Roundup: Deer Park, Lakeside pool their resources

Deer Park and Lakeside (Nine Mile Falls) wrestlers are car pooling. The teams, defending State 2A and State 1A champions, respectively, will travel together to Orem, Utah, for this weekend’s Rocky Mountain Rumble.

“We are sharing a charter bus to help cut costs,” DP coach Matt Jorgensen said.

The decision to share a ride is just another sign of the economic times. Innovation is imperative.

Last year the DP Stags finished fifth during the tournament as Drew Acorn and Cody Miller placed second. Lakeside’s Eagles have attended in the past, placing sixth in both 2006 and 2007.

It is one of the remaining big weekend invitational meets for area wrestlers before they begin the postseason grind the first weekend in February. State is Feb. 20-21 in Tacoma.

While those teams hit the road, another primarily Greater Spokane League contingent travels for another mountainous match, the annual Rocky Mountain Classic in Missoula.

Last year Central Valley, University and Mead finished third through fifth and Ferris was 16th. Mead returnee Jake Trotter was a finalist at 215.

With only three weeks remaining to the dual season, wrestlers are scrambling to make up matches postponed by weather before time runs out.

There are two GSL contests today and two on Tuesday, as well as the regularly scheduled contests Wednesday and next Thursday. The following week, makeup matches are set for Tuesday through Friday. Lewis and Clark will compete on all four dates.

Winter’s havoc

Makeup basketball dates for teams are coming in almost daily, which has made getting into a three-practice, two-game routine impossible.

“We’re now in a boat where we’re playing five games in eight days,” Ferris boys coach Don Van Lierop said on Wednesday. “Coaches are looking to get into a rhythm. Teams can’t afford not having preparation time.”

The Saxons, who played Saturday, followed with Tuesday’s Rubber Chicken game and a makeup game Wednesday night at Mt. Spokane. They’re home against Mead on Friday and East Valley on Tuesday.

Mt. Spokane was beginning a stretch of seven games in 17 days. Included is Friday at Shadle Park and Tuesday at home against Gonzaga Prep.

Gymnastics redux

University, Mead and Central Valley, three of the traditional gymnastics powers, were caught in the record snowfall Dec. 17.

The meet was originally set for U-Hi, but it will move to Mead Middle School on Feb. 4 to end the regular season.

A pair of meets was combined into one when Shadle Park beat five other teams on Monday.

In that one, freshman Alana Norman recorded her second all-around win.

Just wondering…

Whatever happened to the old rule of thumb that home basketball jerseys had even numbers and visitor jerseys had odd numbers? Kudos to North Central for adhering to tradition. Today numbers can be anything for any team and it can be a nightmare keeping score when both teams duplicate them.

•I know that anything in print is a dinosaur and threatened with extinction and cost savings are suddenly in vogue, but why can’t the GSL bring back programs? I miss them. As one person noted on the Washington Preps blog, they go back more than 40 years and are keepsakes for parents and athletes. They’re also history and research for us sportswriters compulsive enough to save them. You can put a face to a number and I find them easier to access. Ecologically, it’s a wash. We’re saving a tree but burdening the electricity grid.

Milestone

Maria Villegas, a senior guard/wing on the Selkirk girls basketball team, passed 1,000 points last Friday. After a game Tuesday she is at 1,030 points.