Locally: Alex Holodnick wins Junior Bowlers Tour stop at Players & Spectators
Top qualifier Alex Holodnick won the Junior Bowlers Tour stop at Players & Spectators last Sunday when tight matches and high scores that included a perfect game were the talk of the day.
Kyle Groves had the place buzzing when he rolled his first 300 game to kick off the match-play portion of qualifying to highlight an 804 three-game series and 995 four-game set that vaulted him from 11th into third place for the five-person roll-off finals.
Holodnick followed a 996 series his first four games with a 999 and 4-0 record in the match-play portion of qualifying to solidify the No. 1 spot. Blake English rolled a 981 while going 3-1 to take over second. An 891 series and 4-0 record earned Calvin Ruffner the fourth playoff spot, and Dante Sellgren held on to fifth off an 866 opening set.
Ruffner finished second, dropping the title match 210-170 to Holodnick after besting English 267-257 in the closest match of the day. English was third, Groves finished fourth after losing a 10th-frame tiebreaker to Ruffner, and Sellgren was fifth.
Grace Remendowski led the girls with a 255 game, 862 four-game series and 206 average for the day. Holodnick had high average for the boys, a 245. English averaged 237, Ruffner 213 and Eli Storer 205.
The next JBT will be the doubles tournament at Lilac Lanes on Dec. 8.
College scene
Two players each from Washington State, Eastern Washington and Whitworth were named to Academic All-District football teams by the College Sports Information Directors of America.
WSU wide receiver Brandon Arconado, a graduate student with a 3.65 GPA, and Cougars junior defensive lineman Dallas Hobbs, who has a 3.81 GPA, were named to the Division I District 8 team along with EWU sixth-year senior center Spencer Blackburn, who was honored for the second straight year with a 3.69 GPA, and senior safety Dehonta Hayes, who has a 3.80.
Whitworth landed senior defensive lineman Andrew McCoy, with a 3.72 GPA, and defensive back Zach Hillman (Post Falls), with a 3.89 GPA, on the Division III District 8 team.
• Cassidy Crosswhite, a Pacific Lutheran junior from Freeman, and three Whitworth Pirates were honored when the 2019 All-Northwest Conference women’s soccer team was announced.
Crosswhite, who had started just one game for the four-time NWC champion Lutes her first two years, was named the first-team goalkeeper after allowing just four goals in 12 starts this season. She made 25 saves and had a 0.32 goals-against average.
Whitworth placed junior forward Jadyn Baumgartner, its leading scorer with five goals and an honorable mention selection in 2018, and sophomore midfielder Brixiada Mendoza, who had three goals and two assists, on the second team. Sophomore midfielder Lauren Richardson received honorable mention.
• Seattle Pacific’s Chloe Gellhaus, a midfielder from East Valley, was named the 2019 Great Northwest Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year in women’s soccer and is one of five from the area named to All-GNAC teams.
“It’s a great reward for the hard work that she’s put in,” SPU coach Arby Busey said of the unanimous first-team selection, who ranks No. 2 on the Falcons with six goals.
Darby Doyle, a Western Washington junior midfielder from Gonzaga Prep, was named to the All-GNAC second team.
Gellhaus’ SPU teammate Claire Neder, a junior midfielder from Mead; Olivia Sloan, a Central Washington sophomore defender from Mead; and Concordia senior midfielder Michaela Prothe from Ferris received honorable mention.
• The West Coast Conference selected five Gonzaga Bulldogs and two former area high school players to its 2019 all-conference women’s soccer teams.
GU placed senior midfielder Madeline Gotta, who was fifth in the conference with five goals, finishing the season with seven goals and four assists overall, on the first team. She was joined by Santa Clara junior forward Kelsey Turnbow, who played her first two high school seasons at Central Valley before moving to Arizona. She’s a three-time first-team choice.
The second team includes Gonzaga senior forwards Samantha Heilman and India Jencks and Santa Clara senior midfielder Kelcie Hedge from Post Falls, the 2018 WCC Player of the Year, who had five goals and eight assists this season.
Jencks wrapped up her GU career ranked fourth in program history with 12 assists and 48 points. She was fifth all time with 18 career goals and tied the program record with seven assists this season. Heilman scored all six of her goals this season during league play, which ranked fourth in the conference. She ended her career with eight goals and eight assists.
The All-Freshman team includes GU goalkeeper Lyza Bosselmann, who split time in goal and finished with a .870 save percentage and 0.70 GAA, second and third in the conference, respectively, and forward Erin Healy, who had 12 starts and scored five goals with two assists.
• Gonzaga’s 3-2, season-ending West Coast Conference victory at Pacific last weekend enabled the Bulldogs (12-6-1, 5-3-1 WCC) to tie the program record for most wins in a season with 12. GU last won 12 in 2008 when it tied a mark set in 2005. The Zags won five WCC matches for the second year in a row to tie that program high.
• Senior forward Morgan Weaver was honored for a fourth straight season and led a handful of Washington State players selected to 2019 Pac-12 All-Conference and All-Freshman teams in women’s soccer.
Weaver, who led the Cougars with 11 goals, capped by a program-best-tying four on senior day, was named to the second team. Junior defender Brianna Alger and grad transfer midfielder Averie Collins and senior goalkeeper Ella Dederick were picked to the third team. Forward MacKenzie Frimpong-Ellertson was on the All-Freshman team.
• Rylee Rassier, a Northwest University senior forward from University, was named co-Offensive Player of the Year in the Cascade Collegiate Conference to lead four area athletes selected to 2019 CCC All-Conference women’s soccer teams.
Rassier tied for the league lead with 16 goals, seven of them winners that rank seventh nationally, and added one assist.
She was joined on the first team by two Eastern Oregon senior teammates, Josee Bassett, a defender from Coeur d’Alene HS, who had three goals and three assists, and midfielder Nan Kiebert from Sandpoint, who led her team with 11 goals and seven assists.
The second team included Carroll College sophomore defender Katie Anderson from Mead, who had been an honorable selection as a freshman.
• Jackson Moore, a Pacific Lutheran senior forward from Lewis and Clark, and three Whitworth Pirates were named to 2019 Northwest Conference men’s soccer all-conference teams.
Moore, the 2016 NWC Freshman of the Year and an honorable mention selection, was named to the first team after he scored nine goals with five assists this season, with four of the goals winners.
Whitworth senior midfielder Chase Reidt from Central Valley, who had a team-high six goals with four assists, was named to the second team. Juniors Danny Alvarez, a midfielder, and defender Scott Penner, who came on strongly after missing the first half of the season with an injury, received honorable mention.
• Four men and four women from Community Colleges of Spokane and one man from North Idaho College were named to Northwest Athletic Conference North-East Region Soccer All-Star teams.
CCS landed sophomores Christian Bahena (forward), David Uribe (midfield) and Carlos Campo (defender) and freshman defender Ruben Flores on the men’s team along with NIC sophomore defender Jacob Luhrs.
On the women’s team were CCS freshmen Kylie Somerday, a midfielder from Shadle Park, and defender Lizzy Gonzalez, and sophomores Grace Ellis, a defender from Lewis and Clark, and Megan Wilkinson, a midfielder.
• The 2019 CCC men’s all-conference soccer team includes two players at Warner Pacific on the honorable mention list who transferred from area schools. Arturo Bahena is a junior forward from Spokane Falls CC and Oscar Padilla is a senior midfielder from North Idaho College.
• Montana senior Missy Huddleston from Coeur d’Alene HS earned her second Big Sky Conference Defensive Player of the Week in volleyball honor for a second consecutive week after helping lead the Grizzlies to their first win over Idaho in Moscow since 1991.
Huddleston averaged 1.3 blocks and 2.3 digs per set in two matches during the week and added 3.0 kills while hitting .349 for the week. She had a team-high eight blocks with 13 kills and 11 digs against Idaho.
• Washington State senior Alexis Dirige was selected the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week in volleyball after the libero led the Cougars to road wins over Oregon State and Oregon with 37 total digs to see her school career record total increase to 2,047, 10th all time in the Pac-12.
WSU swept Oregon in the regular season for the first time since 2003. It was the first time since 2002 the Cougars swept both Oregon schools in a season.
• Journey Tupea, a freshman outside hitter at North Idaho College, and Community Colleges of Spokane’s Alleana Gallagher collected two awards apiece when the NWAC passed out weekly volleyball honors.
Tupea was the NWAC Athlete of the Week and East Region Offensive Player of the Week after she had 33 kills in six sets with a 47% kill efficiency and added 20 digs, three blocks and a service ace. Gallagher, a sophomore from Lakeside (Nine Mile Falls), was the NWAC and East Region Defensive Player of the Week.
NIC’s Hokulea Vargas, a freshman from Mt. Spokane, was the East Setter of the Week. She capped her week with 37 assists in a three-set sweep of Treasure Valley.
• Central Valley graduate Keann White collected honors for her performance on the court and in the classroom following her senior volleyball season at Northwest University in Kirkland, Washington.
The outside hitter/middle blocker was named to the All-Cascade College Conference first team after she compiled 206 kills (a 2.15 per-set average) and 81 blocks in 27 matches.
Her 3.65 GPA in intercultural studies earned her a spot on the NAIA Academic All-District 4 first team selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America and makes her eligible for the NAIA Academic All-America team.
• Laney Search, a George Fox junior setter from Sandpoint, was named to the 2019 All-Northwest Conference second team in volleyball.
After the Bruins switched to a 5-1 offense midway through the season, she averaged more than 10 assists per set. She finished with 658 assists, 186 digs and 24 blocks.
• John Dressel, a Colorado senior from Mt. Spokane, finished fifth in the Mountain Region cross country championships Friday in Salt Lake City to lead the Buffaloes to second place and a spot in the NCAA Nationals on Saturday in Terre Haute, Indiana. His team-leading time for 10K was 30 minutes, 35.5 seconds and earned him all-region honors.
• Northwest University’s Riley Sine, a senior from Central Valley, collected a couple of honors following his victory in the Cascade Collegiate Conference cross country championships last weekend in Cottage Grove, Oregon.
Sine, who ran the 8K race in 25:15.5, was the CCC Men’s Runner of the Week for the fourth time this year and was also named the NAIA West Region Athlete of the Year by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. Earlier this season he won the CCC Preview and placed second in both the Warrior and Willamette invitationals.
• Connor Turpin, a Lewis-Clark State sophomore from Lewiston, collected two cross country honors from the Frontier Conference. He was named first-team all-conference for his eighth-place finish in the conference championship meet and received the school’s men’s cross country Champions of Character award.
Spencer Swaim, a Carroll sophomore from Lewis and Clark who was third in the Frontier meet, received his school’s men’s Champions of Character award based on displaying the core characters of integrity, respect, responsibility, sportsmanship and servant leadership.
Hockey
Spokane Chiefs forward and Post Falls native Bear Hughes joined teammate Jack Finley on the NHL Central Scouting Service’s midterm rankings.
Hughes received a “C” rating while Finley kept the “B” he received in the preseason watch list. The “C” suggests a potential fourth-, fifth- or sixth-round pick and a “B” a potential second- or third-round in the 2020 NHL entry draft.
Hughes, a 2001-born forward, ranks fifth among WHL rookies with 14 points (seven goals, seven assists) through 14 games. Last season with the Spokane Braves of the KIJHL, Hughes had 41 goals and 25 assists in 46 games, earning league rookie of the year and division MVP honors.
• Blake Swetlikoff, a 2003-born forward from Regina, Saskatchewan, has been reassigned by the Chiefs to enable him “to play more,” said general manager Scott Carter.
Swetlikoff, who remains on the Chiefs’ protected list, is expected to rejoin Regina’s midget AAA team with whom he played last season. The Chiefs’ third-round pick in the 2018 WHL bantam draft had two assists in 11 games with the Chiefs after collecting 10 goals, 19 assists last season.
Track & field
The Idaho men’s team has added two Coeur d’Alene products who are transferring from four-year schools. They’ll join the Vandals as juniors in eligibility.
Alex Ayers, a 2017 graduate of Lake City, competed for two years at Northern Colorado, where he scored in Big Sky Conference indoor and outdoor championships. He has personal bests of 52.70 seconds in the 400m hurdles and 48.08 in the 400. At Lake City, he was a three-time Idaho State 5A placer, winning the 300m hurdles as a senior.
Grady Leonard, a 2017 Coeur d’Alene HS graduate, was an NCAA qualifier at Nebraska. He placed eighth in the shot put outdoors and seventh indoors in the Big Ten Conference. His collegiate bests are 60 feet, 6 3/4 inches in the shot, 172-9 in the hammer, 60-7 3/4 in the weight throw and 159-8 in the discus. He was a three-time Idaho 5A state champion at CdA (two shot, one discus).