Local snowboarder a national leader

Axton Vorpahl of Spokane will go into the USA Snowboarding Association National Championships this week at Copper Mountain in Colorado as the national leader in the BX Jams (18-22-year-olds) division.

Vorpahl, who trains on Schweitzer Mountain, has compiled 3,590 points for a five-point lead in the division that has 83 border cross competitors from around the country.

He recently took first place in the pro division border cross at the Stomp Games on Schweitzer.

Baseball

The five teams in the Spokane Senior American Legion league will hold tryouts April 19, president Boyd Plager announced.

The teams, coaches, schools they encompass and tryout sites and times:

Spokane Cannons, Nick Gerard, Central Valley, East Valley, Freeman, Liberty and University, at U-Hi, 9 a.m.

Spokane Blue Devils, Tony Byrne, Cheney, Lakeside, Medical Lake, North Central, Shadle Park and Lincoln County schools, at Spokane Falls, 1 p.m.

Spokane North Stars, Jim Wasem, Colville, Deer Park, Chewelah, Mead, Mt. Spokane, Newport, Northwest Christian, Riverside and Rogers, at Rogers, 1 p.m.

Pullman Patriots, Evan Hecker, Colfax, Colton, Pullman and other Whitman County schools, at Pullman High, 1 p.m.

Spokane Bandits, Steve Hertz, Ferris, Gonzaga Prep, Lewis and Clark and West Valley, at G-Prep, 5 p.m.

Info: Plager, (800) 679-6058 or Mike Padden, 928-1694.

Bowling

Hot overcame consistency in the final Junior Bowlers Tour tournament of the season last Sunday at Players & Spectators.

T.J. Besel, who compiled a 4-1 match-play record to surge from ninth to third heading into the five-man finals, knocked off three opponents, capped by a 194-190 decision over Alex Earle, winning on the last ball.

Earle’s day-long consistency earned him the No. 1 seeding in the rolloffs.

Bryce Engstrom finished third, Kyle Casey was fourth and Jacob Stephens fifth. Earle and Chris Gray shared the day’s high score, a 269. Kayla Fencl led the girls with a 197.

The JBT fun event winds up the season today at Valley Bowl.

College scene

Oregon freshman Sam Skillingstad from Shadle Park earned her first Pac-10 victory Friday when she pitched a three-hit, 7-0 decision over No. 12 California.

Skillingstad (9-7), who has become the Ducks’ No. 1 pitcher, struck out six and walked three in running her streak of consecutive shutout innings to 14. She’s had 17 starts and pitched four shutouts for the Ducks (12-20, 1-4 Pac-10).

Signings

Community Colleges of Spokane announced signings in volleyball, men’s and women’s soccer and men’s golf.

Volleyball, announced by coach Jenni Rosselli: Kari Knowlton, Brewster; Kelsey Kurtz, East Valley; and Reghan Thronson, Okanogan.

Men’s soccer, coach Kenny Krestian: Tyler Florez, Riverside; Stephen Gressard and Graham Lundren, both Moscow, Idaho; and Jose Hernandez, Jose Tinoco, Alex Villalobos and Jesse Villalobos, all Brewster.

Women’s soccer, coach Jim Martinson: Tabitha Grow and Korlynn Hiller, both Riverside; Courtney Kelley, Medical Lake; and Echo Abramson and Mallory Mott, both East Valley.

Men’s golf, coach Scott Kramer: Brooks Guetlin, South Whidbey, Wash.

•Emilee Toft, a 5-foot-11 middle blocker from University High School, has signed a scholarship to play volleyball at Walla Walla Community College, Warriors coach Tim Toon announced.

Toft was a two-year varsity starter and team captain at U-Hi. She had a season-high 21 kills in a match against Ferris. She also has extensive club experience.

Soccer

New Gonzaga University head women’s coach Amy Edwards announced the hiring of Molly Schneider as an assistant coach.

Schneider was an assistant for Edwards the past two seasons at the University of Missouri.

The Tigers reached the second round of the NCAA tournament both seasons Schneider, who worked primarily with the goalkeepers, was on the staff.

She spent one season as a student assistant at Minnesota, her alma mater, where she was an all-conference goalkeeper.

Tennis

Dan DeNike joined Tod Whitman as the Spokane Athletic Club teammates won the BNP Paribas Tri-Level Championships Men’s 4.0 doubles title in Indian Wells, Calif., last month

They qualified for the national-level event by winning the regional and sectional tournament in Olympia last fall.

DeNike’s name and the qualifying tournament and site were incorrect in a story in last Sunday’s Locally column because of incorrect information supplied to the newspaper.