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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Quick hits

The Spokesman-Review

Colville’s boys and Lakeside’s girls have repeated as Great Northern League cross country champions. Both completed second consecutive unbeaten seasons on Tuesday with easy wins.

For Colville, ranked No. 1 among 2A schools, this year has been simply a matter of improving on last year’s times, particularly by Ryan Cloke, whose huge strides resulted in victory during the team’s race against Riverside and Medical Lake.

He joins sophomore Justin Rose in a formidable 1-2 punch. Jake Wilson, last year’s highest finisher for the Indians at state, is not far behind.

Lakeside’s ability to pull out close wins in a wide-open, three-team league chase led to its second perfect season.

The Eagles had big shoes to fill upon graduation of four-year state placer Katie Campbell, who was eighth last year after transferring to Lakeside for her senior season.

Kayloni Jones assumed the mantle of leadership as one of the league’s top four runners. The Eagles had enough depth to eke out narrow wins over Riverside, by two points, and Colville, by one, during the year.

Only two teams qualify for state during next week’s district meet.

Crossing over to success

One of the interesting parts of Spokane’s Crossover Tournament, held over the weekend, is that local, small schools get a chance to square off against big schools.

Davenport (15-4, 8-0), the top-ranked B school, took the first game from Heritage, ranked second in the 4A classification, before Heritage battled back to win the next two. The Gorillas also beat North Central, Walla Walla and West Valley-Yakima on the way to a 23rd-place finish.

Colfax beat Central Valley and Walla Walla and played three tight games in a loss to Kentlake, a possible 4A state tournament qualifier. Medical Lake (Auburn Riverside) and Freeman (Pasco) both beat 4A teams to earn spots in the championship round, where ML finished 15th and the Scotties 13th.

“No matter how it turns out,” said Freeman coach Kenny Davis, after his team won his pool to reach the title round, “the kids played well this weekend.”

Down to the last match

The preseason prediction that, behind Mead and Lewis and Clark, the Greater Spokane League volleyball race would be a toss-up has been born out. There could be a four-way tie for fourth place after tonight’s season finales. Central Valley, which will have its first winning season since 1990, would create the likely tie with a win at Mt. Spokane. The six-team District 8 4A field is set with a Mt. Spokane win.

Coming east

Two highly touted Washington girls basketball players have decided to continue their education in the Spokane area.

East Valley-Yakima point guard Jessica Huntington announced Tuesday she will attend Eastern Washington University next year. The 5-foot-8 senior was the CWAC South player of the year last season.

Vivian Frieson, a 6-foot post who averaged 7.8 points and six rebounds last year for State 4A champion Garfield, announced recently she will attend Gonzaga University next year.