Mildes repeats; CCS takes title

Jessica Mildes became the third female athlete in conference history to win back-to-back titles and the Community Colleges of Spokane women’s cross country team edged Everett for the team title at the NWAACC Championships on Saturday at Lewisville State Park in Battleground, Wash.

Mildes (Riverside High School) covered the 5,000-meter course in 17 minutes, 51 seconds. She became the third woman to defend her title since the sport’s introduction for women by the NWAACC in 1978.

It also gave the Sasquatch their first team title since 2008.

CCS’ Sara Fristoe was fifth in 19:17 and Rachel Ward was seventh in 19:32.

CCS’ Daniel Schofield was the men’s champion after covering the 8,000-meter course in 24:20. He surged ahead of Clackamas’ Jorge Gil-Juarez at the finish line.

The Sasquatch men took fourth place. Everett was first, followed by Lane and Clackamas.

Following the race, CCS’ Sean McLachlan was named NWCCAA Women’s Coach of the Year.

• Western Washington’s Isaac Griffith (Lewis and Clark HS) and Sofia Marikis (Lakeside HS) competed at the NCAA Division II West Regional at Plantes Ferry Park in Spokane.

Griffith finished in 20th place after covering the 10,000-meter course in 32:33. Marikis finished 75th with a 6,000-meter time of 23:52.

The Western men placed fourth and the women fifth and will compete in the D-II nationals at Plantes Ferry on Nov. 23.

Men’s soccer

Matt Bray and Will Wren scored first-half goals as Whitworth wrapped up the regular season with a 2-0 shutout of Whitman (9-9-2, 8-5-1) in a Northwest Conference match in Spokane.

The Pirates (12-3-3, 10-2-2) will now wait and see if they earned an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. They’ll find out Monday morning.

• Clark (18-2-1) beat visiting Community Colleges of Spokane 5-4 in a shootout and eliminated the Sasquatch (13-6-3) in the NWAACC playoffs.

Women’s soccer

No. 8 Santa Clara responded after giving up an early goal and beat Gonzaga 6-3 in a West Coast Conference match in Spokane. It was the Bulldogs’ final game of the season.

The Broncos (14-4-1, 8-1) scored all six of their goals in the first half, but it was Gonzaga (7-11-1, 3-6) that got on the board first. Freshman Karley Baggerly took a pass from Kasey Rubosky, dribbled past a couple of Santa Clara defenders, and sent home her fifth goal of the season.

• George Fox’s Michelle Young scored in the 89th minute and the Bruins (3-15-2, 1-13-2) played to a 1-1 Northwest Conference draw with Whitworth (7-7-6, 4-6-6) in Newberg, Ore.

It was the last match of the season for both teams.

The Pirates’ Jackie Day opened the scoring in the 76th minute. Whitworth held a commanding 33-14 advantage in shots, including 12-3 in the first half, but could only get one past George Fox keeper Alyssa Montero.

• Hope Butler scored twice to guide Clackamas (13-4-2) past Community Colleges of Spokane (15-2-4) in the quarterfinals of the NWAACC playoffs in Oregon City, Ore. The Sasquatch were eliminated.

Volleyball

Savannah Blinn had a match-high 14 kills as Gonzaga swept Portland (0-23, 0-14) in a West Coast Conference match in Spokane. Scores were 25-14, 25-14 and 25-16. It was GU’s third consecutive sweep.

Gonzaga improved to 11-12 overall and 7-7 in the WCC. The seven conference victories are GU’s most since 1994.

GU plays at No. 21 BYU on Thursday and at No. 8 San Diego on Saturday.

• Senior libero Jenna Orlandini had a career-high 31 digs and No. 3 Washington (20-1, 12-1) responded after dropping the first set and beat Arizona State (16-10, 5-9) in a Pac-12 Conference match in Seattle. Scores were 24-26, 25-22, 25-15 and 25-17.

The Huskies’ Krista Vansant had 17 kills and 11 digs and Kaleigh Nelson 16 kills and seven blocks.

• Bailee Kendall and Carol Grasso combined for 22 kills and Salt Lake (24-6) swept North Idaho (16-10) in the Region 18 title match in Salt Lake City. Scores were 25-22, 25-21 and 25-21.

Britney Chilcott had a team-high seven kills and Allison Meehan dished out 26 assists for the Cardinals. NIC’s Russia Robinson and Leeta Grap were named to the all-tournament team.