Matthews matches American mark

George Matthews of Hayden Lake won the men’s 60-64 20-pound weight throw with a mark of 64-feet, 63/4 inches at the USA Track and Field Masters Northwest Region Championships in Seattle on July 20.

Matthews, 64, a 5-101/2, 205-pound throwing specialist, also matched his American record in the 44-pound super weight throw with a mark of 34-101/4.

“The weight throws are like a hammer throw. But they’re heavier, shorter and have a triangle handle,” he explained.

In March, Matthews won the 20-pound weight throw at the indoor world masters athletic championship in Clermont-Ferrand, France. He also won the 20-pound weight and 44-pound superweight at the USA Masters Indoor Track & Field Championships in Boston.

He competes in about 25 meets a year on the international level and coaches aspiring throwers at the Iron Wood Thrower Development Camp at Whitworth University. Coaches there include Hal Connolly, 77, one of the greatest throwers in track and field history and the last American to win an Olympic gold medal in the hammer (Melbourne, 1956).“My goal is finding youth who want to throw,” he said. “It’s a tremendous scholarship opportunity. High school kids who start throwing, because nobody else is doing it, wind up getting college scholarships very easily – particularly girls.”

The next major competition for Matthews is the USATF Masters Championship in Spokane the second week in August.

“The good news is I’ve won nationals for the last three years,” he said. “The bad news is I turn 65 Monday. I’ll be going into a new age group that includes four-time Olympian Ed Burke. That will be a challenge for sure.”

Before the USATF Masters in Spokane, Matthews will throw at the Hayward Classic in Eugene, Ore., Aug. 2-3.

Administration

Washington State University assistant athletic director for physical development Rob Oviatt will resign from his position effective Aug. 1, director of athletics Jim Sterk has announced.

Oviatt said he plans to stay in Pullman and dedicate more time to his family.

Softball

Shawn Montee Timber Company of Post Falls was undefeated in five games, winning the Western National Championship at last weekend’s Senior Softball USA tournament in Salt Lake City.

Led by the offensive punch of Carl Clark and Dick Stauffer, and the defense of John Walkington and Lee Libera, they began Friday by defeating Northern Colorado 19-8 and Scrap Iron, of Denver, 12-9. Saturday they beat Enterprise Electric of Boise 12-11, and Scrap Iron 15-14. Howie Stalwick, Wade Edington, and John Klingaman provided most of the offensive firepower and the team played error-free defense.

Shawn Montee, the tournament’s No. 1 seed, won the title Sunday by defeating Scrap Iron 15-7. The game featured a towering 333-foot home run hit by Edington and another overall error-free defensive performance.

Shawn Montee will now play the winner of the Eastern national championship in a single-game-playoff for the national championship, prior to the start of the world championships, set for mid-October in Phoenix.

Tennis

Three adult tennis teams from Spokane Athletic Club will compete in the 2008 USTA League Pacific Northwest Section Championships August 8-10 in Portland, Ore.

The teams include men’s 3.5 captained by Ed Seier, women’s 4.0 captained by Kris Van Breda Kolff, and women’s 4.5 captained by Donna Lenseigne. They will join more than 65 teams and more than 700 players who have won their local league titles to compete for a chance to represent the United States Tennis Association Pacific Northwest (USTA/PNW) at the USTA League National Championships.

The tournament features players 19 and older grouped into six different ability levels, in singles and doubles matches with the outcome decided by team scoring.

College scene

Eastern Washington University’s 3.2 grade point average for student athletes overall was the best among Big Sky Conference teams for the 2007-08 school year.

The GPA placed the Eagles in a fourth-place tie with Sacramento State in this year’s Sterling Savings Bank Presidents’ Cup. It marks the fourth time in six years Eastern has had a top-four finish.

The Eagles women’s basketball team’s 3.6 GPA, was the best of any team in the conference and the fourth-highest GPA among all NCAA Division I squads. Their mark earned a spot on the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Academic Top 25 Honor Roll for the seventh straight season.

•Bethany College in Lindsborg, Kan., has awarded Jennifer Lenz (Community Colleges of Spokane) a President’s Scholarship and performance award in soccer for the upcoming academic year.