Ewu Standout To Represent Canada

Kim Exner, two-time most valuable player in the Big Sky Conference while playing volleyball at Eastern Washington University, has been selected to the Canadian National Teams.

Exner, from Vernon, British Columbia, will join the Canadian teams after spring semester ends at EWU early next month.

After tryouts in Winnipeg, Manitoba, two weeks ago, Exner was assigned to Canada’s senior and A-2 teams. The A-2 team is for players in school during the last year. The senior team is for more experienced players.

“I think it’s exciting,” said Exner. “Once I get used to everything and get a hang of the tempo, I feel I can compete at this level. It will be challenging, but definitely worthwhile.

Exner is scheduled to play with the senior team in Switzerland in June, then join the A-2 team for the University Games in Spain. She could also play with the senior team in the Pan-American Games in Winnipeg in July.

After the Olympic Trials in January 2000, she plans to play professionally in France.

Arm wrestling

The annual Northwest High School and Open Arm Wrestling Championships will be held at East Valley High School on Thursday.

Registration is at 5:30 p.m. with competition to begin at 6:30. Cost is $3, both for competitors and spectators. Sign up that night.

This is the 10th year of the event, which is a fund-raiser for the EV wrestling program, and the fifth with an open division. There are divisions for everyone, from high school boys and girls through men and women. Those under 18 need a signed parent or guardian waiver.

Info: Bill Close, 927-3200.

Basketball

The State 1A player of the year and a member of the State 2A championship team are among eight high school seniors who have signed letters of intent to play women’s basketball at Community Colleges of Spokane.

CCS coach Bruce Johnson said the list includes Heather Ortiz, a 6-foot-1 forward from Warden, an all-league selection and the 1A player of the year, and Halee Haptonstall of 2A champion Newport, a 5-6 guard and All-Great Northern League selection.

Three are from Greater Spokane League schools - Courtney Phinney of Central Valley, a 5-1 All-GSL guard; Alice Sterns of North Central, a 5-11 forward; and Sabrina Brazzle of Ferris, a 5-7 guard. Sterns and Brazzle were All-GSL honorable mention.

Also signing were Rebecca Triplett of East Valley, a 6-0 forward, first-team All-Border League; Amy Fitch of Ritzville, a 5-9 guard, first-team All-Bi-County; and Annie Sackman of Moses Lake, a 5-8 guard, first-team All-Mid-Valley.

Two Spokane-area boys teams claimed second-place finishes in the 13th annual AAU Best in the West Pacific Northwest Championship Tournament last weekend in Yakima.

Spokane Action Sportswear lost 64-48 to Oregon Quaxe in the Ninth Grade title game. Corey Cody led Spokane with 16 points. The Chattaroy Wildcats lost 54-50 to Sea/Tac Fast Break in the Fifth Grade final. Cameron Sower was high for Chattaroy with 12 points.

Gymnastics

Nick Antich, a junior at Gonzaga Prep, has received a second-team Academic All-America award from USA Gymnastics.

Antich, who competes for Lake City Gymnastics in Coeur d’Alene as a Level 1 Junior Elite gymnast, has a 3.70 grade-point average.

Hockey

Shadle Park senior Jill Leonetti will play women’s hockey at NCAA Division III Concordia College in Moorhead, Minn., this fall.

Leonetti, a 5-foot-9 goaltender, is planning to study environmental science. She has a 3.8 grade-point average and has received an academic scholarship.

Leonetti, 18, has been playing on a boys team in the Spokane Youth Hockey League. She was recently named MVP of her Midget B team and earned the Lois Ham Award picked by coaches and referees for being the best midget goalie in the league.

Leonetti said she hopes to transfer to a Division I school after a year.

“I’m excited, but it won’t be the level of play I’ve been playing at,” she said of Concordia, which offered her the best financial aid package. “But it will be a lot of fun.”

Softball

Whitworth senior outfielder Heather Hedum (Ephrata) has been selected to the NCAA Division III All-West Region first team. The region includes the Pacific Northwest, California, Colorado and Texas. Hedum won the Northwest Conference batting title with a .480 average.

The Spokane Valley Girls Softball Association is in need of umpires for its girls fastpitch season. Training will be provided.

Info: 927-3006 or 922-3979.

Track and field

Registration is under way for the Inland Empire Junior Olympics Track and Field and Combined Events Championship, which will be held at Eastern Washington University June 26-27.

Competition will be held in all divisions from Midget through Young Men and Young Women. The top six in each division advance to the Region XIII meet July 10-11, also at EWU.

Entry fee is $4, $6 after June 21. Same-day fee is $10.

Info: Ruth Van Kuren, 235-4762.

Volleyball

The Spokane Splash U-16 team earned the bronze medal at the Canadian Open National Championships last weekend in Calgary, and placed two players on the All-Canadian first team.

Earning all-star recognition were Wendy Baker, a sophomore at Mead, and Keva Sonderen, a sophomore at Gonzaga Prep.

The Splash U-14 team finished first in its tier.

They were the only American teams in the 180-team tournament, and for the second year in a row finished in the Division 1 medal round.