Elliott, King lead skaters to Pacific Coast Sectionals
Kayleigh Elliott and Cheyenne King led the way as four members of the Lilac City Figure Skating Club of Spokane qualified for the Pacific Coast Sectional Championships last weekend at the Northwest Pacific Regionals in Tacoma.
Elliott, 13, an eighth grader at Salk Middle School, won the Intermediate Ladies division. King, 12, a sixth grader at Colton Elementary School, was first in Juvenile Girls.
Lilac City will also be represented at sectionals next weekend in Oakland by Collin Woodall-Williams, 13, a seventh grader who is home schooled. He placed second in Juvenile Boys.
Courtney Kirschke, 14, a freshman at Mead High School, qualified for sectionals by finishing third in Intermediate Ladies.
Top finishers in Oakland qualify for the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Boston, Jan. 5-12.
Billy Stone, 14, of Missoula, Mont., an associate member of the LCFSC, qualified for sectionals for a second straight year in Intermediate Men. He advanced to the U.S. championships last year.
Another Lilac City member, Cody Lithco, 21, who skates in Junior Dance with Ashlyn Gaughan from Broadmoor, Colo., will compete in the Midwestern Sectional. Litcho also qualified for nationals last year.
College scene
Sanne Holland of Cheney, who runs for Colorado State, was named Mountain West Conference Freshman of the Year in women’s cross country after placing 31st in the MWC Championships last weekend. She clocked 22 minutes, 51 seconds over 6K, the best time for a freshman.
• Idaho’s Jose Bendeck and Victoria Lozano were named the Western Athletic Conference men’s and women’s Tennis Athletes of the Month for October, respectively.
Bendeck, a senior from Barranquilla, Colombia, went 8-1 in singles and 7-0 in doubles during the month, winning the ITA Mountain Regional doubles to earn a berth in the National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships.
Lozano, a senior from Guadalajara, Mexico, was 5-2 in singles and 7-1 in doubles during October, winning the round-robin doubles draw at the WSU Invite and placing third in singles.
Fencing
Henry Duchow, a freshman at Ferris, was crowned men’s foil champion at the Washington state High School Fencing Championships last weekend at the Washington Fencing Academy in Issaquah.
Duchow defeated Joshua Meehan, a senior from Vancouver, 15-10 in the final.
Bailey Plumlee, a freshman at Gonzaga Prep, finished third overall in women’s foil.
Two others from Spokane Fencers Unlimited, Brady Alexander, a freshman at Lewis and Clark, and Peter Duchow, who is home schooled, also participated in the event sanctioned by the United States Fencing Association.
Golf
Sierra Kersten of Spokane, a junior at Lewis and Clark, has been named the Washington State Golf Association Junior Girls Player of the Year for 2013.
In 2013, Kersten won the State 4A high school championship on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff after capturing the district title by seven shots and was selected the Most Valuable Player in Greater Spokane League girls golf. During the summer, she was medalist at the U.S. Junior Girls’ qualifier, where she made it to the Round of 64, and tied for 35th in the Callaway Junior World Championship.
She is the only one of the eight players of the year selected by the WSGA from Eastern Washington.
Softball
Norm Menck, a 15-year umpire who is annually one of the busiest members of the Spokane Softball Umpires Association, received the group’s top honor, the Campbell-Stewart Award, at its annual season-ending banquet.
Menck generally works 300 or more games a year. The award, inaugurated in 1975 and honoring two former Spokane ASA umpires-in-chief, recognizes an umpire for longevity, dedication, excellence and service to softball umpiring in Spokane.
Paul Clary, who became the Spokane ASA umpire in chief on Oct. 1, received the Presidential Pride award.
Other awards went to David Birdsell (adult) and Scott Hofstee (youth), umpires of the year; Shaun Pedersen (adult) and Craig Adams (youth), most improved; and Steve Ross (adult) and Gil Peckham (youth), rookies of the year.