Vince Grippi

Mead High running back Skylar Jessen has committed to attend Washington State University next year. The 5-foot-11, 200-pound senior picked the Cougars over his other finalists Boston College and Oregon State, announcing his decision Tuesday on KHQ-6's 5 p.m. news broadcast.

The 2005 high school football season kicked off Wednesday in Seattle. If you want to stretch the definition of a kickoff. The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association trotted out representatives of nine of the 10 teams that will compete in next month's Emerald City Kickoff Classic at the event's site, Qwest Field, to meet the media.

When the Hoopfest board found out it had to replace the only executive director the event has ever had, the members knew they were not going to find a clone of Rick Steltenpohl. Nor did they want one.

Rick Steltenpohl recently turned 42. He started dating his wife, Martha, after their junior year of high school. They have been married for 20 years. They have two daughters, Chelsea, 15, a freshman at Mead High and Leah, 12, a sixth-grader. Spokane attorney Barry Davidson is his brother-in-law. Nearly 20 years ago, the Steltenpohls expressed an interest in moving to Spokane from East Lansing, Mich., where Rick, a certified public accountant, had attended Michigan State.

The Greater Spokane League will have a new look in the fall of 2006. At least two schools, West Valley and Clarkston, will drop to the 2A ranks when the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association adds a sixth classification in 2006. Those two schools' projected enrollment should allow them to move into what is now the Great Northern League.

TACOMA – When you get to the final four of the State 4A softball tournament, a mistake or two can be the difference between first and fourth place. As evidence we present Shadle Park's Saturday at SERA Fields.

TACOMA – It's impossible to lose a softball game when you don't yield any runs. Or any hits for that matter.

There is only one way a Pac-10 season can get any worse. But thanks to a home win over UCLA two weekends ago, the Washington State Cougars avoided experiencing a winless conference baseball season.

RICHLAND – Going into this weekend's 4A East Region softball tournament, the coaches of the Greater Spokane League teams thought they could get at least three teams to the WIAA State Tournament. They were right.

Ashley Fargher has a unique perspective on the 4A eastern regional softball tournament. Last year, the sophomore started at third base for Kamiakin of the Big Nine Conference. This year, she'll catch for the Greater Spokane League's top seed, the University Titans.

Two arms – and one hit – proved better than one Tuesday at Whitworth College. The two arms belonged to University pitchers Mandy Mikelson and Linse Vlahovich. The hit belonged to catcher Ashley Fargher.

One season ended, one season continues and one team won – finally. The season that ended belonged to the Gonzaga Bulldogs.

Are two arms better than one? The long haul of the Greater Spokane League season seemed to support an affirmative answer, especially when those arms belong to Shadle Park High right-handers Stephanie Trudeau and Sam Skillingstad.

It's almost like a second chance. This weekend the Gonzaga University baseball team will travel to Los Angeles to finish the West Coast Conference schedule with a four-game series against Loyola Marymount.

Just when it seems the Community Colleges of Spokane is about to grab ahold of the NWAACC East Division baseball race, the Sasquatch let it slip through their fingers. Literally.

Grady Emmerson, a former Washington State University linebacker and two-time Greater Spokane League defensive assistant coach of the year, has been named head football coach at North Central High. Emmerson, who served as defensive coordinator at East Valley the past two seasons, will replace Jay Jordan at NC. Jordan resigned following his second season to accept an administrative position at the school.

The Spokane area's four college baseball teams went a combined 3-8 this past weekend. A .273 winning percentage is usually a recipe for disaster, and in the case of half the schools, it was.