Spokane Shooters On Target In Tacoma

Spokane Rifle Club members shot the lights out at the Washington State Outdoor Pistol Championships last weekend in Tacoma, capturing three team titles and earning five top-10 individual places.

The Spokane quartet of captain Dennis Schmauch, Scott Hogan, Steve Phillabaum of Deer Park and William Campbell of Colville won the .22 caliber team title, the center fire team championship and the .45 caliber team crown.

Phillabaum was third overall behind U.S. Olympic veteran Darius Young of Malo, Wash., who won all three individual state shooting championships, and Scott Lorenz of Seattle, who was second.

Hogan was fifth, Schmauch ninth and Campbell 10th.

Eric Schaffer of Spokane won the expert class.

Softball

Brymile of Spokane will go into the Amateur Softball Association Men’s Major Modified National Tournament in Miami during the Labor Day weekend unbeaten.

The Spokane team, which has compiled a 29-0 record locally, capped its postseason preparation by winning the Waverly, N.Y., Major Modified Classic Invitational last weekend with a 5-0-1 record to go 34-0-1 overall. (Ties weren’t played off.)

Brymile and Zorn of New York went into the final game of the seven-team, round-robin tournament with identical 4-0-1 records. Brymile won 7-2.

“We feel pretty good about it,” said Brymile coach Fuzzy Buckenberger. “There were some pretty good teams there,” including two that finished in the top seven at the national tournament last year.

Triathlon

Conrad Steffens of Seattle used his feet to best Nathan Smith of Redmond, Ore., and win the men’s overall title in the 15th annual Troika Triathlon Sunday in Spokane.

The two were neck-and-neck most of the route. Steffens came out of the water at Medical Lake from the 1.2-mile swim 2 seconds ahead, but after the 58-mile bike ride, Smith was 2 seconds ahead. Steffens’ 41-second advantage in the 13.1-mile run gave him a winning clocking of 4 hours, 16 minutes, 36 seconds - 39 seconds ahead of Smith.

Carl Trabant of Lake Oswego, Ore., was a distant 8 minutes back in third. Randy Beckner of Helena, Mont., the masters division winner, was fourth. Brad VanWert was fifth and the top Spokane finisher.

Valerie Hopper of Bremerton was a runaway winner in the women’s field, turning a strong bike leg into a 5-minute, 17-second victory over Tara Cannava of Seattle. Hopper’s time was 5:08:35. Cathy Wellman of Clackamas, Ore., was third. Top Spokane finisher was Kristi Kinkade-Schall in seventh.

Gloria Califf of Camas, Wash., was the masters women’s winner.

Roadkill was the winning men’s team, in 4:11:51; Ryan Express the top female team (4:37:46); and Boden Team the top mixed team (4:25).

The event attracted 217 individuals and 63 three-person teams.

Synchronized swimming

Spokane’s synchronized swimming team, the Silver Mermaids, will hold its annual tryouts for swimmers from 8-12-years-old Sept. 12 at 5:30 p.m. at Shadle Park Pool.

Participants should know basic strokes and be prepared to demonstrate them that night. Parents are encouraged to attend.

Info: Coach Ann Murphy, 838-4549 (evenings); Babs Velategui, 926-9858.