Colbert’s King qualifies for skating championships

Cheyenne King of Colbert placed third in the Juvenile Girls division at the Pacific Coast Sectionals last weekend in Oakland, Calif., to qualify for the 2014 Prudential U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Boston on Jan. 5-12.

King, 12, a sixth-grader at Colbert Elementary School, scored 45.36 in the free skate to lead the showing by members of the Lilac City Figure Skating Club. She had placed first in Juvenile Girls at the Northwest Pacific Regionals to qualify for sectionals and will be a field of 12 at nationals – the top four from each of three sectionals.

Collin Woodall-Williams of Spokane, a seventh-grader who is home schooled, placed ninth in Juvenile Boys; and Kayleigh Elliott, 13, an eighth-grader at Salk Middle School, and Courtney Kirschke, 14, a freshman at Mead High School, placed 10th and 11th, respectively, in Intermediate Ladies in Oakland.

Billy Stone, a LCFSC associate member from Missoula placed fifth in Intermediate Men at the Pacific Coast Sectional, and Cody Lithco of Lilac City and partner Ashlyn Gaughan from Broadmoor, Colo., were fifth in Junior Dance at the Midwest Sectional.

College scene

Kaely Kight, a junior libero at Central Washington from Mead, has been named to the All-Great Northwest Athletic Conference volleyball first team.

Kight, who ranked second in the conference in digs per set at 5.49, posted double-figure dig totals in every match in 2013, extending her streak to 39 straight matches with 10 or more.

• Four members of the Whitworth women’s cross country team earned U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association All-West Region honors – sophomores Amanda Blankenship and Kellyn Roiko, junior Christina Williams (Northwest Christian) and senior Elisabeth Spencer – for top-35 finishes in the region championship race. Blankenship was 14th, Roiko 15th, Williams 21st and Spencer 26th.

• Isaac Griffith, a Western Washington junior from Lewis and Clark, finished 125th in the men’s race at the NCAA Division II cross country championships last weekend at Plantes Ferry Park in Spokane Valley. Sofia Marikis, a Western freshman from Lakeside of Nine Mile Falls, finished 170th in the women’s race.

• The Washington State women’s soccer team and 10 of its player have received academic recognition. By posting a 3.23 team GPA, coach Keidane McAlpine’s Cougars earned a National Soccer Coaches Association of America Team Academic Award for the eighth time in 10 seasons. Among the Cougars receiving Pac-12 All-Academic honors was senior Delaney Zalud of Mt. Spokane, who was an honorable mention selection for a third time with a 3.21 GPA in psychology.

• Elliott Bosch (Ferris), a senior center at Washington State who has a 3.25 GPA in social sciences, and Jared Byers, a senior linebacker with a 3.00 GPA in mechanical engineering, received honorable mention on the Pac-12 All-Academic team in football.

• Six Whitworth Pirates were nominated by their coaches and named to Northwest Conference All-Sportsmanship teams for the fall sports season.

Pirates selected were Matt Edwards (Kettle Falls), men’s cross country; Caitlin Taylor, women’s cross country; Aaron Cochran, football; Matt Bray (Ferris), men’s soccer; Amy Sterk (Pullman), women’s soccer; and Whitney Santos, volleyball.

Letters of intent

Baseball

Gonzaga: Justin Blatner, Gonzaga Prep, 6-foot-3 left-handed pitcher/outfielder, all-state, two-time All-Greater Spokane League, GSL MVP in 2013 with 0.22 ERA and .452 batting average; Gage Burland, East Valley, 6-2 right-handed pitcher/outfielder, two-time All-Great Northern League, No. 54-ranked high school RHP in country by Perfect Game; Tyler Frost, Peoria, Ariz., 5-10 right-handed pitcher/outfielder, first-team all-state with school-record 0.93 ERA; Calvin LeBrun, Phoenix, 5-10 left-handed pitcher, first-team all-state and younger brother of Zags’ Cory LeBrun; Nick Nyquist, Coeur d’Alene High School, 6-2 infielder, All-Inland Empire League, rated top overall player and top shortstop in Idaho by Perfect Game; Branson Trube, Meridian, Idaho, 5-11 outfielder, two-time all-conference, all-state, rated second overall prospect in southern Idaho by Mountain West Baseball; and Jace VanDeBrake, West Valley-Yakima, 6-2 shortstop, all-state and conference MVP.

Golf

Gonzaga men: Will Brueckner, Walnut Creek, Calif., 2013 San Francisco City Amateur champion and a four-time top-five finisher in Future Collegiate World Tour (FCWT) events, winning at Mission Hills Resort in 2013; and David Ganz, Jesuit High of Portland, 2013 Oregon Golf Association Tournament of Champions medalist and a top-15 finisher in four FCWT events, including placing third at one in 2012. He also placed third at the 2013 Portland City Championship.

• Idaho women: Kendall Gray, Fife, Wash., four-year letterwinner, placed second in 2012 and 2013 at State 2B championships, won 2013 Pacific Northwest Golf Association Junior Girls tournament and participated in the 2012 USGA Junior Girls Championship and 2013 USGA WAPL tournament.

Lacrosse

Notre Dame de Namur University (Belmont, Calif.): Sam Polsin, University High school.

Softball

Bradley University: Taylor Morales, University, infielder, first-team All-Greater Spokane League in both slowpitch and fastpitch.

Volleyball

Barb Twohig received the Golden Whistle award and Dale Goodwin was named Referee of the Year when the Spokane Area Volleyball Referees Association passed out honors.

Other awards went to Debbie Spray, Rookie of the Year; Katy Charleson, Best Second-Year Official; Dianna McCauley, Best Third-Year Official; Marie Neumiller, Most Improved; Tom Konis, Partner of the Year; and Alan Hirayama, Contributor of the Year.

Bob Francis was elected the association’s new president. Other officers for the new year: Barb Silvey, vice president; Linda Kildew, past president; Mary Ann Ehrgott, secretary; and Ben Goodwin, Patty Kells, Keith Ward and Pete Bell, members at large.