For two days this past week, Winnemucca native and former NFL player Jace Billingsley held his second annual football camp at Lowry High School. Mother Nature brought different weather challenges during the two days. On Tuesday lightning, high winds and rain forced the boys inside and Wednesday’s 100 degree heat at 6 p.m. was no picnic either. Forty 8-10 year-olds came out for the first day of the camp and 58 eager 11-12 year-olds were in attendance for the second day; Billingsley discussed why he set it up that way.
Nevada football senior Jake Nelson has been named to the preseason watch list for the 2019 Outland Trophy presented by the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases, the Football Writers Association of America announced today. This is the first preseason watch list honor of Nelson’s career. Earlier this morning he was also named to the preseason All-Mountain West team for the first time. Nelson joins just three others from around the Mountain West on the Outland Trophy watch list, which is presented annually to the nation’s top interior lineman.
The Ladies Golf Club held the Eclectic Golf Tournament at the Winnemucca Municipal Golf Course on Tuesday. In the first flight Tatyana Carlson shot a 36 to win the low gross title.
The Winnemucca Municipal Golf Course was host to an exciting day of junior golf for 34 kids on a hot Wednesday July morning Kobe Stoker carded a 79 for 18 holes to win the boys 15-17 year-old division. Bailey Hayes took the girls title with a 103. Seventeen year-old Caden Rorex won the boys title last week and was back for more this week.
A pair of Nevada football student-athletes, sophomore Toa Taua and senior Gabe Sewell, have earned spots on watch lists for the Maxwell Award and Chuck Bednarik Award, respectively. This is Taua’s first selection to the watch list for the Maxwell Award, which is presented annually to the college football player of the year. Taua burst onto the scene in his rookie campaign, winning Mountain West Freshman of the Year honors.
The Nevada football team will play at least three day games at Mackay Stadium this fall. The fan-friendly schedule includes four home games before mid-October and concludes with the rivalry game against the Rebels as Nevada will be seeking revenge and possession of the Fremont Cannon. So far, three of Nevada’s home games are set for daytime kickoffs as the Mountain West and its television partners ESPN, CBS Sports, AT&T SportsNet and Stadium are finalizing the league’s broadcast schedule.
UNLV offensive coordinator Barney Cotton is awaiting a heart transplant and will not coach on the field this season. Rebels coach Tony Sanchez says in a news release issued Thursday by the school that the 62-year-old Cotton is in Omaha, Nebraska, and on a waiting list to receive a heart. Cotton is an Omaha native and former University of Nebraska assistant coach. He served as interim head coach for the Cornhuskers in 2014 after Bo Pelini was fired.
Rock Springs, Wyoming was the site of the National High School Rodeo Finals at the Sweetwater Events Complex July 14-20 and the Silver State was well represented by students from all corners. Ali Norcutt from Fallon took the reined cow horse high school national championship and finished in a tie with Battle Mountain’s Riata Goemmer for 89th place in the girls cutting competition. Crescent Valley’s Kaylee Filippini finished 22nd in girls cutting. Goemmer was 46th in reined cow horse and 84th in barrel racing.
The Winnemucca 9-11 year-old Little League all-star team went to the State Championships in Boulder City last week and returned with some good experience and memories. The boys qualified for state with their wins in the District 3 tournament at Carlin, but went down to Henderson 18-5 and Reno 15-3 to finish out their season in Boulder City.
The Winnemucca Junior High School girls basketball teams will be holding open gym sessions for the seventh and eighth-grade girls to prepare them for the upcoming tryouts.
The Good Times Drag Strip hosted the King of the Hill races last Saturday night and it was attended by racers and visitors from the western United States. Five hundred dollars and a trophy were awarded for the first place finish, and $100 was awarded to the second place finisher. The Good Times Drag Strip features a 1/8 mile paved drag strip with a state of the art wireless timing system and it is located about six miles out Jungo Road.
After missing several years in Winnemucca, the 44-Hour Softball Tournament was held at the Winnemucca Sports Complex starting on Friday, July 19 at midnight. They only took a quick break for a “Backyard Bash” at the Model T Casino on Saturday night in between playing for 44 consecutive hours to crown a co-ed and a men’s team champion on Sunday, July 21.
So now we know. Tiger Woods isn’t done, no matter what it looked like on his slog through the only two rounds he’ll play in this British Open. He’s also not in danger of being put in traction anytime soon, no matter how many times he is asked about his surgically repaired back. He’s just not 23 anymore. And that may be the worst part of being a superstar in any sport. Woods admitted as much Friday, just before catching his jet home to Florida. If there’s an upside to missing the cut at Royal Portrush, he said, it’s that he’ll get a chance to sleep in his own bed once again.
Keith Thurman certainly seems like more than the modern Manny Pacquiao should be able to handle. Thurman (29-0, 22 KOs) is a decade younger, certainly more powerful and maybe even a bit faster than his famously speedy opponent. Thurman is a tough, voluble welterweight champion in his prime competitive years, and Pacquiao represents the biggest fight of his career — a once-in-a-lifetime chance to pound a boxing great into retirement. ``It's been a build up and a progression my whole career toward this moment on Saturday night,'' Thurman said. ``This really is the outcome of an individual living out their dream.''