Ski star Brandenburg on development team
Will Brandenburg of Spokane, a star for Schweitzer Alpine Racing School, has been named to the U.S. Ski Team development team.
“It’s a great accomplishment. Making the team has been a long term goal of Brandenburg’s,” said SARS head coach Roger Taggart.
Brandenburg, 19, a Mead High School graduate, kicked off a busy summer last week when he headed to California for training that includes time at the ARCO Olympic Training Center. Later this summer, his travels will take him to the southern hemisphere for training before racing begins in November.
Brandenburg, who has been racing since he was 7 years old, competes in all four alpine disciplines – slalom, giant slalom, super G and downhill.
Baseball
Legendary Negro League player Buck O’Neil will be the featured speaker for the annual Avista NAIA World Series kickoff banquet May 25 at the Lewiston Elk’s Lodge.
Tickets can be purchased at either the Lewiston or Clarkston chamber of commerce office for $25. A social hour is at 6 p.m., dinner at 7.
O’Neil, 95, was a first baseman and manager during his playing days (1938-55) and later became the first black coach in major league history.
Football
All-Great Northern League linebacker Gary Lankford of Deer Park has committed to play at NAIA University of Montana-Western.
The college in Dillon is a member of the NAIA Frontier Conference.
Basketball
Gonzaga Prep senior Michael Johnson will play at Dominican University of California, Penguins coach Bret Tovani announced.
Johnson, a 6-foot-2 guard, was an All-Greater Spokane League selection last season.
“Josh Landsverk, a 6-8 All-GSL post from Shadle Park, will play at Eastern Oregon University.
Landsverk averaged 15.7 points and 6.8 rebounds per game while shooting 58 percent from the field last season.
“John Lamanna of Spokane, director of basketball operations at Loyola Marymount the last two seasons, has accepted an assistant coaching position on the UC Davis men’s team.
Lamanna, 24, is a 2000 graduate of North Central High School and 2004 graduate of Washington State.
College scene
Men’s basketball standout J.P. Batista and women’s soccer keeper Ashley Haugen were named the Bulldog Club Senior Athletes of the Year at Gonzaga last week.
Also honored at the senior athletes function were men’s soccer player Robert Anderson and women’s rower Kari Durgan as Gonzaga’s top academic seniors.
Batista averaged 19.3 points per game as a senior and was an All-West Coast Conference selection and an Associated Press All-America honorable mention.
Haugen, first-team All-WCC and All-West Region, was GU’s first All-America selection, earning Soccer Buzz honorable mention after posting a school-record 0.72 goals-against average as a senior.
Anderson, who has a 3.76 cumulative GPA in history, was named to the President’s List five times. Durgan maintained a 3.82 GPA in English and earned President’s List honors all but one semester.
“Softball and tennis produced the Community Colleges of Spokane student-athletes of the month for April.
Amber Fowler, CCS’ record-setting sophomore catcher from Colville, is the female selection. Brian Heimbecker, a sophomore from Shadle Park, is the male choice.
Fowler, who leads the softball team with a .484 batting average, surpassed the school single-season and career home run records last month. Both were 19. She had 22 for the season and 25 for her career when she was chosen for the award with games remaining. She also passed the team RBI record of 64 and has 69. She graduated with a 4.0 GPA.
Heimbecker, the NWAACC men’s tennis champion at No. 2 singles last year, is the Sasquatch captain and has a 4-2 record at No. 1 singles this year. He has a 3.3 GPA.
“The North Idaho Booster Club selected co-winners for both its female and male student-athletes of the year at the school.
Basketball player Sara Dennehy and volleyball player Collese Dornan shared the female award. Dennehy earned NJCAA second-team All-America honors. Dornan is the first NIC player to be a first-team NJCAA All-American in volleyball.
The male award went to wrestler Josh Edmonson of Medical Lake and soccer player Garga Caserta. Edmondson is a two-time NJCAA All-American. Caserta earned All-America honorable mention and was the Region 18 MVP.
Scholar-athlete awards went to three individuals. The men’s recipient was soccer player Lamar Kumangai-McGee, a sophomore from North Central, with a 3.2 GPA. Dennehy, who has a 3.64 GPA, and softball player Stephanie James from Coeur d’Alene High School, with a 3.77 GPA, shared the female award.
The national-qualifying women’s basketball and softball teams shared team of the year honors.
NIC Booster Club Member of the Year awards were presented to John Beutler, and Jack and Jackie McNeel.
“Gonzaga seniors Jackson Brennan and Patrick Donovan were named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District VIII baseball team.
Brennan carries a 3.64 GPA while taking graduate-level classes toward an MBA degree. Donovan, from North Central, has a 3.63 GPA in sports management.
“Whitworth senior Todd Phillips was named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District VIII college division baseball team with a 3.59 GPA in history.
“Stew Davis of Linfield, a Central Valley graduate who led the Northwest Conference with a .443 batting average, was a first-team All-NWC selection as an outfielder.
Davis, a freshman in eligibility after transferring from the University of Washington, hit .466 in conference games, second best in the NWC. His .443 season average is the second best in modern Linfield history.
“Andy Prentice from Lakeside-Nine Mile Falls led a group of six athletes with area connections on Great Northwest Athletic Conference all-academic teams for track and field.
Prentice, a senior with a 3.47 GPA in business, was selected for the third year to the men’s team. He was joined by repeaters Leif Olson, an Alaska-Anchorage senior from Mt. Spokane with a 3.40 GPA in English, and Andrew Lybarger, a Seattle University junior from West Valley with a 3.95 GPA in mechanical engineering.
The women’s team included Northwest Nazarene sophomore teammates Amanda Merrell from Mead with a 4.0 GPA in biology and Kim Berberick from Post Falls with a 3.94 GPA in nursing, plus Saint Martin’s sophomore Janelle Probst from Mead with a 3.08 GPA in physical education. All were honored for the first time.
“Liz Stuhlmiller, a Pacific Lutheran senior from Edwall, Wash., was named to the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Division III All-West Region second team as an outfielder for the second straight year.
Stuhlmiller hit .398, was 17 for 17 in stolen bases and tied the school record for fewest errors in a season with one.
“Gonzaga freshman Hanna McClintock, who rows in the Bulldogs’ Novice 8+ boat, is one of 21 invited to the 2006 Women’s National Team freshmen camp this summer at the University of Wisconsin.
“The Washington State men’s cross country team, with a 3.18 mark in 2005, had the 27th-highest cumulative GPA among 49 NCAA Division I teams honored by the U.S. Cross County Coaches Association.
Gymnastics
Three seniors from the Greater Spokane League, two of them All-GSL selections, will compete in the National High School Gymnastics Coaches Association National Invitational meet May 25-26 in St. Petersburg, Fla.
Making the trip will be Kayla McGahey from University, a two-time GSL and regional all-around champion who placed sixth in the state on the uneven bars and tied for 10th in all-around; Sara Hansen from Mt. Spokane, All-GSL in bars and beam, who placed 16th at state in all-around; and Rachel Rupp from Lewis and Clark, a regional qualifier and state alternate.
McGahey has accepted an academic scholarship from State University of New York at Brockport and will compete for the Division III school.
Softball
Nine former players – six from the defunct men’s fastpitch era and two from men’s modified – will be inducted into the Inland Empire Softball Hall of Fame June 23 at The Sons of Norway Hall, 6710 N. Country Homes Blvd.
Hall of Fame president Doug Bender announced the Class of 2006 includes from fastpitch: Larry McClenny, outfield; Lee McDowell, infield; Ray McMullen, infield; Dave Rizzuto, outfield; Phil Queen, first base; and Ed Volkman, pitcher.
From modified are ASA All-Americans shortstop Kurt Krauth and outfielder Mike Peterson.
Also, Arle Peterson, a former player and longtime supporter, will be put into the Hall of Honor.
Tickets for the dinner are $15 for adults, $10 for 14 and younger. Reservation deadline is June 17.
Info and reservations: Bender, 276-9833.
Wrestling
Two brothers from Post Falls qualified for the National Beach Wrestling Championships June 24 in Virgina Beach, Va., during a qualifier last month in Royal City, Wash.
Nathan McLeod, 12, a sixth-grader at River City Middle School, was first in his 95-pound weight class. Seth McLeod, 9, a third-grader at Mullan Trail Elementary, was second in the 75-pound class. Both competed in the division for fourth-, fifth- and sixth-graders in the event sanctioned by the National High School Coaches Association.