Several locals earn ESPN academic honors

Eastern Washington’s Rodney Stuckey, Gonzaga’s Sean Mallon, and Washington State’s Daven Harmeling and Robbie Cowgill were among several local athletes that were named Thursday to ESPN The Magazine All-District VIII basketball teams.

District VIII includes student-athletes from NCAA Division I schools in Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah and Washington.

Stuckey, a sophomore at EWU, made the first team for a second straight year. He is ranked seventh in NCAA Division I scoring with an average of 24.2 points a game and has maintained a 3.34 grade-point average while majoring in interdisciplinary studies.

Mallon, a Ferris High School graduate and senior at Gonzaga, was also named to the first team.

Cowgill, a junior at WSU, and redshirt sophomore Harmeling were selected to the second team, the first Cougars men’s basketball athletes to earn the honors since Carlos Daniel in 1998.

•Area women captured four of five spots on the ESPN The Magazine All-District VIII first team.

Selections include EWU’s Joanna Chadd, Stephanie Hawk and Jami Bjorklund of Gonzaga, and WSU’s Kate Benz. All first-team picks are on the ballot for Academic All-America consideration.

A senior at EWU, Chadd earned first-team honors for a second consecutive year. Chadd had a 3.96 GPA with a major in exercise science and was the only Big Sky Conference player honored on the first, second and third teams.

Hawk, who became the 12th Gonzaga player to score more than 1,000 career points this season, graduated with a 3.6 in business administration and holds a 3.84 after her first semester as an MBA graduate student. Sophomore Bjorklund (University) has a GPA of 3.93 as a business administration major.

Benz, a senior, carries a 3.82 GPA as a double major in communications and history and is 20 rebounds shy of becoming the Cougars’ all-time career rebound leader.

Arizona State seniors Emily Westerberg (Central Valley) and Aubree Johnson (Post Falls) were named to the second team.

•Six high school seniors signed letters of intent to play next fall for the University of Idaho women’s soccer team, including Moscow High School forward Joanna Bryne.

Also signed were midfielder Melissa Canite (Hanalai School, Hawaii), forward Anna Edmonds (South Salem HS, Ore.), defender Jennifer Eugenio (Kamehameha HS, Honolulu), forward Jennifer Hull (Skyview HS, Vancouver, Wash.) and defender Alison Page (Millais School, Horsham, England).

•Coeur d’Alene senior Carmen Reyes signed a letter of intent to play soccer next fall at the University of Montana.

Reyes, a defender/midfielder, helped the Vikings to the 2006 Idaho 5A state championship and ranked third in the state for goals scored by a defender.

•John Kane, a senior at Clarkston High, signed a letter of intent to run cross country next fall for Lewis-Clark State College.

Skiing

Spokane’s Cody Smith placed seventh in men’s skiing Saturday at the King of the Mountain Skiing & Snowboarding World Professional Championships at Taos, N.M.

Smith earned a qualifying spot Friday.

Snowboarding

Gonzaga Prep’s Valerie Reynolds, who snowboards for the Schweitzer Alpine Racing School’s Freeride Team, was named to the USA Snowboarding Association’s All American team.

The 15-year-old Reynolds will compete at various high-level international competitions in giant slalom and slalom, including the Swiss National Championships.

Reynolds recently captured second place at the Jan. 28 Chevy Revolution Tour in boardercross and 10th last Sunday in the Grand Prix slopestyle.

Also nominated to the All-American team were West Valley High’s Cameron Maring, Jenna Feldman (New Jersey) and SFCC student Carrie Uren (Randall, Wash.).

Miscellany

For a second straight year, F&M Bank and the Spokane Indians are giving away a $500 scholarship to five area seniors.

The scholarship is open to any student who attends a school in Spokane County. For more information, students can contact their school’s scholarship coordinator or e-mail Spokane Indians president Andrew Billig at abillig@spokaneindiansbaseball.com.

•A Spokane Pony Baseball Coaches meeting will be held at 6 p.m. Thursday at Mt. Spokane High School.