Mike Vlahovich

Andrea Nelson, Shadle Park's irrepressible sophomore distance runner, was at it again during the Eastern Regional cross country meet Saturday at Wandermere Golf Course. As is her custom, Nelson broke to the front at the outset of the Class 4A girls race. One-half mile into the 3.1-mile race, Nelson had made quick work of her foes.

Sideline observer and Central Valley football coach Rick Giampietri called Friday night's Greasy Pig contest at rival University a "goofy game." Goofy though it may have been, the end result was anything but for his ballclub.

Mead football players rang the bell following Thursday night's game against rival Mt. Spokane, indicative of a task successfully accomplished. The Panthers (7-2, 6-2) not only defeated the Wildcats 27-7 in the annual Battle of the Bell, earning the right to keep the weighty chime for another year, but with it they guaranteed no worse than a tie for third place in the Greater Spokane League and a chance to reach the postseason.

Lewis and Clark football undertook a major makeover of its defensive strategy from one that bent but didn't break to one that promised havoc. The Tigers had the linemen to make it work.

Halfway through its Greater Spokane League football game with Ferris Thursday night at Albi Stadium, Central Valley had the game and the Saxons where it wanted. The Bears led 13-7, had momentum and would get the ball following intermission.

North Central's Andrew Kimpel sported a reminder Wednesday of his just-completed cross country race: a large circle rubbed raw on his right shoulder following his run-in with an Audubon Park tree. The mishap occurred during his shoulder-to-shoulder race with Mt. Spokane's Allen Schroeder, but it didn't deter Kimpel from the task at hand.

It may take a village to raise a child, but in Kettle Falls, raising Lucas Fox to be a football player has been a family endeavor. Fox's head coach since middle school is his grandfather, Don. His youth football coach and current Bulldogs defensive coordinator is his father, Shane. In high school, he played with and drew inspiration from his older brother, Cody, and cousin Brandon Hoover. A great uncle, Steve, who taught and coached in Elko, Nev., is in his second year of filming games.

For the better part of a half on Friday night Ferris found itself struggling in its Greater Spokane League football game at Gonzaga Prep. But then the undefeated Saxons made a sterling goal-line stand and later covered 70 yards in a hurry to prick the inspired Bullpups' upset-bid balloon en route to a 33-10 triumph.

On a night when special teams players on each side for Mead and University played the role of goat and hero, Mead Panthers kicker Chase Collings made good on his chance to be the latter in front of 2,740 fans at Albi Stadium. Collings kicked a chip-shot 21-yard field goal in the second overtime of another Greater Spokane League football thriller Thursday, breaking a tie in the second tiebreaker overtime for Mead's 27-24 victory.