Cv’s Rydell Retiring; Lc’s Bredy Takes New Job
Two Greater Spokane League schools are in the market for activities coordinators before next fall.
Jay Rydell, a longtime fixture at Central Valley, is retiring, and Alan Bredy leaves Lewis and Clark after two years to become principal at Port Angeles High School.
Rydell has been in education 29 years, the last 26 at CV and the last 16 of those as activities coordinator.
“The kids are the ones who make the wheels turn in the building,” Rydell said. “I’m going to miss them.”
Rydell, who coached wrestling and assisted in other sports for more than a decade, said, “The job kind of popped up. Having coached so long fighting to get what I wanted, it was an opportunity to help coaches out.”
A three-sport athlete in high school at Great Falls, and in Dana College in Nebraska, Rydell spent six summers breaking and shoeing horses in Wyoming. He also participated in rodeo.
Rydell was hired to be CV’s wrestling coach in 1971 before there were junior high and youth programs. Three years later, his team won the school’s first league championship.
He also assisted in football and track, one year coming back from the state wrestling tournament to find he was interim head track coach because of a resignation.
Bredy, who came to LC from Bellingham, wanted to be a principal, he just didn’t expect to get the opportunity quite so soon.
“I was invited to apply,” he said. “I thought I was maybe a year or two away from being prepared for that job. My goal for a number of years has been to be a high school principal.”
Port Angeles is a 3A school and will move up to 4A next year, as will the schools in the GSL.
“It’s a good school, well supported by the community,” Bredy said. “It’s a small community, the population is about 20,000 with one high school. It means a move and that will be difficult. I really liked being here. … LC is a great place to work, but I’m excited to be a principal and run the show.”
Mount Spokane, Mead appointments
The most recognizable coaching faces at Mount Spokane High School will be in football and girls basketball, where Mike McLaughlin and Jeanne Helfer are moving from Mead High.
Also moving over are Craig Busch, soccer; Annette Pedersen, girls track and girls cross country; Eleen Northcutt, girls golf; and Bridget Monahan, volleyball.
The other coaches are: Craig Dietz, boys cross country; Larry Stranahan, wrestling; Bill Ayers, boys basketball; Joe Kostecka, boys track; Dave Whitehead, baseball; Raeleen Epperson, softball; Greg Schultz, boys golf; and Marshal Mah and Mary Wallace, tennis.
Gymnastics will be a co-op between the two schools, with one coach. The position hasn’t been filled. Lori Tickner, who has been an out-of-building gymnastics coach at Mead, decided not to return when there were no openings on the staff at either school.
Mead graduate Travis Hanson takes over as soccer coach at his alma mater, and Scott Bliss of Auburn becomes the new wrestling coach.
BASKETBALL
Two former Moscow, Idaho, High School girls will continue their careers at Azusa Pacific.
Dana Wilder, a 5-foot-10 forward who averaged 6.2 points and 4.5 rebounds for the Bears as a senior, has signed a letter of intent.
And Amy Lemm will transfer to the Azusa, Calif., school after spending her freshman year at the University of Idaho.
Lakeside High of Nine Mile Falls is looking for a non-league girls game for the 1997-98 year.
Info: Athletic director Glen Payne, (509) 466-1369.
BOXING
Three Spokane amateur boxers qualified for the National Junior Olympics in Marquette, Mich., June 15-22 during regionals in Portland.
Mahlon Kerwick, 16, the silver medalist at 119 pounds a year ago, returns for a second national, this time at 125. His Lilac City Boxing Club teammate, Joe Roberts, 15, a 119-pounder, will fight in his first national.
Also qualifying is Dewey Welliver, 15, 132 pounds, who boxes for the Spokane Eagles.
COLLEGE SCENE
Carlos Daniel, a junior basketball standout, is the fourth Washington State student athlete in three years to be selected for an Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholars Award.
Named for the late former tennis standout, the award annually honors student athletes of color across the country for their academic and athletic accomplishments.
Daniel, only the second Cougar men’s basketball player to earn GTE Academic All-America (third-team), was WSU’s second-leading scorer at 15.2 points per game and No. 2 in the Pac-10 in rebounding at 8.3 per game.
WSU seniors Isaac Fontaine and Jody Payne were awarded the Pac-10 Conference Medal. Fontaine ended his collegiate men’s career as the all-time leading scorer in Cougar history. The 6-foot-4 guard scored 2,003 points which ranks 12th on the Pac-10 career scoring list.
Payne led the 1996 Cougar women’s soccer team with four goals including two game-winners. She was a three-time Pac-10 All-Academic first-team pick.
The University of Idaho landed 21student-athletes on Big West Conference all-academic teams for the spring. All had 3.2 grade-point averages or better.
Women’s track and field: Jill Wimer, Nikki Viersen, Brigetta Sera, Sharry Olsen, Andrea Jenkins, Kelly Hunt, Tara Gehrke, Kerri Fife and Dawna Dennis.
Men’s track and field: Dan Bartosz, Frank Bruder, Tawanda Chiwira, Chris Karchesky, Matt McDonald and Bernd Schroeder.
Women’s golf: Elizabeth Carter.
Men’s golf: Brian King and Jason Stephenson.
Women’s tennis: Gwen Nikora.
Men’s tennis: Keith Bradbury and Dustin Hinson.
Matt Armitage, a freshman from Mead, helped Olympic Community College to its winningest baseball season in school history (30-9) and was named the NWAACC Northern Division player of the year.
Armitage, a switch-hitter, batted .416 with four home runs, seven triples, 16 doubles, 42 RBIs and 10 stolen bases as the Rangers won their division title.
Tim Heeter, a sophomore from Mead on the Cornell College baseball team, earned Academic All-Midwest Conference honors with a 3.61 grade-point average in biology and secondary education.
TENNIS
Burak Berksoy, the top-ranked junior player in Turkey, and Joe Zavaglia, one of the top-ranked juniors in the Pacific Northwest, have signed letters of intent to play at Gonzaga University.
Zavaglia, from Edmonds-Woodway High in Edmonds, Wash., is ranked 13th in his age group. Berksoy, from Istanbul, Turkey, is ranked sixth in the men’s open division in Turkey.
BASKETBALL
Scott Didrickson, a 1995 graduate of the University of Washington, has joined the Gonzaga University men’s staff as the restricted earnings coach, head coach Dan Monson announced.
SOCCER
Lake City High School goalkeeper Dave Hill has signed a letter of intent to play at Community Colleges of Spokane. Hill allowed 0.8 goals per game and was a first-team All-North Idaho League selection.
TRACK AND FIELD
Performance Athletic Track and Field Club will register athletes from youth through masters during practices at Spokane Community College Monday through Wednesday from 5:30 to 8 p.m.
Info: Arnie Tyler, (509) 466-5801.
Spokane’s June Machala, 66, set an American record for her age group at the May 31 Freihofer’s Run for Women in Albany, N.Y.
Machala, who completed the 5-kilometer USA Track and Field-sanctioned run in 22 minutes, 7 seconds, set age-group records earlier this year at Indianapolis and Jacksonville, Fla.
Mead distance runner Damon Ristau, a member of three consecutive State AAA cross country champions, will attend the University of Montana, his family announced.
Ristau has bests of 4:22 for 1,600 meters and 9:32 for 3,200.
GOLF
University of Idaho golf coach Don Rasmussen has signed Matt Johnson, who is transferring from Spokane Community College.
Johnson, a graduate of Spokane’s Central Valley High School, finished third at the Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges Championships. In the nine tournaments he played this season, he won four and was second three times.
MISCELLANY
Pullman High School has been chosen to receive $750 as a state winner in Ocean Spray’s Crave to be Your Best women’s athletic program.
Pullman plans to use the money to add girls freshman softball and soccer. Officials said 60 girls are interested in playing the sports, but it had no money for uniforms, coaches or equipment.
The Ocean Spray program, in its fourth year, singles out schools that have solid plans for women’s high school athletes but lack the funding to make it happen.
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