WSCCCA honors Winchell, DeWalt
Jodi Winchell of Pullman and Marty DeWalt of Reardan have been honored by the Washington State Cross Country Coaches Association.
Winchell was honored as 2014 Washington 2A Girls Coach of the Year after leading the Greyhounds to a district championship and fourth-place finish at state. She was also named the Great Northern League girls Coach of the Year.
DeWalt is the WSCCCA State 1B/2B Girls Coach of the Year. The Indians, ranked third in the state, went from a second-place finish in the Northeast 2B League to place fourth in the state championships.
Bowling
Anthony Huck, 15, a sophomore at East Valley, recorded his first 300 game in 10 years of bowling on Jan. 17 during league play at River City Lanes in Post Falls.
Huck, who began bowling at age 5, carried a 196 average into his perfect game and came out of it with a 201 average. His highest previous game had been a 245.
• Marcus Goss started hot and finished strong to win the Junior Bowlers Tour stop at Cheney Lanes last Sunday.
On a day when most of the bowlers struggled to adjust to lane conditions, Goss put together a 922 four-game series in the first round of qualifying to grab the top spot and held it through the match-game portion of qualifying.
Raymond Worthey had an 837 and Mathew Shears a 797 for second and third behind Goss after the first four games but had trouble in match play and dropped out of the top five. Meanwhile, Jake Richer turned It up and moved from seventh to fifth and Clint Norlen had an 810 set to move from sixth to third. Garrett Boyce won all four of his games to move into second.
Toby Mertens, who had been pretty consistent all day, beat Richer in the first roll-off, but Mertens fell to Norlen in the second. Norlen was sidelined by Boyce, who rolled the day’s high game, a 280, to get a shot at Goss. Both lost some momentum in a see-saw game before Goss prevailed 182-158.
Shelby Snyder had high game for the girls, a 182.
The next JBT will be Feb. 8 at Bumpers in Spokane Valley.
• The seventh annual Otto Bowl, in memory of the late Jim “Otto” Hanson, will be Jan. 31 at Valley Bowl. Proceeds go to scholarship funds in the names of Hanson and Mike Jarvis. The Spokane County U.S. Bowling Council annually awards two $1,000 scholarships to qualified high school seniors. It is open to bowlers of all ages and skills with scratch and handicap divisions.
Info: Marylin Young, (509) 630-0788 or ottobowl@ymail.com.
College scene
Washington State’s cheer squad, Crimson Girls and Butch T. Cougar brought home an eighth place, an 11th and a 19th from the Universal Cheerleaders Association and Universal Dancers Association College National Championships last weekend at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Florida.
Butch, the only Pac-12 mascot in the competition, finished eighth. One judge’s feedback said Butch had “great characterization and creativity,” and is “an up-and-coming mascot.” Brutus Buckeye from Ohio State won the Mascot National Championship.
For a second straight year, the WSU cheer squad advanced to the finals, finishing 11th to improve on last year’s 12th-place finish. The Cougars were the top-finishing Pac-12 school. Washington was 13th.
WSU’s Crimson Girls competed in the Division IA Jazz category, placing 19th. Last year the Crimson Girls were 12th in the IA Hip Hop Division and also compete in the Jazz category. Both their finishes were higher this year.
”This year’s competition was probably the tightest I’ve personally ever seen,” said third-year WSU Spirit Coach and former head judge at the competition, Chris Opheim. “Many divisions were decided by a hundredth of a point,”
Maggie Kazemba coaches the Crimson Girls.
Golf
The Pacific Northwest PGA Section Junior Golf League was honored by PGA of America as one of eight PGA Sections of the Year. It was the Region 8 choice after showing a 265 percent increase in teams in 2014.
Shooting
Members of the Spokane Junior Rifle Team collected two gold medals, three silvers and a bronze at the NRA Junior Sectionals Indoor Championships this month at the Spokane Rifle Club.
Maliya Hillman, 16, Lewis and Clark; Aidan Maddox, 15, Riverpoint Academy; Cassidy Wilson, 14, home schooled; and Taylor Christian, 13, Horizon Middle School, collected multiple awards.
David Wright, 16, who is home schooled, shot 556 out of 600 to win gold in the 3-Position Smallbore (0.22) and Hillman shot 554 for silver. Maddox (545) was first Intermediate Junior.
Christian shot 377 out of 400 and Wilson had a 376 to win silver and bronze, respectively, in Air Rifle 40-Shot Standing. Hillman (375) was first Intermediate Junior.
SJRT swept gold, silver and bronze in Air Rifle 3-Position with Randi Loudin, 18, Post Falls, 578 out of 600; Mary Maystrovich, 15, Northwest Christian, 576; and Maddox, 573. Hillman (572) and Wilson (571) were first and second, respectively, in Intermediate Junior. Christian (565) was first Sub-Junior.
In the team events, SJRT Silver (Wright, Maddox, Mary Maystrovich and Mason Maystrovich, 13, NW Christian) won gold in Smallbore with a 2,186 out of 2,400 and SJRT Gold (Wilson, Loudin, Hillman and Mike Cooper, 17, Mt. Spokane) was first in both Air Rifle 60-Shot Standing (1,496 out of 1,600) and Air Rifle 3-Position (2,292 out of 2,400).
SJRT scores were sent to the NRA to be compared with scores from other sectionals in the largest junior indoor championship in the country where national awards will be determined.
• Loudin placed 37th out of 102 Juniors and 59th out of 125 in the Open competition at the USA Shooting Winter Airgun Championships last month at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Loudin scored 1,189.9 out of a possible 1,308. At stake were spots in the selection camp for the teams that will represent the U.S. in the 2015 World Cup in April in South Korea. Loudin did not advance.
Tennis
This spring will be a little less hectic for Jo Ann Wagstaff. After 30 years as Whitworth University women’s tennis coach, Wagstaff retired on Dec. 31, 2014, and will be able to focus solely on her role as associate director of athletes and senior women’s administrator.
Rachel Aldridge, a four-time All-Northwest Conference selection for the Pirates who has been an assistant under Wagstaff the last three years, was named interim head coach by athletic director Tim Demant. Aldridge was the NWC Sportswoman of the Year in 2010 and NWC Player of the Year in 2011.
Wagstaff’s coaching tenure spanned five college presidents and eight athletic directors, not including the two interim stints she served. She won 326 matches and five NWC championships. Her teams played in three national championships – the 1997 NAIA national tournament and 2009 and 2010 NCAA Division III tournaments. She was NWC Coach of the Year in 1991 and 2009 and the 1987 NAIA District 1 Coach of the Year.
“I’m forever grateful to Whitworth for the opportunity to coach women’s tennis all of these years,” Wagstaff said in a release. “I feel especially privileged and blessed to have worked with and become lifelong friends with dozens and dozens of wonderful student-athletes. The dedication, work, and passion they have contributed to the program has made my job rewarding and joyful beyond what words could describe.
“Although it is extremely difficult to leave the world of college coaching, I am very much looking forward to spending more time with family, friends, and maybe even pick up the tennis racket again on a regular basis!”