Sunday Locals: Cross country teams honored for academics

Six area collegiate cross country teams – four women’s and two men’s – were honored by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association for their academic achievements.

Whitworth led all NCAA Division III women’s cross country teams for a second straight season, this time with a 3.76 grade-point average. The Pirates men were honored for a 3.27 GPA. D-III schools had to have a cumulative GPA of 3.10 or better

Additionally, six Pirates picked up individual academic awards for GPAs of 3.3 or better – Dana Misterek, Joy Shufedlt, Tonya Turner (Mead), Kathryn Williams, Tyler Dudley and Nick Gallagher.

Idaho also had both its women’s and men’s teams honored among Division I schools, while Washington State and Washington had their women’s teams singled out.

Idaho’s women ranked 12th, best among six Western Athletic Conference schools honored, with a 3.63 GPA. The Vandals men, with a 3.36 GPA, were second among four WAC programs on the list.

The WSU women had a 3.15 GPA and the UW women 3.03. To be honored, D-I schools had to have a 3.0 GPA or better.

Bowling

Bry Tillett and Cody Hurley, eighth and ninth, respectively, after the first four games of qualifying in the Junior Bowlers Tour tournament at Sunset Lanes in Coeur d’Alene last Sunday, surged to the head of the class in the second four-game block and wound up squaring off in the finals.

Hurley, who went from ninth to first, held off Tillett 244-234 for the title to cap a high-scoring day.

Dalton Shears finished third, Jesse Covington was fourth and Tony Werley fifth.

Hurley led a handful of 900 four-game series with a 987. Nik Gosselin had a 946, Ryan Gately a 925, Tillett a 917 and Covington a 901. Shears had high game, a 279. Charstie Saville led the girls with a 241.

The next JBT is March 6 in Deer Park.

College scene

Senior J.C. Sherritt (defense) and juniors Taiwan Jones (offense) and Darriell Beaumonte (special teams) were honored as the players of the year when the national champion Eastern Washington football team passed out awards at a banquet last Sunday.

Scout team players of the year were three redshirting freshmen linemen, Jase Butorac (offense) and Dylan Zylstra and Evan Day (both defense). Tyler Jolley (Lakeside of Nine Mile Falls), Matt Martin (LaCrosse-Washtucna). Nikolai Myers and Bo Levi Mitchell received the captains awards.

Martin, the only one of 14 seniors honored who played in all 51 games during his career, received the Pat Roberts Memorial Award for academic and athletic excellence. Luke Fritz, a nine-year veteran of the Canadian Football League whose career at EWU ended in 2000 as an All-America honorable mention, received the Tom Oswald Memorial Award.

• The Washington State women’s swimming team received a Team Scholar All-America Award from the College Swimming Coaches Association of America. The Cougars’ GPA of 3.17 is the highest among Pac-10 schools and third among schools on the West Coast.

The award goes to teams with a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher.

Hockey

The Spokane Jr. Chiefs Bantam (14 and under) AAA team is headed to the Pacific District Championships in San Jose, Calif., March 3-6 after winning its division in the Washington state championships last weekend in Lynnwood.

The Jr. Chiefs defeated Seattle 8-1 in the championship game, the only goal the team allowed as it dominated the state’s other Tier 1 teams.

In San Jose, Spokane will face teams from Alaska and California vying for a berth in the USA Hockey nationals in New Jersey in April. Spokane opens against Alaska on March 3.

The players: Austin Azzinnaro, Erich Jaeger, Lane Hewett, Graham Gustafson, Kasey Peach, Tanner Moyer, Kienan Scott, Zachary Day, Joey Porco, Austin Mayton, Keanu Yamamoto, Austin Breen, Nate Delegard, Tanner Loucks, Ian Andres, Andrew Hicks, Thomas Peach, Justin Loepker and Taylor Vickerman.

Former Spokane Chief Cam Severson is the coach. Tyson Knudsen and Kyle Knudsen are assistants.

• Zach Frye, 16, of Spokane, who had been playing for the Wenatchee Wild in the North American Hockey League, was called up by the Lincoln (Neb.) Stars of the U.S. Hockey League last weekend.

Frye, a second-round pick of the Stars in the 2010 USHL Futures Draft, had 23 points and 130 penalty minutes in 38 games for Wenatchee.

Miscellany

Justin Lange, a former photographer and producer at KHQ-TV, has been hired as athletic video services specialist at Gonzaga University, athletic director Mike Roth announced

Lange, a 2008 graduate of Washington State, will oversee all phases of video-based projects and will provide video content for the GoZags.com website.

Lange had been a videographer and executive producer for “The Mark Few Show” and “The Best Doggone Zag Show” on KHQ.