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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Peterson, Lynn named to NW Region 15 softball hall of fame

Two Spokane men who had great success in separate arenas have been voted into the Amateur Softball Association Northwest Region 15 Hall of Fame.

Mike Peterson, an eight-time All-American who played on two national champion modified pitch teams, and George Lynn, who coached girls fastpitch teams that qualified for 10 ASA national tournaments and eight high school teams that played in state tournaments, will be inducted in January 2012 at the regional council meeting in Spokane.

Peterson, a former University High School standout and Washington State football wide receiver, made 15 appearances in ASA modified nationals, earning four each first- and third-team All-America recognition.

Besides the two championships, the teams on which he played had six top-five finishes and 10 top-10s. He won the home run championship in 2001 and had an overall .489 batting average and a .436 career national average. He also sponsored four modified teams, all of which had top-10 national finishes.

Lynn, who in 2009 ended a 22-year coaching career that began in 1988 in Keflavik, Iceland, coached youth select teams at nearly every age level, but had his most success at 18-and-under. His 18U A Spokane Sliders won four straight Northwest Region championships from 2002-05, compiling a 25-0 regional tournament record in that span. The 2004 team placed eighth in a 128-team national.

As coach at Shadle Park from 1999-2009, he compiled a 242-52 record, taking eight teams to state. The Highlanders sandwiched second-place State 4A finishes in 2006 and 2008 with the championship in 2007, when Lynn was named the Washington 4A coach of the year. His 2005-08 teams compiled a Greater Spokane League record 77-game winning streak.

Basketball

Melissa Hopkins, the 2009-10 Idaho 3A high school player of the year from Priest River, has signed a letter of intent with the Lewis-Clark State College women, Warriors coach Brian Orr announced.

The 5-foot-10 Hopkins led her team to the state title during her junior season and was a three-year starter. However, she suffered a knee injury prior to this season, which forced her to miss her entire senior year.

She averaged 17.4 points, 13.8 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 2.6 steals per game as a junior to be named the Intermountain League MVP, North Idaho player of the year and selection to all-league and All-North Idaho teams.

College scene

Yinka Olorunnife, an Idaho senior, is one of 12 players selected to Capital One CoSIDA District 8 All-Academic first or second teams in women’s basketball. She has a 3.45 grade-point average in exercise science.

• Six athletes with area ties are among 35 Idaho Vandals named to Western Athletic Conference all-academic teams for the fall season with GPAs of 3.0 or better.

Among the Vandals honored by sport:

Women’s cross country – Julia Veseth, junior, Moscow, Idaho.

Women’s soccer – Elizabeth Borden, jr., Ferris; Erica Hart, sophomore, Gonzaga Prep; and Lauren Layton, so., Mead.

Volleyball – Kelsey Taylor, senior, Moscow; and Allison Walker, freshman, Othello.

• Sophomore Fernando Mussolini, a men’s tennis player, and Brianne Ryan from women’s basketball were selected the Eastern Washington scholar-athletes for the month of January.

Mussolini, a native of Sao Paulo, Brazil, in his second year in the U.S., has a 3.73 GPA in business administration and last month defeated a nationally ranked opponent – believed to be the first for an Eagle – in straight sets. Ryan, from Lynden, Wash., has a 3.20 GPA in interdisciplinary studies and in January had a career-high 33-point game against Sacramento State.

• Eastern Washington stands sixth overall in the Big Sky Conference Presidents’ Cup competition. The Eagles are second in the men’s standings and eighth in the women’s.

Montana State is the overall points leader, averaging 10.38 points per sport to 9.8 for Northern Arizona and Sacramento State, which are tied for second. EWU has an 8.5 average. MSU leads Eastern 16.25-13.75 in men’s sports.

Letters of intent

The coaches of six sports at Community Colleges of Spokane announced the names of athletes who signed letters of intent with the Sasquatch for the 2011-12 sports seasons.

Men’s golf (coach Scott Kramer) – Sam Johnson, Burlington, Wash.

Baseball (coach Bobby Lee) – Callin Milton, Ammon, Idaho; Derek Almanza, Mount Vernon, Wash.; Dylan Boe and Kyle Tolf, both Burlington, Wash.

Women’s soccer (coach Jim Martinson) – Asia Porter, North Central; Jacque Cantrell, Sandpoint; Morgan Mueller, Central Valley; and Emily Pauls, Bonners Ferry.

Men’s soccer (coach Kenny Krestian) – Emilio Gojio, Mercer Island, Wash.

Women’s cross country (coach Sean McLachlan) – Jaymi Bethea, Kodiak, Alaska.

Softball (coach Janet Skaife) – Jaquelyn Corr, Twin Falls, Idaho; and Tiffany Joyce, Rupert, Idaho.

Miscellany

Idaho director of athletics Rob Spear has been appointed to the NCAA Division I men’s basketball issues committee. Spear, a member of the NCAA Legislative Council, begins a four-year term on the committee that has oversight of men’s basketball, on Sept. 2.