What Was, What Might Have Been While Some Valley Teams And Athletes Triumphed, Others Came Up Short Of Their Goals

It was a year of near misses and promises of things to come.

If only teams hadn’t fallen victim to upset and injury. If only they’d have played in the post-season as they had during league. But for a call here or fluke hit there, imagine the successes that might have occurred.

From start to finish, 1994-95 was that kind of sports season for Valley schools.

On the other hand, the East Valley girls freshman-dominated cross country team couldn’t have performed any better.

Freshmen Cara Smith, Carmen Cook and Anne Marie Adams, who this spring set a district record in the 800-meter run, joined a veteran Knight cross country lineup and helped propel it to last fall’s state championship.

“As soon as we won the Coeur d’Alene Invitational, I knew we had a special team,” said Coach Nick Lazanis.

University’s Dusty Roberts didn’t let anything stand in his way, going undefeated during the season to win his second state wrestling title and EV’s Casey Stookey overachieved to place second.

The Katharine Hough-led Titan girls track team finished second in every competition it participated in, including state, where her 400-meter relay team won a title.

University and Central Valley’s gymnastics teams enjoyed their highest-ever state finishes.

And numerous individuals from Valley schools participated and placed in state.

West Valley and East Valley were the top two All-Sports trophy point-getters, winning a combined 12 league championships (including ties) in 17 sports and finishing second seven other times.

University finished second in the GSL behind Mead, winning league championships in wrestling, gymnastics and baseball, finishing second in girls cross country, softball, girls track and boys golf.

Last fall’s near-misses included Central Valley’s football team, which was alone in second place going into the final game of the year, only to lose to last-place North Central and finish in a five-way tie. The Bears ultimately missed the state playoffs in the resulting tiebreaker.

“It’s just an empty feeling knowing we should be preparing for Walla Walla,” said Coach Rick Giampietri, despite the fact CV enjoyed its best season in nearly a decade.

University girls cross country coach Steve Llewellyn said the loss by transfer of a standout runner prevented his team from a state title run. And West Valley and East Valley’s boys co-champions didn’t perform as expected at district.

Also last fall, West Valley’s volleyball team made its first-ever state appearance, but it was also a case of what-if when the team went unplaced.

“You can’t play well all the time and we picked a bad time not to,” said Coach Peggy Wells, who felt her team was better than the opposition.

During the winter, West Valley dominated Frontier League competition, but came up short in the playoffs. Central Valley’s boys and University’s girls lost key players to injury and were sidelined by narrow losses.

West Valley wrestler Quinn Sharpe, who finished third at state, was denied a title shot on an iffy call.

This spring University’s league championship baseball team and runnerup softball team, among 15 Valley league champions or second place finishers, just missed state appearances.

West Valley and East Valley softball teams did qualify again. EV’s soccer team reached the state quarterfinals. Eagle boys golfers finished fourth at state, and there were 24 state-placing track individuals.

Whatever else came out of the spring involved East Valley performances.

At a time of the year when participation numbers tend to provide an advantage, the Frontier League’s sleeping giant emerged from its slumber.

In nine sports, the league’s largest school won or shared three championships and finished second four other times.

Depth produced the first track title in seven years. It had been more than a decade since the Knights won in baseball, this year sharing the crown with West Valley and just missing a regional appearance. The school also produced its third Frontier girls tennis championship and three state qualifiers.

Coupled with three fall and winter championships, the Knights equalled West Valley’s six league titles.

With an impending move into the AAA Greater Spokane League two years from now, that has to be welcome news.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo