The Silver State International Rodeo concluded last week in Winnemucca after a weeks worth of performance for high school and junior high contestants. Contestants who finished fifth through 25th in an event during the season was eligible to compete in Winnemucca. Contestants as far away as Oklahoma made the trip to Nevada. Up next is the season finale and the National High School Finals Rodeo in Lincoln, Nebraska from July 18-24.
The seeds for this were planted nearly a year ago. The Phoenix Suns were in the middle of their eight-game unbeaten run inside the bubble at Walt Disney World last summer when someone asked coach Monty Williams if it was fun to be the feel-good story of the event. His answer was telling.
As the calendar hits July, the fall sports season for the Pershing County High School football and girls soccer teams are just around the corner. Soccer starts with a treat for the home crowd — a preseason tournament the weekend of Aug. 27-28. Starting times are still to be announced.
“Our fall schedule is hot off the press,” says coach Monica Halverson, Pershing County's head volleyball coach since 2019. “I don’t see many changes to come, but always be prepared. Isn’t a full schedule in the fall a glorious sight?” The 2021-22 year starts with two preseason tournaments, a chance for the athletes to identify their strengths and weaknesses. On Aug. 20-21, the players compete in Yerington.
Nevada quarterback Carson Strong was named to The Sporting News’ “Top 25 QBs of 2021” list, checking in at No. 15. Strong, the only Mountain West quarterback to make the list, is coming off a 2020 campaign in which he was named the conference’s Offensive Player of the Year and to its First Team.
The Holiday Bowl will move downtown to Petco Park after its home of 42 years, Qualcomm Stadium, was razed. Holiday Bowl CEO Mark Neville confirmed the move. He and officials from the San Diego Padres will unveil renderings of how the ballpark will accommodate a football field. No date has been set for the 2021 game, which will be the first in a new five-year contract between the Pac-12 and ACC. Neville began looking at Petco Park as an option since it became apparent that Qualcomm Stadium’s lifespan was coming to an end after the NFL’s Chargers moved to Los Angeles following the 2016 season.
Serena Williams said she will not go to the Tokyo Olympics, but did not want to say why during her pre-Wimbledon video conference with reporters Sunday. “I’m actually not on the Olympic list. ... Not that I’m aware of. If so, then I shouldn’t be on it,” Williams said. The 39-year-old Williams has won four gold medals at past Summer Games for the United States: in both singles and doubles at the 2012 London Olympics — which held the tennis competition at the All England Club — and in doubles at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and 2008 Beijing Olympics. All of her doubles golds were won with her older sister, Venus, as her partner.
Anna Happy, Raegan and Presley Burrows, Kaylen Halverson, Andrea Canchola and KayLee Poffenroth attended a three-day volleyball camp in Yerington last weekend. “Players take the initiative to attend camps like these to get better,” said Coach Monica Halverson. “This was not a mandatory team camp.” YHS alum Cole Aiazzi ran the first-time event, which focused on position skill work, game play and fundamentals. Girls from Fernley, Dayton, Smith Valley, Yerington and Lowry also participated.
Last year the Fenner family visited 16 states and traveled over 50,000 miles competing in youth rodeo. They’re well on their way to beat their record this year. Most recently, they headed to Fort Worth, Texas, for the Junior National Finals Rodeo so Rori Fenner, 9, could run barrels.
When the dust settled on the 2021 Reno Rodeo, there were some very happy rodeo contestants heading out of town. The rodeo marks the start of the busy summer rodeo season and winning here gives contestants momentum as they head into “Cowboy Christmas,” which includes all of the rodeos held over the Fourth-of-July Holiday.
The Lovelock Softball Association announced this past weekend that the tournament scheduled for June 25-27 has been postponed to Frontier Days weekend in August.
About 60 flag football enthusiasts played under the Friday night lights in Lovelock last weekend. Many of them had never met, but by the end of the evening, they were friends. ,PCHS AD Mike Brooks organized the fundraiser to benefit the Pershing County Mustang football team. You see them sometimes – running early in the morning before the heat hits. They’re also working out in the weight room. Putting the off-season to good use is a longstanding group norm.
There’s a science behind gratitude. It’s linked to better health, deeper relationships and can even improve your sleep. Lovelock Softball Association president Jared Jensen should sleep well because he’s grateful to dozens of people. Each of them helped get the LSA off the ground to begin its third season on Monday, June 7.
North Carolina State, Texas, Tennessee and Arizona locked up spots in the College World Series on Sunday, with the Wolfpack knocking out No. 1 national seed Arkansas. Two days after losing its NCAA super regional opener by 19 runs, Jose Torres hit a tiebreaking home run in the top of the ninth inning off SEC pitcher of the year Kevin Kopps and NC State beat the Razorbacks 3-2 in the deciding Game 3. Tennessee defeated LSU 15-6 and Texas beat South Florida 12-4 to complete two-game sweeps, and Arizona won a three-game series with a 16-3 victory over Mississippi.
They got a running start, pinched their noses and jumped. Landon Oberman, 9, Miley Canchola, 9, somersaulted and splashed in Lovelock’s community pool on Sunday. They had lots of company. It was the first of three free swim days sponsored by the Frontier Community Coalition. The next two are on the Fourth of July and Aug. 8. The pool closes on Aug. 21, just a couple of days before PCSD starts the 2021-2022 school year.