Locally

Basketball

For the eighth straight year the Papermill Printing 3-on-3 basketball team is champion of the 50-54 age division of the Washington State Senior Games, played last weekend in Olympia.

Team members are Jim Preston, Doug Watson, Dan Steward, Jack Soliday and Jon Heimbigner, who has played on all eight champions.

Papermill Printing also beat 55-59 bracket winner Team Stein from Spokane 54-34, and Team Renneckar, the 60-64 age champs, 67-23.

Soliday won the free-throw and hot-shot competitions and Watson finished second.

Canoeing

Nicholas Bauer of Spokane teamed with Brad Bauer of Seattle to finish ninth at the Weyerhaeuser Au Sable River Canoe Marathon, which ran from Grayling, Mich., to Oscoda, Mich., on July 30-31.

The Bauers finished with a time of 15 hours, 36 minutes and 50 seconds. Serge Corbin of Quebec and Jeff Kolka of Grayling won their ninth Au Sable championship by 1 second in 14:56:11.

Golf

University of Idaho golf coach Brad Rickel has signed a five-year extension to his contract.

Rickel, who begins his sixth season at UI this fall, was the Big West Conference women’s coach of the year in 2001 and the co-coach of the year last spring.

Swimming

Susanne Simpson of Spokane recently won eight gold medals in the 45-49 age group at the World Masters Games in Edmonton, Alberta.

Simpson, 45, won individual medals in the 200-, 400- and 800-meter freestyle events, as well as the 100 and 200 butterfly and the 2K Open Water Event. She also won a pair of relays with her Russian teammates.

Larry Krauser, 52, won six gold medals in the 50-54 age group. Krauser won the 50, 100, 200, 400 and 800 freestyle events outright, and he tied for first in the 3K Open Water Event.

Margaret Hair, 50, of Coeur d’Alene, earned top-10 finishes in each of her five events in the 50-54 age group, finishing as high as second in the 50 breaststroke and third in the 400 individual medley. Murray Allen, 43, of Spokane earned two top-10 finishes in the 40-44 age group, finishing as high as ninth in the 50 freestyle.

Also competing were Cindy Clutter, 43, of Coeur d’Alene, and Tom Simpson, 44, of Spokane.

Tennis

The 94th Spokane City Tennis Championships, held July 28-31 at the Spokane Racquet Club, became a Hough family affair, as three brothers reached the men’s finals.

In singles action, Kevin Jones defeated Ben Hough 2-6, 7-6 (3), 6-4 in the open finals, while Connor Roberts defeated William Hough 7-6, 6-2 in the 3.0 championship. In doubles, Ben teamed with younger brother Whitman Hough to defeat Mark Sullivan and Hap Gotzian 7-5, 6-3 in the open championship.

In other men’s championships: Steve Kubota defeated Don Ho 6-0, 6-2 in 45 singles; Joe Carroll defeated Cory Heimbecker 6-3, 6-2 in 3.5 singles; Bill Thompson defeated Larry Kraft 6-3, 1-6, 0-1 (injury retire) in 70 singles; Steve Carlson and Frank Hattimer defeated Dave Leath and Tom Roberts 6-4, 6-3 in 45 doubles.

On the women’s side: Anna Gullickson defeated Carolyn Pratt 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 in open singles; Lorie Leath defeated Jamie Randall 6-2, 6-3 in 3.0 singles; and Brenda Tudor and Jessica Carlson won the round robin in women’s 3.0/3.5 doubles.

Track and field

John Kragt, a 2003 graduate of Ritzville High School and former Community Colleges of Spokane decathlete, has signed a letter of intent to be a decathlete at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa.

Kragt has a personal record of 5,963 points in the decathlon, and he finished fourth at the Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges Championships in May.

•Ben Carrothers (North Central) signed a letter of intent with Southwestern Oregon Community College of Coos Bay for cross country and track.

Triathlon

Jackie Allen and Tom Simpson of Spokane each placed in the top 10 in their respective triathlons at the recent World Masters Games in Edmonton, Alberta.

Simpson, 45, placed fifth in the 45-49 age group in the Sprint Triathlon, while Allen, 40, placed 10th in the 40-44 age group in the Olympic Distance Triathlon. There were a total of 185 competitors in the Sprint Triathlon and 495 in the Olympic Distance Triathlon.

Volleyball

Former Gonzaga University standout Abby Cullen, 23, was named the first full-time assistant volleyball coach in Central Washington University history on Wednesday.

“Abby not only will improve our program as a whole, but also add some elements that our program needs to keep us at a high level,” head coach Mario Andaya said. “A formidable front-row player herself, Abby will be able to share experiences and insight to help improve our players’ strength at the net.”

Cullen played in 400 career games at middle blocker for Gonzaga from 2000-03, finishing third on the school’s all-time list in blocks (428) and fifth in kills (1,140). She was named honorable mention All-West Coast Conference three times.