Area Gymnasts Shine At State Championships

Three Spokane clubs brought home two team state championships and several high individual honors from state gymnastics championships last weekend.

In the men’s meet at Bainbridge Island, Lilac City Gymnastics won the Level 5 team title and Northwest Gymnastics Academy had two all-around champions, brothers Kevin and Isaac Olson.

And in the women’s championships in Puyallup, Spokane Elite Gymnastics became the first Eastern Washington team to win a state title, capturing the Level 9 crown, and had one all-around winner, Seay Thompson, in the 14-15-year-old group.

Lilac City: Four athletes qualified for regional competition this coming weekend in Portland.

The four and their best state placings: David Novak, 1st vault, 2nd high bar; Nathan Price, 1st high bar, 2nd parallel bars; Shawn Gabriel, 2nd pommel horse, 2nd vault; and Matthew Croskrey, 1st pommel horse, 2nd high bar.

Northwest Gymnastics: Nine qualified for regionals.

The athletes and their top state placings or all-around score: Junior Elite Class I-Beau DeWitt, tie 3rd pommel horse; Ryan Wellborn, 3rd all-around. Level IIIDillon Reve, 3rd floor, 4th vault; Aaron Sheck, 3rd all-around. Level IV-Nick Antich, 3rd all-around; Brian Velategui, 5th all-around; Tyson Byers, 5th rings. Level V, age 10-11-Kevin Olson, 1st all-around; Stewart Renz, 3rd all-around.

Other NGA placers: Level IV, age 7-9-Isaac Olson, 1st all-around; Paul Hannibal, 9th all-around; Lane Morgan, 7th high bar. Level IIIGlen Hannibal, 4th vault.

Spokane Elite: Four qualifiers for regionals this weekend in Eugene, Ore., besides Thornton and their best scores or all-around placing:

Ages 12-13-Meloney Monaghan, 5th all-around. 14-15-Lindsay Brandle, 3rd all-around. Brooke Bishop, 2nd beam. 16-and-over-Jaime Brunner, 3rd all-around.

Bowling

If Brett Rayner never sees Josh Ridinger again on a bowling alley it’ll be too soon.

In the Junior Bowlers Tour’s March stop at Diamond Bowl last weekend, the two met twice. Ridinger rolled a 300 in their first meeting, then knocked off top qualifier Rayner 225-152 for the title. It was the only time all day Rayner scored less than 200 - and his only losses.

Kris Geelan was third. Two girls made the TV-style finals, with Kim Howerton knocking off Hapi Yamato in a roll-off for fourth. Yamato had high game for the girls, a 233. The next JBT will be April 21 at Valley Bowl.

Blane Silvey continues to roll a hot ball. He collected his second perfect game of the season, and fourth in the last two seasons. The 300 highlighted a 758 series in the Lucky Sunday Couples league at North Bowl.

College scene

Led by sophomore men’s basketball player Carlos Daniel, 10 Washington State athletes received All-Academic honors from the Pacific-10 Conference.

Daniel, a history major, whose 3.49 grade-point average is second highest on the nine-man all-academic team, was the Cougars’ only first-team choice.

Women’s basketball: Honorable mention-Kelli Kronberger, senior; Yvonne Kunze, sophomore.

Swimming: Second team-Teri Campbell, sen., 3.61, biology; Kristi Doughtery, soph., 3.92, education; Amber Hanley, junior, 3.44, biology; Rachel Hawley, jr., 3.93, zoology. Honorable mention-Tamara Coulter, soph., 3.52, biology; Jodi Codding, soph., 3.12, business administration; Melinda Griffiths, soph., 3.12, communications.

It is the third year Kronberger and Campbell have received academic honors from the Pac-10 and the second for Hanley and Hawley.

Carla Coffield of Spokane (Rogers High School), a junior third baseman at Eastern Oregon State College, was the hitter of the week for March 25-31 in Cascade Collegiate Conference softball.

Coffield was 12 for 25 (.480) with three doubles, a triple, three home runs, eight runs scored and 13 RBIs as EOSC (8-17) went 2-8 that week.

Pacific Lutheran is counting heavily on the arm and bat of sophomore catcher Sarah Johnston of Spokane (Gonzaga Prep) as it hopes to live up to its preseason No. 10 NAIA national softball ranking.

Megan McChesney of Spokane (Mead), a sophomore at Western Washington, shared the school’s athlete of the week award for March 24-31. The softball catcher drove in four runs with three two-out hits in a conference sweep of rival Central Washington, 4-0 and 3-2.

Notre Dame sophomore Kari Hutchinson of Spokane (St. George’s) averaged 2.7 points and 1.5 rebounds while appearing in six basketball games for the 23-8 Irish.

Jessica Baker of Athol, Idaho, a Sandpoint High graduate, completed her first season on the Bates College ski team in Lewiston, Maine. Her best finish was a 19th in the slalom at the Bates Winter Carnival in January.

Hockey

Teams from Seattle, Portland, Tri-Cities and two British Columbia communities, Castlegar and Kelowna, will join host Spokane American teams in a Mite tournament this coming weekend at Eagles Ice-A-Rena.

The teams of 8-10-year-olds will play Friday and Saturday from 8 a.m.-8 p.m., with playoffs next Sunday.

Soccer

Spokane Youth Sports Association will conduct its Skyhawks premier team tryouts April 15-18 at the North Complex, 5901 N. Assembly from 5:30 p.m. until dark. Registration is at 5.

Dates and divisions: April 15 and 17-U13 and U15 boys and girls, and U17 girls. April 16 and 18-U14, U16, U18 and U19 boys and girls, and U17 boys.

Select team tryouts will be the week of May 13. Info: 536-1800.

Softball

The Spokane Hornets, a U-16 girls select fastpitch team, will hold tryouts Thursday from 8-9 p.m. in the Ponderosa Elementary School gym, 10105 E. Cimmaron Dr. Info: Dean Bunkowski, 926-5735.

Track and field

The Comets Track Club in Pullman will begin its season with a pizza feed and registration night from 5 to 8 next Sunday at Godfather’s Pizza in Pullman.

Info: Mike Hinz, (509) 332-1168; Tim Marsh, (509) 332-0309.

, DataTimes