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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Shadle Park leaves little to spare at state bowling

It was quite a weekend for Corey Spurlock and his Shadle Park Highlanders at the 52nd Washington State High School Varsity Bowling Championships last Saturday and Sunday at Lilac Lanes.

The Highlanders produced two state champions, an all-state selection, a third-place team finish and Spurlock was inducted into the Washington State Bowling Proprietors Association State Coaches Hall of Fame.

“The kids did fantastic,” said Spurlock, the Shadle coach the last four years.

Makayla Hoover, a senior, won a state championship in Division 1 girls; Leslee Wilson, a junior, was the state champion in Division 2 girls; and Dylan Allison, a senior, made the Team 2 Boys Division 1 All-State team with a 191 average while helping lead Shadle to third place in Division 1.

Rogers sophomore Briane Applonie and seniors John Hilden and Mason Georgeadis of Mt. Spokane led a list of 10 other Spokane-area bowlers with top-four division finishes or all-state placings in the second-longest running high school bowling championship tournament in the country. More than 1,000 compete statewide during the season; 166 made their way to Spokane.

Applonie was state champion in Division 2 boys while Hilden, with a 204 average, and Georgeadis, with a 200, went 1-2 on the Team 1 Boys Division I All-State team.

Melissa Gray of Rogers, a senior, finished third behind Hoover in Division 1 girls while seniors Shauntee Harless of Cheney and Chari Ramelow of Rogers were third and fourth, respectively, behind Wilson in Division 2 girls.

Others earning spots on All-State teams and their averages: Anthony Huck, sr., East Valley, 198, Team 1 Boys Division 2; Nick Riordan, sr., EV, 179, Team 2 Boys Division 2; David Worthey, sr., Cheney, 178, Team 1 Boys Division 3; and Grace Remendowski, freshman, Cheney, 172, Girls Division.

Moses Lake defended its championship in winning the team title in Division I with Mt. Spokane sixth; Shorecrest won Division II in which East Valley was fourth; and Cascade won Division III with Cheney fourth and Rogers eighth.

Moses Lake had the Division I MVP in Payton Owens and the Chiefs’ Danielle Gray was second in Division 1 girls and Maddy Garza second in Division 2 girls. Owens, in Team 1 Boys Division 1 with a 197 average, and Noah Torres, in Team 2 Boys Division 1 with a 195 average, made All-State teams.

“It was a complete shock, and one heck of an honor,” Spurlock said of his induction into the WSBPA State Coaches Hall of Fame.

“My sons, I think, were more excited that I was,” he said of Justin, a junior, and stepson Donovan Meadows, a senior, members of the Shadle team. “They were jumping up and down. They were very happy for me.”

Greg Olson, executive director of the WSBPA, said selection to the shrine, inaugurated in 2005, is based largely on the contribution and success of the inductees at the local level and the sportsmanship they inspire.

“Corey has been very successful” in building the program, not only at Shadle, but also in the area, “and his teams have been very competitive,” Olson said. “One thing we ask the kids is what team do you like to compete against; who makes it fun. Shadle has always scored really, really high in that regard.”

In fact, two years ago, Shadle received the Most Inspirational Award at the state tournament, and last year the Highlanders went into the tournament with the lowest average and both the boys and girls “worked their way up” to top-seven finishes, Spurlock said. “We were very happy with what we did.”

Scott Cervine of Eastmont and Veronica Cook of Shorecrest also were inducted.

College scene

Sam Dowd is the NWAC Men’s Basketball Player of the Week after the North Idaho College sophomore point guard from Gonzaga Prep turned in a pair of big performances in convincing wins against No. 7 Big Bend (101-82) and top-ranked Spokane (93-71).

Dowd averaged 23 points per game on 59 percent shooting, including 55 percent from 3-point range, and added 9.0 assists and 4.5 rebounds per game. For the season, Dowd ranks first in the NWAC in assists at 7.2 per game and 15th in scoring at 18.2.

Whitworth senior Christian Jurlina is the Northwest Conference Men’s Basketball Player of the Week after the forward from Australia average 22 points, seven rebounds and 3.5 assists per game as the fifth-ranked Pirates won a pair of games to end the regular season. The performance included 63-percent shooting from the field and 7-for-7 on free throws.

Riley Sine, a Northwest University freshman from Central Valley, was honored as the Cascade Collegiate Conference Men’s Indoor Track Athlete of the Week after turning in an NAIA “B” qualifying time in winning the 5,000 meters at the HUB City Last Chance meet. He ran 15 minutes, 18 seconds in only his second meet of the season.

• Three women on the Whitworth cross country team – Kayla Leland, Thais Pedro-Trujillo and Bailey Scott – and the Pirates women’s and men’s teams were honored by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association for achieving grade-point averages of 3.30 or above in addition to finishing in the top 25 percent at the NCAA Division III West Regional.

Leland, an NCAA Division III All-American for her 12th-place finish in the national championships, placed third in the West Regional, Scott was 10th and Pedro-Trujillo 12th for the regional champion Pirates. They were recognized as All-Academic individuals while the Pirates women were 20th among 216 teams honored as a All-Academic team with a 3.62 GPA.

The Whitworth men were 29th among 173 teams with a 3.50 GPA.

All-America seniors Cooper Kupp and Samson Ebukam were multiple recipients at the annual Eastern Washington football awards presentation last weekend.

Wide receiver Kupp, a two-time NCAA FCS Player of the Year, repeated as team offensive player of the year, and defensive end Ebukam was defensive player of the year as well as joining four other seniors as team captains. Kupp was also given the Pat Roberts Memorial Award for academic and athletic excellence.

Redshirt freshman Jack Sendelbach was the special teams player of the year. The scout team players of the year were defensive lineman Keith Moore, defensive back Calin Criner, quarterback Eric Barriere and Adam Gascoyne for special teams.

The other captains were Shaq Hill, Zach Wimberly, Miquiyah Zamora and Zach Bruce.

Tommy Williams, an All-American at Eastern in 1992, received the Tom Oswald Award honoring for the late former longtime Cheney High School football coach. Williams lives in Spokane where he is involved in a variety of community service endeavors benefitting youth.

Nordic skiing

Three members of the Spokane Nordic Ski Association and a team alum, led by two-time qualifier Patrick Korus and 2017 Langlauf winner Brett Ford, have qualified for the 2017 Junior National Nordic Ski Championships next weekend in Lake Placid, New York.

Ford, a St, George’s senior, and Andrew Potyk, a Ferris graduate and freshman at the University of Colorado, qualified in the U20 male division during season-long Pacific Northwest Ski Association competition that would up last weekend with the Mt. Spokane Nordic Cup.

Korus, also a 2016 Junior National qualifier, and Lewis and Clark classmate Brooks Schaaf advanced to Junior Nationals by placing fifth and sixth, respectively, in the U16 male division.

The top seven qualify, and the Spokane Nordic Ski Association’s top female finisher, Potyk’s sister, Lauren Potyk, a Ferris senior, was a just-miss eighth in her U18 division.

Top area finisher from outside Spokane was Tabor Dussault of Sandpoint, 12th in the U16 male division. His mother, Rebecca, a former Olympian, was the female winner at Langlauf.

Spokane Nordic members have been dominant in the U14 female division, which doesn’t qualify for Junior Nationals. Bridget Burns, a double winner last weekend on Mt. Spokane, Maggie McLaughlin, Alice Groza and Linnea Sunderman hold the top four spots. Spokane’s top U14 male is John DeForest in fifth.