Gonzaga Prep football headlines Youth Awards
State champions are ever present in the Spokane Youth Sports Awards, which were announced during a ceremony Tuesday.
And there was an added element. The big schools were separated from the little schools.
Gonzaga Prep football, for obvious reasons, had a big night. Coach Dave McKenna, whose Bullpups went 14-0 and captured the State 4A championship, was named coach of the year.
The Bullpups also were named the male 4A/3A/2A team of the year.
The Colton girls basketball cruised to an eighth straight State 1B championship and were honored as 1A/2B/1B female team of the year.
Deer Park wrestling captured yet another title under coach Matt Jorgensen and was named 1A/2B/1B male team of the year.
The Central Valley girls basketball team didn’t suffer a blemish in a 28-0 season that culminated with a State 4A title. The Bears were named 4A/3A/2A female team of the year.
Lewis and Clark senior Riley Lupfer, who has signed to play basketball at Boise State University, was named the female athlete of the year. She was the Greater Spokane League’s most valuable player.
Lakeside wrestler Dalton Young, undefeated through three seasons with three state titles, was named the male athlete of the year.
Sarah Nichols, a swimmer with the Coeur d’Alene Swim Club, was named the non-high school female athlete of the year.
Andrew Potyk, an area cross country/Nordic skier, was named the non-high school male athlete of the year.
The ceremony ended with presentations to four recipients of the ‘against all odds’ award. They were: Eli Emerson of Central Valley, Adam Jacobson of Lewis and Clark, Katherine Kaczka, a Spokane parasport athlete, and Roberto Lopez of Rogers.