Victors Share Formula For Success Junior Award Winners Repeat Positive Influence Of Athletics

What is amazing about the Greater Spokane Sports Association Youth Sports Awards Luncheon is not the winners.

What really stands out is how anyone can vote for one finalist over the other or even come up with the finalists to put at the head table when judged against the quality of athletes and teams left out.

But once again, Eastern Washington and North Idaho did themselves proud at the 18th annual luncheon Wednesday afternoon at the Ag Trade Center.

Before a large crowd made up of mostly area high school athletes, multisport standouts Jennifer Stinson of Davenport and Matt Sachse of Ferris, masterful Ferris boys basketball coach Wayne Gilman, and the Mead boys cross country and track teams and the St. George’s girls basketball team received prestigious honors.

“You look at the list and everyone on it deserves to win,” said Sachse, a Stanford University freshman who was the Most Valuable Player in Greater Spokane League basketball and baseball last year. “As far as my accomplishments, I’d put them up against anyone. I worked my butt off and I’ve been blessed.”

That desire to succeed was the theme of the day.

Keri Schwenke, now an Eastern Washington University basketball player after a standout three-sport career that included five state championships at Coeur d’Alene, recalled attending the luncheon and being inspired by world champion decathlete Dan O’Brien’s dreams and goals talk four years ago.

Stinson, a volleyball, basketball and track star, said a short talk Wednesday by Washington State University football player Torey Hunter struck a chord.

“Do with what you have,” she said. “Like he said, `I can’t be six foot.’ He’s 5-9. You have to work hard with what you have.”

With guest speaker Ahmad Rashad, a former University of Oregon and Minnesota Vikings standout, and Hunter among the speakers, there were barbs flying about the Cougars beating the Ducks in football, the Ducks coming back to win the Pac-10 championship and going to the Rose Bowl, and WSU winning its bowl game while UO lost to Penn State in Pasadena.

“We did beat Oregon,” Hunter said, smiling at Rashad. “We beat Oregon bad, but they didn’t quit, Oregon didn’t quit on Oregon.”

The challenge, he said, is to move on to new heights, athletically and academically, after meeting the first goals.

Rashad’s example, though quite likely exaggerated but certainly inspiring, involved Pat Tyson, a coach of the year finalist because his distance runners won their seventh straight cross country state championship and provided the bulk of the points for Mead’s track title.

“I grew up with Pat Tyson,” Rashad said, “and in seventh, eighth, ninth grades he was the worst track athlete I’ve ever seen. . . . but he never quit… . by the time he was a senior, he had several state records and went to the University of Oregon, where he was part of two national championship teams.

“He never quit. He became a success, and as I can still see, he’s still a success.”

Rashad also reminded the crowd that dunking a basketball, scoring a touchdown or hitting a home run makes heroes but not role models.

“Role models should be much closer to you,” he said, pointing to parents, teachers and neighbors. “It should always be clear that all heroes don’t have to be role models.”

Stinson, who will probably become the all-time leading scorer in Washington high school basketball history this season, summed up the feelings for both Sachse and Gilman.

“I don’t think of these kinds of things,” said Stinson, who will go to WSU on a volleyball scholarship. “State championships, you work hard for that and that’s your reward.

“It’s just great to have the support you get from your team, your school, your parents, everybody. They’re kind of the unsung heroes of your success.”

And, for those who have never attended the luncheon and been surrounded by the energy generated by so many young people, Schwenke presented a message.

“Athletics is the people you meet, the hard work, the competition,” she said. “Life is about hard work and competition.”

She read the words from a Garth Brooks song called “The River.” No matter what your musical preference is, the words are inspiring. Give it a listen.

MEMO: IDAHO HEADLINE: Winners share formula for success

See sidebar that ran with this story under the headline: Chalich, Spring, Cutter receive 25-year awards