WSU baseball coach Marbut hires Waer as assistant
Patrick Waer has joined the Washington State University baseball coach Donnie Marbut’s staff as an assistant coach.
Waer, a native of Fresno, Calif., spent six seasons, including the last five, as an assistant coach at Fresno State. During that time, Fresno State won the 2008 national title and played in five NCAA regionals, averaging 39 wins per season.
“We are very fortunate to hire a fine person and coach in Patrick Waer,” Marbut said in a school news release. “We lost a great recruiting coordinator in Spencer Allen.
We were able to replace him with Patrick, who has a track record that speaks for itself.”
Waer’s recruiting classes at Fresno State included 17 drafted high school players, 32 All-Western Athletic Conference first-team selections, five WAC most valuable players, two WAC pitchers of the year, eight All-Americans, three freshmen All-Americans, one Golden Spikes Award semifinalist and 37 overall draft selections.
Volleyball
Colville High graduate Erin Little accepted an offer to play at Central Washington University.
Little, who graduated at the top of her class, is a 5-foot-11 middle blocker. The three-sport letterman earned 1A All-State honors while helping Colville capture a state championship. She set school records for most blocks in a single match, season and career.
“Erin will be special once she puts on her volleyball hat full time,” CWU coach Mario Andaya said in a news release. “At 5-11 she touches 10 feet effortlessly, but more importantly she has balance and skill while up that high.”
Honors
Several sports teams from area colleges were recognized with Public Recognition Awards, which are given to teams with Academic Progress Rates in the top 10 percent in their respective sports.
The University of Idaho volleyball team, Washington State University men’s golf team and four Gonzaga University teams – women’s golf, women’s cross country, women’s track and men’s soccer – received honors.
GU women’s golf earned its seventh straight Public Recognition Award and men’s soccer received its fourth consecutive award.
The Idaho volleyball teams was the lone team in the Western Athletic Conference to earn the recognition.
APRs for all Division I sports, including the teams receiving the public recognition honors, will be announced Wednesday by the NCAA.
• The Washington State University men’s track and field and cross country teams finished 19th in the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Division I Program of the Year award standings for 2011-12.
The USTFCCCA men’s Program of the Year Awards, in its fourth year, is given annually to the program that had the best combined team finishes in each of the NCAA’s cross country/track and field sports in a given year. To be eligible for the award, programs must have teams qualify for each of the NCAA championships.
• The USTFCCCA released its 2012 outdoor All-America honorees and Idaho’s Mike Marshall has been recognized as an honorable mention selection.
Marshall, a junior from Yakima, earned the honor in the men’s javelin after finishing 17th at last week’s NCAA outdoor championships with a throw of 224 feet, 9 inches.
Officials
The late Bob Nelson of Spokane, whose officiating career spanned 55 years, has been selected for induction into the Washington Officials Association Hall of Fame.
Nelson, who died Jan. 1, began his officiating career in 1953 while teaching in Colville. According to the WOA press release, he worked numerous state high school basketball tournaments.
Joining Nelson in the Class of 2012, which will be inducted at the WOA Conference on Aug. 4 in Yakima, will be Carol Finney of Yakima (volleyball), Pat Terry of Wenatchee (football and basketball) and Steve Colby of Anacortes (basketball).
Tennis
Spokane Club pros fared well at the United States Professional Tennis Association convention in Portland May 31-June 2.
They participated in every aspect of the convention from set-up to on-court demonstrations and contests. The club’s tennis director and pro, Jeff Uri, and tennis pro Marco Pineda put 95 Pacific Northwest pros through their paces as they each ran a court of tennis drills in the “Pros Teaching Pros” portion of the convention. In the Annual Drill Contest – in which participating pros design, describe and finally demonstrate their original drill to all convention attendees – Uri took first and Pineda took second.
Golf
The Community Colleges of Spokane men’s team completed one of the most successful seasons in school history. The team compiled seven tournament victories, including a second straight NWAACC championship and three second-place finishes.
Three Sasquatch were named first-team all-conference: Dylan Maine (72.0 scoring average), Andrew Roller (72.8) and Grahm Schmaltz (73.3). Brandon Koehler (75.3) was named second team.
Schmaltz and Maine were named to the all-NWAACC tournament team. Coach Scott Kramer was named NWAACC Coach of the Year.
Track
Andrew Kimpel of Spokane (3.29 grade-point average) and Grant Schultz of Davenport (3.39 GPA) were given honorable mention on the Pac-12 Men’s Track and Field All-Academic team.
• Washington State University’s Christine Kirkwood and Anna Adamko finished fourth and eighth, respectively, in the javelin at the 2012 USA Junior Outdoor Track and Field Championships at the University of Indiana in Bloomington.
Kirkwood, a freshman from Othello, had a best effort of 150-4 while Adamko, a freshman from Vancouver, threw 142-3.