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

Chiefs select Dane with first-round pick

The Spokane Chiefs selected 18-year-old Danish forward Niklas Andersen with the 26th overall pick in the 2015 CHL Import Draft on Tuesday.

Andersen, 5-foot-11, 180 pounds from Esbjerg, Denmark, had 11 goals and 7 assists in 36 games with the Esbjerg Energy in the Metal Ligaen, Denmark’s premier hockey league. Esbjerg was the runner-up in the 2015 Metal Ligaen Championship. Andersen also played nine games with the Danish U18 team and competed in the IIHF U18 World Championship.

Andersen will be eligible for the NHL Draft beginning in 2016. He joins Austrian forward Dominic Zwerger as the Chiefs’ two allowed European import players heading into the 2015-16 regular season.

Track and field

Gonzaga’s Brandon Pollard took fifth place in the 1,500-meter run at the USATF Junior Outdoor Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene.

Pollard, who will be a sophomore next year, finished in 3 minutes, 59.47 seconds, just more than a second behind Oregon’s Blake Henry.