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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Smith chosen state’s top D-I hockey player

Staff And News Services

Jeff Smith, a former Ferris HS student and a senior forward at Rochester Institute of Technology, was selected by USA Hockey as the Washington representative on its Hockey Weekend Across America team.

In its announcement, USA Hockey said “in the spirit of celebrating hockey across all corners of the U.S., as we did last year, we are saluting the top contributors in Division I men’s hockey from each state.” Selections were based on performances this year.

Smith, selected from a list of six Washington players at Division I schools, leads the Tigers in scoring with 10 goals and 18 points in 18 games this season.

The Atlantic Hockey Association, in which RPT plays, named Smith its Player of the Week last Monday after a weekend in which he scored four goals and added an assist as RPT swept two games from Army. On Friday, Smith tied career-best totals of two goals and three points in a 6-5 win. The next day, he scored two more goals, including the game-winner and an empty-net, power-play tally in a 4-2 win. It was his second player-of-the-week honor this season.

Smith has been around hockey since he was 2 days old. His mother, Mary Smith, has been the team dentist for the Spokane Chiefs for more than 30 years.

Jeff played youth hockey in Spokane and attended Ferris his freshman year before moving to Minnesota to attend boarding school at Shattuck-St. Mary’s, a hockey prep school. His senior year, he scored the winning goal as Shattuck-St. Mary’s won the 2007 USA Hockey Tier 1 Under-18 Championship. He went on to play junior hockey in Salmon Arm, British Columbia, in the BCHL, for a season followed by a season with the Tri-City Storm of the U.S. Hockey League in Kearney, Neb., before committing to Rochester Institute of Technology. His freshman year, RIT made it to the Frozen Four, Division I hockey’s national championship final series.

He has 22 goals and 17 assists in four seasons at RIT.

Basketball

Jim Bresnahan, who went from a two-year basketball career at Terra Nova High School in Pacifica, Calif., to be one of Gonzaga University’s all-time scoring leaders, was inducted into the City of Pacifica Sports Hall of Fame this weekend.

Bresnahan, who is a resident of Spokane, was team captain at Gonzaga for three of his four years, finished his career as the school’s 14th-leading scorer with 900 points.

The announcement of his selection to the hall of fame said that Bresnahan, a baseball and basketball star at Terra Nova who graduated in 1967, is the only player in the 50-year history of the school to receive a full Division I scholarship for boys basketball. At Terra Nova, he was the league’s leading scorer and Player of the Year.

College scene

Kelly Olynyk, a junior at Gonzaga, has been named to the 2013 Capital One Academic All-America Division I men’s basketball first team as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).

Olynyk graduated in December with a 3.53 grade-point average in accounting and is currently enrolled in the MBA program at GU. He was named to the Capital One/CoSIDA All-District 8 first team to earn a spot on the national ballot.

Olynyk is the first GU men’s basketball player to earn first-team Academic All-America recognition since Dan Dickau in 2002. In all, 15 Bulldogs have accumulated 25 Academic All-America honors since 1978.

High school scene

Mead boys basketball was the only Greater Spokane League team on the list when the WIAA and Dairy Farmers of Washington/Les Schwab Tires announced their winter team Academic State Champions.

Area teams honored with their coaches and grade-point averages:

Boys basketball: 4A – Mead, Glenn Williams, 3.611. 2B – St. George’s, Ryan Peplinski, 3.723. 1B – Odessa Harrington, Travis Schuh, 3.692.

Girls basketball: 2A – Clarkston, Debbie Sobotta, 3.762. 1B – Colton, Clark Vining, 3.951.

Boys wrestling: 1B – Pomeroy, Brian Slaybaugh, 3.422.

Girls wrestling: 1A – Brewster, Kip Apple, 3.607.

• Four North Idaho schools collected winter sports academic state championships from the Idaho High School Activities Association and the United Dairymen of Idaho.

The teams by sport:

Girls basketball: 1A Division I – Genesee, 3.853. 1A Division II – Nezperce, 3.860.

Boys basketball: 1A Division I – Kamiah, 3.651. 1A Division II – Kootenai, 3.645.

Letters of intent

Washington State track and field: Charlotte Muschamp, triple jumper and high jumper from New Zealand, joining women’s team this spring. High school seniors signing for 2013-14 – Craig “CJ” Allen, hurdler, North Mason High in Belfair, Wash.; Greer Alsop, triple jumper, New Zealand; Leanne Asper, sprinter and 800m, Lake City, 2012 Idaho 5A 800m state champion; Danielle Darden, sprinter, Aliso Viejo, Calif.; Liz Harper, hurdler, Sentinel High, Missoula; Jordin Stephenson, distance runner, Stanwood, Wash.; and John Whelan, distance runner, Etna, Calif.

• North Idaho College women’s soccer: Natalie Middleton, midfield/forward, Central Valley, four-year starter; Meghan Pagano, forward/midfield, Sandpoint, four-time All-Inland Empire League, IEL MVP as sophomore and senior. Both play on same Spokane Shadow club team.

Officials

Fifteen area officials were selected to work Washington winter sports season state finals.

The officials by sport:

Girls basketball: 1B-2B – Bob Richartz, Colville Valley; Jason Mercer, Spokane. 1A-2A – Trevor Mott, Spokane; Butch Fealy, Southeastern Washington. 3A-4A – John Love, Spokane.

Boys basketball: 1B-2B – Jeff Geldien, Spokane; Mark Ryan, Spokane. 1A-2A – Shane Hickenbottom, Colville Valley; Greg Morrison, Southeastern Washington; Tim Peterson, Spokane. 3A-4A – Geoff Asan, Spokane.

Gymnastics: 1A-2A-3A – Barb MacAfee, Spokane. 4A – Tracy Duncan, Spokane. Finals – MacAfee.

Mat Classic XXV wrestling: Paul Bergman, Inland Empire; Kevin Davis, Inland Empire.