Area athletes honored for grade-point averages
Four from Eastern Washington, two from Whitworth, Cody Sorensen of Idaho State and Marc David of Eastern Oregon are college players with area ties named to CoSIDA Academic All-District teams in football.
Sorensen, a junior safety from Ferris, was named to the Division I All-District VII team for a second straight season. He has a 3.83 grade-point average in mechanical engineering. David, a junior kicker from Mead with a 3.51 GPA in fire service administration, was named to the District IV College Division team.
Named to the Division I All-District VIII team from Eastern are Jordan Tonani, a junior defensive back and former high school teammate of Sorensen at Ferris with a 3.73 GPA in business administration; Mario Brown, a senior running back from Berkeley, California, with a 3.31 GPA in communication studies; Ashton Boothroyd, a senior defensive lineman from Mt. Spokane with a 3.76 GPA in management; and Cooper Kupp, a sophomore receiver from Davis of Yakima with a 3.48 GPA in economics.
Bryan Peterson, a senior quarterback from West Valley with a 3.76 GPA as a theater and psychology major, and defensive lineman Brodrick Hirai, a senior from Southridge of Kennewick with a 3.88 GPA in biology (pre-med), were the Whitworth selections to the Division III All-District VIII team.
All are eligible for the CoSIDA Academic All-America team in their division.
Baseball
David Yearout, a 2010 graduate of Lewis and Clark High School and head groundskeeper for the Spokane Indians, has been named Sports Turf Manager of the Year by Minor League Baseball for short-season Class A or rookie leagues.
Yearout, 23, graduated from Washington State University in May 2014. He was the first person accepted into the Indians’ groundskeeper internship program in 2011 and was promoted to head groundskeeper prior to the 2014 season.
The Indians’ Avista Stadium was selected as the Northwest League Field of the Year for a 10th straight year this past summer, earning Yearout a spot in the competition sponsored by the Sports Turf Managers Association. He will be honored at the annual Major League Baseball winter meetings on Dec. 8 in San Diego.
It is the 11th year of the award and the third time a Spokane groundskeeper has been honored. Yearout follows Tony Lee in 2001 and Joe Hill in 2007 as recipients.
College scene
A first, four thirds and a fourth were collected by seven current and one former Washington State athlete at the Canadian Rowing Championships last weekend on Elk Lake in Victoria, British Columbia.
Emily Morrow, a freshman competing for the Saskatchewan Rowing Association, won the pair C final with a club teammate.
Third-place finishes went to junior Nicole Hare in the single scull B final; redshirt junior Kayla Wakulich, single scull E final; WSU junior teammates Morgan Cathrea and Jordan Watson, pair B final; and former Cougar Lisa Roman in the A pair final.
Roman, who competed with the Canadian National Team during the summer and is vying for a spot with the team at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, and teammate Cristy Nurse were just 1.5 seconds behind the winning pair.
• Cody Lang, the Seattle Pacific sophomore goalkeeper from Lewis and Clark, is a repeater on the All-Great Northwest Athletic Conference first team in men’s soccer. Lang, one of five Falcons on the first team, registered 10 shutouts and ranks No. 4 nationally with a 0.41 goals against average for the GNAC champions, who take the No. 1 seed in the West Region into the NCAA Division II tournament.
• Clark Phillips, a Gonzaga senior, was selected to the West Coast Conference All-Academic team in men’s soccer for a second straight year and three Bulldogs teammates earned honorable mention. Phillips has a 3.45 GPA in accounting.
Honorable mention went to redshirt freshman Jalen Crisler, 3.63 in business; sophomore Jakob Grandlund, 3.57, business; and redshirt junior Chris Lowrimore, 3.67, human physiology.
• Kaely Kight, a Central Washington senior from Mead, was selected to the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Academic All-Conference team for a third straight year. Kight has a 3.45 GPA in business management.
High school scene
None of the five area athletes who were Washington and Idaho state finalists in the Wendy’s High School Heisman Program were selected state winners.
Lindsey Schauble of Kamiakin in Kennewick and Nolan Henry of Union in Camas are the Washington winners and Kristin Wert from Wendell and Elijah Armstrong from Pocatello were selected in Idaho and will compete for national male and female awards.
Area nominees in the Wendy’s program that recognizes accomplishments and dedication in athletics, academics and community leadership were Jonathan Yake of Gonzaga Prep who lives in Coeur d’Alene and was an Idaho finalist along with Daniel Challinor of Coeur d’Alene Charter Academy and Arika Arnzen of Nezperce. Washington finalists included McCall Skay of West Valley and Andrew Montemayor of Othello.
Letters of intent
• Baseball: Ryan Hunt, Post Falls High School, Northwest Nazarene.
• Soccer: Rylee Rassier, University, Northwest University (Kirkland); Kelsi Walker, University, Northwest University (Kirkland).
• Softball: Rachael Johnson, University, Central Washington; Madison Anthony, North Idaho College, Oregon State.
• Volleyball: Sydney Schlect, University, Northwest University (Kirkland).
• Wrestling: Drake Foster, Post Falls, Wyoming; Seth McLeod, Post Falls, Boise State.
Softball
Chuck Jungblom, a 27-year umpire who has worked 12 national tournaments over three phases, received the Spokane Softball Umpires Association’s top honor, the Campbell-Stewart Award, at its annual season-ending banquet last weekend.
Jungblom has been to nine Amateur Softball Association nationals in slowpitch (five), fastpitch (two) and modified pitch (two) and three Senior Softball USA nationals. The award, inaugurated in 1975 and honoring two former Spokane ASA umpires-in-chief, recognizes an umpire for longevity, dedication, excellence and service to softball umpiring in Spokane.
Jake Perry, who overcame the effects of a stroke last winter to return to the field, received the Presidential Pride award from outgoing president Dallas Williams.
Other awards went to Dennis Keys (adult) and Bryan Raschka (youth), umpires of the year; Tammy Doffek (adult) and Jasmine Devereaux (youth), most improved; and Kenny Williams (adult) and Daryl Williams (youth), top rookies.