Locally: Ferris High graduate Elyse Burandt leads College of Idaho skiers to title

Elyse Burandt is No. 2 and couldn’t be happier. That’s because her College of Idaho Coyotes remain No. 1.

Shaking off the rust from a severe ankle injury she suffered in November that sidelined her much of the skiing season, the sophomore from Ferris captured the silver medal in the women’s skier cross event at the United States Collegiate Ski & Snowboard Association Championships last weekend at Mt. Bachelor, Oregon, helping the Coyotes successfully defend their national ski cross title.

In the event that pits four racers at a time on a half-mile long track using banked curves and jumps, Burandt, who has been ski racing since she was 6, worked her way through the qualifying rounds to reach the finals, where she placed second behind Susan Beks of Rocky Mountain College.

The UCSA holds championships in three primary disciplines, alpine, Nordic and snowboard & freeski. Skier cross is generally considered an alpine event with aspects of freestyle because it incorporates terrain features traditionally associated with freestyle.

College scene

Madi Lydig, a Seattle University junior from Mead, had a record-breaking performance at the Western Athletic Conference swimming championships Feb. 22-25 at the University of Houston.

The Spokane Waves standout won two silver medals, set three school records and helped the Seattle women’s 400 medley relay team break a school record while finishing second.

Two of the records Lydig broke were her own, set during the 2016 WAC Championships. She swam a career-best 1-minute, 58.82-seconds to earn the silver medal in the 200 backstroke and a 4:54.87 while placing fourth in the 500 free. Her 200 back produced an NCAA “B” cut time.

She also earned silver in the 100 back with a 56.91 that broke the program’s longest-standing record that had stood since 2008. The relay record of 3:44.35 earned the Redhawks the school’s highest relay finish in the WAC Championships.

Lydig also owns a fourth school record, in the 1,000 free, and has been a member of the 800 free relay team that has established the top three times in school history.

Tayler Drynan saved her best for last. OK, next to last.

The Simon Fraser freshman reserve guard from Gonzaga Prep came off the bench to score a career-high 11 points, hitting all four of her shots, including three 3s, to help the fifth-seeded Clan knock off nationally No. 2 ranked and West Region No. 1-seeded Alaska Anchorage 80-70 on its home court in the semifinals of NCAA Division II Women’s West Regionals last weekend.

SFU lost its magic the next night, dropping a 77-64 decision to second-seeded Cal Baptist in the championship game.

Drynan, who made one of three 3-pointers for three points in the finale, played in all 34 games for the 26-8 Clan, all off the bench, averaging 11.6 minutes a game. Her previous high had been 10 in a Jan. 26 game against Concordia when she hit 3 of 5 3-pointers. She made 24 of 64 3s during the season, the .375 percent second best on the team. She averaged 2.7 points and had 40 assists and 10 steals.

Eric Ansett, a Lipscomb junior from Ferris, shot a 4-under-par 140 to tie for sixth and lead the Bisons to a three-stroke victory in the Southern Intercollegiate golf tournament in Athens, Georgia, Monday. Ansett capped the 36-hole, one-day tournament with a career-best 5-under-par 67. The tournament included three top-25 schools.

Bella Hoyos, a Whtworth senior from Bellingham, repeated in women’s tennis when the Northwest Conference named its student-athletes of the week for the week of March 6-12. Hoyos collected wins in singles and doubles in leading the Pirates to victory over NAIA power Lewis-Clark State. In singles, Hoyos had a three-set victory over a player she had faced several times but had never beaten.

The NWC softball pitcher of the week is Whitworth’s Madi Perez, a senior from Fountain Valley, California. The right-hander went 2-0 with one save as Whitworth won three of four games from Willamette. She had a 1.87 ERA with 11 strike outs and allowed five walks and nine hits in 15 innings.

Washington State is No. 12 and Gonzaga is ranked 18th in the 2017 USRowing/CRCA women’s preseason rowing poll.

WSU finished fourth in the 2016 Pac-12 championships to earn a fourth straight trip to the NCAA Championships, where the Cougars placed 12th after going into the event last spring ranked 14th in the country.

GU is pursuing a third consecutive West Coast Conference championship and 16th overall. The Zags finished last season ranked No. 17 in the final US Rowing/CRCA Coaches Poll after finishing a program-best 16th at the NCAA Championships.

High school scene

The Greater Spokane League, in conjunction with the National Electrical Contractors Association and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, announced winter sports winners of the 16th annual NECA/IBEW GSL Award.

Winners of the award that go to a girl and boy from each school for demonstrating superior balance in academics, athletics and community involvement:

Central Valley – Lacie Hull, basketball; Ryan Rehkow, basketball. Ferris – Brook Goodwin, basketball; Manny Abbo, basketball. Gonzaga Prep – Molly McDermott, basketball; Quinn Sestero, basketball. Lewis and Clark – Cosette King, gymnastics; Kevin Schaffer, wrestling. Mead – Olivia Sablan, gymnastics and cheer; Michael Winger, basketball.

Mt. Spokane – Jaidyn Lyman, basketball; Hunter Hohman, wrestling. North Central – Quincy McDeid, basketball; Clai Quintanilla, wrestling. Rogers – Atyzha Upton, basketball; Kenny Phan, wrestling. Shadle Park – Abby Hagan, basketball; Tanner Groves, basketball. University – Shaunay Garcia, gymnastics; Max Clark, wrestling.

Letter of intent

Western Washington volleyball – Amanda Chan, DS/libero, Mead, first-team All-GSL, first-team All-State 4A.

Nordic skiing

Andrew Potyk, a University of Colorado freshman from Ferris, led the showing by four members of the Spokane Nordic Ski Association at the 2017 USSA Cross Country Junior National Championships that wound up a week-long run March 11 at snow-starved Lake Placid, New York.

Potyk was fourth in the U20 10K freestyle and 11th in the 15K individual classic as competitors traversed an improvised course using man-made snow. He was the first finisher from the Pacific Northwest Ski Association team in each race.

There were 60 in each event with Spokane Nordic teammate Brett Ford of St. George’s finishing 49th in the freestyle and 43rd in the individual classic.

In the U20 1.5K classic sprint, Ford was 22nd, the second finisher from the PNW, and Potyk was 26th, No. 3 from the PNW.

In the U16 category, Lewis and Clark classmates Brooks Schaaf was 28th and Patrick Korus 40th in the 5K individual classic; Korus was 43rd and Schaaf 53rd in the 1.5K sprint; and Korus 58th and Schaaf 61st in the 5K freestyle. There were 66 in each event.

All also competed in relays, that, combined with individual finishes, helped the Pacific Northwest to one of its best overall team finishes, placing sixth out of 10 regions.

Soccer

Micheal Ramos, a former Whitworth All-American from University High School and a member of the Puerto Rican National Team, signed a contract with Puerto Rico FC.

Puerto Rico FC kicked off Group D of the Caribbean Club Championship with a win last week to begin its road to qualify for the CONCACAF Champions League, the most prestigious tournament of the region.

Ramos, a third-round selection of Toronto FC in the 2015 MLS SuperDraft, made his debut with the Puerto Rican National Team in 2016 when he played in friendlies against the Dominican Republic and India and in a Caribbean Cup match against Curacao, where he scored a goal.

His post-Whitworth career has also included stints with the Spokane Shadow, Kitsap Pumas of the PDL and Seattle Sounders 2.