Locally: Whitworth swimmers Owen Lempert, Jamie Siegler named Scholar All-Americans
Jamie Siegler and Owen Lempert of Whitworth University were named 2019-20 Scholar All-Americans by the College Swimming & Diving Coaches Association and two Pirates teammates and four from Washington State received honorable mention.
The award recognizes students who achieved a grade-point average of 3.50 or higher and were invited to compete at their national championships.
Siegler, a junior from Littleton, Colorado, who is on the women’s list, and Lempert, a senior from Auburn (Washington) Mountainview HS, on the men’s list, are Division III selections. Both were also CSCAA All-Americans after qualifying for the D-III NCAA National Championships that were cancelled because of the COVIS-19 pandemic.
Siegler had also been a 2019 NCAA Division III All-America honorable mention for a 13th-place finish in the 100-yard breaststroke.
Gaining Division III CSCAA Scholar All-America honorable mention are Pirates Hannah Galbraith, a senior from Aloha, Oregon, and Connor Florey, a freshman from Portland (Tualatin HS), on the women’s and men’s lists, respectively.
Washington State juniors Taylor McCoy (Pullman), Chloe Larson (Rapid City, South Dakota) and Mackenzie Duarte (Walnut Creek, California) and sophomore Lauren Burckel (Albuquerque, New Mexico) earned 2019-20 CSCAA Division I women’s Scholar All-America honorable mention.
It was a repeat honor for McCoy and Burckel. McCoy had a 3.93 GPA in the spring and a 3.74 for the school year. Burckel had a 4.0 GPA in the spring and a 3.83 for the school year.
It was the first Scholar All-America honor for both Larson (4.0 GPA in the spring, 3.74 for the school year) and Duarte (3.55 in the spring).
All four Cougars competed at the CSCAA National Invitational.
• For the eighth straight semester, and 18th time in program history, WSU women’s swimming earned Division I Scholar All-America Team honors from the CSCAA with a 3.54 GPA for the spring 2020 semester. The last four awards have come under head coach Matt Leach.
Whitworth men and women and Idaho women were earlier announced as CSCAA Scholar All-America teams with GPAs of 3.50 or higher.
Baseball
The Spokane Indians’ Infield Café at Avista Stadium will continue to operate Mondays through Thursdays, 11 a.m.- 2 p.m., through July after a successful two-week trial run earlier this month.
Patrons pick up their meal at the concession stand and take it to a table on the award-winning infield.
Additionally, the Indians are offering online pre-order lunches for curbside pickup.
Find additional information on the Indians’ website at milb.com/spokane.
Golf
It looks like Derek Bayley has his game going again.
After missing the cut in his first outing on the Dakotas Tour the first of the month following a successful stint in Arizona, the former Lakeland (Rathdrum, Idaho) High School and Washington State standout put together a pair of top-nine finishes last week thanks to a half-dozen par-breaking rounds.
Bayley tied for fourth at the Dakotas Tour at the Ridge in Sioux Center, Iowa, Thursday through Saturday with a 15-under score of 198 over 54 holes thanks to 19 birdies and an eagle.
Monday through Wednesday, he shot 11-under 205 with three eagles to tie for ninth at Fox Run Golf Course in Yankton, South Dakota.
Bayley came onto the Dakotas Tour after finishing fourth on the money list on the Outlaw Tour in Arizona.
Another former local standout, Eric Ansett, missed the Tour at the Ridge after tying for 13th earlier in the week at Yankton with three eagles highlighting a 10-under 206.
The Oaks Academy graduate who played his high school golf at Ferris and his college golf at Lipscomb University in Nashville had started the Dakota Tour season tying for fifth in the Central Valley tournament in Hartford, S.D., with a 14-under 202. He had five eagles in the two tournaments he played.
• Danny Erwin scored a hole-in-one on the 225-yard fourth hole at The Creek at Qualchan on Saturday (July 11) using a 5-iron.
• Jaime Parisotto scored a hole-in-one on the 173-yard eighth hole at Downriver on July 7 using a 5-wood.
• Dave Lafferty scored a hole-in-one on the 108-yard 11th hole at Indian Canyon on July 6 with an 8-iron.
• Tony Mason, 84, scored a hole-in-one on the 105-yard 11th hole at Indian Canyon on July 4 using a 9-iron.
• Rick Jenkin scored a hole-in-one on the 126-yard 11th hole at Indian Canyon on June 30 using a 9-iron.
• Don Henrichs’ first hole-in-one came on the 116-yard 13th hole at Indian Canyon on June 20 using a 6-iron.
Letters of intent
Washington State baseball: Cody Russell, infielder, University Place, Wash./Pierce Community College (will be a junior), is the older brother of Kyle Russell, who signed with the Cougars this spring out of Curtis HS.
Softball
After two attempts to try and continue its two-decades-old USA Softball girls tournament, Spokane Girls Fastpitch Softball Association was finally forced by the COVID-19 pandemic to cancel the 2020 Summer Classic rescheduled for Aug. 14-16 at Dwight Merkel and Franklin Park.
It had originally been scheduled for June 12-14 but was postponed in hopes state pandemic guidelines would be eased to the point it could be played safely.
In a Facebook post, SGFSA noted that after speaking with city officials about the prospect of playing on the rescheduled dates “we have no choice but to cancel.
“The City of Spokane is currently in Phase 2 (of reopening) with no current plans to move into Phase 3.” And even reaching Phase 3, “we would be forced to play with only coaches and players.” Field capacity would be limited to 50, restricting parents and spectators.
“While we would all love to get the players back on the field,” the post added, “our main goal is their safety. Right now, we simply have no choice but to cancel.”
For additional details, visit spokanewasoftball.com.
Miscellany
Washington State director of athletics Pat Chun has received a four-year appointment from the NCAA to its Division I Council that is responsible for day-to-day decision-making for the NCAA’s top division. Every conference has a high-level official or student-athlete on the council.
• Chun announced that six members of the WSU athletic department staff have been given promotions or title changes. It was noted in the release announcing the moves, “while some responsibilities will change, there will be no associated financial impact on the budget.”
Kaila Evenoff was promoted to director of spirit programs; Adam Ganders (Cougar Athletic Fund) and Matt Zollinger (marketing/fan experience) were elevated to associate athletic directors; and Bryan Blair (chief operating officer), Chris Park (external relations) and Mitch Straub (Cougar Athletic Fund) received title changes to deputy director of athletics.
• Devon Thomas, in his third year as an administrator in the Eastern Washington athletic department, will be the school’s diversity and inclusion designee as part of a new requirement by the NCAA.
Expanded duties for EWU’s deputy athletic director for external operations will include serving as the primary contact and conduit for diversity and inclusion-related information as the NCAA moves to establish and maintain an environment that values cultural diversity and gender equity as acknowledged in its constitution. The requirement goes into effect on Aug. 1.