Locally: St. George’s grad hired as UW golf assistant
Chessey Thomas, after one year as an assistant women’s golf coach at the University of Idaho, has been hired to the same position at reigning NCAA Division I champion University of Washington, Huskies coach Mary Lou Mulflur announced.
Thomas, a 2010 St. George’s graduate who won State 4A championships in 2009 and 2010 playing for Lewis and Clark, is a 2014 graduate of Tennessee, where she earned second-team All-Southeastern Conference honors as a senior. She had 15 top-25 finishes in 38 tournaments during her career with the Vols, including winning one tournament as a senior.
After graduating from Tennessee in 2014, Thomas advanced to all three stages of the LPGA Qualifying School, barely missing the final tour card cut. In her season on the Idaho staff, the Vandals won the Big Sky Conference championship and advanced to an NCAA Regional.
Baseball
Dan Scheibe, among the most successful players in Whitworth University baseball history, has returned to the Pirates as an assistant on head coach Dan Ramsay’s staff.
After graduating in May of 2015, Scheibe signed a free-agent contract with Texas and pitched last season with the Spokane Indians, the Rangers’ short-season Class A team. He retired from professional baseball in January.
At Whitworth, Scheibe earned Academic All-America honors his senior season while pitching the Pirates into the NCAA Division III tournament. As a freshman in 2015, he pitched Whitworth to its first NCAA Regional Championship and World Series appearance.
Basketball
Cameron Mitchell and Kyle Hurst have been named to the Whitworth University men’s basketball staff by head coach Matt Logie to replace a couple of aides who have moved on.
Mitchell, an All-Northwest Conference selection at Willamette, spent last season on the staff at San Francisco City College. Following graduation from Willamette in 2010, Mitchell played two seasons professionally in Ireland, China and Australia, followed by two years of high school coaching in Oakland, California.
Hurst, a Spokane native who attended Ferris High School and Washington State University, teaches in the Central Valley School District and has assisted with the CV high school girls’ team. He is also a private skills trainer and has helped coach in the Eastern Washington Elite boys program.
They replace Patrick Frost, who left after three seasons to join the staff at the University of San Diego, and Zach Payne, a former Pirates player who served two years as a graduate assistant under Logie and has been hired as an assistant at Western Oregon.
• Christine Denny, a 5-foot-9 senior point guard at Liberty, has signed a letter of intent with Carroll College in Helena as a 2017 recruit. Denny is a three-time first team All-Northeast 2B League selection who averaged 21.7 points, 9.0 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 7.0 steals last season as a junior.
College scene
Kazlyn Roullier, a redshirt freshman outside hitter at Western Washington from Central Valley, had career highs with five kills and eight digs as the Division II then-fifth-ranked Vikings recorded their first win last weekend after three losses to nationally ranked teams with a three-set victory over Truman State (Missouri). The 1-3 start dropped the Vikings to No. 14.
Golf
Steve Prugh of Manito Golf & Country Club shot a 5-over 144 for 36 holes at Illahe Hills Country Club in Salem, Oregon, to tie for 12th at the Pacific Northwest PGA Senior PGA Professional Championship last week and lead the showing by area golfers.
Tennis
Natalie Pluskota, a four-time All-American at Tennessee, has been hired as assistant coach at Gonzaga University, Bulldogs women’s coach D.J. Gurule announced.
Pluskota comes to Spokane after a four-year pro career and two years of teaching experience. Most recently, she served as a tennis professional at Bridgehampton Tennis and Surf Club in Bridgehampton, New York. During the 2015 dual season, she served as a volunteer assistant coach at Oklahoma State, helping lead the Cowgirls to a 23-6 record and a spot in the NCAA tournament’s Round of 16.
During her playing career, Pluskota had particular success in doubles, reaching a No. 157 world ranking and claiming four titles. At Tennessee, she earned All-America honors in doubles in 2009, 2010 and 2012, and in singles in 2012. She reached three NCAA doubles semifinals and the championship match in 2010.
Pluskota replaces Megan Falcon, who left to accept a job at Wisconsin.