Sunday Locals: Mykines has strong finish to Illinois soccer career
The incredible ride has ended for Marissa Mykines and the University of Illinois women’s soccer team.
That the 16th-ranked and unseeded Illini made it to the second round of the NCAA Division I tournament, where they lost 1-0 on Friday at fourth-ranked and second-seeded Oklahoma State, was in large part because of the contribution of Mykines, a senior from Mead.
As the underdog Illini won three straight games to earn the Big Ten’s automatic berth into the tournament, Mykines scored one of Illinois’ four penalty kick goals in a shootout win over Ohio State, scored the only goal in a 1-0 semifinal win over Michigan State and assisted on the Illini goal that beat Penn State 1-0 in the finals.
For that, the 5-foot-3 midfielder was named College Soccer 360 Primetime Player of the Week and named to the Top Drawer Soccer Team of the Week.
“She had an impact on every game that we played,” Illinois coach Janet Rayfield was quoted as saying in a school news release.
Mykines, who came into the season with six career goals after not scoring any as a junior – “that was frustrating,” she was quoted as saying – wound up second on the team with eight goals and 19 points. The All-Big Ten second-team selection had three winning goals, matching her career total entering the season.
“She’s obviously come through in some clutch times for us,” Rayfield said.
In the first round of the NCAA tournament, Illinois knocked off defending national champion Notre Dame 1-0 to run its school-record unbeaten streak to 12 games. The loss to Oklahoma State snapped that and left the Illini 17-5-2.
Baseball
Randy Olson, a Spokane Valley firefighter, shared in his fourth senior championship when the Santa Rosa, Calif.-based Greenwood Ridge Dragons team he played on won the Men’s Senior Baseball League 60+ Wood Bat World Series in Phoenix.
Olson had a 2-0 record as a pitcher, working 12 innings in three games, and hit .467 (7 for 15) as the Dragons had a 7-1 record. They defeated the Sacramento Solons, who administered their loss, 14-5 in the championship game.
College scene
Sadie Kamo, a BYU-Hawaii junior from Coeur d’Alene High, and Angelina Miraglio, a Grand Canyon junior from Clarkston, have been named to the All-Pacific West Conference second- team defense in women’s soccer.
• James Matern, a Gonzaga sophomore from Ferris, was a first-team selection on the 2011 West Coast Conference men’s soccer All-Academic team with a 3.58 grade-point average in math.
Mitchell Weller, a senior from Cheney with a 3.58 GPA in physical education, was honorable mention.
• Levi Taylor, a redshirt freshman running back at Central Washington from Lewis and Clark, was named to the All-Great Northwest Athletic Conference second team in football.
• Emilio Sulpizio, Whitworth’s senior center from Mead, was named to the CoSIDA Academic NCAA Division III All-District VIII team in football for a third straight year. The biochemistry major has a 3.90 GPA.
• Aaron Dunn , a redshirt freshman tight end from Mead with a 3.87 GPA, received honorable mention on the Pac-12 Conference All-Academic team for football. Dunn has not declared a major field.
Golf
Savana Bezdicek of Mt. Spokane, a three-time state qualifier and the State 3A champion as a sophomore in 2010, signed a national letter of intent with Northern Arizona.
Bezdicek, a three-time All-Greater Spokane League selection, received the Joan Teats Inspirational Award from the Washington Junior Golf Association this past summer. Criteria include displaying a positive attitude both in winning and losing, being a good role model for younger players and success as a player.
• Ryan Books from Seattle Prep and Bhurinat Songpaiboon from Bangkok, Thailand, signed national letters of intent with Washington State, Cougars men’s coach Garrett Clegg announced.
Books won the Seattle Metro championship his senior year and had two top-10 finishes in junior tournaments last summer. Songpaiboon has been active in international amateur tournaments the last four years, tying for fourth in the Taiwan Amateur in 2011.
• Gonzaga signed two women to letters of intent, Angela Erika De Villa from Taguig City, Philippines, and Raychelle Santos from La Quinta, Calif., Bulldogs coach Brad Rickel announced.
De Villa has extensive experience in international competition, including placing second in the 2011 Interscholastic Association of Southeast Asian Schools tournament, eighth in the Junior Masters and first in the Sycuan Junior World Qualifier. Santos, ranked third in the 2012 recruiting class by “Golfweek,” placed third in the 2011 American Junior Golf Association Junior Challenge among three top-10 finishes she had this year. She had five top-10s in AJGA events in 2010.
• Kati Greear from Moscow, Idaho, who finished fourth at the Idaho Golf Association Juniors State tournament in August, signed a letter of intent with Montana State, the Bobcats announced.
High school scene
The Greater Spokane League, in conjunction with the National Electrical Contractors Association and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, announced the fall sports winners of NECA/IBEW awards.
A male and a female athlete from each school who demonstrate superior balance in academics, athletics and community involvement are honored each sports season.
The winners: Central Valley – Makenzie Shea, slowpitch softball; Gaven Deyarmin, football. Ferris – Kendra Pierce, slowpitch softball; Bennett Burkhart, football. Gonzaga Prep – Mackenzie Via, slowpitch softball; Aaron Burns, football. Lewis and Clark – Kuo Moua, volleyball; Matt Jacobson, football. Mead – Amanda VanWormer, soccer; James Volz, football.
Mt. Spokane – Molly Cole, cross country; Chase Naccarato, football. North Central – Brigid Rypien, volleyball; Taylor Wilmot, cross country. Rogers – Anna Truong, cross country; Chris Douglas, football. Shadle Park – Ashley Rothrock, soccer; Bradley Skalstad, cross country. University – Lexi Clark, soccer; Matthew Fry, cross country.
Softball
Dave Berghammer, a 15-year umpire whose résumé includes six ASA national tournaments and two state high school tournaments, received the Campbell-Stewart Award at the Spokane Softball Umpires Association banquet.
Berghammer, who umpires everything from 10-U youth to adults, is a former men’s fastpitch pitcher who has received Rookie of the Year, Most Improved and Umpire of the Year awards from SSUA.
He also has served on the association’s board of directors.
The award, inaugurated in 1975 and renamed in 2009, honors two former longtime Spokane ASA umpires in chief, the late F. Bruce Campbell and Chuck Stewart. It is given for longevity, excellence and service to softball umpiring in the Spokane area.
Gerald Howard, who umpired in the ASA Slow Pitch National Championships in Oklahoma City in late September, received the Presidential Pride Award from SSUA president Ken Mathia.
Other winners of awards given for work in adult and youth divisions: Paul Clary, Umpire of the Year-Adult; Jeff Camp, Umpire of the Year-Youth; Bryan Raschka, Most Improved-Adult; Brian Fife, Most Improved-Youth; Thomas Kirkpatrick, Rookie of the Year-Adult; and Andrew Ridgley, Rookie of the Year-Youth.
Ron Burke, the longtime Spokane ASA Junior Olympic Commissioner, and Kyle Leeds, an umpire from Montana, received Home Run Awards that recognize individuals who are not members of SSUA but make significant contributions to the association.
• Mathia was re-elected to a second two-year term as president, Marty Boles was returned as director of ratings and Andy Weiss retained his position as a member at-large during SSUA elections.
Camp was elected vice president-youth and Steve Quaid and Ridgley were elected to at-large positions.
VP-adult Gary Kuck and secretary Mike Yellin are returning officers.
Swimming
Ben Greenfield of Spokane won the men’s 30-34 age group world title at the Nov. 5 International Triathlon Union Long Distance Triathlon World Championships in Henderson, Nev.
Greenfield posted a time of 5 hours, 32 minutes, 51 seconds over the 120-kilometer bike and 30-kilometer run course following a time-trial start. Cold water and air temperatures led to the cancellation of the swimming portion of the race.
Team USA age-group athletes, who represent the U.S. in ITU World Championship events, combined to win 37 medals and 17 world titles in Henderson.
• Washington State signed four women to national letters of intent, Cougars coach Tom Jager announced.
Slated to join WSU in the fall are twins Kiana and Shanell Sullenberger, breaststroke specialists from Tacoma; Loree Olson from Rocklin, Calif.; and Presley Wetterstrom from Colfax, Calif.
Kiana Sullenberger was second in the state meet in the 100 breast her sophomore and senior years while Shanell placed second in state in the 100 breast her junior year and second in the 50 freestyle her senior year.
Olson, a Scholastic All-American, and Wetterstrom, who also specializes in the breaststroke, swim for the California Capital Aquatics and earned national standards at the 2011 Speedo Jr. Nationals, Jager noted.
Volleyball
Idaho coach Debbie Buchanan landed three high school seniors, including two from within the state.
Signing letters of intent were Katelyn Peterson, a 6-foot outside hitter from Camas County High School in Fairfield, Idaho, where she was a three-time first-team 1A Division II all-state selection, and Jenna Ellis, a 5-8 libero from Century High School in Pocatello, a two-time Idaho 4A Player of the Year.
Ali Forde, a 6-2 outside hitter from Woodinville, Wash., who was the Seattle Times’ 2010 Female Athlete of the Year, signed with Idaho on a basketball scholarship and will also play volleyball, Buchanan said. Her brother, Maxx, is a defensive lineman on the UI football team.
• Talia Candler of Moscow, Idaho, a middle blocker who has twice earned first-team All-Inland Empire League honors, signed a letter of intent with Montana State, Bobcats coach Sara Schaub announced.