Pair of Pirates receive all-region honor

A pair of Whitworth seniors were named first team on All-West Region basketball teams by D3hoops.com.

Dustin McConnell of Clarkston, the Northwest Conference Player of the Year, is the 12th Pirate in the last 13 years to be named to the men’s team.

Kayla Johnson of Colfax became the first Whitworth women’s player since the 2004-05 season to earn a D3Hoops all-region honor, and the first since the 2003-04 season picked to the first team.

McConnell, a 5-foot-11 guard, led the NWC in assists at 3.6 per game and averaged 13.4 points and 3.7 rebounds for the 23-6 Pirates, who earned an eighth straight trip to the NCAA Division III tournament. He finished with 1,039 career points, 22nd on the all-time school list.

Johnson, a 5-7 guard, led the NWC by making 41.5 percent of her 3-point attempts and ranked second with an 18.5 scoring average for the 21-8 Pirates who played in a second straight D-III tournament. Her 1,298 career points rank fifth on the Whitworth scoring list.

Arena football

Mike Levy, who the Spokane Shock said has more than 25 years in sports and entertainment management, was named president of the Arena Football League team, Nader Naini, chairman of the partnership that owns the team, announced.

The Shock said that in 2008 Levy spearheaded the startup of the AFL’s Cleveland Gladiators as COO/General Manager.

Levy has also worked in the front office of franchises in the NBA, WNBA, NFL, MLB as well as the International Tennis Hall of Fame.