Bauer Wins 5k Title At U.S. Masters

Spokane skier Debbie Bauer won the 5-kilometer classic at the U.S. Masters Cross Country Championships at Anchorage, Alaska last week and qualified for the World Masters Championships next year in Lake Placid, N.Y.

Bauer started the competition for skiers age 30 and over early in the week with a second-place finish in the 10K race, just 5 seconds off the winning time by Kelly Larrimore of Fairbanks, Alaska.

Later in the week, she teamed with Heather Patrick of Seattle and Diane Newhouse of Minnesota to finish second in the 3-by-3K relay. Bauer skied the final leg and recorded the fastest split in the competition.

Bauer, who has also qualified for the U.S. Olympic Trials next year, outdueled Larrimore in her final race, the 5K, winning by 45 seconds.

Fourteen area skiers have qualified to compete in the Western Regional Junior Olympics through the Pacific Northwest Ski Association.

The qualifiers are: Junior-1 Olympics (age 17+) at Big Sky, Mont., Tuesday through March 10. Rudy Kadzejs, Cody Smith.

Junior-2 (15-16) at Aleyeska, Alaska, Tuesday through March 10. Brian Backman, Tyrone Dineen, Lincoln Ellis, Briar Purdue, Logan Rasmussen, Meghan Pinch, Jessica Dineen and Amy Grayhek.

Junior-3 (13-14) at Bridger Bowl, Mont., March 12-16. Lindsey Fundine, Kevin Edwards, Eric Dix, Brian Ellsworth.

The winners and runners-up in the J-1 and J-2 divisions qualify for the U.S. Nationals.

Awards

Fenton Roskelley was honored at the Northwest Outdoor Writers Association’s (NOWA) Awards Banquet in Seattle Feb. 8. Roskelley, a correspondent for The Spokesman-Review, received a first place in the category of newspaper outdoor column and a first place in newspaper articles on hunting.

More than 200 individual entries in NOWA’s annual “Excellence in Craft Contest” were judged in 23 different categories by nationally recognized experts in each field of endeavor.

Baseball

Darin Blood, former Post Falls High and Gonzaga University standout pitcher, was rated as the San Francisco Giants’ seventh-best prospect, according to Baseball America magazine’s annual top-10 listing of each team’s minor leaguers.

Blood was 17-6 at San Jose of the Class A California League last year.

The magazine said Blood’s strengths are keeping hitters off balance by mixing four pitches and it touted his sinking fastball.

Blood’s weakness, according to the magazine, is average velocity on his fastball.

Basketball

Former North Idaho College and Weber State basketball player Lewis Lofton recently returned to Ogden, Utah, and scored 33 points in a Weber State alumni game.

Lofton, who had played professionally in Korea, expects to play in an Australian league soon.

March is the final month of the Spokane Stars weekly basketball skills camp for girls. It’s held Sundays at Centennial Middle School, 915 E. Ella Road.

The camp is open to anyone. Grade school girls attend from 10 a.m.-noon, junior high girls from noon- 2 p.m., and high schoolers from 2-4.

Info: Ron Adams, (509) 928-8512.

Bowling

Sandy Hanson won the A All Events at the 57th Spokane Women’s Bowling Association Tournament last weekend. Her total (1,886) also qualified her for Team USA along with Julie Heath (1,834).

Hanson also rolled the high series (668) in the tournament. Char’s Tan & Curl won the A Team competition (3,150), Terry Haines and Linda Hand won the A Doubles (1,391), Debbie Stevens took the A Singles (724) and Velda Martello was the Grand Duchess (543). Heath recorded the high game (278).

In the B competition, Carol Recor win the All Events (1,753), Swinging Doors won the team competition (3,298), Recor and Debbie Rigsby took the doubles (1,471) and Jennifer Stirn won the singles (834).

Boxing

Dewey Welliver of the Eagles Boxing Club knocked out Chris Smith of Tacoma in the first round of the main event at the Eagles Lodge Feb. 22. The fight, at 132 pounds, was scheduled for three rounds.

College scene

Gonzaga basketball players Lydia Ledgerwood, Carl Crider and John Nemeth were named to the West Coast Conference all-academic team.

Ledgerwood, a junior on the women’s team majoring in English literature, compiled a 3.72 grade-point average. Crider, a senior math major, has a 3.89 GPA and Nemeth, also a senior, has a 3.32 GPA and is majoring in finance.

Central Washington University’s Bart Orth, a former Lakeside High School wrestler, placed sixth (158 pounds) at the Pacific Northwest regional wrestling championships at Pacific Lutheran University Feb. 22. Central finished fourth in the team race.

Football

Lineman John Scukanec from Washington State University and return specialist D.J. McCarthy from the University of Washington have signed contracts with the Portland Forest Dragons of the Arena Football League.

Gymnastics

University of Nebraska senior Shelly Bartlett captured the all-around title at the Masters Classic gymnastics meet last weekend at Lincoln, Neb.

Bartlett, a University High School graduate and former member of the Northwest Gymnastics Academy, compiled a school-record 39.425 allaround score and sparked the Cornhuskers to a first-place finish and a school-record 196.625 point total.

Bartlett was first in the vault (9.875), first in floor (9.9), second on the bars (9.9) and had a 9.75 on the beam.

Fifth-ranked Nebraska edged Arizona State (195.6) for the team title.

Bartlett is ranked fourth nationally in the uneven bars and is in the top 20 in all-around. Last season, Bartlett finished sixth nationally in all-around.

Pistol shooting

Steve Phillabaum of Deer Park won the overall conventional pistol match with a score of 870 at the National Rifle Association Sectional Match Feb. 15.

Phillabaum also won the Standard Pistol Match, shot with open sites on short barrel 22 target pistols.

Spokane’s Dennis Schmauch won the High Master Classification and was second overall with a score of 869. Spokane’s Pat Kelley was third at 868. Sandpoint’s Ron Dreisback won the Expert Class followed by Mike Scalera of Spokane and Jon Powell of Spokane. Powell won the Air Pistol. The Sharpshooter Classification was won by Terry Johnson of Spokane, followed by Doug Albertson of Coeur d’Alene. Spokane’s John Gilden won the Marksman Classification.

The next area match is March 15 at the Spokane Rifle Club. For info, call Eric Schaffer, 327-2305. The Idaho Indoor Pistol Championships will be March 23 in Boise and Coeur d’Alene.

Miscellany

Dan O’Brien, the world record holder and 1996 Olympic gold medalist in the decathlon, will be the featured speaker at the 1997 Idaho Athlete Hall of Fame/North Idaho Sports Banquet March 22 at the Coeur d’Alene Inn in Coeur d’Alene.

Tickets for the event may be purchased through any Les Schwab Tire Center or from the Coeur d’Alene Inn. Social hour starts at 6 p.m. with dinner at 7:30.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo