WSU Trainer Smaha Named To Nw Hall

Mark Smaha, Washington State’s director of athletic medicine since 1978, has added another award to a growing list of professional accolades.

Smaha has been named a charter member of the Northwest Athletic Trainers Association District 10 Hall of Fame. The district includes Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Alaska and the Canadian provinces of British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan.

Smaha, a two-time president of the National Athletic Trainers Association, was a NATA Hall of Fame inductee in 1997 and received the NATA Most Distinguished Athletic Trainer Award in 1994.

Auto racing

Mike Williams of Hayden Lake started 15th and finished 29th, completing only 27 laps before an accident forced him out of the Formula Ford 2000 50-mile race at Phoenix International Raceway a week ago. Thirty-six cars started.

Basketball

The University of Idaho women’s basketball team will have its year-ending banquet Saturday at 6:30 p.m. at the University Inn in Moscow.

Among the speakers will be departing head coach Julie Holt, new athletic director Mike Bohn and UI president Bob Hoover. Cost is $10.

Info: (208) 885-4696.

Bowling

Vickie Cullen of Spokane is one of seven new leaders in Week 3 of the Washington State Women’s Bowling Association championships under way in Spokane. She leads B singles with a 621 series.

Other new leaders: A team-Port Orchard, 2,817. D doubles-A. Brown-L. DeLeo, Port Townsend, 1,046. E doubles-D. Conklin-P. Franks, Chewelah, 979. G singles- Nani Morrison, Oak Harbor, 496. E all-events-Anna Brown, Port Townsend, 1,584. F all-events-Jan Shaffer, Vancouver, 1,543.

Becky Smith of North Central charged from the fifth qualifying position to win the girls singles division of the Washington State High School Varsity Championships March 7-8 in Federal Way, Wash.

Smith won four matches in the TV-style finals, knocking off top qualifier Amanda Trudeau of Shadle Park 170-167 in the title match.

Spokane also had the No. 6 finisher, Amanda Riddle of NC.

Other Spokane placers: Raquel Descoteaux, Ferris, 14th; Danielle Shurbutt, Shadle, 16th; Sera Jo Dodd, NC, 18th; Sandy Campbell, NC, 21st; Katie Lister, Central Valley, 22nd; Melissa McClain, Shadle, 24th; and Stephanie McLeod, NC, 25th.

John Martin of East Valley had the best boys finish for Spokane bowlers, 17th. Benjamin Rhodes, CV, was 18th; Allen Offutt, EV, 26th; Pat Doyle, EV, 32nd; Jeff Frank, EV, 33rd; and Kurt Kenny, CV, 36th.

The singles competition is for bowlers who aren’t part of schools who compete for the team titles.

College scene

Seniors Doreen Evans and Yvonne Kunze walked off with all the awards at the Washington State women’s basketball banquet Monday.

Evans, the team captain, received the most inspirational, defensive player of the year and strength and conditioning awards. Kunze, who led the Cougars in scoring and finished eighth all-time on the career list, was named offensive player of the year.

Jennifer Smith of Spokane (Ferris), a freshman at Colorado, earned All-America honors after placing fifth in the mile at the NCAA Indoor track championships.

Smith also was named freshman of the year in the Big 12 after finishing first in the 3,000 meters with a personal best 9 minutes, 39.95 seconds and second in the mile with another PR (4:46.42) at the conference championships.

Bill Hinz of Pullman has been named captain of the track and field team at Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Ind. A junior biology major, he is a hammer and discus thrower for the NCAA Division III Little Giants.

Montana senior Todd Hering of Pullman won the Big Sky Conference Indoor 55-meter dash for the second time in three years.

Three Lewis and Clark High School graduates turned in season-bests for Western Washington at the Tri-City Sports Festival track meet last weekend.

Mike Lynch was eighth in both the 100 (11.13) and 200 (22.32); Shannon Anderson ran the 200 in 26.95 and the 400 in 59.86; and Sarah Hiss long-jumped 17-8. All are sophomores.

Robin Heath, a senior third baseman on the Willamette University baseball team from Colville, was Northwest Conference hitter of the week March 17 after batting .615 in four games.

Heath went 8 for 13 with three doubles, one triple, one home run and seven RBIs.

Todd Kinley of Spokane (LC), senior captain of the Wheaton College baseball team in Wheaton, Ill., is hitting .292 with one double, four RBIs and nine runs scored for the 6-2 Crusaders.

Mandy Flores and Sarah Johnston of Spokane have made big contributions to Pacific Lutheran’s 10-2 start in softball.

Flores, a sophomore third baseman from Rogers, is hitting .441 with one home run and eight RBIs. Johnston, senior catcher from Gonzaga Prep, is hitting .375 with one homer and seven RBIs.

Golf

The women’s 18 hole club at The Creek at Qualchan has its season-opening breakfast and golf Monday at 8 a.m. Newcomers welcome.

Info: (509) 926-9467.

Gymnastics

Stewart Renz of Spokane’s Northwest Gymnastics Academy won the Class 4 all-around title with a 46.9 at the state men’s championships last weekend.

Renz, a seventh-grader at Horizon JHS, also won the pommel horse and rings and was second in floor exercise, parallel bars, vault and high bar at Kennewick.

Matthew Croskrey of NGA, an eighth-grader at Mountain View Middle School, was fourth all-around, placing third on floor, parallel bars and vault.

Hockey

The Spokane Americans’ Bantam team finished second at the regional tournament last weekend in Tacoma, losing to Alaska 5-4 in the championship game.

Steven Ritter had six goals and seven assists, Ben Nelson five goals and seven assists, Sage O’Hara two goals and four assists and Chris Wagner and Travis Popp two goals each for the Americans.

Martial arts

Eleven competitors from Spokane - three from Defense Arts Academy, eight from Jung Kim’s Martial Arts - placed at the state Taekwondo championships in Seattle last weekend.

Defense Arts’ placers were: Geoffrey Palachuk, 10, black belt, 3rd in sparring; Cole Flateau, 13, red belt, 1st in form and 3rd in sparring; and Chester Paulson, 19, black belt, 1st in form.

Jung Kim’s eight placers from 11 entries: Kyle Morton, red belt, 1st in sparring; Jessica McCabe, 3rd in form; Ryane Gerbing, 1st in form; Rachael Lynn, 3rd in sparring; Janine Lewis, 3rd in sparring; Terry Martin, 3rd in sparring; Justin Howard, 3rd in form; and Justin Garland, 2nd in sparring.

All the placers qualified for the nationals July 8-12 in Orlando, Fla. Palachuk will be going for the third time, Paulson for the second.

Rugby

Twenty six teams - 17 men’s and nine women’s - from Washington, Idaho, Montana, Canada and Arizona are expected for the seventh annual Fool’s Fest tournament at the Spokane Polo Club this weekend.

The Spokane Razorbacks Rugby Club puts on the event on the Polo Club grounds off Highway 2 just east of Airway Heights. Teams will play at least three matches.

Matches will be from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday and 9:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Sunday. Admission is free.

Info: Joe O’Shaughnessy, (509) 328-9919; Chuck Keller, (509) 323-9036.

Running

Bryant McKinley of Spokane, who hasn’t let a sight impairment curtail his athletic pursuits, is in Morocco to participate in the 13th annual Marathon des Sables starting today.

French for Marathon of the Sands, the event is 240 kilometers of running over six days. Competitors must carry their own food and personal effects over the distance.

McKinley, senior member of the U.S. team, is a 3:15 marathoner who has won 20 medals in the United States Association of Blind Athletes National Championships.

Swimming

The Spokane Silver Mermaids just missed top-10 finishes during semifinal competition in trio and team events at the West Zone Senior Championships in synchronized swimming last weekend at the Eastern Washington University Aquatic Center.

Beth Moore, Megan Murphy and Nikki Velategui were 11th in trio and were joined in the team event by Katie Enemark, Karly Johanson, Patricia Reed, Rachel Sutch and Becky Weaver, which also was 11th. The top eight moved to the finals.

Aleksandra Lasovic of the Silver Mermaids was 48th in the solo preliminaries and Moore and Murphy were 21st in the duet preliminaries.

The Santa Clara (Calif.) Aquamaids swept firsts in figure, solo, duet and team events with the Arizona Aqua Stars first in trio.

There were 130 athletes 14 and older from 17 teams. The top two in each event advance to nationals next month in Federal Way, Wash.

Volleyball

Melissa Brown, a 6-foot-1 middle blocker from McClintock High School in Tempe, Ariz., has signed a national letter-of-intent with Gonzaga University, coach Eva Windlin-Jansen announced.

As a senior, Brown, who earned two varsity letters for the Rams, won Arizona 5A All-Central Region Conference honorable mention and was a second team All-Middle Region selection. She also was named outstanding hitter at the Brigham Young University camp.

Heather Kniss, a 5-10 outside hitter from Gresham, Ore., has signed a letter-of-intent to play at the University of Idaho.

Kniss, a three-year starter at Centennial High School, earned first-team all-conference in 1996 and ‘97. As her school finished fourth at state her senior year, she made the first all-tournament team and was second-team all-state. She averaged 17 kills and 12 digs as a senior.

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MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: CALLING ALL CAMPS The Spokesman-Review’s annual publication of youth sports summer camps is scheduled for Sunday, April 26. Deadline for submitting camp information is April 19. Please send camp information to Kory Boatman, The Spokesman-Review sports department, 999 W. Riverside, Spokane, WA 99210. Our fax number is 459-5098.