Hein enjoys time at SAMMY Awards

Sandpoint graduate Allison Hein received a bonus when she picked up her SAMMY Award in Orlando, Fla. two weekends ago.

She was invited by Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Brad Johnson to visit and have dinner next year in Tallahassee.

Hein is the second regional high school scholar-athlete this year to receive a $7,500 college scholarship from the Scholar Athlete Milk Mustache of the Year (SAMMY) award contest.

She and Kristen Dormaier of Almira/Coulee-Hartline were among the 25 national scholarship winners who were given royal treatment June 26 in Orlando, had their pictures and names enshrined in the Milk House SAMMY Hall of Fame and were treated to all the amenities of Disney World.

Their milk-mustached pictures were in USA Today and will be in ESPN and Sports Illustrated magazines on sale this week.

At the banquet, the Florida State-bound Hein met Johnson, an FSU alum and SAMMY Award featured speaker.

“He said he was busy this fall, but gave me his phone number and told me to contact him in the spring when we’ll both be in Tallahassee,” Hein said.

Hein, who was born in Jacksonville where her father was stationed in the military, said her parents had purchased a pre-paid tuition program for college in Florida.

They moved here in 1991 and live in Sagle. Hein ran cross country and track at Sandpoint

“I turned out for cross country mainly to stay in shape for track,” she said. “I’m a sprinter so it was an odd situation, but I liked the camaraderie of cross country.”

As a junior she was member of the state record-setting 400-meter relay team, and would like to walk-on at FSU. But academics are her priority. She graduated with a 4.37 GPA and already has earned 18 college credits. Her first two years paid for through various scholarships.

Hein said she’ll live in an honors dormitory at FSU with a major emphasis on chemistry and physics. But don’t be surprised if she takes a circus class offered at the school

“My mom thinks I have the talent to be in the circus, so I’m thinking about it,” she said.

The SAMMY experience two weekends ago was more than worthwhile, Brad Johnson’s offer notwithstanding.

“It was absolutely amazing,” said Hein. “They treated us like celebrity athletes. It was VIP everything and we had three different kinds of fresh milk and cookies in our room every morning.”

Basketball

Aaron Willrich is spending some time out of the country.

Willrich, who will be a freshman at West Valley High this fall, was one of 120 kids selected to tour with the NBC Camps Tour Teams. Of the 11,000 kids who attend camp, and the 700 who try-out and apply to travel with the team, Willrich is just one of two 14-year-olds to embark on the 10-day tour throughout Europe.

Last Tuesday’s departure took the team to Manchester, England. The team has now played games in Wales and Ireland as well.

“(Aaron) called me from the Hard Rock Café in London today.” Willrich’s father Robert said. “He just sounds like he is having the time of his life.”

Willrich, who West Valley boy’s basketball coach Jamie Nilles has been watching, will join the Eagles as a shooting guard or a point guard.

Willrich arrives back on Saturday.

Softball

The Spokane Extreme, an 18-U select softball team won the recent Hell’s Canyon Rampage tournament in Lewiston.

The team, made up of girls from throughout the region, went 6-0 during the weekend, winning its pool and the ensuing tournament. Included were 10-1 and 9-0 wins over Clarkston and Lewiston in the semifinals and finals

Extreme includes girls from several Idaho high schools as well as schools from three leagues in the Spokane area.

Freeman’s Melissa Triber was one of six girls to bat over .500 during the tourney. Charlotte Psick from Medical Lake, who had five triples, Aimee Fitting from Lakeland, Shelli Dodge from Couer d’Alene, Julie Andrews from Lewiston and Rochelle Solom from St. Maries were others who hit safely at least half the time.

Melissa Rice, the Great Northern League two-time MVP, struck out 41 batters in 18 innings and Michelle Tully, from Gonzaga Prep, had 25 strikeouts in 16 innings.

Baseball

Eight-year-old Nathan Gomer of Post Falls placed first at the Pepsi Major League Baseball Pitch, Hit and Run Team Championship Competition held at Safeco Field on Sunday, June 27.

Gomer qualified to compete at the Team Championship after placing first in his age division at the local competition. He also became the All-Around Champion at the Post Falls Sectional on June 12.

Gomer is now eligible to advance to the National Finals at the 2004 All-Star Game in Houston.

American Legion

The Blue Devils’ Chris Kern hit two solo homeruns Monday night in a 3-2 loss to the Bandits.

In Junior Legion action on Monday, Central Valley’s Scott Froehlich (5-0) picked up the win as CV beat Cheney 11-2. CV’s Stuart Harris was 4 for 4 with two RBIs and teammate Kyle Renz had three hits and a pair of RBIs.

The Cannons beat the Bandits 5-3 in Tuesday’s games when Gary Jones hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the sixth, scoring teammate Kyle Arnold. Arnold, who graduated from West Valley with Jones, hit two homeruns in Saturday’s American Legion Fourth of July Tournament. The Cannons went 2-3 in the tourney.

On Wednesday night, the Patriots swept a doubleheader with the Blue Devils with scores of 1-0 and 2-0. In game one Tim Sloot struck out 12 and walked one, allowing two hits in the game. The Blue Devils’ Jordan Moore allowed only one double to Patriot Hunter Simpson in the fourth. Moore struck out 11 and walked eight.

In game two, the Patriots scored one in the first on a Justin Krieger RBI double and one in the second when Greg Biagi‘s two-out single scored teammate Nick Bronowski.