EWU plans ceremony to honor Whitehill
A “celebration of life” for Pat Whitehill, a member of the Eastern Washington University Athletics Hall of Fame who died Feb. 25 after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease, will be next Sunday at 1 p.m. in Showalter Auditorium on the EWU campus in Cheney.
Whitehill, who was 82, was a 1951 Eastern graduate who was a standout in men’s basketball and track and field. After graduating with four degrees, he spent 30 years as a member of EWU’s physical education department.
In 2001, Whitehill was inducted as an individual into the hall of fame. Ten years later, in 2011, he went in again as a member of the 1949-50 basketball team that was inducted.
He’s also in the Inland Empire Basketball Officials Hall of Fame in honor of his 16-year career.
After a highly successful collegiate career, Whitehill coached track for two seasons at Eastern in the 1960s, with his teams finishing as high as fifth in the NAIA Championships. He also served as Eastern’s faculty president and chairman of the academic senate, and later became president of the school’s retired faculty organization.
He remained active. From 1974-90, Whitehill played in five national racquetball tournaments, winning three individual championships and four doubles titles. He helped bring the 1974 World Racquetball Championships to Eastern in conjunction with the World’s Fair in Spokane.
Whitehill retired in 1993 to Clarkston to enjoy fly fishing and golf.
Basketball
Ryan McIntyre, a 2010 graduate of East Valley, announced he has transferred to Big Bend Community College from Montana State after a knee injury forced him to miss the entire 2011-12 season.
• Three guards on North Idaho College men’s team that compiled a 24-8 record last season and played in the Region 18 championship game signed with four-year schools.
Connor White, a 6-foot sophomore from Coeur d’Alene High, signed to play at Northwest Nazarene, an NCAA Division II school in Nampa, Idaho; 6-2 sophomore Kwame Bates signed with Bacone College, an NAIA school in Muskogee, Okla.; and Antoine Hosley, a 6-foot sophomore, signed with Utah Valley in Orem.
College scene
Lisa Roman, a senior on the Washington State women’s crew, collected a couple of significant postseason awards last week.
Roman, who has been on the varsity 8 in her three seasons of rowing at WSU, was named to the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association Division I All-West Region first team and to the All-Pac 12 first team for a second straight year.
• Paula Welly, a Gonzaga senior who was the West Coast Conference Rower of the Year, was named to the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association All-West Region second team and the All-Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association first team.
Welly was a member of the GU varsity 8+ that won the WIRA championship and placed second in the WCC Championships.
GU sophomores Sarah Atkins (3.71 GPA, nursing), Naseeb Bhangal (3.93 psychology), Madison Keaty (3.73, sports management), Malori McGill ( 3.86, business administration) and Anna Olson (3.64 computer science) were named to the CRCA Scholar-Athlete Team.
• Kayla Mortellaro, a senior golfer at Idaho, was named to the CoSIDA Capital One All-District 7 Women’s Academic Team.
One of 12 at-large selections, Mortellaro graduated earlier this month with a degree in public relations.
• Rory Buck, a senior swimmer at Whitworth, was selected to the CoSIDA Capital One All-District 8 Men’s Division III At-Large Team for the third year in a row. Buck, who graduated this month with degrees in kinesiology and business management, had a 3.81 GPA through January term. He was a Capital One Academic One All-American in 2011 and is eligible again this year.
Letters of intent
Eastern Washington track and field: Anandae Clark from Lakeside of Nine Mile Falls, the state’s top-ranked pole vaulter, a four-time State 1A champion and ranked sixth in the nation with a season best of 13 feet; Jake Clizbe, two-time State 1A runner-up in the long jump from Kalama, Wash.; Nicholas Boersma from Wenatchee, top-ranked in State 4A in the 800; Leiran Cornish, a State 4A-placing sprinter from Snohomish, Wash.; Alexia Martin, a versatile sprinter-distance runner from Kent-Meridian, Wash., who competes in seven events; Alyssa Neal, a sprinter-hurdler- jumper, from Salem, Ore.; Sierra Arlauskas, also a sprinter-jumper-hurdler, from Beaverton, Ore.; and David Thor, a many-time Kansas state-placing distance runner from Wichita, who won the 5A 1,600 and 3,200 as a junior in 2011.
North Idaho wrestling: V.J Giulio from American Falls, Idaho, who compiled a 163-17 overall record en route to becoming the eighth wrestler in Idaho history to win four individual state titles, is transferring from University of Wyoming and wrestle from 184-197 pounds; Bryan Smith from Bedford, Mich., who wrestled at 215 in high school, where he finished third at the state tournament and earned an All-America honor for finishing seventh at a meet in Virginia.
Idaho men’s tennis: Matt Oddonetto from Boise, the top-ranking recruit in the state, No. 3 in the Mountain Region and No. 314 in the country, who won an Idaho boys singles title this spring after earning a doubles championship in 2011.
Softball
Kelli Peckham, the West Valley pitcher who was instrumental in the Eagles’ unbeaten run to the Great Northern League championship and a third-place finish in the State 2A tournament, was named recipient of the 10th annual Doug “Pops” Bender Scholarship Award by the Inland Empire Softball Hall of Fame.
Peckham was selected from a field of more than 100 applicants to receive the award that goes to a deserving high school girls fastpitch player in the area to further her education.
She will be honored during the IESHF Hall of Fame induction on June 23 at the Sons of Norway Hall, 6710 N. Country Homes Blvd.
Slated to be enshrined are Rod Anderson, Paul Lewis, Paul Schutz and Darius Rappe, all modified pitch; Mike McCammon, slowpitch; and Tom Cook, fastpitch. Rolf Aspaas from 5 Mile Heights Pizza will receive the sponsor’s award.
A no-host social hour at 4 p.m. will precede dinner and the awards ceremony at 6. Tickets are $20 for adults, $15 for students. Reservation deadline is June 18.
Info: Doug Bender, 276-9833, or Dan Fry, 624-5842.
• North Idaho College infielder Brianna Bishop has signed to play for Alcorn State.
Wrestling
Jordan Rogers, the Mead wrestler who has been filling his mantle this spring, was named winner of the Smith Orthodontics/Philip R. Smith Academic Champion Award for wrestling.
It’s a $250 scholarship that can be used to further a student’s academic and wrestling career that is presented to the area wrestler with strong academic performance who placed highest at the WIAA state championships. Rogers won three State 4A championships.