Roundup: Whitworth Pirates land 6 for basketball

Senior-to-be Michael Taylor, a first-year transfer from the University of Montana, and a pair of former Spokane prep standouts are members of the six-player recruiting class announced Wednesday by Whitworth University men’s basketball coach Jim Hayford, who led the Northwest Conference champion Pirates to a 26-3 record last season and a berth in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Division III tournament.

Taylor, a 6-foot-3 guard from Brewster, originally signed with Eastern Washington University. He spent a year with the Eagles before transferring to Montana.

He is joined by Robby Douglas, a 6-2 guard from Shadle Park, who averaged more than 20 points per game in leading the Highlanders to a sixth-place finish in the State 3A tournament last season, and Matt Roth, a 6-4 forward from West Valley, who was one of the top rebounders in the state and a two-time All-Great Northern League selection.

The other freshman recruits are Colton McCargar, a 6-1 guard from Richland; Dustin McConnell, a 6-0 guard from Clarkston and two-time Great Northern League MVP; and Austin Snavely, a 6-7 forward and two-time Bi-County League MVP from Wilbur-Creston.

Golf

Freshman Emily Guthrie shot a 9-over-par 82 in the second round to help Whitworth make the cut at the NCAA Division III Championships at Mission Inn Resort in Howey-in-the-Hill, Fla.

The Pirates shot 343, 23 strokes better than Tuesday’s opening round, and moved up to 14th place.

Seniors Krystal Pitkonen and Mariesa Stombaugh and freshman Emily Travis all shot 87 for the Pirates, who begin the third of four rounds this morning.

•The Whitworth men missed the cut at the NCAA Division III Championships at Hershey (Pa.) Links Golf Course.

The Pirates shot 306 to improve their first-round score by 25 shots, but their 30th-place standing left them seven places away from making the cut.

Pirates junior Cameron Whittle shot a 1-under 71. Freshman Christian Boudreau finished with back-to-back birdies for a 76.

Track and field

Idaho junior Ulrike Hartz leads the heptathlon after the first day of the Western Athletic Conference Championships at Ruston, La.

Hartz compiled 3,263 points, including the top mark in the shot put, to lead Louisiana Tech’s Jesseka Jones by 78 points.

UI’s Ryan Bowen stands fifth in the decathlon with 3,364 points.

•Eastern Washington’s Ben Cogdill, who broke the school record in the men’s pole vault at last weekend’s Vandal Jamboree, was named Big Sky Conference field athlete of the week.

Cogdill cleared 16 feet, 81/4 inches to break Mike Erickson’s 2005 mark of 16-71/4.

Baseball

Martin Aguirre pitched a five-hitter in the opener and Austin Chamberlin and Taylor Hustad had three hits apiece in the second game as Community Colleges of Spokane (24-18, 12-14) swept host Walla Walla 9-1, 8-3 to move closer to the fourth-place Warriors (21-21, 13-13) in the NWAACC’s East Region. CCS’ Taylor King tripled and homered in the opener.