Locally: Gonzaga baseball’s Brandon Harmon promoted to associate head coach
From staff and news services
Gonzaga University head baseball coach Mark Machtolf overhauled his coaching staff in the wake of the death of 19-year assistant Danny Evans in April.
Brandon Harmon, the GU pitching coach the past seven years of his 10 years on the staff, acted as Machtolf’s No. 2 during the 2022 season. He was promoted to associate head coach to fill the role held by Evans. Sean Winston, who has been a volunteer assistant since the 2015 season, was promoted to full-time assistant.
Under Harmon’s tutelage, seven GU pitchers have been selected in the MLB draft since 2016 and the 2022 staff shattered the program record for strikeouts (598), with the eighth-most strikeouts per game (10.6) in the nation and 35th-best ERA (4.32).
Winston coached third base in 2022 while continuing to assist with the hitters, infielders and defensive positioning. He has helped coach some of the best fielding teams in recent program history, with the 2021 and 2022 teams compiling top-20 fielding percentages in the nation. The Zags’ three best fielding teams in program history have all come under his coaching.
College scene
Tyson Degenhart from Mt. Spokane who plays at Boise State earned two Mountain West Conference academic awards during 2021-22 for compiling a perfect 4.0 GPA while earning men’s basketball freshman of the year and all-conference honorable mention honors. He received a MWC Scholar-Athlete Award and was named Academic All-Mountain West.
• Five Washington State student-athletes with area ties were named to the 2022 Pac-12 Spring Academic Honor Roll with a GPA of 3.3 or above.
Kodie Kolden, junior, Lake City, baseball; Justin Janke, grad student, North Central, men’s outdoor track and field; Marty Munyon, senior, Central Valley, men’s outdoor track and field; Alaina Stone Boggs, sophomore, Colville, women’s outdoor track and field; and Skyler Walton, jr., Spokane, women’s outdoor track and field.
• Four Gonzaga student-athletes with area ties were named to 2021-22 West Coast Conference all-academic teams with GPAs of 3.2 or above. Zach Stocker, jr., Central Valley/Community Colleges of Spokane, men’s golf; Connor Coballes, jr., Gonzaga Prep, baseball; Jack Machtolf, redshirt senior, G-Prep, baseball; and Noah Bushey, sr., Spokane, men’s soccer, were honored.
• The Gonzaga men and women and Idaho men collected Intercollegiate Tennis Association team and individual academic honors with team GPAs of 3.2 or above and individual GPAs of 3.5 or above.
The GU men and women were both ITA All-Academic Teams for the fourth consecutive year and ninth time since the award’s inception in 2007, with seven men and eight women honored. The Idaho men, honored for a third consecutive year, had five on the ITA All-Academic team.
GU men: Oliver Andersson, junior; Martin Bats, freshman; Arthus Bassetiere, fr.; Matthew Hollingworth, jr.; Theo McDonald, senior; Leon Roider, jr.; and Sasha Trkulja, sophomore.
GU women: Tiegan Aitken, so.; Cate Broerman, jr.; Maria Frampton, jr.; Kianna Oda, so.; Jenna Sloan, jr.; Frederikke Svarre, grad student; Adrianna Sosnowska, sr.; and Caroline Wernli, fr.
Idaho men: Bruno Casino, fr.; Alejandro Salvador, jr.; Francisco Gay, so.; Vivek Ramesh, jr.; and Adam Taylor, jr.
• The Washington State and Idaho men and women were honored with 2022 U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Division I All-Academic Awards. The men and women at both schools received team awards with GPAs of 3.0 or better and 14 individuals at WSU and 11 at Idaho were named All-Academic Athletes with GPAs of 3.25 or higher.
WSU: Sam Griffith, Colton Johnsen, John Kolb, Jared McAlvey, Zach Stallings, Antonia Buschendorf, Jasneet Nijjar, Aislinn Overby, Pia Richards, Anna Rodgers (Lewis and Clark), Peyton Teevens (Pullman), Elise Unruh-Thomas, Skyler Walton. Men’s team GPA 3.14, women’s 3.42.
Idaho: Alex Ayers (Lake City), Spencer Barrera (Mt. Spokane), Deyondre Davis, Jurrian Hering, Lorenz Herrmann, Grady Leonard (Coeur d’Alene), Zach Nunis, Joseph Ruddell, Maya Kobylanski, Katja Pattis, Hannah Ringel. Men’s team GPA 3.46, women’s 3.76.
• Whitworth also had its men’s (3.45) and women’s (3.72) teams earn USTFCCCA academic awards in Division III and six women were honored with GPAs of 3.30 or better: Abbie Jo Carlson, Amelia Hewson, Jordyn Lungo (Mt. Spokane), Eva Millan (Clarkston), Renee Tiamalu and Mackenzie Ward (Ferris).
• In Division II, USTFCCCA All-Academic Athlete awards with GPAs of 3.25 or better went to Seattle Pacific freshman Annika Esvelt (West Valley, 4.0) and Northwest Nazarene junior Tyler Shea (Northwest Christian, 3.94).
Hockey
The Spokane Chiefs announced that through their affiliation with Inland Imaging, the 2022 Chiefs Fight Cancer Jersey Auction and specialty T-shirt sales raised $6,000 for Every Woman Can, the local grassroots organization dedicated to helping women along their cancer treatment journey.
Track and field/cross country
Katja Davidowske from Bavaria, Germany, who primarily competes in multievents like the heptathlon, signed with the University of Idaho, Vandals director of track and field Tim Cawley announced.
Davidowske, a two-time Bavarian state champion (2018, 2020) with a PR of 4,759 points in the heptathlon, also competes in individual events like the high jump, where she has a PR of 5 feet, 6½ inches. She was a multiple-event medal winner at the Bavarian State Championships in 2017 and 2022.