Locke gets on a roll during JBT victory

Once Thomas Locke decided he wasn’t going to lose again, there was no stopping him in the Junior Bowlers Tour stop at North Bowl on Jan. 4.

Locke, who qualified for the five-man finals in fifth place, proceeded to knock off four straight opponents, finishing the run with a 255-200 victory over top qualifier Mitch Lukes in the championship match.

Locke put together a 969 four-game series en route to the title, a solid 242 average.

Chris Gray, who had leaped over Locke in the final qualifying session to claim second going into the finals, finished third. Kyle Casey, who led after the first qualifying block, was fourth, and Bryce Engstrom fifth.

Gray had the day’s high game, a 279. April McDonough led the girls with a 198.

The next JBT is Jan. 25 at Sunset Lanes in Coeur d’Alene.

College scene

Kiersten Dallstream, a junior at Washington State, was named to the National Soccer Coaches Association of America/Adidas Scholar All-America team for 2008 with a 3.48 grade-point average in wildlife ecology.

After helping WSU make its first NCAA tournament appearance since 2002, she was a member of the United States’ Under-20 World Cup team that captured a gold medal in Chile.

Dallstream started World Cup matches against France and China in pool play and came off the bench in the Americans’ semifinal match against Germany after being injured against China.

•Basketball players with local ties are the Community Colleges of Spokane scholar-athletes of the month for December.

Kelsey Stillar, a sophomore from Lakeside HS of Nine Mile Falls who leads the Sasquatch averaging 15 points a game, is the female selection. She made all-tournament teams at Shoreline, Everett and Chemeketa, claiming MVP honors at Shoreline. She has a 3.5 grade-point average in the law enforcement program.

Griffon Jones, the freshman starting center from Cheney, is the male choice. He has been a force inside on offense for the Sasquatch and on defense as a shot-blocker. He has a 3.64 GPA.

•Six area athletes are among 32 Idaho Vandals named to Western Athletic Conference fall All-Academic teams.

Andrew Blevins, a senior from Mead, was selected in football.

Steven Potratz, a junior from Moscow, Idaho, was named in men’s cross country, while juniors Alexandra Lee-Painter from Moscow and Melissa McFadden from Post Falls were selected in women’s cross country.

Volleyball had senior Kelsey James from Sandpoint and junior Kelsey Taylor from Moscow named.

Golf

Kyler Nilsson, a two-sports star at Lewiston, has signed a letter of intent to play at Lewis-Clark State College this fall.

Nilsson, son of Lewiston golf coach Shawn Nilsson, a former Vandals football player, had high finishes in the Idaho 5A tournament the last two years, placing second as a junior when the Bengals were seventh. Kyler, a tight end/linebacker in football, was the Inland Empire League player of the year in football last fall.