People who have influence over the youth have a responsibility to let them know about those who made Barbados a special place.

That is one of the takeaways for Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley as she reflected on the life of the late Chris Gibbs, a founding member of the world famous group The Merrymen and an outstanding sportsman.

Gibbs passed away on Tuesday and in a statement, Mottley said she was “mindful that despite his immense familiarity among older Barbadians, most of our school-age citizens probably have no idea who he was or his contribution to national life”.

“Chris Gibbs, along with (Sir) Emile Straker, Robin Hunte, Willie Kerr and Peter Roett, performing authentically Caribbean musical styles as The Merrymen at home and in many of the world’s best-known capital cities, compelled countless visitors to return over and over again,” she noted.

“A lover of our most prolific natural resource, the sea, Chris distinguished himself as a national representative and team captain in the sport of water polo, completed the enviable feat of swimming around the island as part of a relay team in 2003, and made international headlines at the age of 58 as the only Caribbean national to swim the English Channel.”

Full statement below:

As I reflect on Chris Gibbs’ passing this week, I am mindful that despite his immense familiarity among older Barbadians, most of our school-age citizens probably have no idea who he was or his contribution to national life.

This ought to be a reminder to all of us who have responsibility for, or influence over, our youth and who are concerned about what appears to be our failure as a society to consistently pass on the values that created that true Bajan spirit, which made Barbados a special place, that we have a critically important task ahead of us.

Chris was the very epitome of the Bajan spirit. He was as caring as he was humble. He revelled in the Bajan culture, particularly in sports and music, and like many Barbadians of old, he was self-taught in the areas in which he excelled. His life is a potent lesson for every young Bajan with a goal – it is within you to determine your future success, regardless of where you start or what obstacles confront you along the way.

As one of the founding members of the most recognised Barbadian musical group of the 20th century, The Merrymen, Chris not only played a key role in the development of our entertainment industry but was an essential part of the cultural element that gave the island’s tourism its stable foundation.

Chris Gibbs, along with (Sir) Emile Straker, Robin Hunte, Willie Kerr and Peter Roett, performing authentically Caribbean musical styles as The Merrymen at home and in many of the world’s best-known capital cities, compelled countless visitors to return over and over again.

A lover of our most prolific natural resource, the sea, Chris distinguished himself as a national representative and team captain in the sport of water polo, completed the enviable feat of swimming around the island as part of a relay team in 2003, and made international headlines at the age of 58 as the only Caribbean national to swim the English Channel.

For his successful swim across the English Channel, Chris was awarded the Barbados Service Medal and in 2022 he was conferred with the Order of the Republic.

On behalf of the Government and people of Barbados, I extend sincere condolence to his family and friends and encourage all young Bajans to take a leaf from his book.

May his soul rest in peace and rise in glory. (PR/SAT)

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Mountain bikers ride in the Swampy Lakes Area during summer. (Bulletin file photo)

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Anglers fly fish the Crooked River just below Prineville Reservoir. (Bulletin file photo)

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Smith Rock State Park trails offer outstanding views of the park itself and surrounding High Desert and the Cascade Mountains. (Bulletin file photo)

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Kids fish in the Pine Nursery pond at Pine Nursery Park in Bend. (Bulletin file photo)

Last week, I mentioned that local trails needed some precipitation, but there was none in the forecast. Hours after the column was published online it rained all evening. While I hate being wrong, it was a pleasant surprise.

Rain is in the forecast Friday and Saturday this week, and shouldn’t hurt the trail one bit. With temperatures topping out in the mid-50s, there are chances of rain both days. Lows could dip into the 30s overnight. Temperatures are expected to rise Sunday with highs reaching into the 60s and overcast skies. Then it’s a return to summer weather starting next week, with highs in the 70s and clear, sunny skies.

Below are some recommended spots for recreation this weekend.

Dodge crowds on rainy, cool Smith Rock weekend

With rain in the forecast, it might be a good weekend to head to Smith Rock if you’re looking for some nice hiking and to avoid the climbing crowds. Smith Rock has a variety of hiking loops, ranging from a couple of miles to the 7.3-mile Summit Loop.

With 1,700 feet of elevation gain, the Summit Trail loop takes hikers on a challenging route with views of the whole park. Other trail and loop options include Homestead to North Point loop, reverse Misery Ridge loop and Wolf Tree to Burma and back. These are all great hiking and running options in Smith Rock State Park. See the area’s rock formations and outcroppings from different vantage points as well as the surrounding High Desert and Cascade Mountains. Dogs are welcome in the park but must be on a leash.

Smith Rock day use fees are $5 year-round. The park is a couple miles east of Terrebonne and about a 40-minute drive from Bend.

Venture up to the Swampy Lakes Area trails

Many high-country trails in the Swampy Lakes Area are rideable, according to reports on bendtrails.org this week. Besides some of the higher sections and Middle Flagline, which is closed until Aug. 15 for elk calving, most of the trails are clear of snow and should be riding well now or within a week or two.

These high-elevation trails are reachable from Skyliner and Swampy Lakes trailheads as well as Phil’s Upper Whoops. This early in the season I would suggest parking on the Whoops access road or Skyliner Trailhead and seeing how far up the mountain you can ride on these trails. According to reports, Flagline Tie and Swampy/Dutchman trails still have snow and Swampy Lakes Loop is in variable condition.

When starting at the Swampy Lakes Sno-park — permit not necessary during summer months — take Swampy Lakes Loop to Swede Ridge or S.S.T and Sector 16 or Tumalo Ridge. Experienced riders could also venture over to black diamond Southfork for a fast, technical descent. Keep in mind it is a two-way trail — watch out for climbers.

After a day of riding, draw straws to see who’ll drive the car back so the rest of the group can bomb down into town via Phil’s trails. These trails are prone to winter deadfall so be on the lookout for downed trees and branches.

Low flows on Crooked bring good trout fishing

Since flows have dropped below 300 cfs on the Crooked River, anglers report excellent trout fishing on the river, according to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) website.

The river is open to fishing all year below Bowman Dam. Following several months of high flow releases for flood control, flows have dropped below 300 cfs and fishing has improved.

Anglers may encounter bull trout now that there is volitional passage on the river at Opal Springs. Anglers who catch a bull trout should release it unharmed and report their catch to the US Fish and Wildlife Service at crookedbulltrout@fws.gov.

ODFW staff will be conducting annual fish population monitoring June 24 through 27 on the Crooked River between Big Bend and Cobble Rock Campgrounds.

Bowman Dam is just south of Prineville, on the west end of Prineville Reservoir. The Crooked River is fishable from there to where it converges with the Deschutes River at Lake Billy Chinook near Culver.

For more fishing reports, check out the ODFW’s website.

Weekly activities at Pine Nursery Park

Find a variety of activities at Pine Nursery Park in northeast Bend. The 159-acre community park has baseball and soccer fields along with field space for ultimate frisbee, lacrosse and other sports. Other features include beach volleyball courts, a disc golf course, a 14-acre off-leash dog are, all-abilities playground, pickleball courts, a fishing pond, natural areas and fitness and paved trails.

There are typically weekly disc golf competitions as well as pickup soccer on the grass field Tuesdays and Thursdays starting around 5-5:30 p.m. There’s also an ultimate frisbee group that usually plays on Thursdays plus pickleball and volleyball groups playing regularly.

Recent reports on the ODFW website say anglers have had results fishing in the Pine Nursery Pond for rainbow trout and recently stocked largemouth bass. The fish limit is two per day.

For a full list of conditions updated regularly, visit bendbulletin.com/conditions-report.

Ian Haupt: 541-617-7821 or ian.haupt@bendbulletin.com.

FIRST TEAM

Steve Barnes, OH, Seminole Ridge senior: Led the Hawks to 23 wins and 3A state semifinal appearance; recorded 388 kills, 201 digs, 74 aces, 23 blocks and .378 hitting percentage; had 13 kills and 10 digs in regional final win.

Dylan Guillenea, setter, Dr. Joaquin Garcia senior: Led the Bulldogs to 20 wins and 2A regional quarterfinal victory; registered 570 assists, 146 kills, 123 digs, 56 blocks and 27 aces; recorded 53 assists in a match.

Evan Holowecky, setter, Seminole Ridge freshman: Led the Hawks to district title and 3A regional championship; finished with 983 assists, 193 digs, 42 kills, 37 blocks and 28 aces; recorded 47 assists and 10 digs in state semifinal.

Ryan Huff, OH, King’s Academy senior: Led the Lions to 22 wins and 1A state title; recorded 172 kills, 140 digs, 40 assists, 37 aces and 27 blocks; registered 10 kills and winning point in state championship.

Adam Masri, MH, Dr. Joaquin Garcia senior: Led the Bulldogs to 2A regional semifinal appearance; finished with 212 total blocks, 167 kills, 32 digs, 17 aces and .408 hitting percentage; registered 17 kills and 16 blocks in a match.

Chris Tang, OH, Boca Raton senior: Led the Bobcats to 18 wins, district title and 3A regional final appearance; led team in serve receptions and service aces; placed first in 15U Provincials Championships for Ashbridge’s Bay Beach Volleyball in Ontario.

Nicholas Watson, libero, Suncoast senior: Led the Chargers to 23 wins, district title and Class 2A state semifinal appearance; recorded 357 digs, 73 assists and 25 aces; had 36 digs in a match; registered 23 digs in regional final win.

SECOND TEAM

Graysen Amestoy, OPP, King’s Academy senior

Nathan Crow, OH, Boca Raton junior

Riley Joros, OH, Dr. Joaquin Garcia sophomore

Kyle Kiefer, OH, Atlantic Christian Academy senior

Carson Kramer, MH, Seminole Ridge senior

Dylan Smith, setter, Suncoast senior

Michael Swiderski, OH, Wellington senior

HONORABLE MENTION

Atlantic Christian Academy: Jamaury Augustin, Raymond Clair, Jonathan Gonzalez

Boca Raton: Jarrett Key, Aiden Rubino, Caleo Tsiapalis

Dreyfoos: Eric Jimenez, Beau McDowell, Luciano Suarez-Zavala

Dr. Joaquin Garcia: Garrett Deese, Cody Hollis, Conner Olson

Dwyer: Owen Goldvasser

Forest Hill: Nykolas Whitaker

John I. Leonard: Edgar Ramirez, Jerris Perez-Reyes, Brian Robaina

Jupiter: Tristan Brassington, Alessandro Groppi, Walker Weizer

King’s Academy: John Casey, Jake Manning, Jack Swartzbaugh

Lake Worth: Jaivaras Jackson

Olympic Heights: CJ Ehrhardt, Victor Hauari, Dymittry Terra

Palm Beach Central: Aiden Albury, Matthew Carr, Gian Paul Aviles

Park Vista: Tyler Gally, Landon Gilbert, Aiden Roney

Seminole Ridge: Addison Corey, Michael Deeds, Pierce Giebenrath

St. John Paull II Academy: Jack Rex

Suncoast: Eli Ergas, Thomas Supran, Chandler Westover

Trinity Christian: Carter Kuzmin, Paul Morency

Wellington: Jordan Higgins, Nico Martinez, Carlos Pelaez

West Boca: Vasyl Hlynskyy, Eduardo Prado, Maurice Sharaby

CO-COACHES OF THE YEAR

Danielle McCoy, King’s Academy: The Lions finished 22-5, won the district and the boys volleyball program’s first state championship. “From the beginning of the season, we had something to prove after a tough loss last year in the regional championship game. The boys really worked hard this season and wanted to go all the way. I’m incredibly proud of the whole team, especially our seniors. … I am thankful for my assistant coach Mark Manning and I am going to miss all our seniors.”

Christian Spence, Suncoast: Guided the Chargers to a 23-2 record, district title and made a 2A state semifinal appearance. They defeated all their opponents from Palm Beach and Broward. “We went into the season wanting to prove we were the best team in Palm Beach County. Not only did we do that, but we also showed we were a top 10 team in the state.”

By Joe Snyder

Over the past couple of months, Serra High’s football team participated in several Spring-Summer passing and other football fundamental events and head coach Scott Altenberg is seeking to bring back contention for CIF-Southern Section and CIF-State crowns this fall.

The Cavaliers strength appears to be on defense, behind senior tackle Khary Wilder, a four-star recruit who already committed to Big 10 power Ohio State University. Fourth-year starting defensive lineman Daylon Reed is expecting a big season, along with University of North Carolina commit cornerback Marcellous Williams. Incoming junior cornerback-running back Wesley Ace is also getting a lot of Major Division I college offers, according to Altenberg. Also back is Mission League Defensive Player of the Year DeVohn Mosely, Jr., a safety on defense and a running back on offense.

Gone is quarterback Jimmy Butler, who is still undecided on his college decisions, and junior Nickolas Johnson appears to be favored as the starter. Sophomore Malik Tunai, though, could be one to watch. Both had some good passing games, including last Saturday’s Los Angeles Chargers 11-on-11 Classic at the Chargers Training Center in El Segundo.

Wide receivers Duvay Williams and Hakeem Crawford are key returning starters.

“We’re young at parts,” Altenberg said. “For us, we have a lot of guys back on defense. Offensively, Butler is gone and we are young.”

At the Chargers Invitational, Serra won two of three games with wins over Murrieta Valley and Agoura and a loss to Palos Verdes, last season’s CIF-Southern Section Division V and CIF-State Division IIA champion.

In a thrilling finale against Agoura, Duvay Williams caught a 50-yard touchdown pass from Tunai to give the Cavaliers a 30-24 win. That was his second of two TDs in the game, with his other being 50 yards from Johnson. Brian Bose and Hakeem Crawford also scored touchdowns for Serra.

The Cavaliers begin the 2025 season against Palos Verdes, led by returning junior quarterback Ryan Rakowski, on Aug. 22 at El Camino College. Game time is 7 p.m. The Sea Kings figure to be in a close race with Inglewood, Lawndale Leuzinger, Culver City and Manhattan Beach Mira Costa for the prestigious Bay League title. Despite only a third-place finish in the rigorous Bay last season, P.V. defeated Santa Ana Foothill for the Southern Section Division V crown and Twelve Bridges from the Sacramento area for its first state championship.

The Cavaliers will be in a 7-on-7 passing tournament at Palos Verdes High Saturday, beginning at 8 a.m., before another highly regarded classic at powerhouse St. John Bosco in Bellflower on June 28 before ending that summer and going into the dead period before opening practice on July 28.

Serra continues to have a tough schedule. After visiting CIF-Los Angeles City Section school Hamilton High in the Palms District on Aug. 29, the Cavaliers have their first home game against Los Alamitos on Sept. 5. From there, Serra plays three consecutive road games at Orange Lutheran on Sept. 12, Oaks Christian in Westlake Village on Sept. 19 before opening the Mission League in what will be an early league showdown at Sierra Canyon in Chatsworth on Oct. 3. The Cavaliers, then, have their homecoming game against L.A. Loyola on Oct. 10 and have two more home league games against West Hills Chaminade on Oct. 17 and Sherman Oaks Notre Dame on Oct. 24. On Halloween (Oct. 31), Serra closes league at Bishop Amat in La Puente. All games start at 7 p.m.

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Former Serra star Smith on a hitting tear

The Dodgers ended up winning two of three from San Francisco, losing the first game, 6-2, on Friday before coming back with wins of 11-5 on Saturday and 5-4 on Sunday.

Among the Giant players at Dodger Stadium was former Serra High standout player Dominic Smith. Smith went 2-for-3 including a two-run home run in the first game on Friday. He went 1-for-3, drove in a run and scored once on Saturday. Right now, according to sources, he’s hitting .343 this year for the Giants. He is 12-for-35 with seven runs batted in.

In his 12-year career, Smith is currently hitting .247 with 485 hits, including 64 home runs.

Before being traded to the Giants by the Cincinnati Reds earlier this season, Smith played for the New York Mets, Washington Nationals and Boston Red Sox. He was drafted out of Serra High in the first round by the Mets in 2013. He was the 11th overall pick. He led the Cavaliers to their only CIF-Southern Section baseball title, winning the Division III championship over Manhattan Beach Mira Costa 12 years ago at Dodger Stadium. He hit a homer over the stadium fence, one of the few high school baseballers to do so.

Correction from last week’s South Bay All-Star Softball Game: It was Carson pitcher Gaselkle Pantoja; not Pantija. Sorry for the spelling error.

In that game, the American and National teams battled to a 5-5 tie on June 4 at Torrance High.

Torrance also had girls’ beach volleyball pair Kiana Greer and Anisa Olivas land on the Daily Breeze all-South Bay second-team, named last week. 

Pair of the Year went to Redondo sisters Addison and Avery Junk, who were very influential in keying the Sea Hawks to the CIF-Southern Section Division I championship with an inspiring 3-2 win over powerful rival, Manhattan Beach Mira Costa on May 3 at Long Beach City College.

They won the decisive split set match to help the Sea Hawks win their first CIF title in the brief three-year history of beach volleyball in the CIF. Mira Costa won the previous two crowns over Redondo in 2023 and 2024.

Head coach Mark Pa’aluhi was Coach of the Year for the Sea Hawks.

Also making all-area second-team were Libby Matsik and Spencer Clark of South Torrance.

Greer, meanwhile, was also CIF-Southern Section Division II shot put champion and finished fifth in the CIF-State Meet on May 31 at Buchanan High in Clovis. 

HONOLULU – University of Hawai’i men’s basketball head coach Eran Ganot announced that Juan Munoz has returned to the program as Director of Player Development.  The former sharp-shooting guard, who spent three seasons with the program (2021-24), will now turn his attention to shaping the newest crop of Rainbow Warriors.

“We are ecstatic to welcome Juan back to our program as he begins his coaching career,” Ganot said. “He has a clear love for the islands, this university, and this great game and is looking forward to working with our student-athletes. 

 

“We always felt like we had a ‘coach on the floor’ due to his exceptional basketball knowledge. He was a pleasure to be around and to follow his resilience in the face of incredible adversity was something to marvel at.  His future is very bright!”

 

As UH’s Director of Player Development, Munoz will work closely with UH’s student-athletes in achieving their best both on and off the court. His new role will have him involved in such areas as alumni relations, marketing, team nutrition, strength and conditioning, scouting and recruiting.

Munoz first arrived in Manoa as a transfer in 2021 with significant buzz. His long-range shooting and playmaking ability had garnered him all-conference honors while playing at Longwood University in Virginia.

Munoz ultimately became one of the most inspirational players in the Rainbow Warrior program’s recent history. The North Carolina native served as a leader on the sidelines after suffering season-ending injuries in back-to-back years upon joining the ‘Bows. He eventually worked his way back to the court in 2023-24 and in his final collegiate season he appeared in all 34 games with 16 starts. Munoz led the team in three-pointers made (67) and three-point percentage (.409) and also ranked second in assists and steals for a squad that finished with its second straight 20-win season.  

 

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