Local officials chosen for bowls
Nine members of the Spokane Collegiate Football Officials Association received postseason NCAA assignments.
Jim Northcott and Dan Antonietti will work the Jan. 2 Cotton Bowl in Dallas between Mississippi and Texas Tech.
Another bowl assignment went to Shane Anderson and Steve Hudson, who will be in Jacksonville, Fla., on Jan. 1 for the Gator Bowl between Clemson and Nebraska.
The other five were picked for NCAA playoff games.
Tim Davis and Roger Stewart were selected for Football Championship Subdivision games in Cedar Falls, Iowa, a first-round game Nov. 29 between Northern Iowa and Maine, and a semifinal Saturday, matching Northern Iowa and Richmond.
Eric Crone worked a Division II quarterfinal in Abilene, Texas, on Nov. 29 between Northwest Missouri State and Abilene Christian. And Dan Meyer and Steve Currie were in Salem, Ore., for a Division III first-round game Nov. 22 between Willamette and Occidental.
Bowling
Matt Benner and Jared Descoteaux, who had bowled in a combined two tournaments this season – both by Descoteaux – parlayed their talents to win the Junior Bowlers Tour doubles title last Sunday at Lilac Lanes.
Benner averaged 210 for the day, and Descoteaux averaged 211. They beat Nathan Rawley and Dalton Shears, who had won three matches to gain the finals, 396-331 for the title.
Kyle Casey and Joe Goiri finished third, Thomas Locke and Chris Gray fourth and Tyler Engstrom and Mitch Lukes were fifth.
Casey had the day’s high game, a 265. Lacey Kerr led the girls with a 224. Dalton averaged 210 for 12 games.
The next JBT event is Jan. 4 at North Bowl.
Basketball
Michel Swita, a 7-foot freshman at North Idaho College, is expected to sign with Montana State in the spring, the Bobcats announced.
Swita, from Paris, has played sparingly for NIC because of a bruised knee. He redshirted last season at Fort Scott Community College in Kansas and will have three years of eligibility at MSU.
College scene
Chris Thomas, a junior football player majoring in biology/pre-medicine, and Mandy Daniels, a senior volleyball player from University High School majoring in business marketing, are the Eastern Washington scholar-athletes of the month for November.
•Chelsi Shaw, a Puget Sound senior from Metaline Falls and top sub for the women’s basketball team, is averaging 19.7 minutes, 4.9 points and 2.0 rebounds for the 5-2 Loggers.
•Greg Spurgetis, a Northwest University senior starter at forward from Lewis and Clark High, is averaging 25.6 minutes, 8.4 points and 3.7 rebounds for the Eagles men’s basketball team, which has started the season 7-3.
•Jeremy Templeton, Eastern Oregon’s senior point guard from Ferris, broke one career record for the Mounties’ men’s basketball team this season and is zeroing in on another.
Templeton has 27 steals this season, bringing his career total to 138, 10 more than the previous mark with 19 games still to play. He also has 42 assists, bringing his career total to 358, 49 shy of the record.
•Ashley Magee, a freshman from North Central, capped her first year on the Walla Walla Community College volleyball team by being selected the Warriors’ most improved player. She had 218 kills, 13 aces, 94 digs and 125 blocks.
•Michaela Ahlin, a junior swimmer at Washington State, returned to her native Sweden during Thanksgiving break and competed in the Swedish Nationals. She highlighted her performance with a third-place finish in the 200 butterfly to claim the bronze medal.
She also swam in three other individual events and a relay, advancing to the finals in all three individual races.
•The National Soccer Coaches Association of America honored the Eastern Washington women with a team academic award for an eighth straight year. The Eagles have a 3.25 team grade-point average for the 2007-08 school year.
Mixed martial arts
Ty Lingo, 38, the Lewis and Clark High School wrestling coach who made his debut in MMA just two months ago, beat previously undefeated Nick Tennison of Tacoma in the second round of an Ultimate Cage Fight with a guillotine submission in the second round to win the flyweight superfight title last weekend at the Knitting Factory in Spokane.
Tennis
Julian Sanchez, a native of Spain who graduated from University High School, has signed a letter of agreement to attend Eastern Washington and play for the men’s team, Eagles coach Darren Haworth announced.
Sanchez will begin his Eastern career with the spring dual-match portion of the schedule, which begins Jan. 10.
Volleyball
Barb Twohig was named referee of the year at the Spokane Area Volleyball Referees Association’s annual awards banquet.
Longtime and outgoing assigner Jack Wilcox and outgoing president Bob Francis were honored as contributors of the year.
Other awards went to: Pete Bell, most inspirational; Erika Beutler, Ben Goodwin and Mary Ann Ehrgott, most improved; Bell and Francis, partners of the year; Ken Pederson and Scott Ward, rookies of the year; Heidi Wehr, top second-year official; and William Hyatt and Ehrgott, top third-year officials.
Two Spokane members, Margie Ray and Dale Goodwin, were selected to work the first two rounds of NCAA Division I women’s tournament last weekend in Seattle. Ray was also selected for the Seattle regional this weekend.