EV Girls Claim Another State Cross-Country Title

For East Valley and University high schools, the state cross country meet was as simple as one, two - and three.

The Knight girls finished first, winning their third straight State AA title, unprecedented among Frontier League schools.

The Titan boys were second in the AAA race, the third time they’ve been state runners-up.

U-Hi scored fewer points at state (low score wins) than they had the previous week in Eastern’s Washington regional meet.

“State is easier,” said U-Hi coach Bob Barbero. “It’s sad but it’s true. And we didn’t even run as well as we wanted.”

Senior James Berry was 14th overall and junior Seth Mott 16th. Junior Jeff Rees placed 24th and Kris Martin turned in U-Hi’s second-fastest time ever by a sophomore (16:01) in Pasco.

“Our goal was to place two kids in front of Mead’s Morgan Thompson,” said Barbero.

The Titans did so, but three other runners didn’t fare as well as Barbero had hoped. The top three teams, all from this region were happy with their places but dissatisfied with their performances.

“Here are the top three teams in state walking around with long faces on,” said Barbero. “For us, it was kind of like we wished we’d taken a better shot at Mead.”

With essentially the same team, East Valley’s girls had an easier time with third-time runnerup South Whidbey than in its previous two championships.

The Knights had three finishers - Cara Smith, Angie Simmers and Ann Marie Adams - among the top 21 runners and freshman Crystal Gerkey was 26th.

Simmers and No. 6 runner Holly Weiler are the Knights’ lone seniors.

West Valley’s Clayton Holmes and Sean McLachlan ran 20th and 23rd. The Eagle girls struggled to 14th place as a team.

Knights hit the road

There were no surprises this year in Frontier League district volleyball.

League champion East Valley remained perfect against conference teams and is headed to Tacoma for the State AA tournament.

The Knights whipped Clarkston and runnerup Colville in straight games to clinch a berth. In the first three games against the two teams, the Knights allowed only 7 points.

In the championship seeding game with Colville, the Knights rallied from a 15-12 first-game loss to win the final two.

The team plays in a pool beginning Friday with last year’s seventh-place finisher South Whidbey, Blanchet and Hanford.

Tough grid draw for Knights

When East Valley travels to Prosser Friday night, they Knights will be facing more than a football opponent in the first round of State AA playoffs.

They’ll be competing with tradition.

The unbeaten Mustangs have been a perennial Mid-Valley power since 1989 and oft a visitor to the state finals.

This year’s team is different from last year’s second-place state finisher.

“It’s hard to compare,” said Prosser coach Tom Moore. “We thought we were a power running team but played in a league that forced us to throw. And we’re pretty good at it.”

Quarterback Benji Sonnichson has passed for 1,808 yards and 16 touchdowns. He throws to receiver Shawn Van Winkle, who stands 6-foot-5, Dan Marchant, who is 6-foot-3 and tiny but quick Jeremy Santo.

One thing for sure, Prosser is bigger than last year up front. Its tackles are 270-pounds and one guard goes 225.

Behind them, Shane Vasile rushed for 860 yards and scored 15 TDs.

Like Prosser’s Mid-Valley foes, the 5-4 Knights will blitz on defense and hope to control the team behind the rushing of Tristan Beeman and Rob Gillespie.

Bears lose playoff game

The luck of the coin flip put Central Valley into the AAA football playoffs against Big Nine champion Kamiakin.

Although the Bears lost, 24-14, they gave the state’s second-ranked team a sterner test than two other Greater Spokane League teams, who were handily defeated. Only Mead triumphed.

CV fell behind 14-0 after a quarter but held its own thereafter. Sophomore Tyree Clowe rushed for 175 yards, junior quarterback Chad Adamson rushed for a touchdown and passed for 116 yards. Senior receiver Tyler Zyph caught four passes for 91 yards.

The Bears finished in a three-way tie for third with Gonzaga Prep, a team they lost to during the regular season, and Lewis and Clark, a team they beat.

A coin flip determined which two teams advanced and which one stayed home. Prep and CV played on.

, DataTimes