Anderson runs down another track award

Jeshua Anderson, a freshman at Washington State, was named the Pacific-10 Conference Track & Field Men’s Newcomer of the Year by a vote of the conference track and field coaches.

Anderson, from Woodland Hills, Calif., became just the second Cougar to capture the men’s 400-meter hurdles title at the Pac-10 Championships, running a time of 49.55 seconds. He went on to win both the NCAA West Regional title and the NCAA Championship in a school-record 48.69, the seventh-best time in Pac-10 history. It’s the fifth-best time by an American this season and met the U.S. Olympic Trials “A” standard. Anderson won the USA Junior Championships intermediate hurdles title June 21 in Columbus, Ohio. He failed to advance past the second round at the Olympic trials this weekend in Eugene, Ore.

Letters of intent

The University of Montana Western in Dillon, Mont., has awarded football scholarships to Jordan Hanson, a 6-2, 180-pound wide receiver from Lewis and Clark, Sean Thompson, a 6-foot, 170-pound defensive back from Central Valley, and Joseph Arrigoni, a 5-11, 175-pound receiver from Lake City in Coeur d’Alene. All three are 2008 graduates.

•Lindsey Snyder, a Mt. Spokane graduate, signed a letter of intent to throw the javelin for the University of Montana in Missoula.

Snyder threw a personal best 135-7 at the Greater Spokane League championships to rank seventh in the state of Washington. Snyder also threw the shot and discus for the Wildcats.

•Ryan Schultz, a Reardan, Wash., graduate, has signed a letter of intent to play basketball at Walla Walla Community College. Schultz was a two-time all conference and WIBCA all state selection.

•Alysha Krier, a softball player at North Idaho College, has signed to play at Augusta State University in Georgia. Krier started during every game during two seasons at NIC. She was selected to the All-Scenic West Athletic Conference second team in 2008.

•The Community Colleges of Spokane have signed nine local high school graduates to play a variety of sports.

Signees include Zack Humphrey of Shadle Park and Brenden Ingebritzen of Mead (basketball); Tressa Predisik of Shadle Park and Shelby Bethel of University (softball); Beth Altena of Mead (volleyball); Ryan Dixon of University (men’s soccer); Tyler Ford of Freeman (baseball); Rachel Fridye of University (cross country); and Alex Pfeifer of Ritzville (track and field).

Academic honors

Amanda (Merrell) Peters, a 2004 Mead graduate, was named the 2007-08 Great Northwest Athletic Conference Female Scholar Athlete of the Year.

Peters graduated from Northwest Nazarene University in Nampa, Idaho, with a 3.99 grade point average, earning Summa Cum Laude and Dean’s List honors. The biology/chemistry major received an academic scholarship from the NNU Science department, as well as the President’s Scholarship.

Peters earned six GNAC academic all-conference awards, three in soccer and three in track and field, and was an ESPN The Magazine Academic District 8 selection for soccer.

•The Big Sky Conference has honored several local athletes on its 2008 Spring All-Academic Team.

Honorees include Bonnie Millard of Priest River, Idaho, a junior thrower on Eastern Washington’s women’s track and field team majoring in management information systems, and University of Montana track and field athletes Baily Cox of Wilbur, Wash., a multisport athlete and graduate student in physical therapy, and Steven Gimpel of Mead, a sophomore steeplechaser majoring in wildlife biology.

•The Northwest Conference has named 25 Spokane-area athletes to its 2007-08 Scholar-Athlete Teams.

Baseball: From Whitworth, John Hauck (junior, 3.77 GPA in chemistry) from Northwest Christian, and Dan Ramsay (senior, 3.8 in health, fitness and PE) from Gonzaga Prep.

Basketball: From the University of Puget Sound, Weston Wood (senior, exercise science) from Riverside.

Cross country: From Whitman, Chelsea Momany (freshman, undeclared 3.61) from Lewis and Clark, and from Whitworth, Joanne Mayer (sophomore, 3.96 in math) from East Valley.

Football: From Whitworth, Matt Kelso (junior, 3.55 in political science) from Lake City, Travis Niles (freshman, 4.0 in theology) from Mt. Spokane, and Emilio Sulpizio (freshman, 4.0 in pre-med) from Mead.

Golf: From Linfield, Tyler Nelson (sophomore, 3.71 in accounting) from Shadle Park, and from Whitworth, Krystal Pitkonen (sophomore, 3.71 in business management) from Northwest Christian.

Soccer: From Whitworth, Skye Henderson (sophomore, 3.76 in business management/accounting) from Lewis and Clark, Keith Kirsch (junior, 3.74 in business management ) from Mt. Spokane, Sarah Brodgen-Thome (senior, 3.54 in business and accounting) from Lewis and Clark, Tori Crain (sophomore, 3.91 in psychology) from Ferris, and Kaylyn Plumb (freshman, biology and business 3.93) from East Valley. From Willamette, Scott Klein (freshman, 3.64 as an undeclared) from Lake City, and from George Fox, Jenny McKinsey (sophomore, 3.60 in nursing) from Central Valley.

Softball: From Whitworth, Shannon Carlon (sophomore, 3.5 in music and business) from Rogers, Amber Fowler (senior, 3.91 in physics and math) from Colville, Lacey Kerr (sophomore, 3.51 in biology) from Mt. Spokane and Jessica Mangis (freshman, 3.7 in athletic training) from Liberty.

Swimming: From Whitworth, Katie Dolyriuk (freshman, 3.75 in nursing) from Coeur d’Alene.

Tennis: From Whitman, Elise Otto, Whitman (freshman, 3.57 as an undeclared) from Lewis and Clark.

Track and field: From Whitworth, Tonya Turner (freshman, 4.0 as an undeclared) from Mead.

Volleyball: From Whitworth, Jill Solbrack (junior, 3.60 in elementary education) from Colfax.

Swimming

Washington State University freshman swimmer Rugile Mileisyte, a native of Alytus, Lithuania, will compete for her home country in the 50-meter freestyle on Aug. 15 at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

She earned a qualifying time of 26.32 seconds in a time trial at the Seven Hill Trophy meet in Rome on June 7.

Mileisyte also captured five gold medals, plus one silver, and broke her own national record in the 50 backstroke with a time of 30.36 at the Lithuania Open Championships, which took place June 12-14.