Vogel, Higgins Honors Due At Upcoming Flaherty Banquet

UNPUBLISHED CORRECTION: The name of football player Jeremey Williams is misspelled in this story. The correct spelling was confirmed by his mother.

Two longtime area football figures, Cusick coach Fred Vogel and Spokane official Jack Higgins, will be honored at the Ray Flaherty Scholar-Athlete Banquet on Jan. 17.

Both will be recognized as outstanding contributors by the Inland Northwest Chapter of the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame.

The Martin Luther King Day banquet is at the Downtown Doubletree in Spokane, beginning at 7 p.m. Former Washington State and Super Bowl MVP quarterback Mark Rypien is the featured speaker.

Vogel, after graduating from Lewis and Clark, joined the Navy and then attended Eastern Washington. He took his first teaching assignment in Cusick and volunteered to help the football coach so he could get to know the kids. After two games, the head coach stepped down and Vogel inherited the team. Thirty-two years later, after the 1998 season, he retired, although he is still the school’s athletic director and Panorama League football coordinator.

Vogel never kept track of his career record, but he won more than 200 games, his teams made the playoffs 11 times and three times reached the semifinals.

Higgins retired from officiating following the 1979 college football season. He started in 1950, officiating a game by himself at Riverside High School for $3. During his career, the Gonzaga Prep and Gonzaga University graduate worked two Rose Bowls, a Shrine Game, the USC-Notre Dame game three times and each of the original Pacific-8 Conference rivalry games.

Higgins’ stay at GU was interrupted by a three-year stint in the Marines, where he served in the South Pacific. When he returned to GU, he helped revive the baseball program.

The 10 finalists for the Ray Flaherty Award will be announced next week. Each of the high school seniors, who are also football standouts, will be at the banquet and receive a scholarship. A back and lineman of the year will also be selected.

Last year’s Flaherty winner was DeSales quarterback Brian Lindgren, who redshirted at Idaho this season. Josh Cairns of Wilbur-Creston was the back of the year and Jeremy Williams of Ferris the lineman of the year.

Previous Flaherty winners include Brian Smith of Sandpoint, Giorgio Usai of Central Valley, Paul Shogren of East Valley and Dave Rust of Sandpoint.

In six years, the chapter has presented more than $60,000 in scholarships. Tickets are $30 a seat or $250 for a table of 10. They are available by calling 892-6434, ask for Linda or Don.

Basketball

The Spokane Stars girls AAU club will hold tryouts for its 10-U through 14-U elite teams during the club’s skills camp on Sundays this month at Centennial Middle School.

Also Sundays at Centennial at 2 p.m. will be tryouts for ninth-grade athletes in the Central Valley District.

First tryouts for both will be today, when the skills camp resumes.

Stars director Ron Adams said openings remain at all three levels - grades 3-6 at 10 a.m., grades 6-8 at noon and grades 9-12 at 2 p.m.

Info: 924-5227.

Football

Lance Knaevelsrud has been named to a third All-America team for NCAA Division I-AA athletes.

Eastern Washington’s 6-foot-4, 270-pound senior offensive lineman, was named to the teamlink.com first team. He earlier was named to the first team by the Associated Press and Sportsnetwork.

Lamont Brightful of Eastern, a 5-9, 165-pound junior, was named to the third team as the return specialist by teamlink.com. He was a second-team choice on the Sportsnetwork team.

Track and field

Entry forms are being accepted for the AAU National Indoor Track and Field and Triathlon/ Pentathlon Championships set for Feb. 25-27 in Merriville, Ind.

The multiple-event championships will be Feb. 25, while the track and field events will be held Feb. 26-27.

Entry forms and information can be obtained by contacting the Inland Empire AAU office in Yakima at (509) 453-2696.