Locally: Shooting development team selects Furrer

Amanda Furrer, a Mead High School sophomore, shot lights-out last month at the Rocky Mountain Championships at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo.

But more important to the 16-year-old than six top-three finishes in the Olympic small-bore rifle and air rifle competition was being selected for the U.S. Olympic National Development Team.

There are 10 juniors on the team, and two are from Spokane. Furrer’s friend and local teammate, Elisha LaFond, was selected earlier.

Furrer, shooting competitively since age 11, has several national records, including the J3 air rifle mark with a score of 395 out of 400.

In the Rocky Mountain Championships, Furrer shot small-bore scores of 581 and 578, earning two silver medals in open competition and two golds in junior (under age 20). In air rifle, she shot 391 and 388, earning a third and a second.

Bowling

Sabrina Groves collected three first-place awards when the 64th Spokane County USBC Women’s Championships wound up a two weekend run at Valley Bowl and North Bowl last weekend.

Groves was the all-events scratch winner with a score of 2,037 and shared the handicap (1,396) and scratch (1.340) doubles titles with Jackie Moody.

Other winners: four-woman team (handicap), Laura Calamia, 2,799 (Meagan Moos, Calamia, Lacey Rich and Debbie Peterson); singles, Jamie Nelson, 738 handicap and 722 scratch; all-events (handicap), Ginny Lugo, 2,102; and Grand Duchess (scratch), Linda Gooch, 543.

“Valley Bowl No. 4, with JC Hanson, Mike Saville and Mike Hanson, won the 16th annual Spokane County USBC Trio Tournament last month at North Bowl with a scratch score of 2,012.

B.K.G (Bill Weigle, Kenneth Randall and Gale Miller) won the 569-and-under handicap division with a 2,139. The 570-and-over title went to 3 Boots (Cliff Collier, Jim Sullivan and Ski Zalewski) with a 2,079.

“In the ninth annual Spokane County USBC Seniors Tournament at North Bowl, Ron Buckner won scratch singles with a 689 and Bruce Moeller was first in handicap singles with 792.

Doubles titles went to Bill Weigel and Kenneth Randall with a 1,252 scratch score and Doug Fifer and Donald Craig with a 1,475 handicap.

“Jared Descoteaux vaulted from 10th to earn the fourth qualifying spot in the roll-offs, then knocked off three opponents to win the Junior Bowlers Tour stop at Lilac Lanes last month.

Descoteaux, who had the day’s top game for the boys, a 262, beat No. 1 qualifier Evan Nash 236-226 in the finals.

Todd Benner, who had a 921 four-game series during the day, finished third; Brandon Roush, who put together a 901, was fourth; and Ryan Connor fifth.

Lacey Kerr’s 220 game was high for the girls.

College scene

CJ Nuess of Medical Lake and Gonzaga Prep, a junior at Arizona State, had three top-five finishes in the Pacific-10 Conference swimming championships last weekend in Federal Way, Wash.

Nuess placed second in the 400-yard individual medley with a time of 3 minutes, 48.43 seconds, was third in the 1,650 (15:09.34) and fifth in the 500 freestyle (4:24.38). He also swam on the fourth-place 400 medley relay team.

“Emily Laete from Spokane, junior forward on the Wisconsin Lutheran College women’s basketball team, was named to the All-Northern Athletics Conference team.

Laete, who played high school ball at Evergreen Lutheran in Des Moines, Wash., led the Warriors in scoring with a 16-point-per-game average. She passed the 1,000-point career plateau this season

“Eastern Washington sophomore Rodney Stuckey, who couldn’t play or practice in the 2004-05 season because of NCAA academic ineligibility when he didn’t fulfill core curriculum requirements out of high school, is the school’s first NCAA Division I Academic All-American in men’s basketball.

Stuckey, a third-team selection on the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America team, is an interdisciplinary studies major with a 3.34 grade-point average.

“Eastern Washington senior Joanna Chadd is just the second Eagles woman basketball player to earn mention on one of the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America teams, earning a second-team spot with a 3.96 GPA in exercise science.

“With a cumulative GPA of 3.290, the Eastern Washington men’s cross country team ranked 27th in the country and earned All-Academic team honors from the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.

Soccer

Former North Idaho College player Brian Farber of Sandpoint, who plays professionally for the California Cougars, was the Major Indoor Soccer League’s offensive player of the week for the week of Jan. 22.

Farber, who played at NIC in 2000-01 and is the first soccer player from the school to play professionally, led all players in the MISL that week with 13 points, posting six goals, including a hat trick against the Milwaukee Wave.

“Five Spokane Shadow youth teams have qualified for the quarterfinals of the Washington State Championship Tournament, reportedly a record for an Eastern Washington club.

The teams are U13 boys, U14 girls, U16 boys, U16 girls and U17 girls.

“Eastern Washington has signed five players, four from Washington, for it’s women’s team, coach George Hageage announced.

Slated to join the Eagles in the fall are defenders Lyndsey Martin from Kamiakin High in Kennewick, a 4A all-state selection in 2006 after being a second-team pick in 2005; Teryn Taylor from Tahoma in Maple Valley, co-most valuable player in her league last season; and Hannah Kreminski from Eagle, Idaho, who helped lead her high school and club teams to five state championships the last four years.

Also, goalkeeper Jessica Blessard from Mount Si in North Bend, a three-time all-conference selection, and forward Kaitlin Gatsos from Orting, a four-time all-league pick, the league MVP and all-state last season.

“Washington State coach Matt Potter announced the commitment of five women to play soccer for the Cougars in the fall.

They are Erin Holzmeister, a defender from Tempe, Ariz., an all-state 5A selection as a junior; Ashley Johnson from Phoenix, a member of the ‘90 Sereno White club team; goalkeeper Lindsay Parlee from Tualatin, Ore., an all-state selection who led the Timberwolves to the 2006 State 4A championship.

Also, Nici Patrizi from Martinez, Calif., where she earned three varsity letters in soccer; and Emma Stolz from Woodinville, Wash., the Kingco League’s leading scorer and most valuable player as the Falcons won the state championship last season.

Track and field

Brigham Young University senior David Pendergrass (Central Valley High) won his third consecutive Mountain West Athletic Conference indoor men’s high jump title on Feb. 24 in Albuquerque, N.M., by clearing 7 feet, 1 inch.

Pendergrass also placed third in the triple jump at 47-5.

Winter sports

Cody Smith of Spokane finished eighth in the ski competition at the Jeep King of the Mountain World Professional Skiing and Snowboarding Championships Friday in Telluride, Colo.

Smith, one of four Americans in the final eight, lost a first-round race to Tomas Kraus of the Czech Republic. Kraus finished second overall to Casey Puckett of Aspen, Colo.

“Nate Holland of Sandpoint, the World Cup snowboard leader, was injured and did not finish the U.S. Nationals last weekend in McCall, Idaho.

Holland, the No. 1 qualifier, was run into by another competitor in the first heat. The collision broke a binding plate on Holland’s board and sliced a hand, leaving a gash that required 12 stitches to close.

Brother Pat Holland qualified 22nd and advanced to the quaterfinals, but a third-place finish in his next heat kept him out of the semifinals. He placed 16th overall.

Wrestling

Cris Turner, a 1989 graduate of Liberty High School, coach at Peninsula for 12 years, received the Washington 3A Sportsmanship Coach of the Year Award at Mat Classic last month in Tacoma.

Miscellany

Matt McCoy, a Spokane resident and active community leader since 1992, has joined the Eastern Washington University athletic department and EWU Foundation as associate athletic director for development.

McCoy joins EWU from the Spokane RiverHawks baseball club, where he served as business manager since 2002.

In his new position, McCoy will oversee EWU’s major gifts program for the athletic department, as well as assist with other corporate sponsorship and fundraising activities. McCoy will work mostly out of the EWU Foundation office. He fills the position that became vacant when Kent Stanley left EWU last summer to become athletic director at Fort Lewis College in Colorado.