Harvey named first-team academic All-American

Tyler Harvey, a junior guard at Eastern Washington, became the first men’s basketball player in school history to be a first-team academic All-American when he was one of five players named to the 2014-15 Capital One NCAA Division I Academic All-America Team by the College Sports Information Directors of America.

Harvey, from Torrance, California, a two-time Big Sky Conference All- Academic selection and an All-District VIII first-team choice this winter to become eligible for the All-America team, has a 3.60 grade-point average as a communications studies major.

Eastern has had three other basketball Academic All-Americans since becoming an NCAA school in the early 1980s – Rodney Stuckey, a third-team Division I selection in 2007, and Shadle Park graduate Dave Henley, a D-II third-team pick in 1981 and a second-team choice in 1982.

Baseball

Jordan Schuler, an eighth grader at Northwood Middle School, has been selected to Team USA-LABC for the Latin American Baseball Classic in the Dominican Republic Aug. 7-12.

Schuler, who can play the outfield, first base and pitch, plays for the Crew Baseball Club in the Spokane Indians Youth Baseball Program.

The tournament for 14-and-under players draws teams from Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Aruba, British Virgin Islands, Mexico, Canada and Australia besides the U.S. and Dominican Republic.

College scene

Kjirsten Magnuson, a 2011 Gonzaga Prep graduate and member of the Coeur d’Alene Area Swim Team, capped a stellar career at Loyola Marymount by being named Swimmer of the Meet at the Pacific Collegiate Swim Conference championships Feb. 18-21 in La Mirada, California.

Magnuson won the 100-yard backstroke and 50 freestyle with PCSC and school records (her own), lowered her own school record by 2.5 seconds with a second-place finish in the 200 backstroke when she was out-touched at the finish, and led LMU to an upset victory in 400 freestyle relay. She leaves LMU with three school records and a share of two relay marks.

• Eric Ansett of Spokane, a freshman at Lipscomb University, tied for the second best score of the final round of the Jones Invitational on Tuesday to lead his men’s golf team to an eighth-place finish in the 15-team tournament at Valencia, California. The Nashville, Tennessee, school had entered the final round in 12th.

Ansett, an Oaks Academy graduate who was the Greater Spokane League Most Valuable Player for Ferris, shot a 3-under-par 69 to finish at 2-over 218 and tie for 15th place in a field of 79. He had earlier rounds of 73-76.

• Riley Stockton, a Seattle Pacific senior from Ferris, was named to the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Academic All-Star team for a third straight year with a 3.82 grade-point average and teammate Shawn Reid, a senior from Post Falls with a 3.60 GPA, were selected to the men’s team. Both are business administration majors.

Named to the GNAC women’s team were Aleisha Hathaway, a Western Washington sophomore from Shadle Park with a 3.50 GPA in kinesiology, and Chantel Heath, a Central Washington sophomore from Davenport with a 3.56 GPA with an undeclared major.

• Shaniqua Nilles of West Valley and Shelby Cheslek of Pullman, redshirt juniors at Gonzaga, received honorable mention on the West Coast Conference All-Academic team in women’s basketball.

Nilles, who has a public relations degree and is working on a Masters in communications leadership, has a 3.43 GPA. Cheslek, who earned honorable mention for a second straight season, has a 3.41 GPA as a business major.

• Mark Seely, a junior from Central Valley, finished second in the triple jump to lead the showing of four area athletes at Western Washington in the 12th annual Great Northwest Athletic Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships last weekend in Nampa, Idaho.

Seely jumped 46 feet, 5 ¼ inches.

J.T. Konrad, a freshman from Mt. Spokane, tied for fifth in the pole vault at 14-9 ½; Isaac Griffith, a junior from Lewis and Clark, was fifth in the 5,000 at 15 minutes, 2.82 seconds; and Michael Stralser, a senior from Cheney, finished eighth in the heptathlon with 4,377 points.

Gymnastics

Kim Brunelle, the only gymnastics coach Central Valley has had, was inducted into the Washington State Gymnastics Coaches Association Hall of Fame last weekend during the state meet in Tacoma.

Since founding the program at CV in 1982, Brunelle has had five teams finish in the top four at the state meet, was the State 4A Coach of the Year in 2006 and has been the Greater Spokane League Coach of the Year eight times. One of her early athletes, Jill Stocker, won the state floor championship in 1986.

An Eastern Washington Univerity graduate, she started coaching as a sophomore in high school and has coached at levels from club through college.

Brunelle is the fifth GSL coach in the gymnastics hall of fame, following Lyle Pugh of Shadle Park, who was in the inaugural class in 1986; Bob Litton of North Central (2001); and Kathy and Rick Harrison of Rogers (2008).

High school scene

Trevor Babcock, a Cheney sophomore who finished seventh in the 200-yard freestyle, and Pullman junior Matt Larson, with an eighth in the 100 back, led the showing for those schools at the State 2A Swimming and Diving Championships last weekend in Federal Way.

Babcock also led the Cheney 200 free relay team to a 10th-place finish as the Blackhawks finished 17th in the team competition.

Sophomore Cameron Larsen of Pullman won the B final in the 500 free, good for a ninth-place overall finish, and he and Larson led the Greyhounds’ 400 free relay team that won the B final. Pullman finished 15th.

Moses Lake, the only other area school at the state meet, was fifth in 4A, led by seniors Madison Molitor, who won the 50 free and was third in the 100 free, and Brenden Eslick, second in the 200 free.

•Central Valley was the only Greater Spokane League school among six from the area that earned a WIAA State Academic championship for winter sports.

CV collected its award in 4A gymnastics with a 3.787 grade-point average.

Three of the academic champions came in basketball. Northwest Christian (3.740 in 2B) and Colton (3.603 1B) claimed boys titles and Lind-Ritzville/Sprague (3.850 in 2B) won in girls.

The other two came in boys wrestling, Freeman (3.44) in 1A and Liberty (3.594) in 2B.

The Dairy Farmers of Washington and Les Schwab Tires co-sponsor the award.

Shooting

Randi Loudin and Maliya Hillman collected two gold medals apiece to lead the Spokane Junior Rifle Team in an NRA Open Sectional indoor match last weekend at the Spokane Rifle Club.

Loudin, 18, from Post Falls, was the overall winner in Precision Air Rifle Standing 60-shot competition, posting a 580 score out of 600, and Precision Air Rifle 3-position, scoring 583 out of 600.

Hillman, 16, from Lewis and Clark, won the Metric 3-Position Smallbore Rifle with a 1,115 out of 1,200 and Conventional 4-Position Smallbore Rifle with a 787 out of 800. She also won silver in Precision Air Rifle Standing with a 574. Cassidy Wilson, 14, who is home schooled, won the bronze with a 567.

Ben Tafoya, 11, St. Aloysius Elementary, won the gold in Precision Air Rifle 3-position Sporter.

SJRT scores will be submitted to the NRA for comparison with scores from other sectionals. The NRA will announce the National Indoor Championship results in April.