Gala Celebration Planned In Honor Of Gu’s Fitzgerald

Former Gonzaga University head men’s basketball coach Dan Fitzgerald, who ended 15 seasons on the Bulldogs sidelines this winter, will be honored at a gala celebration dinner April 26 at the Red Lion City Center.

Fitzgerald, who announced in November of 1995 that the 1996-97 season would be his last, remains as the school’s athletic director.

A no-host social begins at 6 p.m. followed by dinner and program at 7. Tickets are $30 per person; deadline for reservations is April 15. Guests will receive a limited edition commemorative “Coach Fitzgerald End of an Era” poster courtesy of GTE Wireless.

Info and reservations: Nancy Fike, GU athletic department, (509) 328-4220, ext. 4201.

Baseball

Inland Empire players ages 5-16 are eligible for Boeing Youth Baseball Player of the Week awards this season.

Fox Sports Northwest and Boeing will honor 25 players from throughout the Northwest - one a week - saluting them on Fox telecasts of Seattle Mariners games. Prizes include four tickets to a Mariners game.

Coaches and parents can submit nominations. Information should include a letter explaining why the youngster should be considered, a picture of the nominee and name, address and phone number of both the nominee and person nominating.

Send entries to: Boeing Youth Baseball Award, c/o Fox Sports Northwest, 3626 156th Ave. SE, Bellevue, WA 98006.

Bowling

Chad Dudley, Jason Daniels and Jeremy Allen combined to win the Alycia Stevens Memorial Tournament last weekend at Colonial Bowl.

Daniels had second-high game for youth, a 268. Kim Howerton’s 279 was tops.

Second in the team competition were Will Ray, Ron Foulston and Jerry Martin, with Bob Neher, Cory Hultquist and Ricky Brown third in the full field of 24.

College scene

Four Washington State basketball players - two men and two women - received academic honors from the Pacific-10 Conference.

Junior Carlos Daniel, who has a 3.52 grade-point average in history, and senior Cameron Johnson, 3.42 in finance, were first-team men’s all-academic selections. It’s the first time WSU has had two first-team men’s basketball picks.

Daniel, who has the highest GPA among all first-team picks, was honored for the second straight year. Earlier, he was a GTE Academic All-America third-team selection.

Cougars sophomore Jade Hyett and junior Yvonne Kunze were honorable mention on the women’s team.

Ericka Harrison of Spokane (Central Valley), a freshman at Southeast Missouri State, received a scholar-athlete award from the school for compiling a GPA above 3.0. The gymnastics team, with a combined 3.386 GPA, had the greatest number of scholar-athletes at Southeast.

During the gymnastics season, in which the team compiled a 10-4 record, Harrison posted a school-record 9.925 on the balance beam.

Kirsten Liane of Spokane (Shadle Park), a sophomore at Pacific Lutheran, has posted an NAIA national qualifying mark in the hammer with a toss of 132 feet, 10 inches.

Another PLU national qualifier is Brooke Daehlin of Spokane (University) in the 3,000 meters (10:19.36).

Football

Steve Wolfe, the center for Drew Bledsoe at Washington State from 1990-92, will return to football after a four-year absence after signing with the Portland Forest Dragons of the Arena Football League.

Wolfe, who has been coaching at the high school level and working in his family’s precast concrete business in Sumner, Wash., said, “I’m excited about returning to the game… . I’ve been coaching both offense and defense, so I’ve learned a lot and understand I have to play on both sides of the ball.”

A teammate will be quarterback Chad Davis, who became eligible at WSU the year after Wolfe left.

The University of Idaho will conduct a two-day coaches clinic this weekend in conjunction with spring drills. Cost is $40 in advance, $45 at the door.

Registration will begin at 1:30 p.m. Friday, with Vandals coach Chris Tormey and his staff leading sessions through Saturday.

Info: Greg Olson, (208) 885-0234.

Hockey

Litz’s Pub and Eatery won the 16th annual Northwest Classic, defeating Grand Forks, British Columbia, 6-3 in the championship game.

Ryan Tansey, who scored two goals in the title game, had 22 in six games in the tournament. Mike Bay, Darin Talotti, Mike Brunette and Tim Sunderlin also scored in the final. In goal was Jason Stephen, who played for the junior Spokane Braves this year.

Snowmobiles

Lookout Pass Ski Area will be the site of the Race the Face snowmobile hill climb this coming weekend. Men’s qualifying runs are Saturday, with the finals Sunday. Women and juniors (15-18-year-olds) run Sunday. Spectators can watch from the lodge area.

Info: (208) 753-4141.

Soccer

The Central Valley High School varsity will play an alumni team Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the school in a fund-raiser for the soccer program.

Softball

Spokane’s Franklin Park will be the site of the Washington state championships in the second annual USA Softball World Series sponsored by Coors Light.

State winner in the event, for Amateur Softball Association men’s class C and D slowpitch teams, will receive $5,000 and entry to the World Series finals.

Tear-pad entry forms are available at retail outlets where Coors products are sold. Forms also are available through the local ASA commissioner, Fuzzy Buckenberger, at (509) 328-2131.

Players must be 21 by March 1 and legal U.S. residents.

Info: B&B Distributing, (509) 928-6340.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo