Chiefs Wahl, Beach honored
Spokane Chiefs forwards Mitch Wahl and Kyle Beach were named to the Western Hockey League’s Western Conference all-star first team Thursday morning and defenseman Jared Spurgeon was named the Conference’s Most Sportsmanlike Player.
Jared Cowen earned second-team WHL All-Star honors.
In his fourth season in the WHL, Wahl set a career high with 96 points, seventh in the WHL, including 66 assists, third in the WHL. Beach’s 52 goals this season were a career high and led all WHL players. His 12 game-winning goals were also tops in the league and set a Spokane franchise record.
This is the first time the Chiefs had two players named to the first team since the 2001-02 season after goaltender Barry Brust and defenseman Kurt Sauer earned the honor.
Spurgeon is a finalist for the WHL’s Brad Hornung Trophy, the honor that goes to the league’s Most Sportsmanlike Player of the Year, along with the Moose Jaw Warriors’ Jason Bast from the Eastern Conference.
Cowen, the 18-year-old captain, set career highs in all categories, including goals (eight), assists (22) and points (30).
Boxing
Trying to put himself in the picture for a chance at a world title fight, Spokane heavyweight Chauncy Welliver meets Mike Sheppard tonight in Durant, Okla., for the WBC Continental Americas championship.
The scheduled 10-rounder is part of a card topped by the IBF junior middleweight title eliminator bout pitting Deandre Latimore (20-2) and Sechew Powell (25-2) at the Choctaw Casino Resort. The card will be carried on ESPN2 at 7 p.m., though there is only a small chance that Welliver’s fight will be aired.
Welliver (40-5-5) is seeing his first action since winning the New Zealand heavyweight championship in November, and weighed in at 256 pounds – the lowest he’s been in four years.
Sheppard (15-9-1) is a 34-year-old from Palestine, W.Va., who has won his last four fights and weighs 228.
Women’s basketball
Shelby Cheslek, a highly regarded 6-foot-5 junior at Pullman, decided to cut the recruiting process short and committed to the Gonzaga women’s basketball team.
Cheslek averaged about 13 points, 10.4 rebounds and two blocks this season in helping Pullman finish seventh at the State 2A tournament. Last year she set a tournament record with 60 rebounds as the Greyhounds finished eighth. They placed fourth her freshman year.
Cheslek was also on the Greyhounds’ state champion volleyball team last fall.
College coaches can’t comment on recruits until they officially sign a letter of intent. Juniors cannot sign until November.
•Kama Griffitts led four North Idaho scorers with 13 points, adding seven rebounds, and North Idaho advanced to play another day at the NJCAA Division I national tournament at Salina, Kan., knocking off South Georgia (28-7) 64-45.
The Cardinals (27-7) will play Shelton (20-13) today at 10 a.m. The school from Alabama beat Northern Oklahoma 93-80.
Men’s basketball
The National Association of Basketball Coaches named Whitworth senior post Nate Montgomery an NCAA Division III second team All-American and selected Pirates coach Jim Hayford as the West District Division III Coach of the Year.
Montgomery was also selected first-team All-District. He becomes the first Whitworth player named to the NABC Division III All-America team and the first Pirate selected to any All-America team since Bryan Depew was a D3hoops.com third-team All-American in 2003.
Montgomery averaged 16.8 points and 8.3 rebounds per game this season, leading the Pirates in both categories.
Montgomery is also one of 16 seniors from around the country who will play in the inaugural NABC Division III All-Star game Saturday before the NCAA Division III tournament championship game in Salem, Va.
Football
Spokane Shock coach Rob Keefe announced the signing of seven players to the roster for the upcoming season, including defensive back Travis Williams, who played for the af2’s Arkansas Twisters last year, and former Corpus Christi defensive back Roderick Mosely.
The remaining five players – receivers Joey Hew-Len and Greg Orton, defensive back David Jones, and linemen Ryan Lucas and Mike Donato – will make their debuts in arena football.
Swimming
Whitworth’s Natalie Turner was sixth in the 200-yard freestyle in 1:50.58 at the NCAA Division III championships at Minneapolis. She set a conference record of 1:50.37 in the prelims. Ashley Lecoq earned points with a 13th place in the 100 butterly at 56.65 and Kalen Darling placed seventh in the men’s 400 individual medley in 3:59.04 for Whitworth.