Lake City grad Nyrop on A2 volleyball team

Jessica Nyrop of Harrison, Idaho, a senior at the University of San Diego, is one of 22 players named to the U.S. Women’s Senior A2 National Team in volleyball.

Nyrop, a 5-foot-11 setter with one year of eligibility remaining, attended Lake City High School in Coeur d’Alene. She was selected following two rounds of tryouts at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., and is one of four setters picked.

The group will be split into two 11-member teams for training prior to the USA Volleyball Adult Open Championships May 24-31 in Atlanta.

Nyrop, a first-team all-state selection as a senior at Lake City, was an All-West Coast Conference honorable mention as a sophomore.

Baseball

Ken Wilson, a Seattle Mariners broadcaster from 1977-82, has been hired as the first full-time president of the West Coast Collegiate Baseball League that includes the Spokane RiverHawks.

Besides a career in broadcasting that included 22 years with six major league teams including the Mariners, Wilson’s baseball resume includes ownership of two minor league teams.

Cross country skiing

Five members of the Spokane Nordic Ski Education Foundation competed in the 2008 Junior Olympic Championships earlier this month in Anchorage, Alaska.

Locals and their finishes:

Arrol Bryant, 36 (out of 60) 1.25K sprint and 51 (61) 5K classic; Annie Pokorny, 21 (61) 1.25K sprint and 22 (61) 5K skate; Kiersten Utsey, 44 (60) 5K classic and 48 (61) 1.25K spring; Derek Alcorn, 44 (94) 5K skate and 61 (92) 10K classic; and Michael Townshend, 39 (92) 1.25K sprint and 42 (92) 10K classic.

Football

The Mike Utley Foundation has received a $14,466.00 Player Foundation Grant from NFL Charities.

NFL Charities supports the charitable activities of current and former National Football League players. The Utley Foundation provides support for innovative research, rehabilitation and education for spinal cord injuries.

It was founded in 1992 following a paralyzing injury to Mike Utley, the former Washington State All-American and Detroit Lions offensive guard.

Hockey

Spokane’s two entries in the USA Hockey Tier II Pacific Region championships earlier this month in Los Angeles came home with 2-1 records and missed advancing to nationals.

The Spokane Jr. Chiefs 12-and- under Pee Wee team defeated the Portland Junior Winter Hawks 4-3 in overtime and lost 3-1 to the Tri-City team it defeated for the state championship two weeks earlier. They then lost 3-2 to the top-seeded Los Angeles Junior Kings to finish a 65-game season with a 40-21-4 record. The Kings lost the division championship game 2-0 to the L.A. Hockey Club.

The 14-and-under Spokane Jr. Bantams defeated the Seattle Juniors 4-1 and lost to the L.A. Junior Kings 6-0 and the Portland Junior Winter Hawks 3-0 to cap a 26-24-2 season.

Both teams play in the Spokane Americans Youth Hockey Association program.

Soccer

Jason Goodson, who holds an A license from the U.S. Soccer Federation and a premier diploma from the National Soccer Coaches Association of America, has been named an assistant coach for the Washington State women’s team, Cougars coach Matt Potter announced.

Goodson has been a staff member and head coach in the Region IV Olympic Development Program the last eight years. He served as head coach and youth division director for the Sereno Soccer Club in Phoenix from June 2005 until taking the Cougars job.

Track and field

George Mathews of Hayden Lake won the gold medal for the men’s 60-64 age group 20-pound weight throw with a toss of 62 feet, 8 ¾ inches at the World Masters Athletics Indoor Championships in Clermont-Ferrand, France, this month.

Mathews also was sixth in the World Championship shot put and fifth in the separate Outdoor Winder Throws Series hammer.