Winnemucca Regional Raceway held the Ty Scott Memorial on Friday night. Battle Mountain’s Josie Kennedy ran in the Gen X Division. Alec Childs won the IMCA Modified feature, Kevin Rueter the Gen X, Joe Quilici in Hobby Stocks, Walt Frazier in Pure Stocks and Rich Innis won the Mini Mods. The Battle Mountain Race Track will hold its first races of the season on June 26-27,
Timing favored the NFL over other major pro sports leagues in trying to figure out how to keep the coronavirus pandemic from wrecking the 2020 season. America’s most popular sport has another big advantage if the games are played: TV money. While NFL owners could lose billions collectively with limited capacities in stadiums or no fans at all, the league is well-positioned financially because of lucrative media contracts approaching $10 billion in a full 2020 season. And so far, the NFL is on pace to play games this fall.
Is the Nevada Wolf Pack really going to be ready to open its football season in a little more than two months? That’s right. The 2020 season is scheduled to open Aug. 29 at Mackay Stadium against UC Davis in roughly 72 days (depending on when you are reading this). Will fans be allowed in the stadium? If so, how many? How close can they sit together? Do they have to wear masks? Can they use the public restrooms?
The University of Nevada, Reno has announced plans to bring Colin Kaepernick back to campus and craft policies to make the campus a better place for black students, faculty and staff following the national protests over George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis. University President Marc Johnson said he could not elaborate on when the former NFL quarterback might return to the university, whose campus is closed because of the coronavirus pandemic. But Johnson said new efforts by the university include a public review of campus policing protocols. Additional images of Kaepernick and tributes throughout the campus are also being planned this summer, Johnson said.
The Mustang 5Kers are beginning to cross the finish line. PCHS science teacher Valdine McLean finished neck to neck with the Brooks kids. “I completed the 5K going up and down the aisles of my vineyard with a shovel and hoe,” she said.
Pershing County High School volleyball players love a challenge. Coaches Monica Halverson and Nancy Meissner gave them one at a Zoom meeting on Wednesday, June 3. The coaches will post volleyball workouts on a private Facebook page every Monday throughout the summer. It will include cardio, push-ups, sit-ups, walking, cycling and other components. Even if they’re out of town, the girls could do crunches in the hotel room or jog up and down the stairs, said the coach. The players will post pictures of themselves completing the exercises. As a motivational tool, Halverson will use the photos to create collages and side-by-sides.
The American Basketball Association (ABA) announced that the Reno Rogues have been added to its expansion for the upcoming season that will begin in November.
Nevada Sports Net is Reno’s exclusive home for Las Vegas Raiders preseason games and special content throughout the NFL season, NSN and the Raiders announced Wednesday. The multi-year agreement enables NSN to become the “Official Home of the Raiders” in Northern Nevada, which includes airing all four of the team’s preseason games.
More than half the 32 NFL teams will not have coaching staffs at their facilities Friday even though the league has approved such returns where local governments allow them. Clubs with coaches in place at their training complexes were Super Bowl champion Kansas City, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Houston, Denver, Dallas, Jacksonville and Atlanta. While entire staffs had not yet returned in many cities, such head coaches as the Chiefs’ Andy Reid, the Steelers’ Mike Tomlin, the Falcons’ Dan Quinn, the Broncos’ Vic Fangio and the Browns Kevin Stefanski were on hand.
Swimmer Andressa Cholodovskis, softball player, Julia Jensen and women’s golfer Katy Rutherford attended the NCAA’s National Career in Sports Forum. “It is a great honor to have three of our student-athletes selected to attend the prestigious NCAA Career in Sports Forum,” said Rhonda Bennett, senior associate AD / senior woman administrator. “Andressa, Julia and Katy will have the chance to grow professionally and learn about careers in sports from some of our industry leaders. These three student-athletes personify the mission and values of Nevada Athletics, and I am very excited that they will have this opportunity to participate in what will likely be a transformational experience that will set them up for future career success.” The three-day forum prepares junior and senior student-athletes for a career after graduation.
There’s still time to join the Pershing County Mustang 5K. People can register through June 20. All proceeds support the football team. It costs $20 to participate.
Racers from a handful of states were in Winnemucca for two days of racing. On Saturday and Sunday over 40 IMCA cars took part in the 4th annual High Desert Classic IMCA Shootout that provided $2,000 to the winner. Over 100 cars in nine different classes took part in the two-day event.
Recently, a pair of graduating seniors earned recognition for their athletic efforts. All through high school, and even before, Alyssa Montes and JC Astle strove to perfect their skills. That’s why the coaches named them Pershing’s most improved athletes.
The jersey-wearing camaraderie. The scent of sizzling sausages. The buzz before a big game. The distinctive atmosphere of live sports, that feeling in the air, will return in time as pandemic restrictions are eased. But will that very air be safe in a closed arena with other fans in attendance? The billions of dollars spent on state-of-the-art sports facilities over the last quarter-century have made high-efficiency air filtration systems more common, thanks in part to the pursuit of green and healthy building certifications. Upgrades will likely increase in the post-coronavirus era, too. The problem is that even the cleanest of air can’t keep this particular virus from spreading; if someone coughs or sneezes, those droplets are in the air. That means outdoor ballparks have high contaminant potential, too.
Nevada women’s basketball head coach Amanda Levens has announced her 2020 signing class by adding seven newcomers to the program. “We are excited about the new additions to our Wolf Pack family,” said Levens. “They are all talented athletes, motivated students and young women of high character.” The signing class includes four transfers and three high school student-athletes. The seven-member class will join Kenna Holt, who signed with Nevada in November, as the newest members of the Wolf Pack this fall. In total the eight newcomers brings the 2020-21 roster to 13 student-athletes with the return of senior Nia Alexander, juniors Da’Ja Hamilton and Amaya West and sophomores Dom Phillips and Alyssa Jimenez.