Three former Cougars on Hall of Fame ballot

Three former Washington State Cougars – running backs Rueben Mayes and Clarence “Clancy” Williams and coach William “Lone Star” Dietz – are among 77 players and seven coaches on the Division I-A ballot for the College Football Hall of Fame.

The class of 2006 will be announced May 16 and inducted at the National Football Foundation’s 49th awards dinner Dec. 5.

Mayes was a WSU star from 1982-85, twice being named the Pac-10’s outstanding offensive player. He won numerous All-America honors his final two seasons and was 10th in the Heisman Trophy balloting in 1984 as a junior.

Williams was a Cougars star from 1962-64, earning multiple first-team All-America honors as a senior.

Dietz had a 17-2-1 record at WSU from 1915-17. His teams shut out 15 opponents, including Brown (14-0) in the Rose Bowl at the end of his first season.

All three are in the WSU Hall of Fame.

Basketball

The Spokane Stars Elite Blue defeated Team Concept Heat of Oregon 60-54 for the championship of the 33-team Spokane Stars Shootout 2006 last weekend at the Warehouse.

Angie Bjorklund scored 23 points and Katelan Redmon 12, 10 in the second half of the title game when the Stars broke a 29-29 tie.

•Claire Moberg of Freeman, an All-Northeast A League selection, has committed to play at Yakima Valley College, Yaks coach Cody Butler announced.

•Maria Barranco of Newport, who scored more than 1,300 points in her career, has signed a letter of intent with Albertson College, the Caldwell, Idaho, school announced.

Barranco, who averaged more than 19 points a game as a senior, was a first-team All-Northeast A League selection as a junior and senior after being second team as a sophomore.

Bowling

There was some high scoring at the Junior Bowlers Tour stop at Celebrity Lanes in Kennewick last weekend, including a 300 game for Evan Nash, who pounded out a 1,036 series for his first four games.

But, alas, as happens frequently to the leading qualifier going into the five-bowler finals, Nash cooled off while awaiting his opponent and wound up losing the title match 212-203 to Ryon Cline. Cline had series of 910 and 909 en route to qualifying second.

Todd Benner, who had series of 926 and 920, finished third; Matt Benner, who had a 927, was fourth; and Malina Brown, whose 898 shot her from 11th into the fifth and final qualifying spot, wound up fifth. All four roll-off games went to the last pin.

Brown had high game for the girls, a 255.

The final JBT of the season is next Sunday at Players and Spectators.

•Shari Cawley and Jamie Nelson of Spokane Valley made the most noise on the second weekend of the 2006 Washington Women’s Championship Tournament at Lilac Lanes.

Cawley wrested the A singles and A all-events leads from Vicki Frucci of Spokane Valley with a 663 singles score and 1,942 all-events. Cawley joined partner Nelson, who rolled a 704 game, to take over the A doubles lead with a 1,324.

All scores are scratch.

Others among the 21 new state leaders from the Spokane area:

Tigers 5, Cheney, five-woman team, A division, 2,667; 4 Strikes And A Spare, Spokane, five-woman team, C division, 2,389.

Jamie’s Team, Spokane Valley, four-women team, A division, 2,317; T&J Rototilling, Spokane Valley, four-woman team, B division, 1,917; Angels, Ione, four-woman team, C division, 1,817; Vegas II-IV, Clayton, four-woman team, E division, 1,685.

Debby Powell-Deanna McCall, Fernwood, Idaho, B doubles, 1,099; Tabitha Simmons-Charmaine Villabol, Moscow, Idaho, D doubles, 999; Dorothy Walker-JulieAnn Skaggs, Othello, E doubles, 943; Jill Carpenter-Yvonne Spicer, St. Maries, F doubles, 866.

Cherie McCall, Fernwood, B singles, 592; Marsha Martello, Spokane, C singles, 559; Brandy Reisenauer, Spangle, D singles, 547; Beverly Wiess, Othello, E singles, 553.

C. McCall, B all-events, 1,619; Martello, C all-events, 1,599; Debby Powell, Fernwood, D all-events, 1,596; Walker, F all-events, 1,369; Dana English, Spokane, G all-events, 1,473.

College scene

A couple of freshmen from the Spokane area made big contributions to The Masters College women’s basketball team that made it to the Final Four of the NAIA women’s national tournament.

Angela Gimeno, a redshirt freshman from St. George’s, had 12 points and eight rebounds in a 62-51 semifinal loss to Union. Jen Ayers-Stamper, a first-year player from LaCrosse-Washtucna, had three points and five rebounds. Both were starters.

•Andy Prentice, a Saint Martin’s senior from Lakeside of Nine Mile Falls, and Teona Perkins, a Seattle Pacific junior transfer from Spokane Falls, are the Great Northwest Athletic Conference male and female indoor track and field athletes of the year.

Prentice, the NCAA Division II West Region male athlete of the year, won the 800 and mile at the GNAC indoor championships and finished third in the 800 at the national meet.

Perkins was sixth in the high jump at the national meet after winning that event and finishing second in the 400 at the GNAC meet. She also competed in the 800 in the national meet, finishing 14th. She was named the GNAC newcomer of the year.

•Oregon freshman pitcher Melissa Rice from Colville ran her record to 5-3 with four strong innings of relief in the Ducks’ 2-1 softball win over BYU Friday. She allowed four hits and one earned run, striking out five and walking four.

•Puget Sound triple-jumper Jena Robinson from Lewis and Clark strengthened her case for an at-large spot in the NCAA Division III Championships by bettering her provisional qualifying mark by 6 inches Friday in the UPS Open with a leap of 37 feet, 10 inches.

•Junior Lindsay Mann-King from Colville is a returning Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association All-American in the Western Washington women’s varsity eight that is defending NCAA Division II national champion.

Also returning is sophomore bow Amelia Whitcomb from Ferris. Sophomore Samantha Marikis from Republic is a newcomer in the No. 2 position. Mann-King rows No. 5.

Football

Matt Schaffer, a first-team All-Greater Spokane League linebacker from Mt. Spokane, has signed a letter of intent to play at Eastern Oregon University, his high school coach, Mike McLaughlin, announced.

Hockey

Two teams from the Spokane area won championships and three finished second at the Pacific Northwest Amateur Hockey Association State B Championships last weekend in the Tri-Cities.

The Spokane American Youth Hockey Association Pee Wee team (11-12-year-olds) defeated the Inland Empire Amateur Hockey Association Warhorses from the Spokane Valley 6-1 in the championship game to cap a 6-0 tournament and 41-17-2 season. Steve Plewman and Jim Noldin are the coaches.

The Warhorses won the Squirt (9-10) division, 4-1 over Tri-Cities. Dan Lysek is the coach, assisted by Ian Scott and Russ Yamamoto.

Spokane American teams finished second in the Bantam (13-14) and Midget (15-16) divisions.

Swimming

Joe Loftus, 10, of Coeur d’Alene, a member of the Coeur d’Alene Area Swim Team, won four events and placed second in two to claim high point honors in his age group in the USA Swimming Northwest Regional last weekend in Federal Way, Wash.

Loftus ranks 12th nationally in the 100 individual medley.

Another CAST swimmer, Mason Shaw, 14, placed third in the 100 breaststroke.

Track and field

George Mathews, 62, of Hayden Lake, placed third in the hammer (48.97 meters) and third in the weight throw (19.08m) at the World Masters Athletics Indoor World Championships last week in Linz, Austria.

Both events were held outdoors in snowy, cold weather. Mathews also was fifth in the shot put (12.77m).

Trapshooting

Travis Iksic of Irby, Wash., near Odessa, has been selected to the 2006 Junior (ages 15-17) All-America trapshooting team for a second straight year.

Iksic’s accomplishments in 2005 included capturing three junior titles at the Great Lakes (Mich.) Grand and two handicap awards at the Southwestern Grand (in Texas).

At the Washington state shoot, he had junior runner-up honors in the main singles plus top age-group marks in the feature doubles (where two targets are launched at the same time), the all-around and high-overall.

He earned additional points toward the All-American team in local and regional tournaments.