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

Whitworth women take third at West regional

The Whitworth women’s cross country team, led by Amanda Blankenship’s 20th-place finish, took third place at the NCAA Division III West Region Championships Saturday at Bush’s Pasture Park in Salem, Oregon.

Blankenship covered the 6,000-meter course in 23 minutes, 6.2 seconds, barely missing an at-large invitation to next week’s Division III Championships.

For the men, Taylor Steele finished 20th and Whitworth took ninth place.

Claremont-Mudd-Scripps won the men’s title and Willamette secured the women’s title.

• The Eastern Washington men and women did not compete Friday in the NCAA West Regionals in Palo Alto, California. The Eagles’ absence was due to a “violation of department policies,” according to an e-mail from Dave Cook, Assistant Athletic Diretor for Media Relations.

Men’s soccer

Sam Engle scored early and Eric Espinoza added an insurance goal in the second half as Whitworth advanced to the Sweet 16 of the Division III tournament with a 2-0 win over Berry (13-7-1) in Atlanta.

The Pirates had a 21-4 shot advantage, including 15-1 in the first half.

Whitworth (17-1-3) will play Christopher Newport or Stevens Institute of Technology on Saturday. The location is not yet determined.

• Brady Ulen scored an unassisted goal in the 99th minute and North Idaho edged Edmonds (8-8-4) 1-0 in the semifinals of the Northwest Athletic Conference Tournament at Starfire Stadium in Tukwila, Washington.

The Cardinals (17-1-2) will meet Highline (11-2-4) in today’s championship match. Highline advanced with a 4-1 win over Skagit Valley.

• Lars Ludwigs scored early in the first overtime period and Gonzaga (5-12-1, 3-3-1) ended its season with a 2-1 come-from-behind victory over Portland (4-11-4, 0-6-1) in a West Coast Conference match in Spokane.

After falling behind early, GU’s Clark Phillips scored in the 55th minute before Ludwigs’ winner.

Volleyball

Faith Dooley had 11 kills and nine blocks and North Dakota (25-8, 13-3) responded after dropping the first two sets and beat Eastern Washington (9-20, 5-11) in a Big Sky Conference match in Cheney. Scores were 20-25, 23-25, 25-13, 25-17 and 15-7.

• Kat Schulz had 17 kills, 11 digs and three blocks to lead Pacific (21-7, 10-5) past Gonzaga (16-10, 7-8) 19-25, 22-25, 25-22, 25-21, 15-11 in a West Coast Conference match in Stockton, California.

• Kendra Cunningham had 15 kills and Megan Garcia added 23 digs as Northern Colorado (19-9, 12-4) topped Idaho (15-13, 11-5) in a Big Sky Conference match in Moscow, Idaho. Scores were 25-20, 13-25, 25-15 and 25-18.

• Chelsey Schofield-Olsen led five players in double figures with 18 kills and Utah (16-10, 6-10) handed No. 2 Washington (25-2, 14-2) its second straight defeat in a Pac-12 match in Salt Lake City. Scores were 25-19, 23-25, 20-25, 27-25 and 15-13.

Women’s soccer

Lauren Allison scored twice early in the second half and Everett (19-2-1) held on to beat Community Colleges of Spokane (20-3-2) 3-2 in the semifinals of the Northwest Athletic Conference Championships at Starfire Stadium in Tukwila, Washington.

The Sasquatch’s Sydni Thomas opened the scoring in the 19th minute, but the Trojans scored the next three goals.

Serena Robertson capped the scoring for CCS in the 88th minute.

Women’s basketball

Whitworth opened the season by overcoming a 16-point first-half deficit to beat Eastern Oregon (4-1) 67-55 in a nonconference game at Whitworth Fieldhouse.

The Pirates (1-0) trailed 31-21 at halftime, but hit 15 of 27 shots in the second half, taking the lead on a layin by Katara Belton-Sharp with 10:56 to play.

K.C. McConnell had 22 points and forward Jessica Kramer had 13 rebounds for Whitworth.

Junior hockey

Aaron Neufeld and Cole Keebler scored two goals apiece and the Fernie Ghostriders (16-4-0-1) beat the Spokane Braves (12-9-0-3) 7-2 in a KIJHL game in Fernie, British Columbia.