EWU, WSU women’s teams receive honors
Eastern Washington women’s teams in basketball, cross country, and golf and the Washington State women’s basketball team have been honored by the NCAA with Academic Progress Rate Public Recognition Awards for posting multiyear APRs in the top 10 percent of their sports.
The EWU golf team, coached by Brenda Howe, was honored for a third straight year; the cross country team, coached by Chris Zeller, was honored for the third time overall and second straight season; and the basketball team, coached by Wendy Schuller, was honored for the second straight year.
WSU women’s basketball, coached by June Daugherty, has registered perfect single-year APR scores for each of the last four academic years.
The NCAA annually honors selected qualifying teams as part of the Division I academic reform effort. The APR, taking into account eligibility, retention and graduation, provides a measure of a team’s academic performance.
College scene
Mandy McDowell, a Savannah State sophomore from Cheney, was named to the All-Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference second team in softball after helping lead the Lady Tigers to second place in the Southern Division.
McDowell, who had a 14-7 record and one save, led the MEAC with 166 strikeouts in 157 2/3 innings and a .178 opponents’ batting average. Her strikeout total is tied for 68th nationally and her average of 7.7 strikeouts per game ranks 45th.
She twice was named MEAC Pitcher of the Week, including the last weekend of the regular season when she picked up her 14th win and only save with 11 strikeouts and a 0.78 earned-run average in nine innings.
• Joey Day, a Community Colleges of Spokane freshman from Freeman, was the Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges Track Athlete of the Week for his conference-leading javelin throw of 197 feet, 11 inches at the Duane Hartman Meet.
• Kristen Hansen, the Western Washington sophomore golfer from Mead who received an invitation to the NCAA Division II West Super Regional at Walnut Creek, California, tied for 36th at 253 for 54 holes following rounds of 82, 81 and 90.
“She had a really, really rough start today,” WWU coach Bo Stephan said of Hansen’s third round. “I was really proud of her for hanging in there and for the outstanding season she had.”
• Kaleb DeHaas, a Northwest Nazarene junior from Coeur d’Alene High, was a repeater on the Great Northwest Athletic Conference baseball Academic All-Conference team with a 3.50 GPA in secondary education.
Letters of intent
Mac Johnson, whose senior basketball season at Gonzaga Prep was limited to four games because of a collapsed lung, will follow an all-star season at Mount Hood Community College with a career at Western Washington. The 6-foot-8 Johnson, who averaged 19.6 points and 10.6 rebounds for the 20-8 Saints, was an NWAACC South Region all-star and co-Defensive Player of the Year.
• Four North Idaho College volleyball players have signed to play at four-year colleges: Allison Meehan, from Post Falls, with Division I San Jose State; Anyssa Matheson, Coeur d’Alene High, Division II Texas A&M-Kingsville; Tessa Sian, Pillar, Montana, NAIA Dickinson State in North Dakota; and Katie Schueman, Cheney, NAIA Webber International, Babson Park, Florida.
• Nikki Leonard, a 5-foot-8 setter/outside hitter from Bakersfield, California, signed with Gonzaga to play volleyball and will join the Bulldogs as a freshman this fall. She was league MVP and a first-team all-area selection as a senior and has a 4.0 GPA.
• Colton Cavey, a center midfielder for the Colorado Rush United States Developmental Academy team from Evergreen, Colorado, has signed with Gonzaga to play men’s soccer. He has a 4.0 GPA and is a member of the National Honor Society.