Two Cougs Recognized For Academic Skills Washington

State had two athletes named to NCAA Division I Spring At-Large All-Academic teams.

Heidi Shultz, a senior track and field standout with a 3.88 grade-point average in education, was named to the women’s first team announced by GTE and the College Sports Information Directors of America.

Shultz, WSU’s YMCA/Athletic Director’s Female Athlete of the Year, placed fifth in the Pacific-10 Conference heptathlon.

Matt Stadelman, a junior track athlete with a 3.61 GPA in mathematics education, is a men’s second-team choice.

BASEBALL

Eric Panza, a right-handed pitcher at North Central High School, has committed to play baseball at Crown College, the St. Bonifacius, Minn., school announced.

Crown, a private school, is a member of the National Christian College Athletic Association.

The Roberto Clemente All-Stars, which will send two teams to Puerto Rico this year, have rescheduled a tryout for players from Eastern Washington and North Idaho for today at Spokane’s Seafirst Stadium.

Athletes ages 13-16 will gather from 8 a.m.-noon and those 17-19 from 1-5 p.m. Players should provide their own equipment. Baseballs and helmets will be provided.

Each session includes a 90-minute clinic by major league scouts.

Info: Larry Rook, (208) 772-5120.

BASKETBALL

D.J. Vick, a 6-foot-4 forward from Lewis and Clark High School, has signed a letter of intent to play basketball at Western Baptist College in Salem, Ore.

Vick averaged 6.7 points, 8.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game for the Tigers his senior year, shooting 45 percent from the field.

Travis Greenwalt, a 6-7, 225-pound forward from Liberty High School, has signed a letter of intent with the University of Montana.

Greenwalt, who averaged 20.3 points along with 10.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game, was the Bi-County League scoring leader. He hit 53 percent of his shots.

A three-year member of the National Honor Society with a 3.96 grade-point average, he is class salutatorian.

COLLEGE SCENE

Two Whitworth Pirates were selected NAIA Women’s Tennis All-America Scholar-Athletes.

Tara Fiebick, a senior, has a 3.78 grade-point average in communications. Dawn Eliassen, a junior, has a 3.67 GPA with a double major in kinesiology and Spanish.

Washington State had two students among 16 nationally selected to receive $5,000 each as part of the Sears Director’s Cup postgraduate scholarship program.

Karen Schilling, a team manager with a 3.97 GPA in biology and psychology, and Ragen Smith, a trainer with a 3.90 GPA in athletic training, were among four selected from NCAA Division I schools. They’ll be honored June 17 during the national athletic directors convention in Cleveland.

Two area athletes have finished spring sports at Hamilton College in Clinton, N.Y.

Brian Guastella (Gonzaga Prep), a junior, was second on the baseball team with a .373 batting average, 22 runs and three home runs. He also had 11 RBIs. Defensively he had just one error in 44 attempts in center field.

Elizabeth Sadler (St. George’s) was a sophomore midfielder on the Continentals’ women’s lacrosse team that won its last five games to finish 5-8.

RIFLE SHOOTING

The Spokane Rifle Club’s junior team had four firsts, six seconds and seven thirds during the Washington State Junior Outdoor Championships last weekend in Wenatchee.

In the companion junior air rifle competition, Hatti Ponti was overall winner with Rachael Westergren second in the expert class and Ryan Brownyer third in A class.

Ponti, who won the high intermediate junior title, also placed third in the outdoor three-position championship and joined Westergren and Matt Miller in earning Spokane second in the team three-position match.

Also in three-position, Jordan Breshears was first and Westergren second in expert class; Brownyer was third in A class; and Joshua Preston was second and Craig Kingsbury third in B.

In smallbore prone shooting, Breshears was third in expert, Brownyer first and Miller third in A, Bonnie Moerschel second and Preston third in B and Tiffany Stewart second in C.

SENIOR SPORTS CLASSIC

Four athletes from Spokane came back from the U.S. National Senior Sports Classic VI in Tucson, Ariz., with gold medals. Two others earned silver.

Rita Dorn and Elita Jones won gold medals in tennis in the women’s 60-64 doubles. Ed Keil and Doug Jones won silvers in men’s 75 doubles, losing the title in a third-set tiebreaker.

In badminton, John Harvey, 73, won the gold in men’s singles, and Sister Madonna Buder, 66, took the gold in women’s 20K cycling, clocking 41 minutes, 34.38 seconds.

More than 10,000 athletes 50 and older competed.

SOCCER

Eighty teams from Washington, Idaho, Montana and British Columbia are expected for the Spokane Youth Sports Association Spring Classic youth tournament Friday through Sunday at the North Complex.

The Shriners sponsor the event that has drawn teams from Helena, Whitefish and Missoula, Mont.; Nelson, Trail and Kelowna, British Columbia; Snohomish, Marysville, Moses Lake, Othello and Tri-Cities, Wash.; and Sandpoint, Coeur d’Alene and Moscow, Idaho.

SOFTBALL

Two of the top men’s major modified softball teams in the country will headline the Heroes/Subway Invitational Tournament Friday-Sunday at Franklin Park.

Team L.A., formerly the California Crush, was the national Amateur Softball Association runner-up in 1996. Brymile of Spokane was the 1995 national champion and fourth-place finisher in ‘96.

Those teams will play an exhibition Friday at 8:30 p.m. at Franklin. The tourney proper, which will offer $1,000 to the winning team, runs Saturday and Sunday.

The event also will include home-run and base-running contests Saturday, with cash prizes to the winners.

Besides Brymile, the Grinders and Northwest Yankees of Spokane are entered.

Teams interested in entering can call (509) 926-6610 or (509) 328-2131.

TRACK AND FIELD

Casey Perry, a 1,600- and 3,200-meter runner from Shadle Park High School, has signed a letter of intent with the University of Montana.

Perry, sixth in the State AAA cross country meet last fall, had season-bests of 4:18 in the 1,600 and 9:11 in the 3,200.

VOLLEYBALL

Sarah Everstine of Cataldo School is one of 32 U-14 players from throughout the country invited to the USA Volleyball Developmental High Performance Volleyball Camp in Colorado Springs, Colo.

MISCELLANY

Michael Cooney of Spokane, a 1983 graduate of Gonzaga University, has been hired as an assistant men’s basketball coach and assistant athletic director for operations at the State University of West Georgia in Carrollton, Ga.

Cooney, 36, spent the last four years on the staff of Paul Westhead at Division I George Mason University. He’s also assisted at Morehead (Ky.) State and Loyola Marymount, where he served under former GU head coach Jay Hillock.

“I’m really excited,” said Cooney. “The entire athletic program is on the upswing and I look forward to being a part of it.”

Former Washington State and Central Washington football assistant Scott Ricardo, offensive coordinator at Humboldt State in Arcata, Calif., is among college coaches to be featured on a television special.

The June 15 show (ABC), “Coaching Legends,” is a 2-hour look at the values of football. Ricardo has been instrumental in developing a mentorship program where college athletes work with high-risk youth.

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