Locally: Former Spokane Chief Ray Whitney named to WHL’s list of top 50 players
Ray Whitney is No. 1 in Spokane. Now the former Chiefs standout is officially one of the top 50 all-time players in the Western Hockey League.
Whitney, a Chief from 1988-91 who led Spokane to the city’s first Memorial Cup championship following the 1991 season, was voted No. 49 by fans when the WHL selected the top 50 players to cap the league’ 50th season celebration.
Three other former Chiefs, two of them teammates with Whitney on the Memorial Cup team, forward Pat Falloon (1988-91) and goalie Trevor Kidd (1991), and forward Tyler Johnson (2007-11), were also among the 125 players on the list compiled by a panel of historians from which the top 50 were selected.
The were recognized during the league’s annual awards ceremony last week in Calgary, Alberta.
Whitney, the first Chiefs player to have his uniform number retired when his No. 14 was raised to the rafters in the Arena this season, topped the century mark in points in two of his three seasons in Spokane.
He accumulated 348 points (141 goals, 207 assists) in 214 regular-season games, a Chiefs record, and added 38 points in 21 playoff games. After being selected in the second round by the San Jose Sharks in the 1991 NHL draft, Whitney played 21 seasons in the NHL for eight teams. In 2006, he won the Stanley Cup with the Carolina Hurricanes.
During the 1990-91 season, Whitney earned the Four Broncos Memorial Trophy as the WHL Player of the Year and the Bob Clarke Trophy as the top scorer in the WHL. His 185 points (67 goals, 118 assists) in 72 games is tied for seventh all time for the most points in a season.
After scoring 11 points (five goals, six assists) in the Memorial Cup tournament, Whitney received the George Parsons Trophy as the Most Sportsmanlike Player and was named to the Memorial Cup All-Star Team.
Joe Sakic (Swift Current Broncos, 1986-88), the WHL Most Valuable Player and Rookie of the Year in 1986-87 and Canadian Hockey League Player of the Year the following season, is No. 1 on the Top 50 list.
The Chiefs have been recognized as the WHL’s Scholastic Team of the Year for the first time, collecting the 2015-16 honor that goes to the team with the highest overall academic performance throughout the season.
The Chiefs, one of the youngest teams in the WHL, had nine players attending Ferris High School, where they earned an 86 percent average mark in 11th- and 12th-grade courses. Four completed advanced placement courses and two completed their high school graduation requirements by the end of the first semester. Nine other Chiefs completed post-secondary work online through Athabasca University, a Canadian school specializing in online education.
“We set the academic bar high every season, and the last few years our guys have performed at an exceptional level in the classroom,” said Joe Everson, the Chiefs’ education advisor who was in Calgary last week to accept the award. “We were close last year, so … the players knew that our goal was to win the Scholastic Award.”
The Chiefs have unveiled an updated website with improved mobile compatibility that matches updates made by the WHL. A team release said spokanechiefs.com brings flexibility to fans accessing from mobile devices and tablets with everything from news and promotions to box scores and ticket purchases more accessible.
College scene
Lindsie Scholwinski, who pitched Community Colleges of Spokane to the Northwest Athletic Conference softball championship last spring, stepped up and stood out.
The Coeur d’Alene High School graduate, who led the Vikings to the 2012 Idaho 5A State title, was named The Sun Conference Pitcher of the Year and first-team All-TSC after a season that included three top-three national marks and five conference Pitcher of the Week awards.
She finished the regular season with a 27-5 record for the 38-11, NAIA Division I 10th-ranked Fire and a 1.27 earned-run average. The victories tie for first nationally, the ERA is 14th, while her 248 strikeouts rank second and her 215 innings are third.
Scholwinski led the league in opponent batting average (.201), hits allowed per game (5.14) as well as her strikeouts and wins. She was 11-1 with a 1.53 ERA in 13 conference games.
Joining her on the All-TSC first team was former CCS teammate Sydnie Malloy from Timberlake of Spirit Lake. The junior shortstop was an at-large selection. She was third on the team in hits (54) and runs scored (31).
Kristen Hansen, the Western Washington senior from Mead, finished a stellar collegiate career by tying for 27th in the NCAA Division II West/South Central Regional last week in Stockton, California, with an 11-over-par 227. Hansen had the second-best score for the Vikings, who placed ninth in the 12-team regional and failed to advance to the national championships.
J.T. Konrad, a Western Washington sophomore from Mead, became the second Viking in school history to clear 16 feet in the men’s pole vault when he went 16-4 3/4 to win the event at a meet in Bellingham. That’s a provisional NCAA qualifying mark and improved his personal best by 10 1/2 inches.
Madison Kerr of Lewis and Clark, a freshman at Western Washington, rowed in the Vikings’ second Varsity 8 that finished third in its division at the Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championships last weekend in Rancho Cordova, California. The Vikings’ Varsity 8 and Varsity 4 won Grand Finals and its other two boats had top-three finishes.
Two student-athletes from Gonzaga and two from Whitworth have been named to 2016 Capital One Academic All-District 8 teams by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
Taylor Jones, GU’s first baseman, and right-handed pitcher Brandon Bailey were named to the Division I baseball team. Jones, a senior, will graduate Sunday with a 3.50 grade-point average in communication studies. Bailey, a junior, has a 3.47 GPA in sport management.
Joel Condreay, a sophomore shortstop at Whitworth, was named to the Division III baseball team with a 3.95 GPA in accounting. Megan John, a senior catcher, was named to the All-District 8 Division III softball team for a second straight season with a 3.97 GPA. She will graduate this month as a health science major.
All are eligible for CoSIDA Academic All-America teams. John was a third-team softball Academic All-American in 2015.
Thirteen at Eastern Washington and nine at Idaho lead the list of area athletes named to Big Sky Conference All-Academic teams for winter quarter.
To qualify, student-athletes must maintain a 3.20 cumulative GPA or better.
Eastern selections:
Women’s basketball – Mariah Cunningham, sophomore, Central Valley.
Men’s indoor track and field – Aaron Brenton, senior, Cheney/CCS; Austin Upmeyer, junior, University; Steaven Zachman, freshman, Cheney.
Women’s indoor track and field – Leanne Asper, so., Lake City; Brooklyn Bellomy, sr., East Valley; Dominique Butler, so., Lewis and Clark; Anandae Clark, jr., Lakeside-Nine Mile Falls; Erin Clark, jr., Cheney; Kendra Hamm, jr., University; Selina Koon, so., Moses Lake; Sofia Pizzillo, fr., Shadle Park; Johanna Sherman, so., Cheney.
Idaho selections:
Men’s basketball – Chris Sarbaugh, sr., Gonzaga Prep; Jake Straughan, fr., Colton.
Women’s basketball – Karlee Wilson, jr., Lewiston.
Men’s indoor track and field – Matthew Bauman, fr., Post Falls; Zion Stuffle, fr., Lewiston.
Women’s indoor track and field – Victoria Goetz, fr., Coeur d’Alene High; Kinsey Gomez, sr., CdA High; McCall Skay, fr., West Valley; Krista Story, fr., CdA High.
Idaho State: Bret Davide, fr., Post Falls, men’s indoor T&F; Taylor Hewett, jr., Culdesac, Idaho/University of Idaho, women’s indoor T&F; Kaitlyn Whitesitt, sr., Lakeland of Rathdrum, women’s indoor T&F.
Montana: Brandon Gfeller, jr., Colfax, men’s basketball; Olivia Ellis, fr., Lewis and Clark, women’s indoor T&F.
Montana State: Hannah Caudill, so., Gonzaga Prep, women’s basketball; Delany Junkermier, so., Mead, women’s basketball; Sam Bloom, fr., Ferris, men’s indoor T&F; Alex Lewis, so., Moscow, men’s indoor T&F; Jessica Crisp, jr., Deer Park, women’s indoor T&F; Megan Ralstin, so., Lewiston, women’s indoor T&F.
Portland State: Michaela Kay, fr., Lewis and Clark, women’s basketball.
Whitworth captured the Northwest Conference McIlroy-Lewis All-Sports Trophy for a record ninth consecutive year, compiling 278 points in 2015-16 to outdistance runner-up Pacific Lutheran (213 points).
Whitworth, which has won 10 McIlroy-Lewis trophies since the competition was inaugurated in 1986, and PLU, which has the all-time lead with 15, had shared the record of eight straight.
Pirates teams collected 10 NWC team championships – a high for the university in one academic year. Three other teams placed second or third. Whitworth competes in 18 of the 20 varsity sports recognized by the NWC
Other schools in order of finish: Linfield, 205 points; Puget Sound, 200; Willamette, 180; George Fox, 179; Whitman, 174; Pacific, 168; and Lewis & Clark, 149.
Handball
Dan Murphy of Spokane and the Ryan Luttmann-Sam Sletager team from Sandpoint were the open division winners at the Idaho State Handball Tournament April 22-23 at the Sandpoint West Athletic Club.
Murphy defeated Pete Svennungsen, also of Spokane, 21-19, 17-21, 11-5 for the open singles title. Luttmann and Sletager won open doubles with a close round-robin tiebreaker calculation over brothers Eric Plummer of Sandpoint and Jake Plummer of Boulder, Colorado.
Chuck Gause of Sandpoint defeated Russ Akerhielm of Spokane 21-20, 21-20 in the age singles bracket final; Marty Presnell and Tye Barlow, both of Sandpoint, defeated Gause and Akerhielm 21-18, 21-10 for the age doubles title; and Dave Cousino of Sandpoint and Dave Malkin of Nevada were co-state champions in the diamond (70+) singles division.
Letters of intent
Washington State baseball – Andres Alvarez, SS, San Diego, Trinidad State (Colorado) Junior College; Nate Easley, OF, Yavapai (Arizona) College; Jake Polancic, RHP, Langley, British Columbia; Ryan Ramsower, 3B, Pima (Arizona) Community College; Cal Waterman, C, Bend, Oregon.
Carroll men’s basketball – Isaiah Hernandez, G, Lewis and Clark.
St. Olaf University wrestling – Sebastian Hyta, Freeman.
Gonzaga men’s tennis – Kyle Everly, Lafayette, California.
Idaho women’s golf – Danika Palm, Richland.
Idaho men’s golf – Brock Anderson, Lake Oswego, Oregon; Ethan Atherstone, Concord, California; Chris Carew, Eagle, Idaho/Cal Baptist; and Klaus Ganter, Madrid, Spain/Central Florida.
Shooting
Cassidy Wilson placed 12th in women’s J2 50-meter 3-position small-bore to lead the showing by six members of the Spokane Junior Rifle Team who qualified for the National Junior Olympic Shooting Championships last month at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Wilson, 15, who is home schooled, shot 1,107 out of a possible 1,200 in the division for 15- to 17-year-olds. She placed 42nd overall out of 70 competitors.
Maliya Hillman, 17, Lewis and Clark, placed 86th in J1 (18-20) and 141st overall out of 194 competitors in women’s J1 10-meter air rifle standing.
In men’s 10-meter air rifle standing, SJRT’s Mason Maystrovich, 15, Northwest Christian Middle School, and Aidan Maddox, 16, Riverpoint Academy, placed 44th and 45th, respectively, in J2 and 136th and 137th overall out of 187 competitors. Mike Cooper, 18, Mt. Spokane, was 98th in J1 and 166th overall.
David Wright, 17, Riverpoint, placed 29th in J1 and 46th overall in men’s 50-meter small-bore prone and 33rd in J1 and 50th overall in men’s 50-meter small-bore 3-position. There were 68 competitors in each discipline.
Triathlon
Billy Morse of Spokane and Jennifer Terry of Coeur d’Alene, first-time competitors, won the overall men’s and women’s titles at the 12th annual Rotary Leadman Triathlon at Silver Mountain Resort in Kellogg on April 23.
Morse conquered the muddy course on the way to a men’s-best time of 51 minutes, 32 seconds. Terry timed 1:04:48. Both were ahead of their closest competitor by more than four minutes in the ski, bike and run event that drew more than 170 competitors.
Age-division winners: Male 16-27 – Lennart Stoeppler, Chattaroy, 57:01.8. M28-34 – Brian Abbink, Spokane, 1:01:46.4. M35-43 – Morse. M44+ – Steve Bristow, Kellogg, 57:46.3. Female 16-30 – Abigail Goss, Spokane, 1:10:28.5. F31-39 – Terry. F40+ – Wanda Walsh, Veradale, 1:17:27.1. Kids – Judson Hall, Pinehurst, Idaho, 1:21:15.9.