Walsh Will Be Speaker At Awards Banquet

Former San Francisco 49ers football coach Bill Walsh will be the featured speaker at the Inland Northwest Sports Awards Banquet Feb. 11.

Walsh’s 10-year coaching run with the 49ers included three Super Bowl victories in the 1980s. His regularseason record was 92-59-1 and he was 10-4 in the postseason.

The banquet, presented by the Greater Spokane Sports Association, is occasion for the annual athlete, coach and team of the year awards.

Reservations, priced at $50, are available at the GSSA, 926 W. Sprague. The phone number is 456-5812.

Auto racing

NASCAR driver and Spokane native Chad Little will participate in a benefit for the Vanessa Behan Crisis Nursery on Friday at Players & Spectators, 12828 E. Sprague.

Little will be there from 4-6 p.m. to sign autographs, pose for pictures and race against raffle winners in a video game.

Proceeds from raffles, the sale of Chad Little/John Deere Racing merchandise and a pit crew uniform auction will go to Vanessa Behan Crisis Nursery. Players & Spectators also will donate proceeds from lunch and dinner sales that day.

In conjunction with Little’s visit, DK Motorsports Collectibles, 104 S. Dartmouth, is staging a toy and diaper drive with donations going to the nursery.

Info: Jane Baker, (509) 535-3155.

Baseball

Spokane American Legion baseball has appointed two new coaches for its Senior AAA program for 1998 and moved another.

Kevin Workman, a senior at Gonzaga University and former All-Greater Spokane League standout at North Central High School, will coach the North Stars, and Darryl Stephens, the Gonzaga Prep coach, who was a standout at G-Prep and Stanford, will coach the Royals.

Mike Kistler, who coached the Royals last year, will take over the Cannons. Lance Rickman returns to coach the Blue Devils and Don O’Niel to coach the Bandits.

The Senior League will start at the end of the local high school season in late May, with league play to begin in early June. Each team will play 50-plus games.

American Legion has openings for coaches and sponsors at the AA and A levels.

Info: Dennis Thompson, (509) 624-5789.

Bowling

For the second straight month, Cory Hultquist was hot at the right time and won the November Junior Bowlers Tour tournament at North Bowl.

Hultquist defeated top-seeded Anthony Hernandez 217-198 for the title after beating Jim Brinkman 259-141.

Andy Applonie finished fourth and Matt Descoteaux was fifth.

Hernandez had high game for the boys, a 279. Danielle Shurbutt was high for the girls with a 233.

Next JBT is today at Colonial Bowl. The doubles tournament is Jan. 11 at Silver Lanes.

College scene

Angel Whalen of Spokane (University High School) capped her career at Galveston (Texas) College by being named a first-team National Junior College Athletic Association volleyball All-American.

Whalen, a 5-foot-8 setter and team co-captain, ranked fourth in the nation with 12.24 assists per game as the Whitecaps went 45-6. She set a school record with 1,459 assists in two years. She also earned first-team all-conference, all-region and all-region tournament team, where the Whitecaps placed second.

After earning all-district honors for a third straight year, Notre Dame senior Jaimie Lee of Spokane (Ferris) has been named to the GTE Volleyball Academic All-America second team.

Lee, one of just six players in the nation to earn all-district three straight years, has a 3.341 grade-point average in sociology.

Two Inland Empire athletes were selected to GTE Volleyball Academic All-District VIII College Division teams.

Sonnet Farrell, an Alaska-Anchorage junior from St. Maries, was a first-team choice. She has a 3.89 GPA in secondary education.

Sarah Hiss, a Western Washington redshirt freshman from Spokane (Lewis and Clark), was a second-team pick. She has a 3.82 GPA in pre-med.

Sisters Sarah and Jessica Menard of Spokane (North Central) helped Northwest Nazarene tie for third in the NAIA National Volleyball Championships in Kankakee, Ill.

The Crusaders went 5-1 in the tournament and finished the year 37-10.

Additionally, Jessica Menard, a senior with a 3.53 GPA in history education, was named an NAIA Volleyball All-America Scholar-Athlete.

Two former Greater Spokane League stars earned All-Rocky Mountain Conference honors in soccer.

Danielle Thorn, a Regis University freshman forward from Gonzaga Prep, was a first-team selection. Katie Brooks, a Mesa State freshman defender from Central Valley, was named to the second team.

Angela Harrison, a University of Portland sophomore goalkeeper from Spokane (Gonzaga Prep), was named to the National Soccer Coaches Association All-West Regional first team for Division I colleges. She had a sparkling 0.41 goals-against average with 11 shutouts.

The University of Idaho’s No. 1 men’s doubles team, senior Danny Willman and sophomore Darin Currall, are 18th in the nation in the latest rankings of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association.

In the fall, the duo had a 5-3 record against some of the top teams in the country, including a straight-set victory over the 14th-ranked team from Mississippi State. As a team, UI is ranked 72nd.

Jen Harrell, a Dickinson College junior from Spokane (Gonzaga Prep), set a school record in the 55-meter hurdles in an indoor track meet last weekend at Bucknell. She clocked 9.08 seconds. The old mark was 9.13.

Pacific Lutheran University runners Brooke Daehlin of Spokane (University) and Ryan Pauling of Cheney have earned NAIA Cross Country All-America Scholar-Athlete awards.

Daehlin, a senior, has a 3.81 GPA in English and education. Pauling, a junior, has a 3.73 GPA in education and history.

Daehlin led the PLU women’s team to a No. 4 scholastic national ranking with a 3.49 team GPA. The PLU men ranked ninth with a 3.229 team GPA.

Running

Spokane had the top two women’s finishers and five of the top 26 men in the Seattle Half-Marathon on Nov. 29.

Kim Jones was first and Kari McKay second among the women.

In the men’s division, won by Matt Messner of Bothell, Wash., Chris Morlan of Spokane was fourth, Corey Brantley eighth, Edwin Holloway 13th, Scott Daratha 25th and Mits Bryant 26th.

Top local finishers in the full marathon were Sara Gigliotti of Davenport, who now lives in San Francisco, 45th among the women, and Steve Halley of Spokane, 65th among the men.

June Machala, 66, of Spokane, who won her age group in the eight races in which she competed this fall, finished fourth overall in the USAT&F Road Racing Indy Life Circuit competition.

Machala, who set course or national masters age-group records in six of the events, missed one race because of illness and that cost her the national title.

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