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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Mike Vlahovich

This individual is no longer an employee with The Spokesman-Review.

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Sports

Nelson doesn’t look back

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.
Sports

Chandler hangs in

The conclusion of Mitch Chandler's run to the District 7 2A cross country championship Friday said it all. Totally spent, the Riverside senior pitched forward into the turf as he finished the race and collapsed again shortly after being hauled to his feet and walked through the chute.
Sports

CV intercepts U-Hi

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.
News >  Voices

Sports notebook: U-Hi, EV seek volleyball berths

University and East Valley volleyball teams are seeking returns to their respective regional high school tournaments following a year's absence. The Titans, fifth during the Greater Spokane League season, have two shots to reach the 4A playoffs next weekend against teams from the Columbia Basin League. East Valley, which finished a game behind U-Hi in the GSL, plays North Central for a berth in the 3A regional.
Sports

Mead rings up rival

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.
Sports

Bigger than they seem

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.
Sports

GNL title on the line

Pullman and Clarkston, both unbeaten after eight games, find themselves in an advantageous position as they prepare for their Great Northern League football championship showdown on Friday. They have a two-game lead with two weeks left to play over a field that can't rest as easily. The possibility exists that a three-way tie for third place could occur in the GNL just as the Greater Spokane League would end in a tie for third between Mead and Central Valley if both win this week.
Sports

Southridge roars back to beat CdA

Coeur d'Alene learned painfully the dangers of sitting on an early lead in Friday's 17-14 non-league football game against visiting Southridge. The Vikings led 14-0 before the game was 5 minutes old, but wound up on the short end when Suns (4-4) kicker Jesse Keen capped the comeback by booting a 33-yard field goal with 11 seconds remaining in the game for the Kennewick school's fourth straight win.
News >  Voices

Sports notebook: Bears fall to Saxons

So near, yet so far. Central Valley High School's football team gave a spirited effort, leading unbeaten Ferris 13-7 at halftime, but the Bears were ultimately denied a share of the Greater Spokane League lead.
Sports

Saxons stay on top

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.
Sports

Indians wear crown

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.
Sports

Prep profile : West Valley receiver Flynn piles up yards

Parker Flynn has played a wide receiver since Grid Kids football. But in eight seasons he's never had a year catching the football quite like this. In seven games, the West Valley senior has caught 40 balls for 962 yards and eight touchdowns. He's averaging 24.1 yards per touch and has eclipsed 100 yards receiving in every game, averaging nearly six catches and more than 137 yards a contest.
Sports

GSL playoff picture clears

The Greater Spokane League football playoff picture cleared up substantially following last weekend's games. Lewis and Clark officially secured a berth with its win over East Valley and Ferris is a shoo-in. Regardless of the outcome of its season finale in two weeks against Gonzaga Prep, the run-stingy Tigers (6-1) will finish second, having defeated both Central Valley and Mead head-to-head early in the year.
News >  Voices

Bears appear ready to battle Saxons

Central Valley appears ready. The Bears roared past Shadle Park 47-12 in Thursday night's Greater Spokane League high school football game, a prelude to next week's first-place showdown against Ferris. CV scored 34 points in a wild second quarter in which the Highlanders also had their two touchdowns.
Sports

Defense paves way as Ferris whips U-Hi

Early in the second quarter of Friday night's Ferris at University Greater Spokane League football game, U-Hi's Tyler Carlson burst into what appeared to be a huge hole. But Ferris Saxons linebacker Adrian Milsap's closing burst and savage hit reduced it to a 1-yard gain.
Sports

NC holds off Rogers

For a game featuring teams with but one win between them, Thursday night's North Central-Rogers Greater Spokane League contest at Albi Stadium carried plenty of weight. The Pirates were attempting to exorcise a GSL losing streak that had reached 30 games. The Indians had grander dreams.
Sports

21st century Fox has huge production team behind him

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.
Sports

Kettle Falls settles score

The second game of this football season, Kettle Falls was shut out by Lakeside 26-0. But in the Northeast A League there's always the chance for a do-over and last weekend, in game six, the Bulldogs made good. By turning the tables with a 15-13 victory over the previously unbeaten Eagles, Kettle (5-1) has forged a first-place tie.
News >  Voices

Sports notebook: Bears face hurdles before playoffs

Central Valley, which has won four out of five of its Greater Spokane League football games, faces two final hurdles in its next quest for a playoff berth. The Bears, providing they avoid a stumble next week at home against Shadle Park, finish the season against first-place Ferris on Oct. 18, then at University the following week.
Sports

La Jolla tournament serves Panthers well

A couple years ago a volleyball team from La Jolla, Calif., a city near San Diego, came north and played Washington teams, including Mead. "They won everything in Southern California that year and we ended up sweeping them," said Panthers coach Judy Kight.
Sports

Saxons come through

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.
News >  Voices

U-Hi needs wins at home for post-season play

Call it the "Year of Living Dangerously" for University football. Every Titans (3-2 overall, 3-3 in the Greater Spokane League) game has come down to the final series or play this year and Thursday's 27-24 loss to Mead was the second straight heartbreaker for the team.
Sports

Panthers prevail

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.
Sports

Sandpoint finds Albi Stadium to its liking

Visiting Sandpoint took to Joe Albi Stadium like it was home, scoring on its first four possessions en route to a 40-7 victory over the host North Central in a non-league Thursday afternoon football game. The Bulldogs (3-3) drove seamlessly for their first two touchdowns after Kyle Gibson's 85-yard return for a touchdown on the opening kickoff was nullified by penalty.
Sports

Mead boys, girls hand Wildcats first losses

It was "two-fer" Wednesday for the Mead Panthers, whose boys and girls, led by race winners Baylee Mires and Kelly Lynch, swept past district rival Mt. Spokane and Gonzaga Prep in Greater Spokane League cross country. Both Mt. Spokane teams entered the race unbeaten before freshman Mires ran 19 minutes, 36 seconds in Mead's 22-33 win over the Wildcats and Bullpups, and Lynch led seven Panthers, who finished among the top nine placers leading to 22-39 victory