Stockton will receive Wooden award
John Stockton, the former Gonzaga University and Utah Jazz basketball star, will receive a special tribute at the 15th annual Sports Legends Awards Saturday in Los Angeles.
Stockton, the all-time NBA assists and steals leader and two-time Olympic gold medalist, will be presented the annual John R. Wooden Lifetime Achievement Award by Wooden, the former UCLA coach, as a highlight of the festivities in which the Paralysis Project of America honors six former athletic greats.
Slated to be recognized, not only for their athletic achievement but also their involvement in bringing the need for spinal cord research into the public eye, are former Olympic gymnasts Bart Conner (USA) and Nadia Comaneci (Romania), pro football’s Willie Davis (Green Bay Packers), Olympic swimming’s Donna de Varona (USA), Olympic and professional volleyball’s Karch Kiraly (USA) and horse racing’s Alex Solis (Panama).
TV personality Florence Henderson will host the event that also includes a silent auction for sports and entertainment memorabilia.
All proceeds go to the Paralysis Project of America for research into finding a cure for paralysis.
Bowling
There’s a new bowling organization in town.
The Spokane County United States Bowling Congress, a merged association that includes the former Spokane men’s, women’s and youth associations, will hold an election March 4 at 10 a.m. at Keystone Elementary, 612 S. McDonald in Spokane Valley, to put together a governing board.
Members present holding a USBC card will be eligible to vote for a president, two vice presidents, a sergeant-at-arms, 16 adult directors and five youth directors.
The merger becomes official May 31.
College scene
In her third year at Evergreen State College, Jenny Olson of Loon Lake has quietly become the Geoducks’ career leader in scoring, rebounding and steals in women’s basketball.
Olson, a Deer Park graduate who has scored 331 points this season and ranks fifth in the Cascade Conference with a 13.2 scoring average, broke the career scoring record on Dec. 21 with an 18-point game that gave her 789 to pass the old mark of 784.
Since then she has added the rebounding career mark with 572 (old, 428) and the steals record with 137 (124). She has 203 rebounds this year, fifth in the conference, and 47 steals, which ranks 10th. She also has career records in field goals attempted (866) and made (349).
•Arizona State sophomore C.J. Nuess of Medical Lake was named the Pac-10 Conference men’s swimmer of the month for January after recording five wins, five seconds and two thirds in meets against four top-15 opponents, three of them ranked in the top eight.
Nuess’ accomplishments for the No. 23 Sun Devils included a lifetime-best of 15 minutes, 48.68 seconds while winning a 1,650-yard freestyle against No. 3 Stanford and a season-best of 9:13.49 in winning the 1,000 free against No. 8 Minnesota.
Cross country
Danielle Hanvey from Lewiston High School has signed a letter of intent to run for the Lewis-Clark State College women’s team, the Warriors announced.
She is the third woman, coach Mike Collins said, to sign with her hometown school, which ranked 19th nationally in the NAIA last year.
Football
Two Mead High School seniors, Matt White and Derek Deniston, have signed to play at Montana State Northern in the Frontier Conference.
White, an outside linebacker on defense, H-back on offense, was a second-team All-Greater Spokane League selection at linebacker. Deniston, a defensive tackle, was first-team All-GSL.
Soccer
Eastern Washington has signed six players for its women’s program, including three who will transfer from Walla Walla Community College this fall after helping the Warriors to back-to-back NWAACC championships.
They are goalkeeper Ashley Renz from Pasco, a two-time all-conference selection; defender/forward Carrie Conners from Great Falls, Mont., an all-conference pick with 13 goals and 16 assists in two years at WWCC; and forward Shelly Ikerd from Boise, a two-time all-league pick and the NWAACC player of the year as a freshman in 2004.
The other three are all-state high school seniors, forward/midfielder Brittany Sparks from Kamiakin in Kennewick; forward/midfielder/defender Kelli Walton from Forest Ridge High School in Seattle, and M’ily Reiter of Billings, Mont., a three-time all-state selection.
Volleyball
Brittney Kubik of Ritzville, a 6-foot middle blocker at Walla Walla Community College, has signed a scholarship offer to play at Lewis-Clark State College, the Warriors announced.
Kubik, who set records for blocks at WWCC this past season with 13 in a match, 308 in a season and a 2.17 average, was an American Volleyball Coaches Association All-American. In leading the Warriors to the NWAACC championship, Kubik was named MVP of the conference tournament and Eastern Region, as well as collecting several conference or tournament awards during the season.