Ferris Soccer Team Gets Back In Step

Many people expected the Ferris soccer team to be in the State 4A quarterfinals, but the return trip for the team that reached the state championship match last year has been anything but smooth.

“I’m elated,” Saxons coach Robin Crain said. “We had some times where we were doing some checks, looking in the mirror asking, ‘What’s going on? Can we do this?”’ Now what the Saxons see is a mirror-image of themselves.

They play Pasco (16-3) at 1 p.m. at University on Saturday, the winner heading to the Final Four in Vancouver next week.

“I watched them play Eisenhower; they’re a good team,” Crain said of Pasco. “Their style of play is most similar to us.”

The coach isn’t sure what to make of the similarities.

“We played a lot of teams that like to play the long ball,” he said. “They have a tendency not to do that. I don’t know how we’ll do against a team that likes to play that short game.”

The Saxons (15-5), who have battled injuries, are still not healthy. Starting sweeper Greg Dimeling has missed the last two matches with a calf injury and won’t play Saturday.

Other players are questionable.

Crain said the Pasco players the Saxons have to watch are forward Mike Pardini and midfielders David Mileman and Nick Azure. They are juniors, along with top defender Chip Elfering.

The winner meets the Curtis-Mountain View winner in the semifinals May 29 in Vancouver.

Great Northern League and District 7-2A champion Pullman (14-1-1) meets Highland in Pullman in the 2A semifinals Saturday.

Jay Frank, who played four years at Seton Hall University in New York, is the new girls soccer coach at Shadle Park.

Frank replaces Kevin Trim.

Frank has coached at various levels across the country. He was a high school coach in Connecticut and a rec coach in Ketchikan, Alaska, before moving to Spokane.

Lonely

Central Valley standout Rikki Jackson is the lone area player on the Washington team for the annual basketball doubleheader between Washington and Oregon seniors.

The game is June 21 in Portland.

The Washington girls team has others who play for the Spokane Stars AAU teams: Sheila Lambert of Chief Sealth, Cori Enghusen of Inglemoor, Enjoli Izidor of Roosevelt, Heather Reichman of King’s and Tami Standish of Ellensburg.

Serving for state

State-qualifying regional and district tennis meets are this weekend across the region.

Athletes will compete in boys and girls singles and boys and girls doubles. State tourneys are May 29-30.

The Region IV-4A meet begins at noon Friday at Central Valley, with Greater Spokane League and Big Nine Conference athletes vying for four berths to the state tourney in Vancouver.

The Region IV-3A tourney begins at 4 p.m. Friday at the Yakima Tennis Club. Frontier and Mid-Valley league players square off for two berths to the state tourney in Tacoma.

The District 7-2A tourney, for Great Northern League athletes, begins at 9 a.m. Friday at WSU. Two berths for girls and one berth for boys are available to the State 2A tourney in Yakima.

The District 7/9-1A/B tourney begins at 9 a.m. Friday at Whitworth College. One advances to state at Yakima.

Fast track

The GNL kicked off the semifinals of the track and field season with the first day of its District 7-2A meet Tuesday. The meet at Riverside concludes Friday. Three advance to state.

Tonight is the District 7-B meet at Whitworth and the beginning of the first 3A regional meet.

The Frontier League has combined with the Mid-Valley League for two entries to the 3A side of StarTrack in Tacoma. The meet at Prosser opens with the boys 1,600- and girls 3,200-meter runs at 7 tonight. The rest of the events are Friday.

The 4A regional in Richland starts Friday with seven field-event finals and four running finals, the boys 1,600, girls 3,200 and the 400 relays.

Also Friday is the 9-B meet at WSU.

Saturday, the 4A regional and 9-B meets conclude and the Northeast A teams are at Cashmere for the District 6/7 meet.

Last lap

Mead sprinter Joe Zelinski has accepted a football scholarship from Eastern Washington. … Josh Rogge of Chelan, who has been a star at the state track meet at EWU the last two years, is headed for Washington on a track scholarship. …. Former Ferris standout Jennifer Smith, who won the Big 12 3,000 as a freshman for Colorado, is transferring to UW. … Tim Reilly of Eastside Catholic is putting on two coed pole vault camps this summer, including one at Mead June 29-July 2. … The Inland Empire Association multi-events championships (age-group decathlon and heptathlon) are in Yakima June 6-7.

MAUCIONE STEPPING ASIDE Tony Maucione is lightening his load. The head boys track coach at Gonzaga Prep for 20 years is giving up the job. He will remain as the Bullpups cross country coach and, if the new coach wants him, continue to coach distance runners in track. “We have a good person on the staff I’m encouraging to apply,” Maucione said. “And we have a very strong team coming up now. We have 30 boys out and they’re a very strong group. They’ll be contenders in a couple of years. I feel good; the program is in good shape and (has) good potential.”