Post Falls wrestlers honored

Tyler Booth and James Ost, cousins who are members of the Post Falls wrestling team, have been selected for honorable mention recognition on Wrestling USA magazine’s 2012 High School All-America team, Trojans coach Pete Reardon announced.

The team will be released in Wrestling USA magazine’s May 30 issue. Reardon noted Booth and Ost are among 120 wrestlers from around the country to receive the honor. He said nominations were made by coaches, sportswriters and Wrestling USA magazine state editors.

Ost compiled a high school record of 137-18, had 60 falls, and was a three-time state champion, winning his most recent title at 145 pounds. Booth had a high school record of 169-36 with 72 falls and was a two-time state champion, winning this year at 152 pounds. He also placed third and fourth as a freshman and sophomore.

College scene

Student-athletes who are among the best ever to don a Whitworth uniform in their sports were Pirates senior award winners for 2011-12 announced Saturday at a senior reflections ceremony.

Swimmer Rory Buck received the Dennis Spurlock Memorial Award, while Kaimi Rocha (volleyball), Felix Friedt (men’s basketball) and Landon Scott (baseball) were recognized as Senior Athletes of the Year. The awards were voted on by members of the Whitworth athletics department.

 The Spurlock Award, named in memory of the former Pirates All-America quarterback (1958-61), annually honors a Whitworth student-athlete who models the characteristics of the award’s namesake, specifically modesty, poise, and leadership.

Buck concluded his Whitworth career as a four-time NCAA Division III individual champion and was voted by NCAA Division III coaches as the 2011 Men’s Swimmer of the Year as a junior after breaking a long-standing national record in the 200 breaststroke.  Buck has led the Whitworth men to four consecutive Northwest Conference team championships, extending the Pirates’ string of league titles to 10 in a row.  He holds NWC records in both the 100- and 200-yard breaststroke events.  In April, Buck traveled to his native South Africa to compete for a spot on its 2012 Olympic team, finishing just out of the money with a fourth in the 100-meter breaststroke and third in the 200 breast.

 Senior Athlete of the Year awards recognize outstanding athletic achievement during a student’s final year of eligibility.

 Rocha, who led Whitworth to a second straight Northwest Conference championship and an appearance in the NCAA Division III tournament, was AVCA second-team All-American and the NWC Player of the Year for the second year in a row.

Friedt, who finished his career as the 13th-leading scorer in Whitworth men’s basketball history, was first-team All-NWC, second-team All-West Region and was named to the D3hoops.com All-West Region third team.

Scott, who helped lead Whitworth to its first NWC baseball championship in 21 years this season, batted .321 and ranked fifth in the NWC with 34 RBIs and 38 runs scored and was an All-NWC honorable mention after being a two-time first-team selection.

• Katrina Schwab, a Seattle University senior from Mead, was named the Great West Conference Player of the Year for women’s tennis after leading the Redhawks to second place at the conference championships in Harlingen, Texas.

Schwab, who played in 26 of the team’s 27 matches at either No. 1 or No. 2 in both singles and doubles, also was first-team All-Great West.

“It’s a huge honor and I’m blown away to have received it,” Schwab said of being player of the year.

In four years at Seattle U, Schwab had a 54-56 record in singles and 62-49 in doubles.

Letters of intent

Eastern Washington women’s golf: Maddie Dodge from Post Falls, was runner-up at the 2011 Idaho 5A State tournament in Boise, the highest finish ever for a Post Falls girl at state, runner-up at the 2010 IJGA State Championships, and placed third at the 2011 WJGA district tournament to qualify for the state championship; Marissa Borja from Spring Valley, Calif., among the top 75 high school seniors in the nation in two national rankings. In her senior season, she had a nine-hole scoring average of 34.1 - nearly two strokes under par.

• Washington State men’s golf: Kelly Campbell, Auburn Mountain View of Kent, Wash., a four-time state qualifier and three-time South Puget Sound League scoring champion. He was a medalist in the Pacific Northwest Juniors last season. His father, Doug, played on the PGA Tour.

• Gonzaga volleyball: Lyndsay Palmer, a 5-foot-9 setter/outside hitter from Cedar Park Christian of Bothell, Wash., a two-time league MVP and first-team All-State as a senior; Sarah Bradley, a 6-3 middle blocker from Holy Names Academy of Bellevue, Wash., two-time first-team all-league who had 85 blocks and 161 kills as a senior; and Lauren Joseph, a 5-9 setter/defensive specialist from Richland, Big Nine Player of the Year as a senior and two-time first-team all-conference as a junior and senior. She has a 4.0 GPA and is a 2012 Academic All-American.

• North Idaho volleyball: LeeNell “Nohe” Hernandez, 5-foot-7 outside hitter, from Molokai, Hawaii. In 2010, she was an impact player on Molokai’s first Hawaii Division II state championship team and helped her school to an eighth-place state finish in 2011. She will compete for a libero or outside hitting position at NIC.

• Montana Tech women’s basketball: Cieana Close, shooting guard, Lakeland, an All-Inland Empire League 4A selection who played in the Idaho girls All-State game and was voted the team’s offensive player of the year by her Lakeland teammates.

• North Idaho men’s soccer: Tanner Jones, goalkeeper, Moscow, Idaho. A three-year letterman for the Bears, Jones was selected to the All-Inland Empire League 4A first team as a senior. As a junior, Jones helped Moscow to a third-place finish in the Idaho 4A state championships.