Deer Park Mat Coach Largent Resigns To Spend Time With Kids

Dean Largent, Deer Park High School’s wrestling coach of 20 years, has resigned.

He will remain a teacher within the school district.

“As far as the wrestling part, I was not ready to get out,” said Largent. “Mostly it was a matter of just wanting to see my own kids wrestle. One day it hit me between the eyes what I was missing.”

Two sons, Sam and Brian, wrestled at North Central High in the AAA Greater Spokane League while Largent was coaching Northeast A Deer Park.

Five other sons remain between fourth and 10th grades.

Largent coached five league-championship teams in either the NEA or AA Frontier leagues.

Several Largent teams placed high in state, including the 1990 Stags, second in the A-B. He coached 13 individual state champions between 1978 and 1995, including three-time winner and current Gonzaga Prep coach Phil McLean, among 52 placers.

Deer Park principal Jean Chandler said interviews for Largent’s replacement will begin this week.

Baseball

Broadcasts of Seattle Mariners games are available on the Internet.

Play-by-play by announcers Dave Niehaus and Rick Rizzs are made available by Starwave and KIRO. It can be found at either of the following addresses: http:/ /ESPNET.sportszone.com/ or http://www.mariners.org/ The Mariners were the first professional sports team to establish a Web site on the Internet in November 1994, and last Sept. 5-6 the Mariners had baseball’s first live broadcast on the Internet.

Basketball

The Spokane Yellowjackets went 1-4 in the national AAU 15U boys tournament in Kingsport, Miss.

“It was overwhelming the talent that was there for 15-year-olds,” said coach Bill Etter. “I didn’t realize how mature and how explosive these kids are. Our tallest kid is maybe 6-foot-3. Some teams had a front line at 6-6, 6-7, 6-8 … and their 5-9 kid could dunk on a breakaway.”

The Spokane Stars U17 boys team has traveled to Charlotte, N.C., for the national AAU tournament that begins Monday. The Stars are seeded 33rd and face Jackson, Miss., in their opener.

Coaching the Stars, who qualified by winning the regional tournament last month in Moscow, are Jay Jennings and Randy Allen.

Members are Dan Kuney, St. George’s; Tyson Whitfield, Eisenhower (Yakima); Mel Stubblefield, Davis (Yakima); Zach and Josh Wilson, Orofino, Idaho; Carlos Simmons, Medical Lake; Donya Guice, Pasco and Jason Keep, Lewiston.

A Spokane group is looking for 14U girls to play in an AAU tournament in Wisconsin July 24-28.

Info: Al Farabee, (509) 783-0260.

Golf

Darren Slackman of Spokane, a junior at the University of Washington, shot a 72 at Poppy Hills in Carmel, Calif., to qualify for the Pacific Coast Amateur on the same course July 29-Aug. 3.

Signings

Eastern Washington University has announced the signing of 39 athletes to letters-of-intent.

The athletes, by sport:

Football: Greg Belzer, 6-1, 210 LB, Chewelah; Mark Skodge, 6-5, 255, OL, Burlington, Wash.; Aaron Best, 6-0, 275, OL, Curtis (Tacoma); Ryan Torppa, 6-4, 260, OL, Naselle, Wash.; Jeremy Taylor, 6-2, 280, OL, Wenatchee; Tim Gutmann, 6-5, 255, OL, Puyallup, Wash.; Lance Ballew, 6-3, 215, TE, Cascade (Leavenworth), Wash.; Romaine Smith, 6-4, 200, WR, Chief Sealth; Dan Oblenis, 6-3, 225, DL, Columbia River; Brett Lynham, 6-2, 265, OL, South Kitsap; Luke Fritz, 6-4, 275, OL, Osyoos, British Columbia.

Men’s golf: Kyle Kelly, North Central; Shaun Murray, West Valley; Darin Vaughan, Mead.

Women’s golf: Brenda Hall, East Valley and University of Idaho; Shelly Russell, Issaquah, Wash. and University of Wyoming; Kylie Smith, Everett, Wash.

Men’s track and field: Morgen Chase, Republic, sprints and hurdles; Greg Rainer, Chewelah, weights; Steve Carey, Eatonville; Cary Rux, Wilbur-Creston; Matt Kerr, Kennewick, distance; Jay Martell, Washougal, Wash.; Tim Archer, East Wenatchee; Aaron Williams, South Bend, Wash.

Women’s track and field: Jessika Lee, Meadowdale; Tina Olson, North Thurston; Julie Nielson, Columbia (White Salmon), Wash.; Christina Withey, Shadle Park; Adrienne Wilson, University; Sarah Stalker, Bremerton; Cristina Horning, Pasco.

Volleyball: Kim Maxwell, 5-9 setter, Calgary, Alberta; Jessica Clish, 6-1, Fort St. John, B.C.; Lacey Coover, 5-10, Kalama, Wash.; Trilby Hirst, 5-9, Tonasket, Wash.; Corie Isaacson, 5-11, Wenatchee; Whitney Lewis, 6-1, Bend, Ore.; Tarah Pond, 5-3, Vernonia, Ore.

Soccer

Steve Simmons, men’s soccer coach at Whitworth College on a part-time basis this past school season, has accepted an offer to become full-time soccer coach at Linfield College in McMinnville, Ore.

Simmons, who came to Whitworth after one year as assistant at Gonzaga University, had spent four years as an assistant at Concordia College in Portland.

Softball

Spokane Fastpitch, which had earned a spot in the North American Fastpitch Association World Series Aug. 21-25 in Hutchinson, Kan., last weekend won a NAPA national qualifying tournament in Olympia.

Keith Anderson’s three-run home run and Steve Allen’s solo shot sparked a 5-1 win over Washington Recycling of Everett to cap a 4-0 tournament for Fastpitch.

Smoker Marchand pitched a two-hitter, striking out 11, in a 1-0 semifinal win over Seattle’s Crown Rainier.

Track and field

The Power Rating for high school dual-meet teams ranked Mead fourth in the nation. The rankings came out two weeks ago in USA Today. Muir High School of Pasadena, Calif., was rated first.

Volleyball

Club Spokane Valley compiled a 6-4 record, winning 12 of 22 games, and wound up tied for 13th in the U.S. Junior Olympic Championships last weekend in San Jose, Calif.

Spokane Valley, coached by Steve Gillis, knocked off the top-seeded Boulder (Colo.) 18 Gold 16-14, 15-9 in its opener and won its first three matches in the 64-team Club Division before losing four of its last seven.

Entry deadline is Friday for the annual Spokane Spike & Dig Sixes Tournament, which will be held on grass and sand courts at Spokane Falls Community College Aug. 3-4.

Competition will be held in adult coed and youth (12-17-year-olds) coed and single-sex divisions. Coed teams must have a minimum of two women on the court at all times. Adult fees are $120 for a seven-person team, junior fees are $95. Info: (509) 325-0740.

Miscellany

Reardan High School has openings for assistant coaches in football and volleyball.

Applications should be addressed to: Reardan-Edwall School District, P.O. Box 225, Reardan, WA 99029.

Info: (509) 796-2701, ext. 121.

Volunteers are needed to help with the seven sports that will be part of the 1996 Washington State Summer Games Friday through next Sunday in Pullman.

Events are baseball, archery, golf, synchronized swimming, track and field, trap shooting and tennis.

There are also openings for participants. Info: Ralph Dannenberg, (509) 334-4555, ext. 224.

, DataTimes