Cullen Collects Athletic Honor
Mead High graduate Rich Cullen, a goalkeeper for the Air Force Academy, was named the academy’s most valuable male athlete, in an awards banquet May 29 in Colorado Springs, Colo.
Cullen received one of the six top awards given to cadets for athletic excellence.
Cullen started in 67 of a possible 71 matches, recording 6,202 minutes in his four-year career.
He ranks second in Air Force history with 248 saves. He also ranks on the all-time list for career goals-against average at 1.18.
He had 18 solo shutouts in his career and combined for three others. His total of 21 is a school record.
In his final season, Cullen was selected first-team All-Mountain Pacific Sports Federation after recording seven shutouts and he was voted team MVP.
He will remain at the academy for another year, working with the soccer team.
Basketball
University of Idaho women’s coach Hilary Recknor has announced three additions to her staff.
Chris Carlson, Sabrina Dial and Carey Carlson recently assumed their new duties.
Chris Carlson comes from Big Bend Community College, where he spent seven seasons as head coach, to take over as Recknor’s top assistant.
Dial becomes the second-ranked assistant after serving for 1-1/2 seasons as an administrative assistant and interim assistant coach.
Carey Carlson will be the third assistant, after serving as assistant coach or co-head coach at Big Bend CC from 1993-2000.
Demetrius Scott, a 6-foot guard from Shadle Park High who was a first team All-GSL selection, has signed to play for the Community Colleges of Spokane.
Scott averaged 19.7 points and 6 assists per game for the Highlanders last winter.
A quarter-miler and long jumper, Scott will also compete in track for the Sasquatch.
College scene
Freshman golf standout Chana Bonnett is the Community Colleges of Spokane’s female athlete of the month for May and Sean Shull, outstanding thrower for the track team, won male athlete honors.
Bonnett, from Spokane’s Rogers High, was medalist at the NWAACC Championships, helping the Sasquatch win the team title. Shull scored eight points for the track team at the NWAACC Championships with bests of 49 feet in the shot put, 145 feet in the discus and a near CCS record of 171-10 in the hammer throw.
Four Washington State University student-athletes have been selected to receive $3,000 postgraduate scholarships from the Pacific-10 Conference, commissioner Tom Hansen announced.
They are Guillermo Macias, men’s track and field; Lisa Phillips, women’s rowing; Melissa Pine, women’s tennis; and B.J. Schade, men’s track and field.
The Pac-10 distributed 38 postgraduate scholarships among the 10 member schools.
To be eligible, a student athlete has to have an overall grade point average of 3.00 or higher, be in his or her final season of collegiate eligibility, have performed with distinction as a member of the varsity, intend to continue academic work beyond the baccalaureate degree as a full-time graduate student, and have behaved in a manner that has brought credit to the student-athlete, the institution, and intercollegiate athletics.
Gonzaga Prep graduate Katie King, who enjoyed an outstanding golf career at Notre Dame, has been named to a three-year term as a director for the Notre Dame National Monogram Club.
King, a two-year captain, was named the women’s team’s most valuable player three times. She is pursuing a master’s degree in athletic administration at Gonzaga University, where she serves as a graduate assistant in the athletic department’s marketing and promotions office.
Golf
Former Mead High School standout Nicole Materne climbed to 17th place in SBC Futures tour money standings by finishing fourth in the Greater Lima Open that ended June 11 in Lima, Ohio.
Materne totaled 210 for 54 holes and finished three strokes behind winner Pam Kometani. She earned $3,600 for her best pro payday.
Saturday, Materne, who hopes to qualify for the LPGA tour, will return to Spokane’s Wandermere Golf Course for the Nicole Materne Fund Raising Scramble and Auction. The entry fee is a minimum of $30 plus greens fees of $20.
Cindy Groepper, 48, of Spokane, a member of the Indian Canyon Ladies 18 Hole Golf Club, has qualified for the U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship that goes July 4-9 at Legacy Golf Links near Pinehurst, N.C.
Groepper qualified June 3 at Esmeralda Golf Course, one of 29 qualifying sites in the country.
Randy Potter of Othello, Wash., a transfer from the Community Colleges of Spokane, and Ryan Fritz of Great Falls, Mont., have signed letters of intent to play for the Gonzaga University men’s team.
Potter placed third in the 1999 Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges championship and was named to the All-NWAACC team. He is a two-time All-Eastern Region selection.
Fritz, playing for Great Falls High, won the state championship.
Recent high school graduates Carrie DeGree of Bend, Ore.; Cathleen Knutson of Mora, Minn.; Erin Picht of Corvallis, Ore., and Kelsey Posedel of Salem, Ore. have signed letters of intent to play for the GU women’s team.
Picht earned All-State honors while helping Marist High win the Oregon 3A girls title this spring.
Soccer
The Spokane Falcons and Spokane Shadow U-14 girls teams have qualified for Premier 1 (P-1) competition this fall following tournament play in Pasco.
The Falcons, affiliated with the Spokane Valley Junior Soccer Association, swept three opponents on June 3-4. The Shadow, formerly the Skyhawks, won four of their five games over two weekends to make the eight-team league field.
Forty-six teams competed.
Gonzaga University women’s coach Shannon Stiles has signed nine freshmen recruits and one transfer for the upcoming season.
The transfer is sophomore midfielder Lisa Wilson of Tacoma, who started for the University of San Francisco last season.
Freshmen who will join the Bulldogs are Patty Blankenship, midfielder, Port Orchard, Wash.; Tara Curtis, goalkeeper, Medford, Ore.; Sarah Halton, defender, Lake Oswego, Ore.; Courtney Haury, goalkeeper, Albuquerque, N.M.; Kelly Leffel, forward, Edmonds, Wash.; Walker Loseno, midfielder, Renton, Wash.; Katie O’Brien, Seattle; Amber Richart, midfielder, Vancouver, Wash. and Heidi Sadafago, forward, Seattle.
Tennis
Christine Dickson, a 1999 graduate of Davenport High School, is transferring from Lewis-Clark State College in Lewiston, to the University of Montana.
Dickson played No. 1 and No. 2 singles and No. 2 doubles for LCSC.
Monica Martin of Alamo Heights, Texas, and Sunel Nieuwoudt of Belleville Cape, South Africa, have signed letters of intent to play at Idaho. Martin is one of the top 10 junior players in Texas. Nieuwoudt ranks among the top 10 juniors in South Africa.
Track and field
The Spokane Valley Track Club will swing into action Tuesday with its first practice at University High School. The 5:30 p.m. session will be mostly devoted to informational purposes and registration. There also will be a short workout for those who are interested.
Information: 891-8866.