Tri-Cities high school fall athletes finally hitting the practice field

This region’s high school athletes were able to start official practices for fall sports this week including girls soccer, cross country, football, volleyball, and dance and cheer.

Now, because our region still is in Phase 1 of the state’s Roadmap to Recovery guidelines, no games can be played.

Things could hopefully change for the better in a few weeks, said Tim Wood, Southridge High School athletic director.

“We want to get those practices in so they count (toward being able to play),” Wood said. “We’re positive we can get going with games with the week of Feb. 15.”

Last Friday, the state only moved two west-side regions into Phase 2, which allows schools in those areas to play games.

But the Mid-Columbia Conference athletic directors want everyone to be ready if we are moved into Phase 2.

Wood said that volleyball teams are practicing in pods of six. And football is doing the same, although football teams got clearance to play some 7 on 7.

“For girls soccer, restrictions just got lifted, so they can go 11 on 11,” Wood said.

Cross country is a low-risk sport, and everyone can begin competition Feb. 13.

But the MCC is doing cross country different this year. On Feb. 13, all MCC teams will meet at Richland’s Leslie Groves Park, the first site of the season (with Hanford as host).

But instead of everyone running together at the same time, athletes will be be run in pods.

Richland, Chiawana and Southridge will compete first — with separate races (girls, boys, JV).

Then, everyone will clear out and Kamiakin, Pasco and Walla Walla meet next. They’ll do the same thing.

Finally, Hermiston, Kennewick and Hanford would finish the day.

The only problem is Hermiston might not be able to compete. The Bulldogs need an approval of either Oregon Gov. Kate Brown or Washington Gov. Jay Inslee to be able to travel to or from Hermiston for events.

That hadn’t happened by Monday, but the athletic directors still are working with the state governments, health districts and school districts to get Hermiston involved.

In a worst-case scenario, the MCC athletic directors have created fall schedules without Hermiston in them.

“We feel like traveling to Hermiston is essential,” Wood said. “We love going down there and playing them. But I asked them at one point ‘Are you gonna be OK with the MCC moving forward?’ And they are.”

As this has been so fluctuating since last March, things have to be flexible.

Flexibility

Wood estimates that the MCC AD’s have put together at least 10 different master schedules for each sport. And in fact, they have yet to release the latest ones.

Wood said people will have to be flexible. The MCC may have to put out a schedule, then teams will have to be ready to play the next week.

It’s not ideal. But when you look at what college football and basketball teams have been doing with changing their schedules, flexibility during this pandemic has to be a fact of life.

Another thing high school sports fans have to be aware of — they may not be able to attend games in the beginning.

Those cross country meets are not allowing fans, parents or students to attend. All other sports are in the same situation, including football.

Wood said the school and the district are working on getting live streaming going for games.

“We hope to have cameras in place to stream the game,” Wood said. “We came to the conclusion that if the Seattle Seahawks can’t have fans, it’s not a stretch that we can’t have fans for a Southridge-Kamiakin football game.”

One other thing: the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association, the governing body for high school sports and activities in the state, has determined that all athletes must wear masks when they compete — excluding swimming.

“When I was a young athlete I played basketball, and wearing a mask might be tough,” Wood said. “But if I got to play, I’d do it. I’m fully on board with the masks.”

So things are going to be different these next few months. But if that means high school kids will get the chance to compete, almost everyone should understand.

“I think it’s been pretty difficult for a number of kids,” Wood said. “It was hard when had that summer session (for workouts) and then got shut down again. Get ‘em out competing. Don’t ever take this for granted again.”

Check SportsintheTri.com for the full podcast interview for much more.

Other notes

▪ Chris King keeps filling his schedule up more.

The radio voice of the Tri-City Dust Devils has been the University of Idaho men’s basketball team’s play-by-play guys for a number of years now.

But recently, King has added radio play-by-play guy for the Vandals football team to his resume, after previously top guy Dennis Patchin left to become sports director at KHQ TV in Spokane.

If that’s not enough, King also has been the lead communications person for the West Coast League — the Northwest’s top college baseball league — during summers.

▪ Sunnyside High grad Emilee Maldonado was named the Frontier Conference Women’s Basketball Player of the Week on Jan. 25, as she led Providence University to a 2-1 week.

Maldonado, a senior, averaged 16.7 points, 5.3 rebounds and 6.3 assists for the Argos to earn the award.

Argos head coach Bill Himmelberg said Maldonado’s leadership and basketball IQ is pretty high.

After Providence lost on Friday night to Western Montana, Maldonado approached the coach with plays she thought the team could run in the next game against the same opponents.

“She drew them up for me and then drew them up for the team,” Himmelberg said. “We put them in 8 minutes before the game and went out and executed them. It’s pretty special that she can do that. She’s got a good basketball mind.”

Maldonado also leads the entire Frontier Conference in scoring (17.1 points a game), assists (5.1), 3-point shooting percentage (at 51.5 percent) and free-throw percentage (at 96.7 percent).

As of Jan. 28, the Argos were 2-2 in Frontier Conference play, and 2-2 overall.

▪ The University of Idaho men’s basketball team has struggled this season — 0-9 in Big Sky Conference play through Jan. 28, and 0-12 overall — but that doesn’t mean Prosser High graduate Scott Blakney isn’t playing well.

Blakney, a 6-foot-9 senior forward, leads the Vandals in scoring at 12.0 points a game. He’s also averaging 2.6 rebounds.

Blakney’s teammate, Damon Thacker (Walla Walla Community College), is the team’s No. 2 scorer at 11.3 points a game.