Andrew Potyk leads strong regional showing at Nordic Championships
Andrew Potyk, a University of Colorado freshman from Ferris, led the showing by four members of the Spokane Nordic Ski Association at the 2017 USSA Cross Country Junior National Championships that wound up a week-long run March 11 at snow-starved Lake Placid, New York.
Potyk was fourth in the U20 10K freestyle and 11th in the 15K individual classic as competitors traversed an improvised course using man-made snow. He was the first finisher from the Pacific Northwest Ski Association team in each race.
There were 60 in each event with Spokane Nordic teammate Brett Ford of St. George’s finishing 49th in the freestyle and 43rd in the individual classic.
In the U20 1.5K classic sprint, Ford was 22nd, the second finisher from the PNW, and Potyk was 26th, No. 3 from the PNW.
In the U16 category, Lewis and Clark classmates Brooks Schaaf was 28th and Patrick Korus 40th in the 5K individual classic; Korus was 43rd and Schaaf 53rd in the 1.5K sprint; and Korus 58th and Schaaf 61st in the 5K freestyle. There were 66 in each event.
All also competed in relays and helped the Pacific Northwest to one of its best overall team finishes, placing sixth out of 10 regions.
Baseball
Cash Ulrich will retain his working relationship with Kyle Krustangel into the summer.
Ulrich, a Gonzaga Prep and Eastern Washington University graduate, has been named an assistant coach of the Wenatchee AppleSox of the wood-bat, summer collegiate West Coast League by head coach Krustangel.
Krustangel, a Ferris and Whitworth graduate, is also head coach of the Yakima Yaks of the Northwest Athletic Conference with Ulrich his assistant.
College scene
Two Greater Spokane League graduates received student-athlete of the week honors from the Northwest Conference for the week of March 20-26.
Kayla Leland, a Whitworth junior from Gonzaga Prep, earned women’s track honors after winning the 5,000 meters in 17 minutes, 7.11 seconds to shatter the school record by 21 seconds with a time that ranks first in the NWC and fourth in NCAA Division III. She was also third in the 1,500.
Scott Hilpert, a Linfield senior outfielder from Central Valley, won the baseball position player honor for the second time this spring after hitting .500 (10 for 20) with three doubles, four home runs, nine runs scored and seven RBIs in the Wildcats’ 4-1 week. He leads the NWC in average (.424) and home runs (10) and is second in RBIs (31).
• Danika Palm, an Idaho freshman from Richland, is the Big Sky Conference Women’s Golfer of the Week. In her first tournament for the Vandals, the San Diego State March Mayhem match-play event, Palm took all her matches to the final hole, winning her final match 1-up after being down by three holes with four to play.
• Mitchell Cox, a Community Colleges of Spokane outfielder from Shadle Park, was the NWAC Baseball Player of the Week after hitting .563 with nine hits, two home runs, four runs scored and six RBIs in four wins over Skagit Valley. Cox is tied for third in the NWAC in home runs with three and is eighth in hitting at .429.
• Hailey Johnson, a Washington State senior from Genesee, Idaho, earned first-team honors on the Pac-12 Conference Swimming & Diving All-Academic team with a 3.73 GPA.
• Emma Schanz, a UCLA sophomore from Colville, swam in three events for the Bruins at the NCAA Division I Swimming & Diving Championships March 15-18 in Indianapolis, the 200- and 400-yard individual medleys and the 200 breaststroke.
In the Pac-12 Championships, she had seventh-place finishes in the 400 IM and 200 breast and won the 200 IM B final in which she had a career-best 1 minute, 57.64 seconds. She also had a career-best in the 200 breast (2:09.18) during the 2016-17 season.
• Washington State has been invited to send a team to the 2017 USA Basketball 3x3 Women’s National Tournament this coming weekend in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Representing WSU in the 10-team tournament will be Caila Hailey, Nike McClure, Alexys Swedlund and Kayla Washington, members of the Cougars’ WNIT team.
• Sekou “Suki” Wiggs, an Alaska Anchorage senior who spent his first two seasons at Idaho, was named to the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) 2017 Division II All-West District first team.
• Washington State is No. 12 and Gonzaga is ranked 18th in the 2017 USRowing/CRCA women’s preseason rowing poll.
WSU finished fourth in the 2016 Pac-12 championships to earn a fourth straight trip to the NCAA Championships, where the Cougars placed 12th after going into the event last spring ranked 14th in the country.
GU is picked by the coaches to win a third-straight West Coast Conference championship and 16th overall. The Zags finished last season ranked No. 17 in the final US Rowing/CRCA Coaches Poll after finishing a program-best 16th at the NCAA Championships.
• Gonzaga landed four on the 2017 All-West Coast Conference Preseason Rowing Team – junior Isabelle Belzil and seniors Micailah Donner, Olivia Marsh and Meghan McCallum.
Golf
Luke Baker and Nicholas Thurston of Deer Park Golf Club combined for an 8-under 134 to tie for fourth in the Pacific Northwest Section PGA Pro-Assistant Championship March 20-21 at Glendale Country Club in Bellevue, Washington.
In a tie for 13th at 6-under 136 were Gordon Corder and Mark Wilkins of Manito Golf & Country Club and Trevor Fox and Austin Hall of The Golf Club at Black Rock.
Mike Fosnick and Shane Prante of Lake Spanaway, Washington, Golf Club scored a 1-stroke victory with a 13-under 129.
Hall of Fame
Twelve women who were softball or volleyball standouts – two both – will be inducted into the Community Colleges of Spokane Athletic Hall of Fame during a luncheon in the Spokane Falls CC Student Union Building on April 15 at noon.
Softball – Elaina Bohlman (1986, 1988), ’86 NWAACC East Region MVP; Rosanna Bostrom-Porche (1988-89), two-time All-Region, ’89 NWAACC batting champion (.442); Julie Fountain-Saldana (1995-96), two-time All-Region, hit .353 with 23 RBIs and had 11-3 pitching record in ’89; Tanya Palmer (1994-95), two-time All-Region and CCS batting champion who twice finished in top five in offensive production in NWAACC; Deanna Fountain-Martin (1994-95), part of 1-2 pitching punch for CCS with sister Julie in ’95 who earned All-Region and All-Conference honors and finished career with 32-8 record and 1.22 ERA; Juline Parry-Martin (1994-95), two-time All-Region for two-time region champions who hit .421 with 33 RBIs during her career to earn a spot in CCS record books; Marci Meddock-Gannon (1996-97), All-Region and All-NWAACC in ’97 who still ranks third in CCS in hitting and finished with .468 average and 58 hits; Traci Moore-Sampson (1996-97), two-way player (shortstop and pitcher) for back-to-back NWAACC runners-up who hit .402 with 38 runs, just two errors and 9-3 record with 1.89 ERA earning All-Region honors.
Volleyball - JoEne Heimbigner-Liezen (1996-97), two-time All-East Region, All-NWAACC; Katie Hirst-Naipo (2000-01), two-sport standout (volleyball and softball) whose .300 career percentage as a right-side hitter remains the school record; Shannon Horn-Russell (1988-89), another two-sport athlete who helped lead both the 1988 CCS softball and volleyball teams (both are in the NWAC Hall of Fame) to NWAACC championships and earned All-Region honors in both; Jenni Rosselli-Hull (1995-96), a 1996 AVCA All-American, NWAACC MVP and two-time All-Region and All-NWAACC.
They will be joined in the Class of 2017 by four other individuals and two teams that were announced last week - John Hernandez, an SFCC academic advisor for 35 years who worked with student-athletes; Leslie Young-Cheever (1989-90), softball; Andrea Edminster-Jensen (1992-93) and Melissa Hinojosa-Hill (1992-93), both volleyball; and the NWAACC champion 1990 softball and 1992 volleyball teams.
Ticket Information: Sunni Strand, 533-3630 or Sunni.Strand@ scc.spokane.edu.
Letters of intent
Gonzaga men’s soccer – Theo O‘Malley, MF, Parker, Colorado; Sam Turner, D, San Diego, California.
Portland State cross country & track – Hannah Tomeo, Mead, 2nd team All-GSL cross country 2016, 1st team All-GSL cross country 2015.
Carroll College volleyball – Laurel Kassa, L, Mead; Aliyah Williams, S, Coeur d’Alene High, two-time All-North Idaho 1st team.
Idaho men’s cross country & track – Caleb Seely, 800m-5k, Wilson of Portland.
Idaho women’s track & field – Hannah Ringel, shot & discus, Sedona, Arizona.
Obstacle racing
Ben Greenfield of Spokane has been selected to join a group of elite obstacle racing competitors in the 2017 Reebok Spartan Race World Championship that will culminate in Lake Tahoe, California, on Sept. 30.
Greenfield, a Spokane physiologist who received the National Strength & Conditioning Association Personal Trainer of the Year Award in 2008, has an extensive athletic background that includes triathlons, multiple Ironman Hawaii events, obstacle course races and bodybuilding competitions.
The U.S. Championship Series kicks off with the Emerald City Open in Seattle on April 22.
Weightlifting
USA Weightlifting has selected Spokane as the host city for the 2018 Nike National Junior Championships Feb. 15-18, 2018.
The event for the nation’s best 20-and-under lifters will be a qualifying event for the Pan Am Championships and International Weightlifting Federation Grand Prix events. More than 350 athletes are expected. The Spokane Sports Commission release announcing the event estimated the likely economic impact to reach $725,000.
It is the latest Olympic governing body to choose Spokane for a national event. Last month, USA Track & Field announced that Spokane will host the 2018 National Club Cross Country Championships, and Spokane will hold the 2017 USA Judo National and International Junior Olympics Championships in June.
Miscellany
The Spokane Youth Sports Awards, which annually honors area high-school aged athletes for their achievements, received the 2016 award for “Locally Created Event of the Year” from the National Association of Sports Commissions for cities under a population of 400,000 at the NASC’s 25th annual symposium last week in Sacramento, California.
“Four years ago, with our partners at SWX, we had an idea to transform the Spokane Youth Sports Awards into a high-energy, televised celebration for student-athletes and their families,” said Eric Sawyer, Spokane Sports Commission President and CEO. “We are so proud of how this award show has grown into a ‘must-attend’ event.”
According to the NASC judges, “Spokane identified a unique niche in honoring high-school aged athletes in their community using an ESPY’s model atmosphere. They produced the first-ever televised award show in the region, creating a memorable student-athlete experience.”