Finalists named for media awards

Finalists for five Inland Northwest Sportswriters and Broadcasters 2007 athletic awards have been selected by the media organization.

Winners will be announced Feb. 13 and recognized that day during the annual Spokane Regional Sports Commission’s Youth Awards Luncheon.

The luncheon, which will also reveal this year’s junior award winners, is in its 30th year and will be in the new Convention Center, Exhibit Hall A.

Major sponsors are State Farm Insurance, Rockwood Clinic and Spokane Hoopfest. Numerous other area businesses contribute to provide lunch for the nearly 1,200 high school youth who will be in attendance.

This year’s adult awards finalists are:

Amateur Male Athlete – Washington State basketball guard Derrick Low, who led the team in scoring and was a district first-team selection; Beau Mills, who led Lewis-Clark State to the NAIA baseball championship with a .458 batting average, national-record 38 home runs and 123 RBIs; Matt Nichols, Eastern Washington sophomore quarterback who threw for 3,744 yards and single-season records for completions and touchdowns; and Rodney Stuckey, now in the NBA, who averaged 24.6 points per game as a sophomore at EWU, setting 10 school records and being recognized as an All-American.

Amateur Female Athlete – Angie Bjorklund, also a junior finalist, was a Parade first-team All-American from University High who rewrote Greater Spokane league scoring records, played on USA Basketball’s touring national U-19 team and is at Tennessee; last year’s winner Rebekah Noble, second indoors and eighth outdoors for Oregon in the NCAA track 800 meters; Diana Pickler, WSU’s second-place USATF heptathlon finisher and World Games competitor with a U.S.-best 6,205 points; and Emily Westerberg, who led Elite Eight Arizona State in scoring while finishing her career on several school basketball records lists.

Professional Athlete – Jeremy Affeldt of Medical Lake pitched for World Series participant Colorado and had a 4-3 record and 3.53 ERA; Bobby Jenks, formerly from Spirit Lake, converted 40 saves with a 2.77 ERA in pitching relief for the Chicago White Sox; last year’s winner Brad Walker, from Spokane Valley, was ranked No. 1 in the world in the pole vault, winning the World Games and World Athletics Finals; and Antwone Savage, the Spokane Shock’s leading receiver with 110 catches for 1,482 yards and 40 touchdowns and a team-high 161.4 all-purpose yards per game.

Team of the Year – Lewis-Clark State went 10-0 at the NAIA World Series for its 15th baseball championship in 24 years, compiling a 58-5 record; Eastern Washington‘s football team reached the Football Championship Subdivision playoff quarterfinals, losing 38-35 to eventual champion Appalachian State; North Idaho College softball, second in the national NJCAA tournament, won eight straight games after a tourney-opening loss to finish 46-26 for the year; and Washington State men’s basketball, which went 26-8 last year, its best record in 60 years to reach the second round of the NCAA tournament.

Coach of the year – Tony Bennett, guided WSU’s basketball team to the NCAA tournament and a top-15 national ranking; Ed Cheff, perennial finalist from L-C State has gone 1,559-403-2 in 31 years as Warriors baseball coach; Kelly Graves guided Gonzaga University women to school’s first NCAA tournament appearance and 24-10 record; and Paul Wulff who orchestrated EWU’s football turnaround from 3-8 the year before to 9-4 and third playoff berth in eight years. He became the new WSU coach after eight years as head coach and a 53-40 record.

For tickets to the Junior Awards Luncheon, contact Deana McClenny at the SRSC, 742-9379.