CCS will induct four former coaches into Hall of Fame

Community Colleges of Spokane will induct four former coaches and a team into the school’s Hall of Fame during ceremonies April 1 at the Red Lion River Inn beginning at 6 p.m.

Tickets are $25 and available by calling the athletic department at 533-3630.

The Class of 2006 includes basketball coaches Sam Brasch and Craig Johnson; Keith Snyder, baseball; and Rick Harrison, gymnastics, and the 1966-67 Spokane Falls men’s basketball team coached by Hank Coplen.

Brasch led the CCS men from 1981-2002, compiling 291 wins and leading CCS to its only NWAACC championship in 2000, the year he was named conference coach of the year. His teams also won four region titles. He was honored as region coach of the year after each.

Johnson, who remains the Spokane Community College physical education department chair, was the first head coach of the SCC men’s team, serving from 1971-79. He had a 136-85 record, won one Eastern Region title and was conference runner-up three times. He was twice Eastern Region coach of the year in 1972 and 1976. He also assisted the women’s program from 1980-2005.

Snyder directed the CCS baseball program from 1983-1990 with a 250-130 record. He won two conference and four Eastern Region titles and twice was conference coach of the year.

Harrison was gymnastics coach from 1976-1987, earning four consecutive national coach of the year awards (1979-82). From 1980-82 his Sasquatch won National Junior College Athletics Association Championships. He also had three national runners-up.

The 1966-67 men’s basketball team went 19-9 and won the Eastern Region en route to capturing the school’s first conference championship and advancing to the NJCAA Regional in Boise.

Bowling

The North Central boys varsity team, on the strength of a dominating second-day performance, captured third place in Division 2 of the high school state tournament in Tacoma last weekend.

NC finished the first day in ninth place, 8½ points out of first, under a new tournament format in which each of the five teammates alternately rolls two frames of a 10-frame game.

On Day 2, the teams returned to the traditional Swiss format with head-to-head bowling. NC had an average team pin count of 962.4, a per-game average of 192.48, and an 18-5-2 record.

NC placed three on the 10-man Division 2 All-State team. Ben Harris, who averaged 201, was on the first team. Alex Earle and Lucas House, who both averaged 198, were on the second team.

“I couldn’t be more proud of the way the boys hung in there and competed after their first-day struggles,” said coach Rick House. “They had never competed in a Baker-style tournament, so they really had to regroup after falling so far behind after the first day.

“We had 532 more total pins for the tournament than the first-place team, and had a better average, 192 to 183, on the second day. But because of the format, we didn’t get a chance to play either of the top two teams either day.”

Kentwood (45 points) won Division 2 with Mountlake Terrace edging NC for second, 441/2-431/2.

Also on the NC team were Adrian Hammer, Kevin Uddman and Casey Anderson.

Mt. Spokane, the 2005 champion, finished ninth in the 12-team Division 1. The Wildcats’ Lacey Kerr, who bowled on the boys squad, was named to the girls All-State team. She averaged 190.

The Shadle Park boys were seventh in Division 2. Shadle was fourth and Rogers fifth in the five-team girls division.

•Josh Schmehl parlayed a second-half charge into victory in the Junior Bowlers Tour event at North Bowl.

Schmehl, who vaulted from 10th to fourth in the second round of qualifying with an 889 series, won four straight matches to capture the title, defeating leading qualifier Evan Nash 215-189 in the finale. Schmehl had a 914 for the four matches. Nash had a 921 series to jump from seventh to first, but cooled off awaiting his finals opponent.

Matt Benner was third, Jarryd Bevens fourth and Corey Porter fifth. Schmehl and Bevens shared high game with 269s. Malina Brown was high for the girls with a 242.

•Jake Schmehl, 13, of Medical Lake, earned $1,275 in scholarship money with a third-place finish in the youth handicap division at the JBT Main Event in Las Vegas in late December.

College scene

Whitworth’s Samantha Kephart and Brittany Gresset will compete at the NCAA Division III Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships March 9-11 at the University of Minnesota Aquatic Center.

Kephart, a sophomore, is the NCAA D-III record-holder in the 200-yard butterfly and is top-seeded in that event. She’s seeded second in the 100 fly and fifth in the 500 freestyle. She was national runner-up in the 200 fly and an All-American in the 100 and 200 fly events last year.

Gresset, a freshman, is seeded 16th in the 50 free, 31st in the 100 backstroke and 29th in the 100 free.

Football

University of Montana-Western has picked up a couple of defensive players from Spokane.

John Sullivan, an outside linebacker at Mead, a second-team All-Greater Spokane League selection in 2005, will attend the Frontier Conference school in Dillon, Mead coach Sean Carty announced.

Matt Crater, a 2004 graduate of Ferris, will transfer from Yuba College of Marysville, Calif., Montana-Western announced. Crater was a second-team All-GSL defensive back in 2003.

•Spokane will be home to Pop Warner Football this year for youngsters ages 5 through 15.

The league will begin accepting registrations March 15 and is also looking for volunteer coaches.

For more information, check the Internet at Spokanepopwarner.com, or call Steve Larson (868-8872) or Rick Osso (251-4373).

Hockey

Three teams in the Spokane Americans Youth Hockey Association won state championships last weekend to advance to the regional tournament, Thursday through March 5 in Las Vegas.

Slated to represent the Pacific Northwest and attempt to qualify for USA Hockey national tournaments later in March are the Pee Wee A (12-and-under), coached by Tom Mort; the Bantam A (14-U), coached by Randy Amatto; and the Midget 16-U team, coached by Brad Baker.

The SAYHA Midget 18-U team also played in the state tournament but didn’t qualify for regionals.

•A present and a former member of the Spokane Chiefs were with the Canadian national teams at the Olympic Games.

Dennis Sproxton, the Chiefs’ goaltending coach, served in the same capacity with the Canadian women.

Bryan McCabe, a Chiefs player from 1992-95, made his sixth appearance with a Canadian national team in international competition. He plays for Toronto in the NHL.

•Jeff Smith of Spokane, a junior at the Shattuck-St. Mary’s school in Faribault, Minn., is a forward on the boys prep hockey team that lost a shootout to a Russian team for the championship of the Raiffeisen Cup tournament last month in Switzerland.

Snowboarding

Cameron Maring, 14, of Spokane has been named to the USA Snowboarding Association’s All American Team that is headed to Pinzolo, Italy, for the Junior Worlds March 5-12.

Maring, a West Valley City School student, trains with the Schweitzer Alpine Racing School’s Freeride Team. He will compete in boardercross. His Schweitzer coach, Mark Harris, is the boardercross coach for the U.S. team.

The U.S. team has won the Junior Worlds the past two years.

Maring won the bronze medal at USASA Nationals last season and has qualified for nationals again this year.