Locally

GU keeper Haugen receives All-America honorable mention

Ashley Haugen has become the first Gonzaga University women’s soccer player to earn Soccer Buzz All-America recognition.

The Bulldogs senior goalkeeper received honorable mention to cap a season in which she set school records for most shutouts (11), fewest goals allowed (15) and lowest goals-against average (0.72).

Earlier in the week, she was named to the Soccer Buzz All-West Region first team. Teammate Beth Drollinger, a junior defender, was a third-team choice and defender Lori Conrad was named to the All-West Region freshman team.

GU was 18th in the Internet magazine’s final poll.

Baseball

The Spokane RiverHawks have a new rival in Eastern Washington in the West Coast Collegiate Baseball League.

The Moses Lake Pirates, who will be owned and operated by husband and wife Brent and Amy Kirwan, have been added as the eighth member of the league.

Saint Martin’s University assistant coach Gabe Boruff was named the team’s first manager.

Bowling

Consistency paid dividends for Adam Holtman and Ryon Cline, who won the Junior Bowlers Tour doubles tournament Dec. 11 at Lilac Lanes.

With little movement at the top throughout the day, Holtman and Cline were No. 1 going into the match-play finals and defeated Matt Descoteaux and Bo Feathers, the No. 3 qualifiers, 417-392 for the title.

Brothers Josh and Nick Schmehl finished third, Evan Nash and Jarryd Bivins were fourth and Brandon Roush and Daniel Seifert fifth.

Krystal Jackson had high game for the girls, a 258. Cory Porter was high for the boys with a 276. He started the day with a 953 four-game series.

The next JBT will be Jan. 8 at Valley Bowl.

College scene

Another organization has recognized Eastern Washington’s football passing sensations Erik Meyer and Eric Kimble among the best in the nation.

The Internet news service I-AA.org named quarterback Meyer its Offensive Player of the Year and selected Kimble as one of four wide receivers on its 40-man All-Star team.

“Five area players, three of them from Gonzaga Prep at four-time NAIA national champion Carroll College, were named All-Frontier Conference in football.

Former G-Prep players selected were place-kicker Marcus Miller and defensive lineman Phil Lenoue, both sophomores, on the first team, and junior linebacker Josh Schmidt on the second.

Their Carroll teammate, senior center Kyle Baker from Lake City in Coeur d’Alene, also was a first-team choice.

Montana Tech place-kicker Dan Kleckner, a junior from Mt. Spokane, was a second-team choice.

“Three Whitworth men have been named to the National Soccer Coaches of America Scholar All-America team.

Honored were senior Todd Sabrowski, 3.30 grade-point average in business management; junior Ali Seyedali, 3.40 in biology, both on the first team, and senior Jon Carlson on the third team.

To be eligible, a player must be at least a junior with a 3.30 cumulative GPA or better.

Five other Pirates were named to the coaches’ Scholar All-Far West Region second team – Kevin Bostock, junior, 3.5, political science; Trevor Osborne, senior, 3.71, business management; Adam Loeffler, jr., 3.72, physics; Evan Hendrickson, sr., 3.3, business management; and Sean Lambrecht, jr., 3.3, business management.

“Kimberly Bussiere of Mt. Spokane, a senior at Cornell College in Mount Vernon, Iowa, shared the most valuable player award in women’s soccer for the Rams and was an All-Iowa Conference selection for the fourth time.

Bussiere, named first-team all-conference for a second time, was second on the team with 26 points, seven goals and a team-leading 12 assists.

“For the third straight year, the Gonzaga men received an Academic Award from the National Soccer Coaches Association of America for the team’s 3.3 GPA.

GU is one of 65 men’s teams with GPAs of 3.0 or better to be honored. The 3.3 for the 2004-05 school year tied for the best GPA among Division I schools.

“Weston Wood, a junior guard from Riverside on the Puget Sound men’s basketball team, had a season-high 17 points in a 123-74 win over Caltech last Monday as the Loggers improved to 7-1.

Rowing

Gonzaga University women’s coach Glenn Putyrae announced the signing of four recruits to national letters of intent.

Slated to join the Bulldogs for the 2005-06 school year are Sophie Bluhm from Oakland, Calif.; Samantha Cekovic, San Francisco; Chelsie Eddings, North Bend, Wash.; and Kathryn Molitor, Palo Alto, Calif.

All have from two to four years rowing experience.

Volleyball

Megan Thigpen of Mead, the Greater Spokane League Most Valuable Player and a member of three Panthers state championship teams, has been recruited to play for the University of Alaska at Fairbanks, an NCAA Division II school.

Thigpen, a Class 4A All-State selection this past season and a four-sport letter winner at Mead, “can flat out play,” said coach Phil Shoemaker. “She knows how to win (and) is a dynamic, enthusiastic leader.”