Quick hits
Miethe back in action
Rogers football coach Matt Miethe can’t get the old Albi Stadium turf out of his mind – or out of his leg.
As a player in 1995 he scraped his left shin on the old rug and developed an infection. The staph infection recurred in college and he twice had it flushed, removing the cause, fragments of the playing surface.
The staph infection returned last week in the middle of the rookie coach’s first practice sessions, and Miethe said he spent five days in Sacred Heart hospital for more treatment and antibiotics.
He calls the recurring infection, “bizarre,” but once out of the hospital was on a bus for Rogers’ team visit to Shriners Hospital and back at practice on Monday.
“It killed me being up there,” he said of his own hospital stay. “It was a different kind of leading I asked the players and team captains to do.”
Assistant Mike Dewey oversaw the week of practices in Miethe’s absence.
When he sent in his football questionnaire to the S-R later that night Miethe said in an e-mail, “I let it slide over the weekend. I’m a few minutes late, but had to save it for a night I wouldn’t sleep anyway. Only a couple days left (until the season’s first game) and it is getting hard to get rest. Go Pirates!”
Biggie out of the chute
The heat will be on in more ways than one when Lewis and Clark and Central Valley open the Greater Spokane League season opener in a 4:30 p.m. football game.
“It’s going to be 105 degrees,” said CV Bears coach Rick Giampietri last week, and he was not kidding.
On the Albi Stadium surface at that time today the temperature will likely be that high and that is one worry coaches of teams hoping for good things this year would rather not have.
The CV-LC meeting has annually been a gauge of success for Giampietri and coaching counterpart Tom Yearout.
The Tigers have won five of the last seven, but games have usually been close, such as last year’s 13-11 season-opening comeback Tigers victory.
The effect of today’s game had some wondering about the wisdom of its early start. The outcome could loom large for both teams as the season goes on.
Gonzaga Prep-Mt. Spokane, 7:15 p.m.: Untested teams won’t be for long when G-Prep and Mt. Spokane play tonight’s Albi nightcap. The Bullpups’ defense is junior- and sophomore-oriented and the Wildcats are also banking on several sophomores to help them.
Coeur d’Alene at University, 7 p.m.: CdA’s Vikings had little trouble last year, leading 40-7 at half. But U-Hi is anxious for the rematch.
Friday games
Ferris-North Central, Albi, 5:15: League-favorite Saxons needed a wake-up call after trailing the Indians 3-0 at halftime last year. Both teams are looking to start quicker and move the ball better.
Shadle Park-Mead, Albi, 8: Mead’s Panthers rolled last year, leading 42-7 at halftime after the Highlanders scored first but gave up several big plays.
Rogers at East Valley, 7 p.m.: Pirates debut under Miethe in a game that will answer question marks for both teams, particularly in their line play.
Record setters
A pair of area track and field athletes added to their Washington state high school legacy during summer competition.
Mead graduate Nikki Codd, headed to Northern Arizona, is now ranked No. 4 all time among female 800-meter runners with a 2:07.51 she ran at the Meet of Champions in the Seattle area.
Colville’s Dave Musson, by finishing second at the Nike Nationals with a javelin throw of 212-7, set a state record with the implement now used in high school.
Cross country greats
Will Woodward and Rod Wilcox have compiled their list of the all-time greatest high school cross country programs in the state, listing them regardless of classification.
The list can be found on www.watfxc.com/SC/WA_ History.htm.
Not surprisingly, Mead is No. 1. Their assessment: “(Mead) has, by far, the greatest boys … program in Washington history.” They point out the record 13 state titles including a nine-meet winning streak.
Ferris ranks third with … “the last four (titles) and a total of seven (plus 12 other top-four finishes).”
North Central is eighth (this year’s Indians are ranked No. 2 nationally).
Locals in the top 25 all-time programs, in order, include St. George’s, Riverside, West Valley, University and Shadle Park.