The 2020 Nevada football season will begin later this month as the Mountain West Conference announced the league’s schedule. The Wolf Pack will take on the same eight previously scheduled teams, but with a new order and no bye weeks. Subject to approval from state, county and local officials, the eight-game schedule will begin on Saturday, Oct. 24. The top two teams with the highest conference winning percentage will face off in the MW Championship game on Saturday, Dec. 19. The 2020 Mountain West schedule is comprised of 46 conference matchups playing out over nine weeks with no divisional delineation. Nevada will have four home games at Mackay Stadium. The athletics department continues to work through local and state directives related to allowing fans in the stadium at reduced capacity.
The Battle Mountain High School Rodeo Club played host to the Nevada High School Rodeo Association on Sept. 25-27 and had a number of strong performances. Italy Jo Holman, Amelia Lancaster and Jolena Ayers finished fourth, fifth and sixth in the barrel racing average over two performances. Holman had the best run of the three, with a time of 16.926 seconds in the second performance. Emma Lemaire made it four Battle Mountain competitors in the top-10 in barrel racing, placing 10th. Gracie Lou Holman and Desatoya Coombs were 23rd and 24th in barrel racing.
Despite Gov. Steve Sisolak loosening the restrictions on certain youth and adult sports, high school sports in Nevada continues to be in flux.. Minimal contact sports – baseball, softball, soccer, volleyball, flag football, golf, tennis, running, no-contact cheer, swimming and diving — are allowed to resume practices, games and competitions if proper social distancing requirements can be met.
The Battle Mountain High School Rodeo Club held its rodeo this past weekend with three days of action of high school and junior high school rodeo.
Two decades of heartbreak at his home track finally ended for Kurt Busch when a little bit of luck fell his way at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Busch happened to be the leader when a late caution Sunday night jumbled the field and put him in control of his 0-for-21 losing streak in his hometown. He had three magnificent restarts, including one in overtime, to steal a vital playoff race. The good timing helped Busch sneak his way into the third round of the NASCAR Cup playoffs. He had been ranked last among the 12 title contenders before the race; now he’s guaranteed a slot in the round of eight.
The University of Nevada athletics department announced today the “We Are Nevada” campaign, the first major initiative of the Wolf Pack Athletic Association, which was recently formed to provide a more seamless experience for Wolf Pack donors, fans and alumni and to grow support for our more than 400 student-athletes.
Those in favor of playing high school sports in the midst of a global pandemic continued to make their voices heard on Saturday afternoon in downtown Carson City. Around 125 to 150 student-athletes, kids, parents and coaches stood at the intersection in front of the Nevada State Capitol protesting for the resumption of athletics in Northern Nevada. As of Thursday, eight states across the country – including Nevada – had no fall competitions scheduled, per the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS). The discussions since the initial decision to call off fall sports in Nevada in late July have only continued to become more nuanced.
Austin’s Craig Maestretti made the long trip from Austin to Winnemucca on Friday night and claimed the Hobby Stock main championship. Maestretti beat 11 other cars in the final weekend of racing at the Winnemucca Regional Raceway.
Ross Chastain snagged one of the coveted open Cup seats on Monday in a promotion at Chip Ganassi Racing to drive the No. 42 next season. This year marks a particularly active free agency period with heavy turnover expected among a limited number of rides. The No. 42 Chevrolet at Ganassi has been filled by Matt Kenseth, who came out of retirement to drive after Kyle Larson was fired in April.
What was supposed to be a typical U.S. Open produced a most unconventional champion. Bryson DeChambeau was not the least bit concerned by the narrow fairways or the ankle-deep rough that shape Winged Foot into historically the toughest of all U.S. Opens. With his extra 40 pounds of muscle and mass, he wanted to pound it into submission with his driver, even if his errant shots were buried in deep grass.
The Bulls and Broncs Rodeo made its return to the Winnemucca Events Complex on Saturday, Sept. 5, as part of the Labor Day Tri-County Fair and Stampede. Riders competed in bareback, saddle bronc and bull riding.
The Los Angeles Lakers are going to the conference finals for the first time in a decade, ending the longest drought in franchise history. LeBron James is going there for the first time since 2018. For him, that also qualifies as ending a drought. James scored 29 points and the Lakers wrapped up their first trip to the Western Conference finals since 2010 by topping the Houston Rockets 119-96 on Saturday night in Game 5 at Walt Disney World.
Whether it was at Winged Foot where Phil Mickelson lost his best chance to win the U.S. Open is up for debate. It certainly was the most memorable, if not spectacular. A tee shot off the hospitality tent that caromed into yellow grass that had been trampled by a week’s worth of spectators. A 3-iron that struck a tree. A shot that started between hospitality chalets and trees and hooked only far enough to catch a buried lie in the bunker left of the green. An explosion shot that raced off the green into 6 inches of rough.
While other high school sports have to wait to 2021 to start the Nevada High School Rodeo Association opened its 2020-21 season and the Battle Mountain Rodeo Club had a number of strong finishes in Gardnerville on Aug. 28-30. Emma Lemaire and Gracie Lou Holman were first and second, respectively, in the girls cutting average. Lemaire had an average of 142 points to win, In addition, she claimed the top spot in the first performance and was runner-up in the second performance. Holman scored 138.5 points, including a second-place finish in the first performance.
The marquee National Finals Rodeo is moving this year from Las Vegas to Arlington, Texas, due to coronavirus restrictions, event officials announced Wednesday. Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association and Texas Rangers officials said the Western horse sports championship will be held Dec. 3-12 at Globe Life Field, a retractable-roof stadium that opened this year and seats more than 40,000 people.