Lithco will skate in U.S. nationals
Cody Lithco, a 2011 North Central High School graduate who is living in Colorado Springs, Colo., to train and further his career, has qualified for the 2013 U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Omaha, Neb., Jan. 20-27.
Lithco, 20, a member of Spokane’s Lilac Figure Skating Club since he was 5, and partner Ashlyn Gaughan from Florida placed fourth in ice dancing at the Midwestern Sectionals in Strongsville, Ohio, last month to earn a spot in the nationals.
As a men’s singles skater, Lithco qualified for Junior Nationals in 2006. He qualified again in 2010 after switching to ice dancing. It was after graduating from NC that he relocated to Colorado Springs.
Information on Lithco’s career and achievements were incorrect in last Sunday’s Locally column.
College scene
Steven Del Vecchio, a Shoreline Community College freshman from Rogers, was named a co-player of the week by the school for men’s basketball after he was the only Dolphins player to score in double figures in three season-opening losses.
Del Vecchio scored 19 in a wild 129-114 loss to Northwest Indian College and added 12 and 11 in the Pierce College Thanksgiving tournament. He also had 10 rebounds, three assists and two steals in the three games.
• Two former North Central High School teammates, Hailey Markham-Patti, a 5-foot-3 guard and second-team All-Greater Spokane League selection, and Kalen Via, a 5-8 forward, are key contributors to a young Blue Mountain Community College women’s basketball team that has opened the season 2-1.
• Abid Akbar, a senior tennis player at Idaho, was the Western Athletic Conference Player of the Month for November after he and partner Marius Cirstea, a fellow senior, won the consolation doubles draw at the National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships and Akbar went 1-1 in singles at the Pacific Northwest Intercollegiate. It was Akbar’s second Player of the Month award of the fall, following one in September.
Letters of intent
• Western Washington volleyball: Joellee Buckner, Colville, opposite-side hitter, played on Indians teams that went 101-5 in her three seasons with three top-five state finishes, including winning 1A title as a junior. Was two-time league MVP (co-MVP in Great Northern League as senior) and outright Northeast A League MVP as a junior), and State 1A co-MVP as a junior.
• Dixie State (Utah) baseball: Blake Phebus, Shadle Park, All-Greater Spokane League outfielder.
• Northern State (S.D.) wrestling: Cameron Schlotter, Cheney, All-Great Northern League, State 2A runner-up at 195 pounds with a 37-5 record as a junior.