Locally

Sowers honored by Concordia College

Sarah Sowers, a 1996 graduate of Falls Christian Academy in Post Falls, will be inducted into the Concordia University Athletic Hall of Fame on June 25.

Sowers, a 2000 graduate of Concordia, was a three-sport star at the college in Portland. She played soccer, basketball and softball. She was an All-Cascade Collegiate Conference and an NAIA All-American Academic All-American selection in basketball and also all-conference in softball.

She graduated with a 4.0 grade-point average, with a degree in health and fitness management. She works for Nike in product testing.

In high school, she was chosen All-North Star League four times in both basketball and volleyball.

Baseball

The Spokane Baseball Association, a non-profit organization promoting everything baseball in Spokane, has applied for a $20,000 grand prize for field renovation. Troy Mallonee, who started the group along with his son, wrote a 500-word essay on why Spokane needs help with its youth baseball fields. Mallonee’s essay is one of three Western Region finalists. Readers can help by voting for the Spokane essay at http://mlb.mlb.com/ NASApp/mlb/mlb/fan_forum/ gmc_sweepstakes/ditr_form.jsp.

Mallonee said the money would go to a Pony League park in Spokane. For more on the Spokane Baseball Association, click on www.spokanebaseball.com

Basketball

Scott Moore, a former student manager for the Washington State University women’s team, has been hired as director of basketball operations for the program, head coach Sherri Murrell announced.

Moore, who replaces Sarah Holland, will serve as the team’s travel coordinator and coordinate video efforts. In addition, he will handle facility scheduling and arrange community service and promotion engagements for the staff and team.

He was student manager from 2001-04. After graduating from WSU, he went to Eastern Washington University this past winter and served as a graduate assistant for the women’s program there.

•Former Lakeside High School (Nine Mile Falls) standout Jessi Reome has signed a letter of intent to transfer to Central Washington University beginning this fall, CWU head women’s coach Jeff Whitney announced.

Reome spent the last two seasons at Frontier Conference power Montana State-Northern. The 5-foot-11 guard earned honorable mention all-conference honors both seasons. Last season, she led the Northern Lights in scoring with 14.7 points per game.

Reome was also among the most proficient 3-point shooters in the nation at the NAIA Division I level, ranking seventh nationally with 95 long-range shots during her sophomore season. Her older sister, Kate, just completed her career as Central Washington’s all-region volleyball setter.

•Community Colleges of Spokane’s women announced the signing of the following players for the upcoming season: Ashlee Taylor and Kaila Floyd of Freeman; Sarah Scates of Chewelah; Emily Whittkopf of Mt. Spokane; and Brittany Middleton of Pasco.

Golf

Chloe Nelson, from Silverado High School in Las Vegas has signed a letter of intent to play for the women’s team next season at Eastern Washington University.

During her freshman through junior seasons, Nelson finished sixth, eighth, and fourth place, respectively, at the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association 4A Girls Golf Tournament.

Volleyball

Adetokunbo (Tokunbo) Faleti, a 5-10 outside hitter transferring from Barton County Community College (Great Bend, Kan.), and Te’ara Epps, a 6-1 middle blocker from Tulare, Calif., who is transferring from Cal State Los Angeles, have signed to play for Washington State University next fall, Cougars head coach Brian Heffernan announced.

Faleti was an NJCAA All-Region VI second-team and an All-Jayhawk West Conference second-team selection in 2004 as Barton County went 18-9 overall after winning the NJCAA National Championships at 36-1 in 2003.

Epps was an All-California College Athletic Association (CCAA) first-team selection in 2003 and 2004 and second-team selection in 2002.

College scene

Softball player Layne Pavey (Lewis and Clark HS), a three-time Pacific West Conference all-academic selection, graduated magna cum laude last weekend from Montana State-Billings and was honored as the most distinguished sociology graduate. She has a 3.91 GPA.

On the softball field, Pavey, a catcher/outfielder, received second-team All-Pac West Conference and All-West Region honors.

•Western Washington second baseman Mandy Kaestner, a junior from Coeur d’Alene, and Seattle University first baseman Amanda Nilles, a sophomore from Spokane, were named second-team All Great Northwest Athletic Conference in softball.

•Washington State freshman Ekaterina Burduli was named honorable mention on the All-Pacific-10 Conference women’s tennis team.

The Tel Aviv, Israel, native compiled 15 singles victories this season and led the Cougars in dual match victories with 14.

•Basketball players Ronny Turiaf and Shannon Mathews were honored by the Bulldog Club as the student-athletes of the year for Gonzaga University.

Scholar athletes of the year awards went to Joe Manning (3.87 GPA in journalism), a four-year letterwinner for the cross country and track teams, and Christina Davis (3.84 GPA in public relations), a four-year volleyball letterwinner.

Turiaf capped his senior season by leading Gonzaga’s men’s basketball team to a seventh straight NCAA Tournament appearance and a No. 10 ranking in the final Associated Press Top 25 poll. He was also the West Coast Conference player of the year.

Mathews helped lead Gonzaga’s women’s basketball team to the second 14-0 record in West Coast Conference history this past season as the Bulldogs advanced to the WNIT for the second straight season. She was also the WCC player of the year.

•Five senior athletes – two swimmers, two basketball players and a soccer player – have been presented with annual year-end awards at the Whitworth College Senior Honors Forum.

Serena Fadel, a swimming standout, and Sarah Shogren, an all-star basketball player, have been selected as the senior female athletes of the year. Another basketball record-breaker, Tiffany Speer, has been named as the women’s recipient of the Dennis Spurlock award. In addition, Brad Suhm, the team captain of the NCAA-bound men’s soccer team is the senior male athlete of the year. Cory Bergman, an All-American and record-breaking swimmer, has been recognized as the men’s recipient of the Dennis Spurlock Memorial award.

Fadel went undefeated over her four-year career in the Northwest Conference in both the 200- and 400-yard individual medleys. She was also a four-time NCAA Division III All-American in the 200-yard breaststroke. She is the most decorated women’s NCAA athlete in Whitworth history.

Shogren started all 25 games this season and averaged 18.8 points and 10 rebounds per game. She was also a first-team All-NWC selection and was chosen as the NWC Player of the Year as both a sophomore and junior.

Suhm captained the Whitworth men’s soccer team which won its first NWC title since 2001 and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Division III national tournament. He was second-team All-NWC.

Bergman single-handedly led Whitworth to a 26th-place finish at the 2005 NCAA Division III Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships by scoring in all three of his individual events at the meet. He is a four-time NCAA All-American in the 200-yard breaststroke.

The Dennis Spurlock Award is presented to a senior athlete who best exemplifies the qualities of the former Pirates All-America quarterback. Those qualities include superior athletic ability, devotion to teammates and natural leadership ability.

All of the above awards are selected based on voting by the coaches and staff of the Whitworth College athletics department.

•The North Idaho College Booster club named Justin Pearch the male athlete of the year at its awards banquet on May 7. He was the wrestling team captain and team MVP. He is a two-time All-American.

The female athlete of the year awards were presented to volleyball player Kara Kiefer and women’s basketball player Jeni Boesel.

Kiefer, a member of the NIC Athletic Advisory Council, was named to the All-Region 18 team and was selected MVP of the Region 18 tournament.

Boesel was named to the NJCAA All-American second team in addition to receiving All-Scenic West Athletic Conference honors while leading the league in scoring and 3-point shooting.

The male scholar-athlete of the year award was presented to wrestling team captain Derek Kipperberg (3.46 GPA in engineering). The female scholar-athlete award went to Jamison Walton (3.95 GPA in psychology), who started every game at goalkeeper in soccer.

The women’s volleyball team was selected as team of the year.

The award recipients are nominated and selected by the NIC coaching staff.

•Vanessa Shelton, who set an NAIA record with three triples in a game this season for Eastern Oregon University, was named the most valuable softball player in the Cascade Collegiate Conference and named to the All-Conference team.

The former University High School and Spokane Falls Community College star, a senior at EOU, led the conference in hitting (a .426 average), slugging percentage (.775) and on-base percentage (.497).

Shelton, who also had the best stolen-base percentage, being successful on all 15 of her steal attempts, had 11 doubles, four triples and seven home runs.

•Drew Piston (Lewis and Clark HS), a member of the Carleton College (Minn.) men’s tennis team, has been named to the All-Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Association team for fifth singles and second doubles.

Academic teams

Ty Weingard (track and field/exercise science) and Keva Sonderen (volleyball/business administration) are Eastern Washington University’s 2005 Big Sky Scholar Athlete Award winners. They were selected by EWU based on athletic and academic performance. To qualify for the award, an athlete must have a minimum GPA of 3.2, be a member of the graduation class and/or have completed their last year of intercollegiate athletic eligibility, have completed at least two year as of intercollegiate competition at the institution and be a letterwinner.

•Four area athletes have been named to the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Track and Field Academic All-Star Team. They are: Leif Olson, Alaska Anchorage (English, Jr., 3.29, Mt. Spokane); Andrew Lybarger, Seattle (Mechanical Engineering, Jr., 3.96, West Valley); Andy Prentice, Saint Martin’s (Business, Sr., 3.45, Lakeside); Jackie McCall (Recreation, Jr., 3.33, Medical Lake). This is Prentice’s third selection to the team and McCall’s second.

•Gonzaga junior outfielder Jackson Brennan has been named to the ESPN The Magazine/College Sports Information Directors of America All-Academic All-District VIII baseball first team in the university division. He has a 3.65 GPA in applied communications. Washington State’s Zach Kosturos was to the second team. The recent 2005 WSU graduate carried a 3.52 GPA in communication and business administration. Whitworth senior Dan Gebbers was named to the college division team. Gebbers graduated with a 3.65 GPA as a business major.