Sun Downs horse racing canceled for 2022 season. It’s the 3rd year

It’s been a rough five months for Nancy Sorick.

The long-time president of the Tri-City Horse Racing Association broke her foot in November and spent two months on crutches.

Not easy for a person in their mid-80s.

Then, in January, she caught COVID.

It was six of the worst weeks of her life as she was mostly bedridden at either home or the hospital.

What it also did was keep her sidelined to get Sun Downs race track ready to run its 2022 horse race season.

The bottom line: For the third consecutive year, there will be no horse racing at the Kennewick track.

In 2020, the outbreak of the pandemic shut everything down.

In 2021, Sun Downs was given the clearance to race, but couldn’t because Washington state was using the fairgrounds parking lot to distribute vaccinations.

This time, the paperwork took down the event.

“We weren’t able to get liability insurance in time,” she said.

Sorick said the state of Washington canceled all liability insurance for the small tracks. Liability insurance is a necessity at a race track, mainly for the backside of the track where the horses and the stables are.

If someone who shouldn’t be there happens to get hurt, that’s where the liability insurance kicks in.

Sorick is a wonder.

She has been the person who makes sure all the details, both big and small, get completed so that there are races.

It’s a thankless task. And at her age, she knows she won’t be around forever.

Trying to find people who want to help, perhaps shadow her, has been hard.

But while she was ill in January, some of those details got missed.

That included seeing the letter from the insurance company saying that there was no liability insurance.

“If I had been healthy, I would’ve caught it,” she said.

Sorick is now on the mend, and is starting to feel better. But trying to get a carrier to fast track insurance coverage in less than six weeks is impossible.

“There are very few companies that will cover liability insurance at a race track anymore,” Sorick said. “Lloyd’s of London is one of them.”

So on March 4, she and the TCHRA made the painful decision to cancel the 2022 season, which would cover the last two weekends of April and the first full weekend of May.

That has also meant the track — which was supposed to be open on Feb. 1 — hasn’t been available to regional trainers and their horses.

But there is good news.

Sorick said that Benton County has agreed to a new three-year contract for the TCHRA to run horse racing in 2022-24.

And the state horse racing commission is working with the state Legislature on a bill that would tax anything involving animal products (such as dog food or hay), and using that revenue to help small horse tracks around the state.

So for the next year, Sorick will concentrate on her health and concentrate on getting the horse races going in 2023.

“We’ll be up and running next February through June,” Sorick said.

Kamiakin girls soccer

A quick note on Kamiakin girls soccer: Back in early November, a group of Kamiakin girls soccer players, parents, fans and coaches gathered at a home out in Badger Canyon to celebrate the team’s season.

And there was much to celebrate.

The Braves went 14-2 in Mid-Columbia Conference play, and 17-4 overall. Kamiakin made it to the 4A state tournament, but was ousted in the first round by a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Puyallup.

Only Tri-City rival Richland was better from this region, beating the Braves twice and making it to the state final four, placing third.

Kamiakin’s three senior defenders — Candace Carlson, Claire Eerkes and Rylee Siefken — were the main event at the celebration. They all signed their letters of intent to play for Eastern Washington University’s women’s soccer team this coming fall.

As for all three players headed to the same school, it just worked out that way. It’s a pretty big rarity for all three defenders to go to the same university.

“Candace signed first, and Claire had an offer,” said Siefkin. “I wasn’t having any plans to play next season. But now I’m really excited for the new change.”

Carlson agreed.

“I had an offer to play at St. Martin’s and was set on that,” said Carlson. “But when I stepped onto the (Cheney) campus, I felt right at home.”

Eerkes felt it was the right place for her too.

“My old coach reached out to (EWU head coach Missy Strasburg),” said Eerkes. “Missy has so much potential with this program. I feel it was a good fit for me. And It’s really cool that we all played defense together at the same high school.”

Kamiakin head coach Chris Erikson also was at the celebration to support her players.

“I think it’s pretty cool,” Erikson said about the trio going to play at Eastern. “I’m just so proud of them. They’re just so dedicated.”

Personally, it was a banner season for Erikson, who surpassed the 500-career victories mark when the Braves beat Hermiston 4-0 on Oct. 12.

Her record at Kamiakin now stands at 505-143-9.

The girls soccer program started in the fall of 1986, and Erikson arrived a year later.

That’s 35 years as a head coach at Kamiakin.

Not bad for someone who never got a chance to play sports in high school.

“It was before Title IX. Back then, women ultimately ran the show at home,” said Erikson.

But over the decades, her teams always finished near the top of the conference standings, and usually made the playoffs.

She’s seen a lot of change.

“You have to keep adjusting over the years,” said Erikson. “People are different. Society is different. It’s a more technical game now. Kids are training much more, and they play so much.”

But she still loves the game, even when it comes with tough times.

“I like the intensity, and the really tough decisions,” she admits. “You like all of the players, but you have to look at each situation and make a decision. Whether that’s playing time, making the team, or both.”

Season 36 at Kamiakin begins in August, and Erikson and another group of Braves will be ready.

“I love what I’m doing,” said Erikson. “When I quit, no one will know. I’ll just walk away. I’m a really shy person.”

This story was originally published March 16, 2022 at 10:30 AM.