Sunday local briefs

After being drafted by the WNBA, former Gonzaga women’s basketball star Haiden Palmer added another award recently when she was named the 2014 West Coast Conference Female Mike Gilleran Scholar-Athlete of the Year.

In addition to Palmer, Gonzaga women’s rowing coxswain Naseeb Bhangal was also named the recipient of the 2014 WCC Postgraduate Scholarship.

Palmer graduated from Gonzaga’s Master’s program of communication and leadership with a 4.0 GPA in addition to becoming the fifth player in program history to be drafted by the WNBA.

Bhangal, of Ridgefield, Washington, graduated with a 3.95 GPA in political science and psychology and was named to the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association Scholar-Athlete Team.

She earned four varsity letters and helped the Bulldogs to the 2013 WCC rowing championship and a berth in the NCAA Division I Rowing Championship.

She will be attending Loyola University of Chicago in the Master’s of education program.

Letters of intent

Several Lewis and Clark High School football players have either signed letters of intent or have agreed to play at colleges next fall.

Jack Claypool, who plays tight end, has agreed to attend Idaho as a preferred walk-on.

Coleton Fitzgerald has agreed to play running back for the University of Redlands, in Redlands, Calif.

Isaiah Lilley has agreed to play linebacker for Carroll College in Helena.

Mitchell Howard has agreed to attend Whitworth University and play linebacker.

From University High School, Lacey Awbery has agreed to play softball at North Idaho College.

Jennifer Loehner has also committed to play Soccer at Whitworth.

Sara Chalich, who helped lead Coeur d’Alene High School to a 5A girl’s basketball Idaho state championship, has also signed to play at Carroll College.

Chalich averaged 11 points per game on a team that finished 23-2.

Her brother, Chad, started six games last year at quarterback as a freshman for the Idaho football team.

College scene

Washington State has signed Jack Strunc, of Highlands Ranch, Colorado, to a letter of intent to play baseball.

• Idaho announced this week that Art Hoomiratana, who was a volunteer assistant coach this year with the men’s and women’s tennis teams, will return next season as the associate head coach of the men’s tennis program.

• North Idaho College has signed four new players to the women’s basketball team.

The Cardinals will add 5-foot-7 guard Maci Benedict, of Lebanon, Ore., who led her team to three straight trips to the 5A Oregon state championships.

NIC also signed Monica Landdeck, of Brewster, who helped her team win the 1A Washington state title.

The Cardinals also signed two players from Australia: Samara Hill, a 5-8 guard from Frankston, Victoria; and Gracie Varcoe, a 6-2 center from Gold Coast City, Queensland.

• Gonzaga University returning senior Nick Kamisar has been ranked 20th in the Northwest Region by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association.

Kamisar, of Sammamish, Washington, posted an 18-12 record this past season.

• Western Washington University has signed 5-10 defensive specialist Aubrey Buckner, of Colville, to its six-member volleyball recruiting class for 2014.

Shooting

Led by Mike Cooper, who collected a first and two seconds, members of the Spokane Junior Rifle Team earned 18 top-four placings at the Washington State Outdoor Rifle Championships last month in Wenatchee.

The event, sponsored by the Washington State Rifle and Pistol Association, included separate competitions over three days – air rifle, which was shot indoors, and 3-position and prone, both shot outdoors with small-bore (0.22) rifles.

Cooper, 16, who attends Mt. Spokane, won the A class in 3-position small-bore with a 549 score out of a possible 600 and placed second in A class prone small-bore with a 759 out of 800 and air rifle A class with a 364 out of 400.

Hannah Freund, 12, Finch Elementary, was first in two special small-bore prone competitions for first-year shooters. She shot 343 out of 400 during the 3-position competition and 344 out of 400 in prone-only.

Other SJRT winners were Daniel Enger, 16, Walla Walla, expert class, 3-position, 549 out of 600; Randi Loudin, 17, Post Falls, master class, prone-only, 771/800; and Nathan Sanders, 14, Salk Middle School, D class, prone-only, 713/800.

Other top-four placers by event:

Air rifle: Expert class - Enger, 2nd, 378/400; Loudin, 4th, 373. A class - Cassidy Wilson, 13, home school, 4th, 363. B class - Madison Clark, 17, Genesis Prep (Post Falls), 2nd, 353.

3-position small-bore: Expert class - Maliya Hillman, 14, Lewis and Clark, 4th, 531/600. A class - Aidan Maddox, 15, Mt. Spokane, 3rd, 531. Prone-only (first-year shooters) - Constance Dubay, 13, Deer Park Middle Schol, 3rd, 329/400. Team: Spokane Gold, 2nd, 1,605/1,800 (Hillman, Cooper, Loudin); Spokane Silver, 3rd, 1,596 (Maddox, Enger, Mason Maystrovich, 13, Northwest Christian).

Prone-only small-bore: Expert class – Hillman, 2nd, 762/800. A class – Mason Maystrovich, 3rd, 754; Maddox, 4th, 750.

Other SJRT state competitors: Mary Maystrovich, 15, NW Christian; Taylor Christian, 12, Horizon MS; Justin Caviness, 15, Mead.