Ricks Will Drop Sports Programs

Ricks College athletic director Garth Hall was shocked when he learned that intercollegiate athletics will be dropped as the school is transformed from a two-year junior college to a four-year school.

Hall learned of the plan just moments before it was announced by Mormon church officials Wednesday that their Rexburg school would become Brigham Young University-Idaho.

“My main concern is for the coaches and for our student-athletes,” Hall said.

“We’re not out of business at this moment, it’s a phase-out,” he said.

Hall has been assured by church and university officials that nothing will be axed during this coming school year but the remainder of the timeline has not been established.

“We have commitments and obligations, both to scholarships and the league we participate in,” Hall said.

The school participates in the Scenic West Athletic Conference - in which North Idaho College also competes - for all sports except football, in which it competes in the Western States Football League.

Hall said the school’s commitments to the WSFL run through the 2001 season.

Snow College athletic director Ken Beazer was saddened by the news that his school will lose one of its greatest rivals.

“I don’t see how this can be viewed at all as a good thing for athletics in general,” Beazer said.

Snow could also face financial ramifications from the change, Beazer said, because his Ephraim, Utah, school’s gate receipts more than double when Ricks visits.

Weber State starting quarterback Cole Cooper, a Ricks transfer, said, “The two years I was up there, we played for the national championship. They have a nice stadium and it’s always packed. There is so much local support for athletics.”

Baseball

North Idaho College has added nine players to its baseball team.

They are: Jason Call, left-handed pitcher/first baseman from Pleasant View, Utah; Jason Priest, right-handed pitcher/outfielder from Wendover, Nev.; Kelsey Swidley, right-handed pitcher from Edmonton, Alberta; Ryan Sallaway, right-handed pitcher from Victoria, British Columbia; Scott Mawson, right-handed pitcher from Bakersfield, Calif.; Jeremy Floyd, outfielder from Kingman, Ariz.; Ryan Barrett, shortstop from Pleasant View, Utah; Rob Gill, shortstop/third baseman from Boise’s Timberline High; and Brad Ross, all-conference catcher from Coeur d’Alene High.

Priest batted .485 last season and was 8-1 on the mound. Floyd hit .453; Call .422. Mawson was 7-0, Sallaway 7-1 and Swidley 7-2.

Wrestling

Tyson Springer, younger brother of former North Idaho College wrestlers Brandon and Justin Springer, has signed with the Cardinals. Springer won a Washington state championship last year.

Basketball

Former North Idaho College guard Jerry Petty is academically ineligible to play Division I basketball next season, according to Cardinals coach Hugh Watson. Petty originally signed with Gonzaga, but he backed off his commitment and was released to pursue other opportunities.