Shelton, Johnson Get May Awards From Ccs

A couple of University High School graduates are the Community Colleges of Spokane athletes of the month.

The women’s honor went to freshman softball player Stephanie Shelton and the men’s to sophomore golfer Matt Johnson.

Shelton, who also played basketball for CCS, played left field and batted .381 for a Sasquatch softball team that placed second in the conference tournament.

“Stephanie was really one of the main factors behind our successful season,” said assistant coach Bill Johnson. “Her speed and ability to run the bases created a lot of problems for the opposition. She was very aggressive on the bases and a team player.”

Johnson, who will graduate this spring with a 3.1 grade-point average, has been the school’s top golfer the past two years. He won four of the nine tournaments in which he played this year, placed second in two others and was third in the conference tournament in Spokane last week.

“Matt is a fine golfer as well as a leader for our golf program,” said coach Paul Tikker.

Basketball

A women’s summer league, for players 18 and older, is being set up for Wednesday and Sunday nights beginning June 15 at University High School.

League play will be through July 30.

Players need not be involved in a college program, but those who are can play. NCAA rules require that only one player from an NCAA school play on each team. However, NAIA schools and junior colleges can participate as full teams.

Info: Garry Perno, (509) 928-1473.

College scene

Chad Dudley of Spokane (East Valley), a junior at Washington State University, stole the spotlight at the National Collegiate Bowling Championships in Reno, Nev., last weekend.

Dudley won men’s singles with a 646 series (198-223-225), placed second in allevents with a 2,813 scratch total for 12 games (3,078 with bonus points) and teamed with Brenda Rathbun of Morehead (Ky.) State to place fourth in mixed doubles. They had a 1,156 total, with Dudley contributing a 678 on games of 235, 227 and 216.

Three Gonzaga Bulldogs have received honorable mention on the All-West Coast Conference baseball team.

First baseman Brendan Hare and third baseman Jason Uberuaga, both seniors, were honored by WCC coaches along with junior outfielder Donnie Murrell.

Hare, a second-team outfielder last season, paced the GU regulars with a .330 batting average and 66 hits. Murrell hit .315 with a team-high nine home runs, while Uberuaga hit .283 and drove in a team-leading 44 runs.

Santa Clara senior Mike Frank, a four-time All-WCC pick, was voted player of the year. Frank, who pitches and plays right field, hit .439 with five home runs and 46 RBIs in WCC play and, as a pitcher, was 6-0 with a 2.95 ERA in conference action.

Central Washington senior catcher Jason Mathews, who started his collegiate career at Community Colleges of Spokane, was named to the NAIA Far West Region all-star baseball team.

Mathews, the first Wildcat selected since 1989, hit .386 with school records in doubles (22) and runners thrown out (27).

Sarah Johnston of Spokane (Gonzaga Prep), a junior at Pacific Lutheran, hit .466 and was named to the all-tournament team as the Lutes finished third in the 16-team NAIA Softball Championships last week in Decatur, Ala.

Mandy Flores of Spokane (Rogers) starts at third base for PLU, which ranked sixth going into the tournament.

Holly Forster of Spokane is a sophomore who rows No. 3 on the Ithaca College women’s second varsity eight that placed fourth in the Champion International Collegiate Regatta in Gainsville, Ga., last weekend.

Gymnastics

Heather Malott, of Lilac City Gymnastics in Spokane, won the 1997 Level 6 all-around championship for her age group at the state meet last weekend at Whitworth College.

Running

The Capital City Marathon in Olympia last Sunday had a distinct Lilac City look.

Stan Holman of Spokane won the men’s division in record time, Sally King of Spokane won the women’s masters division and Michael Wakabayashi was third in his masters division.

Additionally, Jenny Bush-Clark of Coeur d’Alene won the women’s division. The 29-year-old covered the course in 3 hours, 4 minutes, 56 seconds.

Holman, 32, running his 13th marathon, but first in his home state, collected his third win, clocking 2:28:03 to break the record set by Phil Nicholls of Victoria, British Columbia, in 1989.

King, 48, timed 3:22:10, and Wakabayashi, 49, ran 3:03:14.

Soccer

Gonzaga University women’s coach Ric Grenell has signed five players to letters-of-intent, including four from the Greater Spokane League.

Mead teammates Kellie Leaf and Missy Strasburg, University’s Sara Streufert and Central Valley’s Katie Carpenter will join the Bulldogs this fall, along with Gina Legaz from Seattle’s Blanchet High.

Leaf, a second-team All-GSL striker, and Strasburg, a defender, helped the Panthers to a 74-4 record in four seasons, including a perfect 56-0 GSL record. Carpenter is a two-time All-GSL forward/midfielder and was the third-leading scorer in the GSL this past season. Streufert scored 41 goals in four years for the Titans and was a three-time All-GSL performer.

Legaz, a goalkeeper, compiled a 14-4-1 record this past season.

Synchronized swimming

Seventeen members of the Spokane Silver Mermaids will compete in the National Age-Group Championships June 21-29 in Tonawanda, N.Y.

Members qualified by placing fourth or higher in the Region A Age-Group Championships last weekend at Eastern Washington University.

Qualifying on the 16- and 17-year-old team were Megan Murphy (also trio, duet), Beth Moore (duet), Nikki Velategui (trio), Becky Weaver (trio), Karissa Crossley, Katie Enemark, Karly Johanson and Rachel Sutch, with Patricia Reed the alternate.

Enemark, Johanson and Reed also qualified as a 14-15 trio.

In 12-13: Miranda Crossley (also trio), Lacey Davis (trio), Stephanie Wagar (trio), Stefanie Freatman, Veronica Graper, Jennifer Wilson and Stephanie Wright, with Leah Kliment the alternate.

The 16-17 trio and duet and the 12-13 team had third-place finishes and the 16-17 team and 14-15 and 12-13 trios were fourth.

Volleyball

Outside hitter Casy Murdock has signed a letter of intent to play for Gonzaga University.

Murdock, who has three years of eligibility remaining, was at College of Southern Idaho when it won the 1995 National Junior College Athletic Association national championship. Murdock also plans to play basketball next season.

Sarah Menard of Spokane, a second-team All-Greater Spokane League selection as a North Central senior, has signed a letter of intent to attend Northwest Nazarene College in Nampa, Idaho.

Menard, 5-foot-8 with a 3.6 grade-point average, joins her older sister, Jessica, on the NNC team.

Wrestling

Nathan Pascoe of Lakeland, a two-time Idaho state champion, has signed a letter of intent with South Dakota State University.

Pascoe, a three-time All-North Idaho selection, won a state title at 171 pounds as a senior with a 31-0 record and captured the 152-pound title as a junior with a 36-1 mark.

Pascoe’s brother, Jeremy, was a two-time All-American for the Jacks and will be a student assistant coach at SDSU next winter. The Jacks placed fourth in the NCAA Division II tournament last season.

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