Locally: Former Ferris standout Eric Ansett piles up honors at Lipscomb

Eric Ansett is the ASUN Conference Men’s Golf Scholar-Athlete of the Year … and a two-time first-team all-academic selection … and a first-team all-conference golfer.

The honors were bestowed upon the junior at Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee, a graduate of The Oaks and former Ferris standout, at the ASUN golf championship banquet last weekend.

Ansett became the first Bisons men’s golfer to earn the prestigious award after what the conference news release called “an outstanding season on the course and in the classroom.”

A first-team all-academic recipient also as a sophomore, he maintained a 3.71 cumulative grade-point average in journalism and new media while excelling on the course. He finished the regular season with a 72.28 scoring average, fifth best in the ASUN, to earn first-team all-conference recognition. He had two top-five and four top-10 finishes

In the ASUN championship tournament, Ansett tied for 16th with a 6-over-par 222 as the Bisons finished second to Kennesaw State by a stroke. Ansett started the 54-hole tournament with a 2-under 70 but stumbled to a 79-73 finish, winding up as Lipscomb’s No. 4 scorer after entering the tournament as its No. 2 seed.

Basketball

David Riley, an Eastern Washington assistant the last three seasons, has been recognized by the National Association of Basketball Coaches as one of top 30-under-30, up-and-coming young coaches in the men’s program in the country.

Riley is a 2011 graduate of Whitworth, where he was a three-time, first-team All-Northwest Conference selection. He played for former EWU head coach Jim Hayford, who left Whitworth after Riley’s senior season to take the head coaching job at Eastern. Riley joined Hayford’s first staff at Eastern in 2012 as director of basketball operations. He was elevated to an assistant coaching position the next season.

Hayford has moved on, accepting the head coaching job at Seattle University, but Riley remains on the Eastern staff as an assistant to new head coach Shantay Legans.

Legans called it “a great honor” for Riley, addin

g, “there is no doubt in my mind that David will continue to climb the ladder in the basketball coaching ranks. … (He) is intelligent and hard working and comes from a family of great coaches.” His uncle, Mike Riley, is head football coach at Nebraska.

Boston Marathon

Javier Pita from Spokane had the best time of 42 runners from the Spokane and North Idaho area in the 121st running of the Boston Marathon last Monday.

Pita, 37, crossed the finish line in the 26-mile, 385-yard event in 2 hours, 49.45 seconds, placing 573rd overall, 535th among men and 433rd in his age group. Scott Garrison, 29, of Spokane, was the only other area finisher to break 3 hours, timing 2:54.37. He was 872nd overall, 647th in his age group.

The first area female finisher was Corrina Kelsey, 29, of Spokane, in 3:04:47. She was 141st among the women and 123rd in her age group.

There were five who had top-100 age-group finishes – Carol Wright, 75, of Sandpoint, fifth in her age group; Sue Jacobson, 62, Pullman, 52nd; Dough Jacobson, 61, Pullman, 53rd; Patti Paris, Moses Lake, 72nd; and Ann Jones, 66, Spokane, 83rd.

The other area runners listed in the overall order of their finish:

Washington – Jonathan Wallis, Pullman; Sarah Larue, Spokane; Gabe Roach, Spokane; Joe Hewa, Pullman; Chris Shane, Cheney; Michael Varnum, Pullman; Danielle Hess, Pullman; Emily Johnson, Kettle Falls; Scott Marquis, Spokane; Herman Schreven, Cheney; Keith Brownlee, Spokane; Betsy Duchesne, Spokane.

Angela Smith, Liberty Lake; Stacia Ferney, Spokane; Tracie Podoll, Spokane; Adrianne Campbell, Spokane; Dominic Casey, Spokane; Jeanne Mccarty, Spokane; Catherine Greer, Spokane; Kati John, Spokane; Thessaly Nicolaysen, Spokane; Jeremy Marshall, Colville; Natalie Callagher, Spokane; and Patricia Dempsey, Spokane Valley.

Idaho – Cayle Turpen, Moscow; Dan Mottern, Deary; Dick Shaunavee, Sandpoint; Walter Fairfax, Coeur d’Alene; Jeffrey Larson, CdA; Mark Allen, Genesee; Heath Wiltse, CdA; Tabitha Wiltse, CdA; Brian Ringle, Lewiston; and Amy Fairley, Sandpoint.

College scene

J. J. Robinson, Lewis-Clark State’s senior designated hitter from Colfax, was named the Cascade Collegiate Conference Baseball Player of the Week after a monster week in which slugged four home runs, drove in 15 runs and batted .384 to lead the Warriors to a 6-0 week.

• Whitworth athletes swept the Northwest Conference weekly women’s track student-athlete of the week awards for the week of April 10-16 and added one in men’s track. Kayla Brase, a junior from Lake Oswego, Oregon, collected the women’s field honor after breaking her school record in the triple jump by more than a foot, leaping 39 feet, 6 1/2 inches in winning the event in the Whitworth Twilight Meet. The mark leads the NWC and ranks fourth in NCAA Division III. Women’s track honors went to junior Kayla Leland from Gonzaga Prep for a second straight week after she won the 800 in a season-best 2 minutes, 11.60 seconds, tops in the NWC and fourth best in D-III. On the men’s side, John-Robert Woolley, a junior from Mill Creek, Washington, won the 400 hurdles (55.15) and was second in the 110 hurdles (15.50) in season-best times. He leads the NWC in the 400 and is second in the 110.

Madison Kerr, a Western Washington sophomore from Lewis and Clark, rows in the second seat on the Vikings’ second varsity 8+ that won both its races at the Covered Bridge Regatta in Lowell, Oregon, last weekend. Top-ranked WWU won five of eight races with three seconds.

Angus Montgomery, a Gonzaga senior from England via North Idaho College, received honorable mention on the West Coast Conference All-Academic team in men’s golf for a second straight year with a grade-point average of 3.20 or higher.

Golf

Two area professionals and an amateur had top-10 finishes in the Pacific Northwest Senior Players Championship last week at Wine Valley Golf Club in Walla Walla.

Billy Bomar from Prairie Falls in Post Falls and Mike DeLong of the Coeur d’Alene Resort were in a six-way tie for eighth overall, and a five-way tie for third among the pros, with 2-under-par 142s.

Jim Holt from The Creek at Qualchan was seventh among the amateurs with a 143. He tied for second in amateur net with a 137.

Three other area pros were within 10 strokes of champion Tom Sovay from The Golf Club at Redmond Ridge at Redmond, Washington, who shot 9-under 135. Steve Prugh, Manito Golf & Country Club, shot 144; and Kris Runge, Twin Lakes Golf & Country Club, and Craig Schuh, Deer Park Golf Club, had 145s.

EWU hall of fame

Tony Brooks and Jackie Kellogg, key members of the 1992 Eastern Washington football team that captured the first of what has become nine Big Sky Conference championships, will be inducted as individuals into the EWU Athletics Hall of Fame during ceremonies Sept. 30.

The 17th class will be highlighted by the induction of that ’92 team that is being honored on the 25th anniversary of its 7-4 campaign that produced a Big Sky co-championship with Idaho and a berth in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision playoffs.

Brooks, a two-time All-Big Sky wide receiver, was a third-team NCAA Division I-AA All-American as a senior in 1993 and finished his career with four school receiving records – 167 receptions (it now ranks 10th), 3,013 yards, 26 touchdowns and 18.0 yards average per catch. His 60 catches in 10 games in 1993 was a school record that has been surpassed by 22.

Kellogg, a two-time All-Big Sky defensive back from 1990-93, left with a school-record of 41 passes broken up that still stands. His 17 interceptions and 222 tackles were among the top four in school history at the time.

He went on to a nearly decade-long professional career, spending eight seasons (1995-2002) in the Canadian Football League with Calgary and Edmonton. He was twice named to the CFL All-West team and played in four Grey Cups, including winning the Grey Cup with Calgary in 1998.

Brooks and Kellogg, both from Tacoma, were named to Big Sky All-Academic teams in each of their four seasons and were named by the Eastern athletic department to it “100 for 100” All-Time Football Team in 2008, commemorating the school’s 100th year of football.

More individual inductees will be announced later.

The induction breakfast and ceremony is open to the public; cost is $20 per person. Guests must register via a link that will be available in July at http://goeags.com/HOF. Inductees will also be honored at halftime of EWU’s football game that day against Sacramento State.

Letters of intent

Boise State wrestling – Trevor Senn, Mead; 2017 State 4A 182-pound champion, three-time All-GSL.

Whitworth football – Cody Cantrell, C, Post Falls.

Rocky Mountain football – Matt Mills, WR/DB, Post Falls.

Montana women’s cross country/track and field – Madison Ward, St. George’s; State 2B champion in cross country as a junior and three-time runner-up; State 2B 800 and 1,600 champion as a junior.

Idaho men’s track and field – Michael McCausland, distances, Central Catholic of Portland.

Hawaii Pacific women’s basketball – Hailey Higashi, St. George’s; four-time first-team All-Northeast 2B, first-team All-State 2B, second-leading scorer in St. George’s school history.

Eastern Washington volleyball – MaKenna Davis, OH, Parker, Colorado; Letarona Mose, MB, Long Beach, California; Emma Dunn, S, Salt Lake City; Jayde Robertson, MB/RS, Tsawwassen, British Columbia; Leanna Shymanski, MB/RS, Kamiakin; Catelyn Linke, L, Pasco; Kahle Elliott, OH, Austin, Texas/Seattle University; Ashelyn Jones, OH/RS, Honolulu, Hawaii/College of Southern Idaho;

Washington State volleyball – Charity Bradley, OH, St. George, Utah.

Idaho women’s golf – Grace Frazier, Clarkston; two-time District 7 champion, two-time Great Northern League MVP, 2nd at State 2A tournament as a sophomore.

Shooting

Taylor Christian, 15, Spokane Valley Tech, finished 21st in a field of 70 in the Precision individual three-position air rifle competition at the Civilian Marksmanship Program West Region Championships in Layton, Utah, earlier this month.

Her Spokane Junior Rifle Club teammate, Zachary Pearsall, 15, Oasis High School, placed 78th in the Sporter category. They qualified for regionals by winning state championships in the fall.