Eldridge Making Another Ncaa Trip

Washington State University All-American Erin Eldridge will make her third straight trip to the NCAA Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships March 16-18 in Indianapolis.

Eldridge qualified 11th nationally in the 100-meter breaststroke with a time of 1 minute, 2.52 seconds and 22nd in the 200 breaststroke (2:15.63) during the recent Pacific-10 Conference championships.

Last year the senior from Kirkland, Wash., had top-16 finishes in the 100-and 200-yard breaststroke events to earn All-America honors.

She is the first Cougar to be an All-American, an NCAA qualifier and an Olympic Trials qualifier.

Basketball

The nationally ranked Spokane Cyclones, second in their final regular-season tournament last weekend, will open the National Wheelchair Basketball Association tournament at home March 11.

The Cyclones, who dropped a 65-51 decision to the NBA-sponsored Denver Nuggets Feb. 27 after winning three games during the weekend in Phoenix, entertain the Seattle Wheelchair Sonics at 7 p.m. on March 11 at Shaw Middle School.

In Phoenix, the Cyclones defeated the Michigan-based Athletes in Action 61-43 as Paul Hill scored 32 points and Lew Tomlinson 17, then defeated the host Phoenix Suns 82-45 with Hill hitting for 34 and Tomlinson for 27.

In the semifinals, the Cyclones saw a seven-point lead disappear in the final 1:23 of regulation, but won 65-62 in overtime on a 3-pointer by Orin Pierce as time expired. Hill scored 23, Tomlinson 18 and Pierce 10.

Derek Gianukakis of Republic won the boys 10-11-year-old division at the Washington State Championships of the Elks National Hoop Shoot free-throw competition to qualify for the regionals March 17-18 in Gresham, Ore.

In the state finals in Kennewick on Feb. 20, Gianukakis sank 22 of 25 free throws to win his division.

Other top-3 placers include Kyle Olson of Colville, second in boys 8-9, making 20 of 25; Derek Miller, St. John, third boys 12-13, 19 of 25; and Kelly Sandberg, Moses Lake, second girls 12-13, 15 of 25.

Only the champions qualify for regionals, where the winners advance to the national finals April 27-30 in Springfield, Mass.

Bowling

Ricky Brown charged from ninth place during qualifying to the championship of the Junior Bowlers Tour stop at Bowlers World.

Brown, whose charge carried him to third in the TV-style rolloff finals, first defeated No. 2 qualifier Adam Allen, then top qualifier Chad Demmitt 194-180 for the title. Brown’s final three games were 180, 237, 194.

Allen finished third, Steven Riegel fourth and Cory Hultquist fifth. Demmitt had high game for the boys, a 242. Ginny Griffen was high for the girls with a 207.

College scene

Community Colleges of Spokane landed two players on the Northwest Athletic Association of Community College’s Eastern Region men’s all-star basketball team.

Sophomore guard Chris Allen from North Central was a first-team selection. Freshman forward Andre Ervin made the second team along with Wenatchee Valley sophomore Gunner Olsen from Curlew and Big Bend sophomore Rhett Soliday from Reardan.

A seven-player women’s first team included four CCS sophomores - Karie Pruett of Ferris, who was named the Eastern Region MVP; Amy George, also of Ferris; Sara Harchuck, Shadle Park; and Bernice Stime, Riverside.

Daniel Kuney of Spokane (St. George’s) was honored as a graduating senior starter on the University of Redlands (Calif.) men’s basketball team.

Kuney, an honors student in business, who is finishing his studies in three years, averaged 7.0 points per game.

Middlebury (Vt.) College senior Dawn Trowbridge of Colbert (St. George’s) scored a game-high 25 points in a recent women’s basketball win over St. Lawrence, including 19 in the first half.

Middlebury was ranked sixth in the Northeast regional poll while St. Lawrence was ranked fourth.

Erin Quinn-Hurst of Spokane (Lewis and Clark), a sophomore at Dartmouth College, has qualified for the NCAA Nordic Ski Championships next weekend in Utah.

Quinn-Hurst ranks in the top 12 in the Eastern Intercollegiate Ski Association. She had several top-10 finishes, including a second at the University of Vermont Winter Carnival.

Golf

The Downriver Women’s 9-Hole Club will have a no-host brunch kickoff event March 16 at Solicitor’s Corner, 6301 N. Division.

Registration is at 9:30 a.m., brunch at 10. Newcomers are welcome.

Info: Kathy Eaton, 534-4227.

Hockey

The Inland Empire Warhorse peewee team won the Tier II state championships last weekend in Spokane to qualify for regionals March 16-20 in Lakewood, Calif. Winners there qualify for the nationals next month in New York.

The Warhorse team went 5-0, defeating Mountain View of Vancouver 4-0 on Nicolas Haupt’s shutout goaltending in the championship game.

Nikolas Wolf had a hat trick in an 8-4 win over Tri-Cities and Derek Ryan had hat tricks in a 9-1 win over Tacoma and a 6-1 win over the Seattle SnoKings. The other win was 8-1 over the Spokane Americans in the semifinals.

Skiing

Five members of the Selkirk Nordic Ski Education Foundation were named to the Pacific Northwest Ski Association Junior Elite Group.

They are Matt Halloran of Newman Lake; Lisa Erikson, Nine Mile Falls; and Meredith Hyslop, Marshall Greene and Colin Quinn-Hurst, all Spokane.

Halloran and Lee France of Sandpoint, both in the boys 14-15-year-old division, give SNSEF six skiers in the Junior Olympic Cross Country Championships this week in Jackson, N.H. (Names of the other four were reported last Sunday.)

Schweitzer Mountain will be the site of the Buddy Werner 2000 Championships for young ski racers Friday-Sunday.

Some 275 boys and girls ages 12 and under from more than two dozen teams in Washington, Oregon and Idaho are expected. Friday is a practice day, with the women’s giant slalom and men’s slalom Saturday and the men’s giant slalom and women’s slalom Sunday. Racing starts at 9:30 a.m. both days.

Soccer

The Spokane Soccer Club Falcons will conduct premier team tryouts Saturday and Sunday at North Pines Junior High.

Boys: U-18, 9-11 a.m.; U-17, noon-2 p.m.; U-16, 3-5; U-15, noon-2; U-14, 9-11. Girls: U-14, noon-2.

Tryouts for U-13 boys and girls will be scheduled for May. Info: 448-2345 or 448-8020.

The Vision girls U-15 soccer team will conduct tryouts Saturday and Sunday at Chester Elementary School, 3525 S. Pines, from 9-11 a.m. both days. Info: Jim Hart, 927-8057.

Softball

Shadle Park High School catcher Dorthea Gooch has made an oral commitment to play at the University of Southern Colorado.

Gooch has been an All-Greater Spokane League selection for three years. She hit .365 last year and finished second in stolen bases.

Track and field

The Inland Northwest Track and Field will hold its annual officials certification clinic in the EWU Physical Education Building March 19 at 9 a.m.

All officials are encouraged to attend. Those not certified may begin the process. Others may become updated on rule changes or increase their certification level. Cost is $15 fee, which includes certification and lunch. Info: Lawson Van Kuren, 235-4762.

Miscellany

Former Washington State University football player Derek Sparks will discuss the pressures of being a student athlete Tuesday at 7 p.m. at North Central High School.

The program is designed for students in grades 5-12 and their parents. Info: 354-7344.

The Idaho Athletic Hall of Fame will induct four new members during the North Idaho Sports banquet March 18 at the Coeur d’Alene Inn.

They are Jerry Ahlin, William Nixon, Craig Juntenen and Dee Pickett.

Ahlin played on both sides of the football on Idaho’s 1965 Big Sky Conference championship team. Nixon was a three-sport star at Bonners Ferry High. His athletic career was cut short at UI in 1950. Juntenen is a former Vandals quarterback who played in the CFL. Pickett, a Caldwell native, quarterbacked Boise State in the 1970s then went on to become a world champion rodeo cowboy.

Tickets for the banquet are on sale at the Coeur d’Alene Inn and North Idaho Les Schwab Tire Centers.