Northwest Notes July 15, 2020

Hatley tied for second after

first round of Oregon Open

MOLALLA, Ore. — Amateur Reid Hatley of Hayden Lake, the defending champion, shot a 1-under 70 and is in a seven-way tie for second place after the first day of the Oregon Open Invitational on Tuesday at Arrowhead Golf Club.

Brian Nosler of Portland leads after a 2-under 69.

The Oregon Open Invitational is one of six major championships conducted by the Pacific Northwest Section PGA.

The tourney, shortened this year to 36 holes, concludes today.

Tripp to return as Idaho

men’s basketball assistant coach

MOSCOW — Kenny Tripp will be returning to the Idaho men’s basketball staff in a role of assistant coach, Vandals head coach Zac Claus announced Tuesday.

“Our program is very fortunate to have Kenny Tripp remain as an assistant coach,” Claus said in a news release. “The tremendous energy and positivity that he brings each day is what sets him apart and makes it so that our players gravitate towards him. I have known Kenny for 10 years and it is terrific to witness his continued growth and see how he impacts our group daily. We expect continued great things from him moving forward and I know that everyone affiliated with our team is excited for him. This is another good day for Vandal basketball.”

Tripp joined the Vandals ahead of the 2019-20 season.

He is the men’s basketball main academic point person, working closely with Krista Gray, Director of Student-Athlete Support Services. During the 2019-20 academic year, Scott Blakney earned a spot on the Big Sky All-Academic Team for the third consecutive year, while true freshman Gabe Quinnett also garnered the honor. During the spring semester, the Vandals set a program record for GPA, with five perfect 4.0 student-athletes, and 10 finishing above a 3.0.

Prior to coming to Idaho, Tripp spent one season as the coordinator of operations with Washington State men’s basketball.

During his time at WSU, Tripp assisted with travel, video coordination, compliance, statistical analysis, scouting and offensive game planning, while handling the planning of day-to-day operations.

His career has taken him all across the west. Tripp spent one season with Metropolitan State University in Denver as an assistant, and two seasons with Regis University as a graduate assistant.

Tripp began his career in college basketball as a student manager with Nevada from 2011-15. There, he worked with Claus and current Vandal assistant Doug Novsek.

Originally from Sacramento, Calif., Tripp earned his bachelor’s degree in business management from Nevada in 2015, and in 2017 earned his Master of Business Administration with an emphasis in strategic management from Regis.

WSU linebacker Woods named

to Bednarik Award Watch List

PHILADELPHIA — Washington State rising senior linebacker Jahad Woods was named to the 2020 Chuck Bednarik Award Watch List, The Maxwell Football Club announced Monday.

The Bednarik Award has been presented to the College Defensive Player of the Year since 1995 and is named in honor of Chuck Bednarik a former standout at the University of Pennsylvania and with the Philadelphia Eagles. Bednarik is a member of both the College Football Hall of Fame’s Class of ’69 and the NFL Hall of Fame’s Class of ’67.

Woods, a two-time All-Pac-12 Conference honorable mention pick recorded 141 tackles last season, fourth-most in the country and tied for the fifth-most in WSU single-season history, the most by a Cougar since 1991. Woods also tallied a team-high 10 tackles-for-loss, three sacks, three pass breakups, two forced fumbles and one interception. Woods set a WSU bowl game and Cheez-It Bowl game record with 20 tackles against Air Force, tied for the seventh-most in WSU single-game history.

Woods enters 2020 with 287 career tackles and 25.5 tackles-for-loss in 39 career games.

Capacity to be limited at

Boise State home football games

BOISE — It was probably to be expected during the COVID-19 pandemic, but seating capacity for Boise State home football games at Albertsons Stadium this fall will be limited — if there are indeed Boise State home football games at Albertsons Stadium this fall, and if fans are even allowed to attend.

Physical distancing will be required in the stands, and as a result, season ticket holders will likely be moved to a different location, Boise State officials announced.

Officials said they have not determined what that seating capacity will be.

Boise State Athletics also announced other likely game-day adjustments at the stadium.

Physical distancing markers for entrance gates, concessions, Bronco Shop and ticket office will also be in place.

Facial coverings will be required for everyone inside the stadium during ingress, egress and in common areas, and may be required at all times if mandated by public health authorities.

There will be a no-bag policy with the exception of diaper bags and medically-necessary items.

Hand-sanitizing stations will be located at every entry and inside all restrooms. All high-contact surfaces, including handrails, will be sanitized before gates open.

The tailgate area will be open for individual tailgate tent sales only, allowing for physical distancing. The general public fan zone will not be open due to health concerns based on health protocols.

There will be designated tailgating spots, with required physical distancing between spaces, and designated parking-only spots with placement based on priority point rank.

Finally, a no re-entry policy will be implemented beginning in 2020. The purpose of this policy is to minimize the number of touch points for those entering and leaving the stadium, but also coincides with the decision to sell alcohol in the main concession areas of Albertsons Stadium. Boise State intends to sell beer and seltzer at football games beginning with the upcoming season, and it is a best practice used in most stadiums across the country — and the expectation of public safety, university and state leaders — that when alcohol is sold re-entry be prohibited.

Season ticket holders wishing to opt out of season tickets for the 2020 season have been given until July 20 to choose between three options: convert payments to a charitable donation to the Bronco Athletic Association, apply payments to the 2021 season or request a refund.

For those planning to keep their tickets, no action was required.

Any season ticket holder wishing to opt out of 2020 will have the opportunity to renew their original seats for 2021.

EWU names co-captains

for 2020 football season

Four Eastern Washington University football players have been selected by their teammates as co-captains for the 2020 season, EWU head coach Aaron Best announced.

Quarterback Eric Barriere and linebacker Jack Sendelbach return for their second seasons as captains, and are joined by fellow seniors Tamarick Pierce (running back) and Calin Criner (safety).

All are fifth-year seniors with the exception of Sendelbach, who is in his sixth year at EWU.

Criner is a 2016 graduate of Rocky Mountain High in Eagle. Criner’s father, Mark, is a former Idaho assistant coach. Calin is the grandson of former Boise State football coach Jim Criner, and great nephew of former Coeur d’Alene High football coach Herb Criner.