Area roundup: CCS wins men’s, women’s track titles

Natalie Abersfeller and Deji Adebayo led the Community Colleges of Spokane to a sweep of the men’s and women’s titles at the Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges track and field championships Friday in Gresham, Ore.

Adebayo, a sophomore from Rogers, shared men’s high-point honors with Lane’s Colin Cram with 371/2 as the Sasquatch men posted a 228-202 victory over Lane. Adebayo, upset in the 100 meters by Clackamas’ Kenjamine Jackson, avenged that by winning the 200 meters in 21.58 to go with a long jump victory on Thursday.

Abersfeller triple jumped 35 feet, 91/4 inches to add that title to her long jump victory on Thursday and earned outstanding field athlete honors, helping CCS to a 250-174-.5 victory over Mt. Hood.

Three other Sasquatch won individual titles – Corissa Hutchinson in the women’s discus (140-1), Dave Howard in the men’s shot put (50-11/4) and Blake Harmon, whose 1:53.99 clocking led a 1-2-3 sweep in the men’s 800. Among CCS’ 11 runner-up finishes was Curtis Parrish, who clocked 54.80 in the men’s 400 hurdles.

“Five area athletes qualified for national competition at the NCAA West Regional in Eugene, Ore., but no one rose to the occasion quite like Eastern Washington’s Carolee Gutierrez.

The senior from Newport crushed her Big Sky Conference record in the women’s javelin by 6 feet with a throw of 175-7 to finish second behind Oregon’s Rachel Yurkovich.

Gutierrez actually had three throws beyond 170 feet, and could have cracked the top five with five of six throws.

The top five finishers in individual events advance to the NCAA Championships in two weeks in Sacramento, Calif.

EWU teammate David Paul also advanced with a fifth-place finish in the hammer, reaching 213-7.

Two Washington State Cougars earned trips to Sacramento with a pair of fourth-place finishes – Matt Lamb in the discus (198-5) and Rickey Moody in the long jump (24-81/4).

Bonners Ferry’s Forest Braden of Boise State, with the slowest entry time in the men’s 5,000, qualified for nationals by finishing fifth in 14:12.23.

Among the area athletes moving through heats into today’s finals were EWU’s Chad Butorac in the 400, WSU’s John Cassleman in the 400 hurdles, Rogers High School grad Rebekah Noble of Oregon in the 800 and WSU’s Diana Pickler in the 100 hurdles. Pickler, however, will not run in the finals as she rests for NCAA heptathlon competition.

“Whitworth’s Cody Stelzer finished third in the high jump at NCAA Division III championships in Oshkosh, Wis. The sophomore from The Dalles, Ore., cleared 6-8, an inch behind the winner.

Teammate Ben Spaun was ninth in the decathlon with a lifetime best total of 6,518 points, while Kristen Dormaier finished 17th in the heptathlon. Freshman Emmanuel Bofa advanced in the heats of the 800 meters with a personal-best time of 1:51.73, but senior Brandon Howell had to scratch from the event with an injury.

“Former CCS hammer thrower Jake Shanklin of Wyoming qualified for the NCAA championships with a fourth-place finish in the Midwest Regional in Des Moines, Iowa, throwing 204-10. Montana’s Alicia Mills, a Central Valley graduate, was 16th in the women’s javelin (135-1) and did not advance. At the Mideast Regional in Columbia, Mo., Alabama’s Jason Dixon – a former CCS and Lewis and Clark athlete – was 10th in the discus at 172-2.

Men’s basketball

Former University of Idaho point guard O.J. Avworo has orally committed to play for Navy.

“It’s one of those rare opportunities few people get to experience,” said Avworo, who started 24 games last season but elected to transfer, in part, to be closer to his hometown of Houston. “I have some relatives in Washington, D.C., and some friends in New York.”

Navy recruited Avworo when he was a prep standout in Houston. He said he picked Navy over UTEP.

Under NCAA transfer rules, Avworo will have to sit out next season.

Baseball

Matt Dempsey’s bases-loaded single in the bottom of the 10th inning gave UC Davis a 2-1 win over Washington State (27-25) in a non-conference game at Dobbins Stadium in Davis, Calif.

The Cougars’ Jim Murphy hit a sacrifice fly in the top of the ninth that scored Jeff Miller and tied the game at 1. Justin Fitzgerald worked the 10th to pick up his first win of the season for the Aggies (23-31).

“California scored three runs in the first and third innings and beat host Washington 8-3 in a Pac-10 game at Husky Ballpark in Seattle.

Ryan Hanlon hit a two-run single in the third to give the Golden Bears a 6-1 advantage.

Tyson Ross, who will pitch for the U.S. national team this summer, earned the win for California (29-24, 12-10) after allowing seven hits and striking out three in six innings of work.

Brett Wilcox and Bradley Boyer had three hits apiece to lead Washington (27-27, 9-13).

“Jesse Roehl had six RBIs as top-ranked Lewis-Clark State (54-5) posted an 11-7 win over Lee University (50-14) in the final game of opening day of the NAIA World Series at Lewiston.

Softball

Lauren Greer’s solo home run in the bottom of the fourth broke a 3-all tie and gave Washington a 4-3 win over Alabama to open the NCAA Super Regional at Husky Softball Stadium in Seattle.

Ashley Charters added three hits and scored a run for Washington (39-17), who will play Alabama (55-9) again today at noon. Should Alabama win, the teams would play a third and deciding game at 2:30 p.m., with the winner punching a ticket to the Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City, Thursday through June 5.