Sunday locals: Spokane Jr. Chiefs place seventh at national tournament
The Spokane Jr. Chiefs 14U Bantam AA team placed seventh in its 16-team division at the USA Hockey 14U Tier II National Championships last week in Charlotte, North Carolina.
The Spokane Americans Youth Hockey Association team won its first two games, 3-1 over the Nashville (Tennessee) Jr. Predators and 7-5 over the KC (Kansas) Mavs, before losing its pool-play finale 7-2 to the Atlanta (Georgia) Phoenix.
The second-place pool finish earned the Jr. Chiefs a spot in the quarterfinals, where they dropped a 3-2 overtime decision to the Wonderland (Connecticut) Wizards.
“We played our best game of the tournament,” Spokane coach Steve Ketola said. “They played like I knew they could. It was a bummer. We outshot them 44-18, we just couldn’t find the back of the net. It was a one-bounce thing. They got the bounce, we didn’t.”
Twelve of the Jr. Chiefs’ 16 position players collected at least one point, with Nate Wilson leading the way with five. His four goals included a hat trick in the win over KC. Goalies Radek Hunsinger and Tanner Moon each had a 1-1 record.
The national tournament had 38 14U Tier II teams in three divisions. The Jr. Chiefs, who received an at-large bid to nationals, finished the season with a 32-16-5 record. The Sno-Kings from Seattle, who defeated the Jr. Chiefs in the finals of the Pacific Northwest Amateur Hockey Association state finals, went 6-0 to win the 2A division in which the teams played.
The other Jr. Chiefs: Isaac Hood, Noah Gray, Collin Adams, Owen Miley, Jeremy Headley, Jake Measel, Casey Noack, Derek Humphreys, Damon Lawton, Stephen Huisking, Garrett Wood, Jacob Ketola, Matthew Etherton, Jake Inabinet and Jamison Baier. Assistant coach: Deke Adams. Manager: Anne Ketola.
College scene
Lindsie Scholwinski, a Southeastern University junior from Community Colleges of Spokane and Coeur d’Alene High School, has had a record-setting first season pitching for the Fire softball team.
Scholwinski, who pitched CCS to the NWAC championship last spring, became the first player in Southeastern history to register 200 strikeouts in a season. Through last week, the southpaw had 200 strikeouts in 155 innings while compiling a 20-4 record for the 30-10 Fire. At that point the Fire had 10 regular-season games and the playoffs remaining for her to add to her total.
During the week in which she reached 200, Scholwinski pitched 28 1/3 innings, striking out 44 and allowing just four earned runs, to be named the Sun Conference Pitcher of the Week for the fourth time this season.
Cheyenne Konrad, a Western Washington freshman from Mt. Spokane, won the 400 meters in a time of 59.05 seconds at the Saint Martin’s Track & Field Invite last weekend.
Shooting
Amanda Furrer and Eric Uptagrafft, both of Spokane who competed in the 2012 London Olympic Games, were left on the sidelines at the U.S. Olympic Shooting Trials last week in Fort Benning, Georgia.
Furrer, a Mead High School graduate, wound up seventh in a field of 16 bidding for one spot representing the U.S. in women’s 50m three-position rifle at the 2016 Games in Rio.
Virginia Thrasher, a West Virginia freshman and the NCAA champion, left three former Olympians home when she claimed the spot with a 1,781 aggregate score. Furrer had 1,740.
Uptagrafft, a University High graduate, placed fourth in a field of 14 in men’s 50m prone rifle where one spot was at stake. He had an aggregate score of 1,880.4. David Higgins of San Clemente, California, won with a 1,896.9.