Locally

Stepp chosen WCC’s male Scholar–Athlete of the Year

Gonzaga University guard Blake Stepp has been named the West Coast Conference Male Scholar–Athlete of the Year.

The highest honor in the WCC is selected by a vote of the WCC’s institutional representatives to recognize the finest accomplishments in athletics, academics and community service of individuals who have completed their WCC eligibility.

Stepp led the Bulldogs to an undefeated 2003-2004 conference record, a school-best No. 3 ranking in the final Associated Press Top 25 and a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament where the Bulldogs advanced to the second round.

Stepp was also named to three consecutive WCC All-Academic basketball teams and was a CoSIDA Academic All-American second-team selection as a senior.

As a business administration major, Stepp posted a 3.22 GPA and achieved President’s List honors for the fall semester this past academic year.

College Scene

Community Colleges of Spokane’s Josh Parker is this year’s recipient of the Art Feiro Award.

The award is given annually to the top male and female scholar-athlete in the Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges (NWAACC).

Parker, a Ferris graduate, played basketball at CCS for two years and posted a 3.85 GPA. He will play basketball for Whitworth College next year.

•Six Washington State Cougars have been named to the Pac-10 All-Academic teams in track and field.

Selections for the men’s track and field first team include junior Thad Cullinan, a marketing major who posted a 3.65 GPA. Seniors Tim Gehring and Ian Johnson were also selected. Gehring is an accounting major with a 3.63 GPA. Johnson is a general linguistics major with a 3.72 GPA.

Also selected to the first team was sophomore Ryan Freimuth, an accounting major with a 3.87 GPA.

Women’s first-team selections included juniors Rachel Bertholf and Ana Cabrera.

Bertholf is a marketing major with a 3.66 GPA and Cabrera is a communications and Spanish major with a 3.94 GPA.

Also honored:

Women’s second team—Shannon Rance, sr., 3.49, health and fitness education.

Men’s honorable mention—Martin Boston, soph.; Jonathan Manthey, jr.; Kyle Mitchell, redshirt soph.

Women’s honorable mention—Molly Bull, jr.; Tamara Diles, redshirt soph.; Nicole Hatcher, soph.; Karla Pfaff, redshirt freshman; Hailey Young, soph.

•The Washington State University women’s rowing team placed a combined 12 student-athletes on the Pac-10 All-Academic Rowing Team. Six Cougars were named to the first team and six were second-team selections.

First-team selections are: Kasia Bloch, soph., 3.75, zoology; Debbie Curry, sr., 3.58, business administration; Courtney Goodridge, soph., 3.91, sociology; Maryann Lundberg, jr., 3.54, finance; Rosy Miller, jr., 3.67, animal science; Suzanne Vogt, soph., 3.70, movement studies.

Second-team selections: Jessica Bills, soph., 3.02, history; Sharon Finney, soph., 3.12, nutrition; Laura Griffin, soph., 3.27, undeclared; Amy Hendershot, soph., 3.21, undeclared; Angela Mason, jr., 3.10, biology; Lori Maricle, jr., 3.18, communications.

•Washington State University’s Erin Patterson was named to the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association (CRCA) All-America second team.

Patterson was a member of the Cougars’ varsity 8 crew that finished 14th in the nation.

Along with her All-America selection, Patterson was awarded a spot on the All-West Region first team while teammate Jody Thomas was chosen to the second team.

Thomas was also named a National Scholar Athlete for the West Region.

•Moscow High School senior James Foltz has signed to swim next year at the University of Utah. Foltz was captain of this year’s state-championship team. Foltz placed first in both the 100- and 200-yard freestyle at state and was also named Idaho High School Swimming athlete of the year by the Idaho Hall of Fame and 2003 swimmer of the year by the Idaho High School Swimming Association.

Shooting

Hattie Johnson of Athol, Idaho, will represent the United States at this Summer Olympics. Johnson has been on the National Team for two years and is a Specialist in the United States Army Marksmanship Unit.

Recently, Johnson was awarded the bronze medal in the 3x20 at the 2003 Pan Am Games. Johnson also placed third in the 3x20 and second in air rifle at the 2003 National Championships. Johnson, who currently resides in Buena Vista, Georgia, will compete in two events – the air rifle and the 50-meter three-position rifle.

Track and Field

Spokane’s Rich Tucker won the 400-meter run, posting a time of 1:00.2 seconds in the 55-59 division, at the Oregon Senior Olympics in Silverton. Tucker also took second place in the 200 with a time of 27.8 seconds.

•At the Suzuki Rock and Roll Marathon in San Diego, Spokane’s Michael Bresson won his division (male 30-34) with a time of 2 hours, 30 minutes. He was paced at a 5:43 mile.

Volleyball

At the USA Volleyball’s Annual Boyce Award Dinner in Atlanta, Russell D. Poage received the Outstanding Service Award made by the youth and junior volleyball division.

Poage began one of the first United States Volleyball Association (USVBA) junior volleyball clubs, the Spokane Juniors (1985). He served as club director for the Juniors until 1991 then started the Cutting Edge volleyball club, which he ran until 1994. Since 1992 Poage has acted as the assistant commissioner and treasurer for the Evergreen Region, which is a volunteer position. He also currently acts as an event arbitrator for the USA Volleyball national events and qualifiers.

Weightlifting

At the IPF Women’s World Championships, held in Cahors, France, Priscilla Ribic of Spokane won gold for the 148-pound weight class. The competition consisted of 25 countries and more than 100 athletes.

She also ranked No. 2 overall among the athletes, based on a formula at the competition.

Ribic, a lifetime resident of Spokane and employee of Northwest Farm Credit Services, has been powerlifting for 4 1/2 years.

Her accomplishments include being the top-ranked, drug-free female powerlifter for the United States in 2003 and 2004 and being ranked second drug-free female in the world in 2004.

She holds the world record of 540 pounds in the deadlift at the 148-weight class. She is the national record holder with a 501 squat, 314 bench press, 540 deadlift and 1,333 total.