INSIDE: COMICS, OPINIONS & CLASSIFIEDS
S PORTS
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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