Arrow-right Camera
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Wiklund Wins Sky Heptathlon

From Staff And Wire Reports

Colleges

Northern Arizona’s Anna Wiklund won the hepthalon competition Thursday in the Big Sky Conference track and field chamionships at Tempe, Ariz., as fellow Lumberjack Tommy Sarenbrandt stretched his lead in the decathlon.

In the 800-meter run, the last event, Wiklund posted a winning time of 2:22.63 to amass 5,266 points for the overall victory.

Brandy Morrison of Montana was second with 4,674.

Dena Christensen of Eastern Washington finished at 3,662, followed by teammate Kari May at 3,411.

The schedule for competition was moved back by 2 hours because of the 100-degree heat, meaning 5 p.m. events were moved to 7 p.m. The change indicated Saturday’s finals might stretch past midnight.

Wong, Hare honored

Utility player Jerrod Wong and left fielder Brendan Hare are the first All-West Coast Conference honorees from Gonzaga University, both players earning second-team accolades in the Bulldogs’ inaugural season of WCC membership.

Gonzaga also had four honorable-mention picks - second baseman Travis Knight, center fielder Rob Pearsall and pitchers Steve Bennett and Jeff Birkland.

Wong shared his time between right field, first base, designated hitter and pitcher this season, starting all 49 games while hitting .315 with a team-high 58 hits and 46 RBIs. He finished his Gonzaga career first in at-bats (751) and doubles (59), and second in home runs (33), RBIs (183) and hits (233). His 206 games played rank third.

On the mound, his 43 career appearances rank 23rd, his 225-1/3 innings pitched are ninth and his 165 strikeouts are 10th. Hare, who saw time behind the plate early in the season, hit .296 with 53 hits and 22 RBI. His .989 fielding percentage was tops among the regulars. Wong and Birkland are seniors, Hare and Pearsall are juniors and Knight and Bennett are freshmen.

Regular-season champion Santa Clara University dominated the All-WCC team, including player of the year Ross Parmenter, pitcher of the year Brian Carmody and coach of the year John Oldham.

Parmenter was a unanimous selection, with a WCC-leading .404 batting average while leading the conference in hits (44) and RBIs (33).

Carmody posted a 4-2 WCC record and a 2.12 ERA. Overall, he led the conference with a 1.93 ERA and a 9-3 record. As regular-season champion the Broncos will host Western Athletic Conference (WAC) champion Cal State-Northridge in a best-of-three play-in series this weekend, the winner earning an automatic berth into the NCAA Regionals May 23-26.

Pac-10 baseball

Left-hander Matt Smith allowed one run in 6-2/3 innings and Jamie Porter hit a three-run homer as Washington defeated Southern California 6-2 in the first game of the best-of-three Pacific-10 Conference championships in Los Angeles.

The Huskies (30-26) had a 16-8 record in winning the Pac-10’s Northern Division title this season, while USC (39-14-1) went 24-6 to win the Southern Division crown.

The series continues tonight at Dedeaux Field. If the Trojans win, a third game will be played Saturday afternoon.

The Huskies, who played as the home team Thursday night, went ahead for good against Seth Etherton (12-2) in the second inning on consecutive singles by Christian Shewey, Pete Orgill and Ryan Lentz.

Ryan Soules and Shewey hit run-scoring singles in the fifth to extend Washington’s lead to 3-0.

USC’s Jeff Inglin hit a solo homer, his 13th, off Smith (6-2) to make it 3-1 in the seventh, but Porter hit his fourth homer in the eighth off USC reliever Mike Penney to clinch the victory for the Huskies.

The Trojans got their final run in the ninth on an RBI single by Chad Moeller.

Southern Cal 000 000 101 2 10 2

Washington 010 020 03x 6 12 1

Etherton, Penney (7), Parle (8) and Moeller; M. Smith, Lynch (7), Morrison (8) and Shewey. W-M. Smith (6-2). L-Etherton (12-2). HRs-Southern Cal, Inglin (13), Washington, Porter (4).

, DataTimes