Mike Vlahovich

The Stime family would prefer to maintain a low athletic profile. Christi Stime expressed a certain reticence in focusing a story on a family member.

The Stime family would prefer to maintain a low athletic profile.

This weekend, in front of a home Whitworth University audience, marks the end of the illustrious women’s tennis careers of a player at first too intimidated to stick with the team as a freshman, and another who perseveres despite personal heartache. Given a second chance, Rachel Burns is in her fourth season as the Pirates’ No. 1 singles player. No. 4 singles player Katie Staudinger, whose brother lost a battle with cancer this year, has soldiered on at his behest.

On a history-making evening, Sunnyside Christian boys basketball coach Dean Wagenaar took time to honor the efforts of a worthy foe. His Knights had just defeated Neah Bay 55-50 Saturday night in the Spokane Arena and cut down the nets following the school’s second straight state championship and fourth in five years at the Class 1B level.

Sometimes a jewel can be mined from a remote source. That certainly could be the case for lanky Dustin Patchen, a 6-foot-6 junior basketball player from Colton.

State basketball excellence, no matter the B classification, has been a benchmark at Sunnyside Christian. The Knights reached a state final for the seventh time Friday night with a 50-44 win over Almira/Coulee-Hartline, the fourth in five years of 1B where they have half of their six state championships, all but one under coach Dean Wagenaar.

ACH has RPMs. One acronym is the abbreviated Almira/Coulee-Hartline’s combination school name, the second refers to its style of basketball.

Region 18 rivals Clackamas and North Idaho finish 1-2 in the JC national wrestling championships in Spokane.

There’s no place like home. Region 18 wrestlers discovered that on the first day of the National Junior College Athletic Association national championships being contested at the Spokane Convention Center. A sizeable crowd watched as North Idaho secured five All-Americans, four of them semifinalists, and is in a spirited multi-team title challenge led by Region 18 rival Clackamas Community College.

There’s no place like home. Region 18 wrestlers discovered that on the first day of the National Junior College Athletic Association national championships being contested at the Spokane Convention Center.

The coaching mantra that one player won’t beat you was never more evident than Tuesday night at Gonzaga Prep. Moses Lake four-year starter and college-bound standout Jordan Loera is one of the best in Washington State. The Bullpups have a standout or two of their own.

Jeremy Bommarito has been waiting two years to get another shot at a national wrestling medal. And the North Idaho College 157-pounder admits that the wait has been long. He had come within one victory of placing at his first National Junior College Athletic Association Division I tournament in 2009.

Carol Dellinger’s valedictory inspired her audience during Wednesday’s Youth Awards Luncheon at the Spokane Convention Center. Dellinger was the last of five people presented with special awards and her message to the nearly 1,000 people in attendance was captivating.

In his years as a successful wrestling coach that included two State 4A championships at Gonzaga Prep, Phil McLean’s teams had never won a regional wrestling tournament. His Mead Panthers rectified that slight as Greater Spokane League wrestlers and schools did pretty much the expected during a rugged daylong regional 4A tournament against Columbia Basin Big Nine foes.