Pullman, Cheney have strong finishes at Washington State Swimming and Diving Championships

Taylor McCoy of Pullman and Alexis Schmidt of Cheney won Class 2A state titles in the girls State Swimming and Diving Championships last weekend in Federal Way.

McCoy collected her fourth straight championship in the 100-yard backstroke and added a second in the 200 individual medley, which the Greyhounds senior had won the previous three years, in leading Pullman to a fifth-place finish.

Senior Caroline Brock of Pullman placed third in the 500 free and ninth in the 200 free.

Schmidt, also a senior, won the 100-yard butterfly and finished third in the 200 IM in leading the Blackhawks to an eighth-place team finish.

Cheney also got a second from senior Makenzie Norman in the 50 free and a fourth in the 100 free.

Clarkston was 29th in State 2A on sophomore Ally Webb’s 13-place finish in the 500 free.

Moses Lake was 32nd in 4A as its 200 free relay team placed 13th. Swimmers were Cora Dana, Anna Fair, Ashley Madrishin and ShyAnne Speed.

Other finishes:

Pullman – Camila Romero, 7th 50 free; Isobel Gleason, 12th 100 breaststroke; 3rd 200 medley relay (Nancy Yang, Elsa Vandemark, Emma Horstkamp, Romero); 3rd 200 free relay (Brock, Horstkamp, Romero, McCoy); 11th 400 free relay (Yang, Adeline Thayer, Horstkamp, Romero).

Cheney - 8th 200 free relay (Norman, Courtney Hanson, Izzy Williams, Schmidt); 4th 400 free relay (Norman, Hanson, Melissa Johnson, Schmidt).

The boys state championship is in February.

College scene

Sydney Johnson, a sophomore setter at SUNY Polytechnic Institute in Utica, New York, from Lakeside (Nine Mile Falls), was a second-team selection on the All-North Eastern Athletic Conference volleyball team after finishing second in the conference with 9.34 assists per set.

The NEAC Rookie of the Year a season ago highlighted the regular season in grand style, collecting conference Offensive Player of the Week for Oct. 17-23 after what the school press release said was “a tremendous week.”

As the Wildcats went 4-0 to clinch a second straight regular-season championship, Johnson averaged 10.71 assists in 14 sets, including a season-high 44 in one match, finishing the week with at least 35 assists in each of the four matches and a total of 150.

Jonni Dorr was honored as the most dominant player in Frontier Conference volleyball this season when the Carroll senior from Mead was named the conference Player of the Year and Setter of the Year along with a spot on the all-conference first team.

Carroll teammate and fellow Mead graduate Paige Montgomery, a senior outside hitter, was also named to the all-conference first team as was Kennadie Clute, a senior outside hitter at Lewis-Clark State from Mt. Spokane.

Dorr had three top-10 placings in conference statistics (assists, 2nd, 10.3 per set; aces, tie 1st, 0.4; and digs, 10th, 2.9). Clute was second (3.6) and Montgomery third (3.5) in kills per set.

The third member of the Mead connection at Carroll, senior defensive specialist Natalie Kassa, was named an NAIA Champions of Character, as was L-C State junior Natalie Batiste from Portland. Kassa finished fourth in the conference in digs per set (4.2).

Brittany Gay of North Idaho College, a sophomore setter from Lake City, was named the Eastern Region Most Valuable Player when the Northwest Athletic Conference selected its volleyball all-stars.

The Cardinals also landed sophomore middle blocker Brooke Bell (Escondido, California) on the Eastern Region first team while Community Colleges of Spokane placed sophomore outside hitter Jessica Schmautz (Lakeside of Nine Mile Falls) and sophomore defensive specialist Bianca Sanchez (East Valley-Yakima) on the first team.

Maddy Underwood, a Cal State Monterey Bay junior outside hitter from Mead who led the Otters with eight double-doubles (kills and digs), received honorable mention on the California Collegiate Athletic Association all-conference volleyball team.

Joellee Buckner, a junior opposite from Colville on the Western Washington volleyball team, had a career-high 30 digs and 10 kills for her first double-double of the season as the Division II 18th-ranked Vikings rallied from behind for a four-set Great Northwest Athletic Conference win over Simon Fraser last week.

Joey Biel, the Monmouth College freshman kicker from Northwest Christian, was named the Midwest Conference Special Teams Performer of the week in football for the second time this season after a game in which he scored 11 points as the Fighting Scots (10-0) clinched the championship of the NCAA Division III conference.

Patrick Wilber, a Whitworth junior from Oceanside, California, was selected the Northwest Conference Student-Athlete of the Week in men’s swimming for his performance in two road dual victories.

Wilber won two of his three individual events, finishing fourth in the other, and was part of three winning relays. His winning time in the 100 backstroke was a season-best 52.12 seconds.

High school scene

Runners-up Mead and Mt. Spokane landed two players each on the State 4A and 3A volleyball all-tournament teams.

Maddie Lee, a junior, and Amanda Chan, a senior, represented Mead as hitters on the 4A team.

Mt. Spokane placed junior hitter Miahna Waters and senior libero Alexis Desautel on the 3A team.

Northwest Christian, Freeman and the Ferris girls cross country team stood out when the WIAA, Dairy Farmers of Washington and Les Schwab Tires crowned 2016 fall Team Academic State Champions.

Northwest Christian and Freeman collected two titles apiece, the Crusaders in 2B boys cross country (3.810 grade-point average) and football (3.540) and the Scotties in 1A football (3.372) and volleyball (3.939).

The Ferris girls were the only Greater Spokane League team to capture a scholastic title and did it with a perfect 4.0 GPA.

Other area champions were Colton in 1B football (3.583) and Almira/Coulee-Hartline in 1B volleyball (3.885).

Letters of intent

Texas Tech track & field – Jakobe Ford, HJ/TJ, Shadle Park, State 3A HJ champion.

Eastern Washington women’s basketball - Cailyn Francis, C, Yuba City, California; Lily Perkins, F, West Covina, Calif.; and Brittany Klaman, G, Melbourne, Australia.

Idaho women’s basketball - Allison Kirby, G, Timberlake of Spirit Lake, Idaho 3A Player of the Year; Nina Carlson, P, Post Falls, second team Idaho 5A All-State; Natalie Klinker, P, Fairfield, Montana.

Idaho men’s basketball - Scott Blakney, F, Prosser, Washington; Losini Kamara, PG, Minneapolis.

Washington State baseball - Brody Barnum, OF/RHP, Skyview of Vancouver, Washington; Mason De La Cruz, INF, Thomas Jefferson of Auburn, Wash.; Anthony Felix, INF, Tucson, Arizona; Avery Jones, RHP, Gig Harbor, Wash.; Collin Montez, OF, Getchell of Marysville, Wash.; Conner Nantkes, LHP, Aurora, Colorado; Michael Newstrom, LHP, Puyallup, Wash.; Dylan Orlando, LHP, Las Vegas, Nevada; Hayden Rosenkrantz, RHP, Salt Lake City; Isaiah Smith, OF, Battle Ground, Wash.; and Jack Smith, INF, Mercer Island, Wash.

Gonzaga baseball - Matthew Henckel, LHP, Gig Harbor/Tacoma Community College.

Washington State volleyball - Cameron Antoine-Dillon, MB, Calabasas, Calif.; Savanah Smith, OH, Roseville, Calif.; and Penina “Penny” Tusa, OH, Anaheim, Calif.

Washington State women’s swimming – Taylor McCoy, backstroke/IM, Pullman, 7-time State 2A backstroke (4) and IM (3) champion; Maia Petrides, freestyle, Honolulu; Chloe Larson, free, Rapid City, South Dakota; Alba Fores, free, Sweden; Sam Howell, free, Austin, Texas; Kelly Morgan, free/butterfly, Edmonds, Wash.; Emily Cook, fly/IM, Portland.

Eastern Washington women’s golf - Alexa Clark, Richland.

Gonzaga men’s golf - Charlie Magruder, Las Vegas, Nevada.

Idaho men’s golf - Cole Chrisman, Bend, Oregon; Nick Timm, Portland; Adam Veenstra, Smithers, British Columbia.

Gonzaga women’s tennis - Ashleigh Jacobs, Calgary, Alberta.

Eastern Washington women’s tennis – Rykee Braeden, Houston, Texas; Zoey Nelson, Goodyear, Ariz.; Lena Sweiss, Phoenix, Ariz.

Gonzaga women’s rowing – Nicole Harrison, Folsom, Calif.; Katie Connolly, San Francisco; Zoe Calambokidis, Olympia; Genevieve Klein, Portland; Anise Potjes, Costa Mesa, Calif.; Anika Michaelsen, Seattle; Kate Rosa, Seattle.