7 area runners JO All-Americans

Seven Inland Northwest runners, representing the Spokane Mercury and North Idaho, earned All-America status by finishing in the top 25 in their age groups at the USATF Junior Olympic National Cross Country Championships Dec. 12 in Reno, Nev.

Katherine Thronson of Spokane Mercury finished 14th out of 198 runners in Bantam girls, covering 3,000 meters in 12 minutes, 35 seconds, the top finish for a 9-year-old.

Teammate Riley Pease was 18th in 12:40.

Other All-Americans by age group with distances:

Bantam boys (3K): Jackson Ricks, North Idaho, 13th, 11:38.

Midget girls (3K): Cyra Carlson, SM, 18th, 11:51.

Midget boys (3K): Andrew Vandine, SM, 19th, 11:01.

Intermediate boys (5K): Hunter Johnson, SM, 11th, 16:43; Collin Overbay, SM, 12th, 16:45.

Additionally, five teams had top-16 age-group finishes: North Idaho bantam girls, seventh; Spokane Mercury midget boys, ninth; North Idaho youth girls, 16th; Spokane Mercury intermediate boys, eighth; and Spokane Mercury young men, 10th.

Basketball

Some of the top names in Shadle Park boys basketball are expected back on campus Dec. 26 to participate in the school’s annual alumni game.

Shadle varsity coach Tim Gaebe said among those expected are Mark Rypien, Steve Rector, Craig Soehren, Aaron Childress and Jason Wenkheimer.

Doors will open at 9 a.m. for registration with the game to begin at 10. Cost is $25 with all proceeds going to the Rypien Foundation. Admission is free.

Fundraisers annually raise more than $500,000 for the foundation, which supports local families of cancer-stricken children.

Info: Gaebe, 354-6783.

College scene

Chris Thomas and Jacob Kragt, Eastern Washington senior biology/pre-med majors, added to their postseason awards by being among the 55 selected to the 12th annual Football Championship Subdivision Athletics Directors Association Academic All-Star team.

Both had earlier been repeat selections on the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District VIII team.

Kragt, from Ritzville with a 3.89 grade-point average, went on to be an Academic All-American. Thomas carries a GPA of 3.78.

•Junior quarterback Nathan Enderle was named most valuable player on the Idaho football team at the Vandals’ annual awards banquet last weekend.

Other awards went to: Max Komar, senior, offensive player of the year; Aaron Lavarias, jr., defensive player of the year; Mike Iupati, sr., Wayne Anderson Coaches Award; Jonah Sataraka, jr., Wayne Walker Ironman Award; De’Maundray Woolridge, sr., Hec Edmundson Most Inspirational Award; and Adam Juratovac, sr., Kathy Clark Scholar Award.

Also, Trey Farquhar, freshman, special teams player of the year; Devon Sturdivant, sr., special teams ironman; Tre’Shawn Robinson, sophomore, Vandal Pride Strength Award; Taylor Davis (offense), Jared Heston (defense) and Ben Garnett (special teams), all freshmen, scout team awards; and Iupati, Sataraka and Sturdivant, captains awards.

•Four former Mead standouts, two at Central Washington, were named to the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Academic All-Conference team in volleyball.

Honored were Megan Thigpen, senior, Alaska Fairbanks, 3.40 GPA; Amy Herron, sr., Western Oregon, 3.93; and Erin Norris, sr., 3.36, and Meg Ryan, sophomore, 3.48, both Central Washington. Thigpen, Herron and Norris are two-time repeaters.

•Cross country and soccer produced the Community Colleges of Spokane scholar-athletes of the month for November.

David Jacob, a freshman cross country runner from Medical Lake, is the male choice. Jacob didn’t run his first race until mid-October, but came up with solid performances for the Sasquatch the rest of the way, finishing seventh in the NWAACC championship meet to earn All-America honors as CCS won the title. He has a 3.43 GPA.

Cori Jo Young, a sophomore from Ridgefield, Wash., who was captain of the women’s soccer team and led the Sasquatch with six assists, received the female award. She was third on the team in scoring, collecting seven goals, was named to the East-West All-Star team and received an all-academic team award with a 3.65 GPA.

•The Eastern Washington women’s soccer team was honored by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America for the ninth straight year with a team academic award.

Eastern had a 3.24 team GPA for the 2008-09 school year.

Two other Big Sky Conference schools, Northern Arizona (3.41) and Portland State (3.10), were also honored.

Football

Eric Crone, a member of the Spokane College Football Officials Association, worked as the head linesman as part of an all Northwest Conference crew that officiated the Stagg Bowl NCAA Division III national championship game Saturday in Salem, Va., between Mount Union, Ohio, and Wisconsin-Whitewater.

Hockey

Forward Dylan Tappe and defenseman Chase Wharton of the Spokane Braves have been selected to play in the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League All-Star game Jan. 12 in Fruitvale, British Columbia.

Tappe is seventh in the league in scoring with 42 points, including 21 goals. Wharton has seven goals and 17 assists.

The Braves are third in the Kootenay Conference’s tight Neil Murdoch Division with a 21-14-2 record (44 points), three points behind co-leaders Nelson and Castlegar.

Soccer

Derek Pittman has been hired by Gonzaga University to serve as the Bulldogs’ associate head coach and goalkeeper coach, head coach Amy Edwards announced.

Pittman, a four-year starter in goal at Tulsa, replaces Lester Melendez, who filled the position on an interim basis in the fall.

Pittman has spent the past three seasons as head women’s coach at Arkansas State, leading the Redwolves to a Sun Belt Conference tournament semifinals appearance this past season. Prior to that, he was as an assistant at Missouri and Georgia.