In brief: Mead boy captures state fishing title

Dakota Jones of Mead won the Washington Junior Bassmasters Washington state championship for the 11-14-year-old division last weekend in a tournament on the Columbia River.

Jones, 14, an eighth-grader at Mountainside Middle School, caught four bass totaling 12.17 pounds to claim his second state championship in three years.

Jones will compete in the regional tournament May 15 on the Columbia for a shot at qualifying for his second national competition, set for October on Lake Kissimee, Fla.

Branson Schmidt, 16, of Greenacres finished second in the 15-18-year-old division with 19.96 pounds of bass.

College scene

Alysha Krier of Lake City, a junior at Augusta State University in Georgia, is the second-team catcher on the All-Peach Belt Conference softball team.

Krier, who transferred from North Idaho College after helping the Cardinals to a second-place national finish in 2007-08, batted .324, which ranked third on her team.

•Linse Vlahovich of University High School, a senior at Central Washington, was the Great Northwest Athletic Conference pitcher of the week in softball for the third time this season after earning two wins and a save last week, to run her personal win streak to six games.

Vlahovich leads the conference in wins (18), innings pitched (1671/3), strikeouts (174), complete games (16), saves (two), and is ranked second in earned-run average (2.01).

•Melissa Mauro of West Valley, a freshman on the Montana women’s track team, was named to the Big Sky Conference All-Academic team for winter quarter. To qualify, an athlete must have a grade-point average of 3.2 or higher.

•Kyla Evans, a sophomore on the Eastern Washington women’s basketball team, will participate in the NCAA National Student-Athlete Development Conference May 24-27 in Orlando, Fla.

Evans, from Brewster, Wash., will be one of 700 from throughout the country to participate in the program that promotes better communication among student-athletes, coaches, administrators, faculty members and communities.

Football

Neal Coons, an offensive lineman at Selkirk, has signed to play for Rocky Mountain College in Billings, Mont., Rocky coach David Reeves announced.

Running

Troy Nelson of Spokane and Camille Moseley of Spangle led a large contingent of area runners who competed in the Boston Marathon last Monday.

Nelson, 41, covered the 26-mile, 385-yard course in 2 hours, 56 minutes, 34 seconds, finishing 926th overall and 882nd among the men. Moseley, 24, was the 92nd female finisher (1,715 overall) in 3:03:25.

Others in the top three for area men: Brendan Thompson, 22, Moses Lake, 2,172 overall, 2,056 among men, 3:06:45; and Justin Lange, 24, Moscow, Idaho, 2,232-2110, 3:07:05.

Second and third among area women: Heidi Bresson, 37, Spokane, 4,039 overall, 356 among women, 3:17:07; and Pamela Schultz, 27, Spokane, 5,484-675, 3:23:53.

Swimming

Five members of the Spokane Area Swimming team, led by Mason Shaw of Lake City, and a boys relay team had top-24 finishes in the YMCA National Championships earlier this month in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Shaw, a 2008 Junior National champion and Olympic Trials competitor, placed third in both the 200 breast stroke and 400 individual medley, fourth in the 200 IM and 11th in the 200 butterfly.

Other SAS members who were top-24 finalists: Emri Moore, Mead, seventh, 500 freestyle, 11th 200 fly and 13th 100 fly; Coleman Allen, Lewis and Clark, 17th 500 free and 100 fly, and 23rd 200 free; Jordan Ray, University, 18th 1,650 free and 20th 1,000 free; and Emily Renzini, Mt. Spokane, 19th 200 fly.

The SAS boys 800 freestyle relay team of Allen, Ray, Alex Martinek of U-Hi and Shaw placed ninth.

The meet drew 1,650 swimmers and 275 teams. SAS placed 21st.

Others from SAS who competed: Amani Amr, Amber Amr and Kyle Marsh, all Shadle Park; Chantel Ferguson and Maggie Thompson, both LC; and Melissa Peplinski, Central Valley.

Volleyball

Nicole Solum from Mead, a 6-foot right-side hitter who played last season at Community Colleges of Spokane, has transferred to Bemidji State in Minnesota, the Beavers announced.

Solum, who helped Mead to three straight Washington State 4A championships, played her freshman year at Western Oregon before transferring to CCS. A first-team all-conference selection for the Sasquatch, she is a junior in eligibility.

•Ashley VanCurler, a 6-foot right-side hitter from Central Valley, has signed a scholarship to play at Walla Walla Community College, Warriors coach Tim Toon announced.

VanCurler was a two-year varsity player at CV and has six years of club experience.

Miscellany

The Spokane Indians baseball team and Chiefs hockey team announced they have reached an agreement with Mapleton Communication that will keep KGA 1510-AM the flagship radio station for the two Brett Sports teams through 2012.

The Indians open the 2009 season June 20 at home against Yakima with Bob Robertson calling the play-by-play for the 11th straight season.