a 20-year-old Amer- ican who was a 2019 semifi- nalist in Paris. Anisimova won their third- round encounter at the Aus- tralian Open in January by a score of 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (5). Osaka was the defending champion at Melbourne Park. The possible women’s quarterfinals in Paris are Swi- atek against two-time major runner-up and eighth-seeded Karolina Pliskova, and No. 3 seed Paula Badosa against No. 7 Aryna Sabalenka on the top half of the field, and de- fending champion No. 2 seed Barbora Krejcikova against No. 5 Anett Kontaveit, and No. 4 Maria Sakkari against No. 6 Ons Jabeur on the bot- tom half. See French Open / B2 Preakness is another test for Epicenter BY STEPHEN WHYNO Associated Press BALTIMORE — Epicenter lost the Kentucky Derby be- cause of a hot pace. Now he’ll face hot tempera- tures in the Preakness. Two weeks after getting passed by 80-1 long shot Rich Strike just before the finish line at the Derby, Epicenter goes into Saturday’s Preakness as the favorite and clearly the class of the nine-horse field. In a race without Rich Strike and no chance at a Triple Crown, there is still some buzz largely because of filly Secret Oath and that it will be a test of whether Epicenter can beat the heat that could approach a record high. “You handle what you have control over and put yourself in the best position possible and try to eliminate as many variables that could get in the way of that,” Epicenter trainer Steve Asmussen said. “If it’s actually 95, 96 degrees here, and we know it can be pretty sticky when it gets warm in Baltimore, so I think that all of them are going to have to deal with that. See Preakness / B2
