NorCal preps will sit out CIF’s regional postseason
California’s governing body for high school sports said Wednesday afternoon that it intends to host regional postseason play for many spring sports, including basketball, but kids in Northern California were left out.
The California Interscholastic Federation announced plans for Southern California regional tournaments in late May and early June in basketball, baseball, softball, soccer, golf, tennis and boys volleyball. However, there will be no such tournaments in Northern California, after four of the six sections that encompass the region opted out of a spring postseason, CIF executive director Ron Nocetti said.
Only the Oakland and Central Coast sections plan to host their own championships, according to CIF. Without the Northern, North Coast, Sac-Joaquin and San Francisco sections, hosting a NorCal regional “it is not feasible,” CIF said inanewsrelease.
In Southern California, soccer and tennis will begin the spring postseason with regional championships that end no later than June 5, while baseball and softball will bring it to a close by June 26.
There will be no state championships in swimming and diving, track and field or wrestling.
While Nocetti did not rule out the possibility of atlarge bids for Northern California teams in the Southern California championships, Central Coast Section commissioner Dave Grissom said the travel complications would be too difficult to overcome. — Evan Webeck
Horse racing
CARMOUCHE TO BE 1ST BLACK JOCKEY IN DERBY SINCE 2013>>
Long before Kendrick Carmouche started riding horses growing up in Louisiana, Black jockeys were synonymous with the sport.
Black riders were atop 13 of the 15 horses in the first Kentucky Derby in 1875 and won 15 of the first 28 editions of the race. Everything has changed since: Carmouche on Saturday will be the first Black jockey in the Kentucky Derby since 2013 and is just one of a handful over the past century.
Carmouche is now one of the few remaining Black jockeys in the U.S. Much like Marlon St. Julien in 2000, Patrick Husbands in 2006 and Kevin Krigger in 2013, his presence in horse racing’s biggest event is a reminder of how the industry marginalized Black jockeys to the point they all but disappeared from the sport.
Carmouche is a success story in his own right. He is the son of a jockey who has won more than 3,400 races and earned $118 million since beginning to ride professionally in 2000. He came back from a broken leg three years ago and set himself up for his first Kentucky Derby mount by riding 72-1 long shot Bourbonic to victory in the Wood Memorial on April 3. Bourbonic will leave from the 20th post in Saturday’s race at Churchill Downs.
• There’s a major change coming to the 147th Derby. It will be run for the first time this weekend without horses using the anti-bleeding drug Lasix as part of the sport’s plodding attempt to move toward the elimination of race-day medication.
The drug is already widely banned on race days in the rest of the world. Formally known as furosemide, it’s given as a $20 injection about four hours before a race to prevent or reduce the severity of exercise-induced bleeding in the lungs.
NHL
INJURED PENGUINS STAR MALKIN PRACTICES, NEARS RETURN >> Pittsburgh Penguins center Evgeni Malkin practiced on Wednesday, indicating he is near a return from a lower-body injury that’s kept him out since mid-March.
Malkin wore a white “no contact” jersey during Pittsburgh’s skate, but coach Mike Sullivan said the Russian star was a full participant and will travel with the Penguins when they begin a four-game trip today in Washington.
Malkin hasn’t played since March 16.
THOMAS CAPS BLUES’ RALLY IN WIN OVER WILD >> Robert Thomas tracked down a skipping puck and snapped it into the top of the net with 23 seconds left, capping a three-goal third-period rally by the St. Louis Blues for a 4-3 road victory over Minnesota to stop the Wild’s seven-game winning streak.
Mike Hoffman’s second power play goal of the game brought the Blues within one early in the third period. Jordan Kyrou tied the game about four minutes later.
College athletics
ONE-TIME TRANSFER RULE CLEARS HURDLE, STARTS IN
2021 >> The NCAA Division I Board of Directors ratified a rule change that will allow all athletes who have not yet transferred the ability to do so one time in a college career and be immediately eligible to play. The Division I Council adopted the proposed legislation earlier this month. The board took the last step to make the historic rule change official and the NCAA clarified some of the details.