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

Local briefs: Gonzaga grad Kara Soucek named to U.S. national team in rowing

Kara Soucek, a first-team All-American and two-time West Coast Conference Rower of the Year at Gonzaga, has been selected as an alternate for the U.S. National Team that will compete at the 2017 World Rowing Championships in Sarasota, Fla, Sept. 24-Oct. 1.

Soucek, a McCall, Idaho, native who graduated in 2016, will serve primarily as a backup for the sculling boats. She has her most experience with the quadruple scull since being introduced to scull boats a year ago.

Basketball

Shannon Donegan is the new director of basketball operations for the Gonzaga women’s team, Bulldogs coach Lisa Fortier announced.

Donegan, a 2012 graduate of Temple with a master’s in sport management from San Francisco in 2015, comes to Gonzaga after four years in the same position at West Coast Conference rival Saint Mary’s, where she was also video coordinator.

College scene

Mark Kharchenko, Montana Western’s freshman kicker from Colville, is the Frontier Conference’s first Special Teams Player of the Week in football after going 3-for-3 on field goals, with a long of 29 yards, and 1-for-1 on extra points in the Bulldogs’ 16-14 win over College of Idaho. He also sent three kickoffs through the end zone.

Idaho is ranked No. 13 in the USTFCCCA West Region women’s preseason cross country poll, matching the spot where the Vandals finished the 2016 season.

Idaho is the only Big Sky team in the West poll, with Northern Arizona (eighth), Montana (ninth), Southern Utah (10th), Montana State (11th) and Weber State (14th) ranked in the Mountain Region.

Letters of intent

Eastern Washington women’s basketball – Lea Wolff, G, Leverkusen, Germany (freshman).

Gonzaga men’s tennis – Bryan Husin, Jakarta, Indonesia/University of the Pacific (sophomore).