High school sports can return — but only after it meets these marks issued by WIAA

The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association, the governing body that runs high school and middle school sports in the state, came out with more guidance on the plan to re-open sports.

The WIAA worked with the Washington Schools Risk Management Pool and Clear Risk after having talks with Gov. Jay Inslee’s office and the Washington State Department of Health.

It has come up with a process to re-opening sports.

▪ The governor has to recommend a return to play and then the state Department of Health will provide guidance on the required steps.

▪ Risk management will then review the new recommendations.

▪ School leadership must commit to play. Most schools would consider a return to play once students are able to return to school — even in a hybrid model. Coaches, under the collective bargaining agreements, will need to support a return to play.

▪ And then the WIAA executive board will review the current schedule with the new recommendations.

These all seem like lengthy steps. But many of them could be checked off the list quickly.

In a conversation with Richland High athletic director Mike Edwards a few weeks ago, the schedules for the Mid-Columbia Conference are ready to go.

But the conference’s athletic directors also have added concerns, such as how many people will be allowed to watch contests in person? Will there be alternative viewing plans, such as live video feeds?

There are many, many questions that still need answers.

Getting the student-athletes back on the fields and court — and getting them back out safely — is obviously the primary goal.

And at least we all now have a checklist to get there.

High schools, colleges

Chiawana junior Camryn Cartwright has received an offer to play women’s basketball for the University of Providence in Great Falls, Mont.

This is hardly surprising since (a) Camryn Cartwright is good at basketball, and (b) the Cartwright family has been good for the Argos’ women’s basketball program.

Camryn’s two older sisters, Bailey and Kenedy, played together last season for an Argos team that went 21-12.

Bailey Cartwright was a graduate student who transferred in from Concordia University in Portland. She averaged 13.9 points and 9.7 rebounds per game in 2019-20.

Sister Kenedy Cartwright was a sophomore who averaged 9.8 points and 4.0 rebounds last season.

• Kennewick High junior running back Myles Mayovsky shared on Twitter last week that UCLA’s coaching staff sent him a message that it is recruiting the standout for the Lions.

• Ryker Stevens, who is a senior at Southridge High School, has committed to playing college baseball for Yakima Valley Community College. Stevens, a 6-foot-3 pitcher, will attend fall classes in September of 2021.

• With the Big Ten Conference announcing last week that it was going to bring football back in the fall, others are starting to follow suit.

That includes the Pac-12 Conference, which still doesn’t have an official announcement to make on whether it will happen yet.

The Mountain West Conference school presidents will vote later this week as to whether football in the form of an eight-game conference schedule that would start in late October will happen.

Boise State is a member of the MWC. So is the Air Force Academy, which has Richland High graduate Lakota Wills on the roster as a senior linebacker.

No matter what happens with the vote, Wills and his teammates will have at least two games on their fall schedule.

Air Force will play host to Navy on Saturday, Oct. 3; then travel to play Army on Nov. 7.

Hockey

The Tri-City Americans reminded us on Twitter this week that it was 18 years ago on Tuesday, Sept. 22, that Shannon Szabados was the first and only woman to ever play in a Western Hockey League regular-season game when she appeared in a relief appearance at goalie for the Ams.

• MacBeth report: former Tri-City American Semyan Krashninnikov (played 2014-15) has signed a one-year deal with Izhstal Izhevsk of the Russian Vysshaya Liga.

Last season, Krashninnikov played for three different teams in the Vysshaya Liga: Izhstal Izhevsk (5 games, no points), Toros Neftehamsk (6 games, no points), and Tambov (23 games, 5 assists).

A right winger, Krashninnikov played in just 8 games for the Americans, scoring a goal.

Racing

Kennewick’s Kaidyn Moran, just 14, became the season champion in the Junior Late Model division at Wenatchee Valley Super Oval in East Wenatchee recently.

Moran finished second in the division’s final race of the season on Saturday, Sept. 12, clinching the title. She had three top-5 finishes over the course of the season.

There were some other strong finishes in the division races up there.

In the Bandoleros division, Prosser’s Ryker Ohlen placed second in the race Sept. 12.

There were 16 drivers in the Tri-State Legends division main race, and three Mid-Columbia residents were among the top five finishers.

West Richland’s Trace Thompson placed third, West Richland’s Kellen Dean finished fourth, and Hermiston’s Neena Kirk was fifth.

• Did you miss the hydroplane races this year, after COVID-19 canceled the entire circuit?

Well, this might be a little consolation: Jon Osterberg has a revised edition of his Dragon Days book he wrote in 2012.

Osterberg is a Bellevue resident who has been a regular for years in Kennewick’s Lampson Pits during the Columbia Cup – first as a guy who worked with the U-3 Cooper’s team and then as a member of the vintage Miss Bardahl squad.

Dragon Days is about the Bardahl team in the 1960s, when hydroplane racing was pretty popular. It follows the team throughout the country, with behind-the-scenes stories.

Then it gets into its second life, how the boat was lost for years after the team’s competitive racing days were over; how the boat was rescued, restored, and now does exhibition races for nostalgic race fans – including those in the Tri-Cities.

In late July, Amazon released Osterberg’s updated edition, which includes new chapters and 293 additional photos.