Mid-Columbia bull rider wins $85,000 at ‘Unleash the Beast’ world finals

Walla Walla cowboy Derek Kolbaba placed seventh overall at the 2020 PBR World Finals: Unleash the Beast competition over the weekend at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

Kolbaba, 24, rode successfully two of the five bulls we was assigned to. But he scored high on both of his rides.

Kolbaba hung on for the required 8 seconds on a bull aptly named Boogie Bomb to score 92.75 points during Thursday’s opening night. That gave the 5-foot-9, 140-pounder the overall lead after the first night.

After getting bucked in Round 2, Kolbaba came came on the third night to ride I’m A Secret for a score of 90.75.

Kolbaba failed to stay on the Bulls the final two rounds.

But his two rides garnered him seventh place and $85,500 in prize money.

Texas cowboy Boudreaux Campbell won the event, staying on four of his five rides and winning $368,000.

Kolbaba finished the event ranked 13th in the world. He completed 31.8 percent of his rides for the 2020 season.

Track and field

Like most track and field standouts, Hanford High senior Camryn Dezember saw her junior season for the Falcons wiped out by COVID-19 back in the spring.

But that hasn’t stopped her from being noticed by colleges and universities.

And last week, Dezember signed a national letter of intent to run track for the University of Montana.

What Dezember did her first two seasons in high school was impressive.

As a freshman, she was named first-team All-Mid-Columbia Conference in the girls 100 meters.

As a sophomore, Dezember was a second team selection for the MCC in the 200 meters, and as a member of the 4x100 relay team.

She is also part of the school’s record 4x200 relay.

Golf

Brady Sharp of Wine Valley Golf Club finished in a group of seven golfers tied for eighth place in this past weekend’s Assistant PGA Professional Golf Championships in Port St. Lucie, Fla., that ran from Thursday through Sunday.

Sharp spent the entire tournament among at least the top 20 of the 132 assistant PGA professionals competing from around the country.

Playing the Wanamaker Course at the PGA Golf Club, Sharp fired a 72-71-70-73 for a 286 and a minus-2 finish.

That earned Sharp $2,900.

Brad Elzie, an assistant pro at Zintel Creek Golf Club in Kennewick, also played in the tournament. Elzie fired rounds of 83 and 78, missing the cut.

Gunner Wiebe of Los Angeles won the tournament, firing a minus-10, four-round total of 278, earning $12,000.

Swimming

Richland High graduate Lisa Bratton had her stint with the Toronto Titans in the International Swimming League end Sunday when her team finished fourth out of four teams in the semifinals.

Bratton swam in five events for the Titans, including two relays, the 50 backstroke, 100 back and 200 back.

Her top finish of the weekend was a fourth-place finish in the 200 back, where she finished in 2 minutes, 3.46 seconds — 1.81 seconds behind race winner Beuta Nelson of the California Condors.

Bratton also placed fifth in the 100 back, and swam the anchor leg in the 4x100 free relay that finished fifth.

The finals are set for this weekend in the Budapest, Hungary, bubble.

NFL

Hanford graduate Aaron Neary had a “cup of coffee” last week with the Chicago Bears.

An offensive lineman who played at Eastern Washington University, Neary was signed Nov. 3 to the Chicago Bears practice squad.

The Bears had some injuries to regular starters before their game against the Tennessee Titans last weekend, and Neary was activated to the roster Nov. 8.

However, the 28-year-old — who has also been with the Rams, Broncos, Eagles and Browns — never made it into the game.

On Nov. 10, Neary was released by the Bears.

Hockey

Former Tri-City American Jadon Joseph made the Boden hockey team in Sweden’s Hockey EttanNorta earlier this year.

But Joseph, a center, asked for and received his release from the team recently so he could come home to Canada to complete his studies, according to the MacBeth Report, which follows U.S. and Canadian hockey players overseas.

In nine games for Boden, Joseph scored 4 goals and 2 assists.

Joseph, 21, played for six different clubs during his Western Hockey League playing career.

His last team was the Americans, where he played in 27 games last season before the coronavirus stopped all play.

Joseph had 4 goals and 10 assists for Tri-Cities.

• When the Ontario Hockey League — one of three major junior hockey leagues, which includes the Western Hockey League – begins play on Feb. 4, it will do so without body checking.

The OHL announced that last month, citing coronavirus concerns.

The WHL, which includes the Tri-City Americans, still set to begin play Jan. 8. The league has not made any announcements regarding body checking.