Klingaman, Steblaj Win In Regional Hoop Shoot Finals

The Spokane area had two champions crowned at the Elks Regional Hoop Shoot basketball finals last weekend in Gresham, Ore.

Bryan Klingaman of Rathdrum, Idaho, won the boys 10-11-year-old division, sinking 24 of 25 free throws.

Sarah Steblaj of Spokane won the girls 12-13-year-old division, sinking 20 of 25.

The victories earn them spots in the national finals April 28-29 in Indianapolis.

By missing just one, Klingaman, who attends Betty Kiefer Elementary, earned the Frank Hise Founders’ Award as the top shooter in all three age groups (8-9, 10-11, 11-12).

Steblaj is a sixth-grader at Chester Elementary School.

Baseball

Spokane Valley Baseball is looking for players, coaches, sponsors and umpires for its summer season.

Youths ages 6-14 are eligible for the league. Office hours are 6-8 p.m. Monday and Wednesday; 9 a.m.-noon Friday and Saturday. The office is at 12505 E. Sprague.

For more information call 922-0420.

Lake City baseball coach Cory Bridges will conduct a camp during spring break April 4-7 at the new Coeur d’Alene school.

The camp is for players aged 10 to 14. Focusing on fundamentals, the camp will run from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. each day.

Cost is $40 for preregistration, $50 the first day of the camp. A camp T-shirt will be provided at completion of the camp.

The camp is serving as a fund-raiser to help pay for a chain-link outfield fence for the school’s new field.

For more information, telephone Bridges at 769-0769 (school) or 667-5788 (home).

Gymnastics

Seventeen teams from throughout the Northwest are expected for the Lilac Cup Invitational Saturday and Sunday in the Whitworth Fieldhouse.

Lilac City Gymnastics is putting on the USA Gymnastics-sanctioned event that is expected to attract more than 270 gymnasts.

Competition will begin at 9:15 a.m. Saturday. Admission is $2 for adults, $1 for children under 12.

Power lifting

Brandon Enevold, a senior at University High School, was the top lifter at the second annual Spokane high school power lifting competition last weekend at Lakeside High School.

Enevold, competing in the 198-pound division, lifted a total of 1,110 pounds in bench press, squat and dead lift.

Earning the title of strongest pound-for-pound was Jeremy Tharaldson, 148, from Shadle Park, who lifted 870 pounds. Female winner was Christina Craig, 132, of Waterville, Wash., with 510 pounds.

Skiing

Spokane-area skiers made a strong showing in competitions that wound up last weekend in Oregon.

In the J-1 (ages 17 and 18) Junior Olympics at Mt. Bachelor, Thomas English of Rathdrum was second in the men’s giant slalom, fourth in the super G and fourth in the men’s downhill. Jamie Landwehr of Coeur d’Alene, a member of the Schweitzer Alpine Racing School, was sixth in the men’s downhill, ninth in the giant slalom and second in super G. Heath Peterson of Post Falls finished 10th in the men’s downhill.

In J-2 men (15-16), Cody Smith of Spokane (Spokane Ski Racing Association) won the men’s downhill, was third in giant slalom and fourth in super G. Among J-2 women, Vicky Bates of Spokane (SARS) was fourth in giant slalom, third in super G and seventh in women’s downhill. Julie Jensen of Spokane (Mt. Hood Academy) was fifth in giant slalom. Mike Dix, J-2 men, qualified for the Junior Olympics, but was injured.

In a Buddy Werner regional in Portland, Eric Dix of Spokane (SSRA) won the men’s slalom and was second in the giant slalom for the top overall individual placing.

Jared Lee of Spokane (SSRA) was fifth in the giant slalom.

On the women’s side, Jenny Zappone of Spokane (SARS) won the slalom after finishing sixth in the giant slalom. Mt. Bachelor won the traveling team trophy.

Mike Craven of Spokane had two top-15 finishes to help Whitman College collect two runner-up finishes in the U.S. Collegiate Ski Association Championships at McCall, Idaho, last weekend.

Craven, a 1993 graduate of Ferris High School, was 15th in the giant slalom and 13th in the slalom.

Whitman was second to Sierra Nevada College in both the men’s and women’s combined Alpine events, and also collected seconds in men’s and women’s nordic combined. Whitman won the men’s and women’s fourway events.

Whitworth’s two representatives in the nordic, Krista Galchutt and Aaron Hill, had mid-40s finishes.

Rifle

Robin Orth, a junior at the Air Force Academy from Spokane, earned All-America honors for the Falcons.

Orth, a 1992 graduate of Gonzaga Prep, placed fifth in the smallbore competition at the NCAA Rifle Championships in Annapolis, Md., and ninth in air rifle. Both finishes earned him All-America accolades.

Orth, the Falcons’ most valuable shooter as a freshman and sophomore, who holds the Academy record in air rifle with a score of 395 out of 400, competed on the 1994 National Junior World Team.

Hattie Ponti of Spokane finished second last Monday in the sub-junior girls three-position competition at the National Junior Olympics in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Ponti scored 534 out of a possible 600 points in an event for girls 14 and younger.

Soccer

Abbas Faridnia, a member of the Spokane Soccer Club Falcons, was selected to attend the U.S. Under-16 Region 4 tryouts that run through Monday in Las Vegas, Nev. Faridnia is competing for a spot on the U.S. Under-16 national team.

The U-13 Spokane Valley Flames of the Spokane Valley Junior Soccer Association won the championship in their division at the Washington State Snickers Select Soccer Commissioner’s Cup last weekend.

It’s the first time a team from Eastern Washington has won a division in the state tournament. The Flames defeated the Olympia Image 2-0 in the title game.

Swimming

Five members of the Spokane Area Swim Team have qualified for the Junior National Championships Tuesday through Saturday in Midland, Texas.

The competitors and their events: Jennifer Weidert, Mead High School, 200 butterfly, 200 breaststroke, 400 IM; Joe Tidwell, University High, 100 and 200 breast, 200 and 400 IM, 400 medley relay; Luke Wotruba, University, 100 and 200 butterfly, 200 IM, 400 medley relay; Chris Wood, Lake City, 50 and 100 freestyle, 400 medley relay; Brent Wise, Gonzaga Prep, 400 medley relay.

Tennis

Scotty Williams of Spokane (Lewis and Clark High School and Eastern Washington University), earned the No. 1 ranking in Florida by winning the state championship. Williams has been promoted to coach for the Axel Myer Woldron family of Munich.

Miscellany

Hayden Lake’s Linda Joyner is the recipient of the Gar Anderson Memorial Sportsman of the Year Award in North Idaho.

The late Anderson was an avid fly fisherman who was instrumental in establishing the Coeur d’Alene Skeet and Trap Club.

Joyner will be honored at the 33rd Idaho Sports Banquet on March 25 at the Coeur d’Alene Resort.

Joyner, the second women to be honored in the award’s 23-year history, is an accomplished artist of outdoor and wildlife scenes.

The 1995 Latah County Vandal Booster fund drive kicked off with a goal of $255,000. Info: (208) 885-0259.

Ex-Davenport High star Tim Briggs will compete at the World Cross-country Championships in England March 25, and at the U.S. Junior Championships Dec. 4.