Quick hits (Washington)

LOOKING AHEAD

As the school year winds down, so do the spring sports seasons.

Boys soccer and tennis is already in playoff mode, with baseball, softball, track and golf kicking off next week.

GSL games of interest

Softball

Today, Mead at North Central, 4 p.m.

NC’s Indians have assured themselves at

least a tie for the top 3A spot in the district playoffs and another matchup with East Valley with a regional berth at stake. But they can have a say in who grabs what seeding in the 4A. Mead and University are battling for the second spot, and NC plays both (U-Hi on Tuesday).

Baseball

Today, North Central at Ferris, 4 p.m.

The top three 3A schools have made life interesting in the GSL. All three – NC, West Valley and EV – take on the league leaders, Ferris, Mt. Spokane and Shadle Park, in home-and-home series today and Friday to end the season.

Boys soccer

Friday, Mt. Spokane vs. Central Valley, SFCC, 7 p.m.

A state berth is up for grabs as the GSL

co-champion Wildcats take on CV in the District 8 4A championship match at Spokane Falls Community College. Neither team has played in the title match before and neither has been to state in boys competition.

Track today

The GSL boys wrap up the regular season with three meets to determine the 1 through 14 placings. The championship meet, which begins at 4:30, is at Mt. Spokane with Mead, CV and EV in the title chase.

LOOKING AROUND

Cheney High has hired a new volleyball coach, Lewis and Clark assistant Molly Horn. Horn, who is an English teacher, played collegiately at the University of Montana and has served as volleyball coach at Sandy (Ore.) High prior to joining the volleyball staff at LC. … In maybe her only challenging race of the spring, Becca Noble whipped state leader and defending state champion Brie Felnagle of Bellarmine Prep down the stretch in the 800 meters at Lake Washington last Saturday. The Rogers senior’s time of 2 minutes, 6.75 seconds is the second-fastest in the nation and makes her the third-fastest individual in state history. In the 1970s, Deanna Coleman of Isssaquah and Cheryl Roulier of Eisenhower combined to post the six fastest times, but Noble is within 2 seconds of Coleman’s state record of 2:04.7. Combined with the 24.62 she clocked in winning the Pasco Invitational 200 last month, the Oregon-bound Noble is Spokane’s fastest in the 200, 400 and 800. She is the two-time defending champion in the 400 and defending champ in the 200. She is 26th all-time in the 200 and her 53.5 in the 400 is No. 2 behind the 51.45 Ericka Harris of Gig Harbor ran in 1981. … The Great Northern League track championships are up for grabs this afternoon at 3:30 when Pullman visits Lakeside-Nine Mile Falls. The boys and girls teams from both schools are undefeated and have cruised through the GNL schedule… . Four-time defending 3A champion Bellevue High is going to play another high-profile football opponent at Seattle’s Qwest Field, only this time it won’t be part of the Kickoff Classic. Last year, the Wolverines ended Concord De La Salle’s national-record 151-game winning streak as part of the five-game Classic, but couldn’t return because of the event’s rules. So Bellevue went out and made its own matchup, inviting Long Beach (Calif.) Poly for a Sept. 16 game at Qwest. Two local high schools will appear in this year’s Kickoff Classic on Labor Day, Sept. 5. They are Gonzaga Prep (vs. Bellarmine Prep) and Ferris (vs. defending 4A champion Evergreen). … Prior to this season, only six schools had won GSL boys soccer titles. Mead is the granddaddy of soccer with 13 titles. The Panthers shared two with University in the league’s first two years. In 1998, Shadle tied Ferris, which has won four titles. NC won in 1999 and Lewis and Clark had won the last three. Now add co-champs Mt. Spokane and East Valley to the list. … Last Friday, Cheney beat Ferris in boys soccer for the first time in school history. This benefited CV, allowing the Bears to join Mt. Spokane in the district title game for the first time. “I haven’t been in this situation,” said CV coach Brandon Deyarmin. “Generally, if anything, we’ve been third and always had to go through the playoffs. If we lose we get another chance, which is pretty awesome.” …Today’s West Valley vs. Prosser 3A regional soccer match is at 4 p.m.