Tennis players win in Tucson
Three young tennis players from the Spokane Racquet Club rose above their No. 3 seedings to win championships at the Copper Bowl Junior Nationals in Tucson, Ariz., earlier this month.
Maya Jansen, a sophomore at Freeman High School who is ranked 61st nationally and No. 2 in the Northwest in her age division, beat the No. 8 seed 6-4, 6-4 to win the girls 16 singles title.
Jansen followed that up by winning a tournament in Portland, where she played up from her customary girls 16 division to girls 18 and defeated the players ranked 1 through 3 in the Pacific Northwest in that division to capture the title.
Sisters Madison and Alex Bourguignon from Issaquah, Wash., who play out of the SRC, defeated the No. 5 seed in the girls 14 doubles finals 8-2, after a 9-2 win over the second seed in the semifinals.
College scene
Elizabeth Boyden, a sophomore soccer player from Ferris, is among four Idaho athletes with area ties named to Western Athletic Conference all-academic teams for fall spots.
Melissa McFadden, a senior from Post Falls, and Julia Veseth, a sophomore from Moscow, Idaho, were honored in women’s cross country, and Kelsey Taylor, a junior from Moscow, was selected in volleyball.
To qualify, an athlete must have a grade-point average of 3.0 or better. Idaho’s fall sports teams had a combined 3.20 GPA, led by women’s soccer at 3.58.
Hall of Fame
Mike Hinz of Pullman and the late Pat Pfeifer of Spokane were among five men inducted into the Washington State Track & Field Coaches Hall of Fame on Jan. 16 in Everett.
Also inducted were Ken Foreman, Seattle Pacific University; Howard Price, Mariner (Everett); and Joe Stewart, Kelso.
Hinz, who has more than 20 years coaching at the school and club levels, has been head coach at Pullman High School since 1993. He has won six state championships – three each in boys and girls – and has been named the Great Northern League coach of the year five times and state coach of the year twice.
Pfeifer, who died in December after a lengthy battle with cancer, had successful stints at Lewis and Clark and Ferris. He coached track and field as either a volunteer, an assistant or head coach for 37 years. (In his career, he coached 96 sports seasons.) He had seven top-10 state teams, won two Greater Spokane League championships and was the GSL coach of the year in 2005.
The Washington State Track & Field Coaches Association also recognized Curt and Joan Hisaw of Cheney and Jen and Howie Stalwick of Post Falls with contributor awards; named Mike Van Matre of Spokane official of the year; and presented its media award to Dave Trimmer of The Spokesman-Review.
•Former Seattle Mariners slugger Edgar Martinez, longtime former Central Washington men’s basketball coach Dean Nicholson, mountain climbing brothers Jim and Lou Whittaker and longtime Seattle newspaper columnist Emmett Watson form the Class of 2010 in the Washington Sports Hall of Fame. Induction ceremonies are pending.
Skiing
Vaugn Peck, a freshman at Mead High School, finished third overall in a J3 Junior Olympic qualifier last weekend at Mount Spokane.
Peck, who competes for the Spokane Ski Racing Association, finished third in men’s giant slalom Jan. 16 and first in both Sunday’s GS and Monday’s slalom. The results helped him climb to 17th in the nation in the giant slalom.
Two other SSRA skiers had top-10 finishes. Joe Estrella was fifth in Monday’s men’s slalom and Taylor Bauernfeind was ninth in Monday’s women’s slalom.
Andrew Black led the showing by members of the Schweitzer Alpine Racing School. He was eighth in men’s giant slalom Jan. 16, 42nd in Sunday’s GS and fourth in Monday’s slalom. Wyatt Duchow was 10th in Sunday’s men’s GS.
Soccer
The Spokane Shadow premier Boys ’92 U17 team had a 3-1 record at the Highline Extreme College Showcase in Tukwila, Wash., earlier this month against U18 and U19 teams.
Christian Foster (Lewis and Clark) and Chris Rothrock (Shadle Park) scored two goals each as the Shadow won two games 2-1 and one 3-1 before losing their last game 2-1.
Other team members: Luke Haupt (Cheney), Spencer Button (Mead), Jordan Etten (Mead), Vince Vertullo (Mt. Spokane), Sam Butler (Ferris), Colin Shockman (Mead), Zachary Allert (University), Gabe Kohler (LC), Matt Harper (University); CB Aunan (U-Hi), Matt LaPlante (Ferris), Jamal Angell (LC), Kevin Graham (Mead), Garret Lawson (Medical Lake), Brandon Barber (Ferris), Matt Bray (Ferris) and Curtis Hill (Mead). Matt Leonard is the coach.
Softball
Ashley Moon, a senior at University High School, has signed a letter of intent to play at North Idaho College, Cardinals coach Don Don Williams announced.
Moon, an infielder, has played varsity softball for three years. She earned All-Greater Spokane League honorable mention as a sophomore and was second-team All-GSL her junior year.
She also has plays volleyball and basketball and is a Wyldlife leader through Young Life.