Mead’s Furrer signs with Ohio State

Amanda Furrer, a senior at Mead, has signed a national letter of intent to compete for the Ohio State rifle team starting in the 2009-10 season, Buckeyes coach Patrick Cherry announced.

Furrer placed third at the 2008 U.S. Olympic team trials in women’s 3-position smallbore rifle and was the U.S. female alternate for the Beijing Games. She represented the country at the 2008 ISSF Beijing World Cup, a warmup event for the Olympics.

This year, Furrer, who started shooting at age 11, won the 3-position smallbore at the Junior Olympics and Junior International Hopes Match in the Czech Republic.

Bowling

Mitch Lukes turned from consistent to hot and rolled to victory in the Junior Bowlers Tour at Valley Bowl on Sunday.

Lukes knocked off four opponents in the final roll-offs, capping the day with a 233-214 decision over leading qualifier Bryce Engstrom for the title.

Engstrom put together a 937 four-game series to vault from 10th to first, but in the finals, Lukes had a 711 three-game series and 944 for four with the day’s high game, a 266.

Dalton Shears finished third, Jake Schmehl fourth and Ryan Gately fifth. Megan Froman had high game for the girls, a 238.

College scene

Dominic Kegel, a senior at Greenville (Ill.) College from Hunters, was named the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference offensive player of the week in football for a second straight week for his performance last weekend.

The 6-foot-2 former all-state quarterback for Columbia completed 14 of 19 passes for 304 yards and five touchdowns with a 2-point conversion pass to earn last week’s honor.

He’s a two-time all-conference selection at Greenville. Kegel was player of the year and an NCAA Division III All-American as a junior.

•Erik Stoll of Sandpoint, a sophomore safety at Montana, was named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District VII first team in football with a 3.98 grade-point average.

•Led by Marketa Hanzlova, North Idaho College had 17 athletes honored by Region 18 or the Scenic West Athletic Conference in volleyball and men’s and women’s soccer.

And NIC men’s soccer coach Scott Moorcroft was named the conference coach of the year.

Hanzlova, a freshman, was named the Region 18 volleyball player of the year and the most valuable player in the region tournament, as well as being a first-team all-region selection.

Other volleyball awards: First team – Emily Callaway, sophomore. Second team – Adrielle Dunn, so. Honorable mention – Madeline Dolny (Moscow, Idaho), freshman; Kendra Wayline, fr.; Tarra Tymesen (Timberlake), so.; and Jackie Lenz (Coeur d’Alene), so. Dunn and Lenz were also all-tournament picks.

Women’s soccer: First team all-region – Natalie Nichols (Lakeland), fr., and Alicia Kahler (North Central), so.

Men’s soccer: First team all-conference – Cesar Lira, so.; Cesar Aquirre, so.; Renatto Brito, so.; Keith Realing (University), so.; Boone Femrite, so.; Brian Rosco, so.; Nick Loyd, so.; and Jay Eborall (Coeur d’Alene), fr. Lira, a goalkeeper, also was player of the year.

•Chris Shaw, a Puget Sound midfielder from Coeur d’Alene Charter, capped his sophomore soccer season with his second goal of the year last weekend in a 2-0 win over Willamette.

•Sophomores with local ties are the Community Colleges of Spokane scholar-athletes of the month for October.

Amy Durrance from Lakeside (Nine Mile Falls), the Sasquatch’s No. 1 runner in cross country and school record holder for 6,000 meters at 23:40, is the female winner.

Travis Green from North Central, a forward/midfielder and team captain in soccer, is the male winner.

Golf

Kent Brown of Colville, who won the Pacific Northwest Golf Association Senior Public Links title for a second straight year, was named the PNGA and Washington State Golf Association senior men’s golfer of the year.

Brown also won the WSGA Senior Men’s Amateur and finished third in both the PNGA Mid-Amateur and Senior Oregon Open.

•Chris Williams from Moscow, Idaho, the 15th- ranked junior golfer in the world by National Junior Golf Scoreboard, has signed a national letter of intent with Washington.

Williams, a three-time Idaho high school champion, finished third in the 2008 Callaway Jr. World Championships.

•Allyssa Nilsson of Lewiston, ranked sixth by the Idaho Junior Golf Association, has signed a letter of intent with Idaho, Vandals women’s coach Lisa Johnson announced.

Nilsson tied for fifth in the state tournament after winning regional honors and was third in the Idaho State Junior.

•Matt Rawitzer from Bellingham, Wash., who has first- and second-place finishes in state high school tournaments, and Damian Telles from The Dalles, Ore., ranked 45th by National Junior Golf Scoreboard, have signed letters of intent with Idaho, Vandals men’s coach Jon Reehoorn announced.

High school scene

The National Electrical Contractors Association and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, in conjunction with the Greater Spokane League, for a ninth year have honored a male and female scholar athlete at each of the league’s 11 schools.

The winners by school:

Central Valley – Eden Lake, cross country; Kyle Staples, cross country. East Valley – Kelsey Kurtz, volleyball; Nate Guthrie, football. Ferris – Blythe Butler, soccer; Elliot Bosch, football. Gonzaga Prep – Kathleen Moloney, cross country; Darby Hoss, football.

Lewis and Clark – Kelly Talkington, cross country; Beddome Allen, cross country. Mead – Erica Norris, volleyball; Max Kayser, football. Mt. Spokane – Averi Hallman, soccer; Derek Goulette, football. North Central – Rachel Ballard, cross country; Leon Dean, cross country.

Rogers – Amber Knudsen, soccer; Tom Kaley, football. Shadle Park – Amy Before, volleyball; Brian Steele, cross country. University – Stevie Gildehaus, cross country; Dylan Peters, football.

Softball

Ron Snyder, an umpire for 19 years, received the prestigious Bruce Campbell Award at the year-ending Spokane Softball Umpires Association banquet.

Snyder has umpired in four high school state tournaments, eight Amateur Softball Association national tournaments and is an ASA Elite umpire in modified pitch. The award is named for the late Spokane umpire in chief and recognizes, among other things, longevity and dedication to umpiring in the Spokane area.

Other award winners: Paul Clary, umpire of the year-youth; Jerome Duffney, umpire of the year-adult; Jackie Holbrook, most improved-youth; Andy Weiss, most improved-adult; Heidi Wehr, rookie of the year-youth; Ron Hough, rookie of the year-adult; and Marty Boles, Presidential Pride.

•The Spokane Softball Umpires Association elected five members to its board of directors – Ken Mathia, vice president-adult; Mike Yellin, secretary; and Chuck Latimer (two-year term), Clary and Duffney (one-year terms), members at large.

Returning officers are Dallas Williams, president; Kathleen Burns, vice president-youth; and Don Brock, director of ratings.

Volleyball

Two men from Spokane hold positions on the restructured board of USA Volleyball, the national governing body for the sport. The board was reduced from 30 members to 16.

Kevin Twohig was elected interim chair of the board of directors, then later was elected chair pro tem and chair of the ethics and eligibility committee. Jon Lee was selected one of two representatives from the 40 regional volleyball associations. Both served on past USA Volleyball boards.