Need a fix for live sports? Race track just south of Tri-Cities opens for a few fans

There have been plenty of cancellations or postponements of sporting events these past few months because of the coronavirus.

You name it — the HAPO Columbia Cup, the Tri-Cities Dust Devils season, youth sports — there hasn’t been much to enjoy with local sports.

Throw in Tuesday’s announcement from the WIAA that high school football, girls soccer and volleyball have been moved to next spring.

And the announcements in the past 10 days that the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (which includes Central Washington University), the Northwest Athletic Conference (which includes CBC and Walla Walla Community College), the Northwest Conference (which has Whitman College and Whitworth University among its members) and the Cascade Collegiate Conference (of which many Mid-Columbia athletes are on teams at Eastern Oregon University) are all moving fall sports to next spring.

But you should know that there are a few sports still going on, namely auto racing, rodeo and golf.

Auto racing

The auto racing portion involves Hermiston Raceway, which was given the OK by the state of Oregon’s Health Department to start holding events at the beginning of the month.

Greg Walden, who owns Atomic Screenprinting & Embroidery in Kennewick, runs the Hermiston track.

He wasn’t allowed to do anything there for April, May or June.

But he got the OK to start up for July and had a Fourth of July weekend event, and then raced again last Saturday night.

There are limitations for COVID. Like limiting the number of patrons through social distancing.

“Our track seats 1,960 fans,” said Walden. “But we were told we could only have 250 people in the stands.”

Like any good promoter, Walden found a workaround — doubleheader racing events. The first event starts at 5 p.m., then the grandstands are cleared out, and the next event begins at 7:30 p.m.

“We have two complete shows,” he said. “They are main events only. It costs $20 a ticket, regardless of age.”

Tickets have been selling out fast, usually for both shows. He says some people go to just one, while others buy tickets for both shows.

The whole thing is not ideal for Walden. But it’s certainly better than nothing.

It’s also a razor-thin margin. Walden said it costs $20,000 to put on a show, and the revenues are about $22,000.

“So there is very little wiggle room,” he admits.

Regardless, the show will go on. Walden has revamped the race schedule. Normally, August would have just one Saturday night race because of county fairs.

But there will be racing on four of the five Saturday nights in August. There will be more to come in September. For more information, go to hermistonraceway.com or Hermiston Raceway on Facebook.

• Washington and Oregon were well represented in last Saturday’s events.

In the Atomic Shootout 100, Renton’s Brent Harris won the event, while Spokane’s Haedon Plyber was second, Selah’s Garrett Huffines placed third, and Walla Walla’s Jake Klingenberg was fourth.

Team 123 of Milton-Freewater won the Bombers race, while Milton-Freewater’s Arlen Calley was second.

In the Mini-Stocks division, Pasco’s Brad Rhoads raced to victory, while Spokane’s Scott Murphy finished second, and Kennewick’s Mike Savage was third.

Kennewick’s Terry Lydell was the Street Stocks division champion, while Jeff Mullins of Naches placed second.

Okanogan’s Evan Goetz won the Mountain Dew Junior Late Model race for kids ages 12-15.

Rodeo

Meanwhile, the National High School Rodeo Championships have been going all week in Guthrie, Okla.

Madi Conner of Kennewick has been the brightest spot so far of Mid-Columbia athletes.

Conner won her first performance Monday morning, then placed third in the Monday night performance. She is 13th in overall average among the 168 barrel racers.

Walla Walla’s Tice Hiner placed second in his performance last Friday night in boys cutting — an event where cowboy and horse cut cows out of a herd. He was ranked fifth out of 66 competitors in the first go-round, and has his second performance this Friday.

Benton City’s Brayden Schmidt is working with Coy Aldrich of Terrebonne, Ore., in team roping, where the pair tied for fourth in a Sunday night performance before grabbing a fifth place in a Tuesday morning show.

In girls cutting, Pasco’s Slone Rexin had both of her go-rounds on Monday, when she placed second in the morning and then 11th at night.

Hermiston’s Alyson Terry struggled in her first go-round Sunday in pole bending, an event in which a rider and horse race through a line of six poles. Terry placed 19th in her Sunday performance, but got a second-place finish on Tuesday in her second go-round.

Stanfield’s Jose Goodrich got a 12th and 16th in her barrel racing performances, while Prosser’s Harley Hall teamed with Sydney Berquist of LaCrosse to get an 11th-place in their team roping second go-round on Wednesday morning. The pair got a no time in their first go-round.

The rodeo continues through July 24.

Golf

Brady Sharp, the assistant pro at Wine Valley Golf Club in Walla Walla, won the Oregon Open Invitational last week at Arrowhead Golf Club.

Sharp shot a 3-under-par, two-round score of 139 (71-68) to win the Pacific Northwest Section PGA tournament by one stroke.

There were 191 golfers in the event.

Jason Aichele of Meadow Springs Country Club in Richland tied for 29th with a 6-over-par score of 148 (70-78).

• The Pacific Northwest Golf Association cancelled its remaining championship tournaments on June 29, citing the distance that a number of competitors travel to the events.

But the Oregon Golf Association and the Washington Golf Association continue on.

In fact, the WGA holds its four Washington State Men’s Amateur qualifiers next week at different courses around the state.

Wine Valley will be hosting one of the qualifiers July 30, with the top 19 placers advancing to the tournament proper, set for Aug. 11-13 at Chambers Bay.

There are 25 Mid-Columbians entered in the Wine Valley qualifier:

• Benton City — Richard Gleed II.
• College Place — Mike Kearbey, Chris Mehl.
• Kennewick — Jarred Olson, Rylan Simanton, Will Speer.
• Othello —Patrick Azevedo.
  
  
• Pasco — David Barber, Qujinell Oucharek, Adam Sahrblom, Clayton Whitby.
  
  
• Prosser — Evan Tidball.
  
  
• Richland — James Graham, Wilton Guerra, Ryan Johne, Corey Morris, Carter Sheets, Joshua Stancil.
  
  
• Sunnyside — TJ Inions.
  
  
• Waitsburg — Dakota Baker.
  
  
• Walla Walla — Greg Frandsen, Jorge Martinez, Nick Page, Corey Spencer.
  
  
• West Richland — Dyllan Clark.
  
  

In addition, Kennewick’s Landon Kutschkau will be battling for a state berth at the July 28 qualifier at Kalispell Golf & Country Club.

There are at least three locals who are on the state amateur exemption list: Othello’s Azevedo, who will play in the Wine Valley qualifier nonetheless; Kennewick’s Nick Mandell, the Southridge High grad who played at WSU and competed in the U.S. Amateur last year; and David Vonghalath, a Kiona-Benton grad who set a course record at Richland’s Columbia Point Golf Course two years ago by shooting a 59 off of the blue tees.