Locally: Coeur d’Alene’s Caelyn Orlandi, Brittany Tackett help Lewis-Clark State basketball to second place
Caelyn Orlandi and Brittany Tackett, former Coeur d’Alene High School teammates who led Lewis-Clark State College to a second-place finish in the NAIA Division I Women’s National Basketball Championships, are All-Americans for a second straight year.
Orlandi, the Frontier Conference Player of the Year, was a 2017 first-team selection by the NAIA while Tackett received second-team honors after the Warriors finished 35-2. They lost the championship game 73-66 to top-seeded Oklahoma City.
A season ago, Orlandi was named to the second team and Tackett was a third-team choice after earning All-America honorable mention as a sophomore.
Orlandi led the NAIA in assists (261), assists per game (7.05) and assist-to-turnover ratio (3.58). She also broke school records for most assists in a season and most assists in a career (634). During the season, she averaged 14.1 points and 7.1 assists per game. In the NAIA Tournament, she averaged 17 points and nine assists, capping her career with a season- and career-high-tying 13 assists in the championship game.
“Having Caelyn Orlandi at the point guard for the last three seasons has been a coach’s dream,” head coach Brian Orr said. She “is one of those unique competitors who has the ability to see the action and play the game with superior control. Her poise and confidence has always been special but this season her on-court leadership was simply amazing.”
Tackett led the nation in field-goal percentage, shooting 65.3 percent, the mark breaking her school record. She averaged 13.2 points and 5.4 rebounds per game.
“The first thing that stands out about Brittany is her athleticism and her ability to run the floor helped ignite our transition game,” Orr said. “But what makes Brittany a special player is her remarkable ability to finish around the rim.”
Orlandi and senior teammate Brook Litalien from Post Falls were named 2017 Daktronics-NAIA Division I Women’s Basketball Scholar-Athletes with grade-point averages of 3.5 or higher.
College scene
Aleisha Hathaway, a Western Washington senior from Shadle Park and a three-time Great Northwest Athletic Conference All-Academic selection in women’s basketball, has been honored as a SHAPE America Major of the Year.
The award from the Society of Health and Physical Educators recognizes the accomplishments in the classroom, on the court and in the community of the kinesiology major who will graduate in June. A five-year member of the women’s team, Hathaway appeared in 120 games through an injury-plagued career and has maintained a GPA above 3.5.
Bri King of Spokane Falls, the NWAC tournament Most Valuable Player after leading the Sasquatch to the women’s basketball championship, was also named the East Region MVP and led a list of four Spokane players honored by the conference.
SFCC’s Katlyn Summers-Ward (Priest River) was named the NWAC tournament most inspirational player and to the all-tournament first team and All-East Region second team; Sasquatch Janessa Heine and Cali Moscrip (Lewiston) were named to the all-tournament second team; and King (North Central) was named to the East Region All-Defensive team.
North Idaho College freshman Cierra Dvorak (Lake City) was named to the All-East second team.
Markus Golder of North Idaho College was named the NWAC men’s basketball East Region Freshman of the Year as well as being named to the All-East Region first team.
Teammate Sam Dowd (Gonzaga Prep) and Garrett Hull of Spokane Falls, both sophomores, were named to the All-East first team and the East All-Defensive team; Levi Taylor (Lewis and Clark), an SFCC sophomore, was also an East first-team selection; NIC sophomore Zaequan Satterwaite, and sophomore Garrett Hull and freshman Cesar Sandoval (Moses Lake), both of SFCC, were on the second team.
Whitworth had four selected Northwest Conference student-athletes of the week for the week of March 13-19, including women’s tennis player Bella Hoyas. The senior from Bellingham was honored for a third straight week after going 4-0 in singles and doubles in two matches and stretching her singles winning streak to five in a row.
Matthew Nelson, a senior from Mead, was the baseball position player of the week after batting .571 (8 for 14) with a double, two home runs, four runs scored and seven RBIs as the Pirates split four games with first-place Pacific Lutheran.
Jacob Hubbard, a sophomore from Eugene, received men’s field honors after throwing the hammer 169 feet, 7 inches at the Bucs Scoring Meet that leads the NWC by six feet and ranks fourth in NCAA Division III.
In the same meet, Sarah Cool, a freshman from Ketchikan, Alaska, won the 400-meter dash in 58.44 seconds, tops in the NWC and fourth in D-III, and was second in the 200 in 26.43, second in the conference, to earn women’s track honors.
Lindsie Scholwinski, the former Coeur d’Alene High School and Spokane Falls softball standout who is a senior at Southeastern University in Florida, collected her first Sun Conference Pitcher of the Week award after earning six last season en route to second-team NAIA All-America honors. In four games, Scholwinski went 3-0 with a save, struck out 16 in 20 2/3 innings, and had a 1.35 ERA.
Washington State has been invited to send a team to the 2017 USA Basketball 3x3 Women’s National Tournament April 8-9 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Representing WSU in the 10-team tournament will be Caila Hailey, Nike McClure, Alexys Swedlund and Kayla Washington, members of the Cougars’ Pac-12 team.
Six other Pac-12 schools are in the field – Cal, Colorado, Oregon, Oregon State, USC and Washington.
Sekou “Suki” Wiggs, an Alaska Anchorage senior who spent his first two seasons at Idaho, was named to the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) 2017 Division II All-West District first team.
Chloe Williams, Eastern Washington’s two-time reigning Big Sky Conference Offensive Player of the Year in women’s soccer, has been selected to participate in a U.S. Under-23 Women’s National team spring training camp April 2-8 in Orlando, Florida.
The junior from Lewis and Clark is one of 20 players invited to the Orlando camp, where they will play a couple of exhibitions, including one against the National Women’s Soccer League Orlando Pride.
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 picked by the coaches to win a third straight 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.
Gonzaga landed four on the 2017 All-West Coast Conference Preseason Rowing Team – junior Isabelle Belzil and seniors Micailah Donner, Olivia Marsh and Meghan McCallum.
Golf
Luke Baker and Nicholas Thurston of Deer Park Golf Club combined for an 8-under-par 134 to tie for fourth in the Pacific Northwest Section PGA Pro-Assistant Championship last week at Glendale Country Club in Bellevue, Washington.
A tie for 13th at 6-under 136 included Gordon Corder and Mark Wilkins of Manito Golf & Country Club and Trevor Fox and Austin Hall of The Golf Club at Black Rock.
Mike Fosnick and Shane Prante of Lake Spanaway, Washington, Golf Club scored a 1-stroke victory with a 13-under 129.
Halls of fame
Sixteen individuals and two teams will be inducted into the Community Colleges of Spokane Athletic Hall of Fame during a luncheon in the Spokane Falls CC Student Union Building on April 15 at noon.
Fifteen of the 16 inductees were involved in softball or volleyball, including three who were members of the teams being enshrined.
The 16th in the Class of 2017 is John Hernandez, an academic advisor at SFCC for 35 years. He served as the school’s faculty athletic representative to the district athletic committee for 11 years and was instrumental in forming an academic tutoring and advising program for CCS student-athletes.
The record-setting 1990 softball team, coached by Hall-of-Famers Jerry Skaife and Bill Johnson, and the 1992 volleyball team, coached by Hall-of-Famer Irene Matlock and Juli Argotow Jones, both NWAACC champions, are slated for induction.
Individual inductee Leslie Young-Cheever (1989-90) was the pitching (22-2 record) and hitting (.440) star of the ’90 softball team that compiled a 33-8 record, including three wins over Division I opponents. Young-Cheever’s 22 wins, and 34 for her career, were school records. Eight Sasquatch earned post-season honors.
Andrea Edminster-Jensen (1992-93) and Melissa Hinojosa-Hill (1992-93), among the leaders of the ’92 volleyball team that went 10-0 in league 52-5 overall, are being inducted as individuals. Edminster-Jensen was an AVCA All-American and one of six Sasquatch who collected All-NWAACC honors. Carla Champoux was the NWAACC MVP.
The Class of 2017:
Softball – Elaina Bohlman (1986, 1988), ’86 NWAACC East Region MVP; Rosanna Bostrom-Porche (1988-89), two-time All-Region, ’89 NWAACC batting champion (.442); Julie Fountain-Saldana (1995-96), two-time All-Region, hit .353 with 23 RBIs and had 11-3 pitching record in ’89; Tanya Palmer (1994-95), two-time All-Region and CCS batting champion who twice finished in top five in offensive production in NWAACC; Deanna Fountain-Martin (1994-95), part of 1-2 pitching punch for CCS with sister Julie in ’95 who earned All-Region and All-Conference honors and finished career with 32-8 record and 1.22 ERA; Juline Parry-Martin (1994-95), two-time All-Region for two-time region champions who hit .421 with 33 RBIs during her career to earn a spot in CCS record books; Marci Meddock-Gannon (1996-97), All-Region and All-NWAACC in ’97 who still ranks third in CCS in hitting and finished with .468 average and 58 hits; Traci Moore-Sampson (1996-97), two-way player (shortstop and pitcher) for back-to-back NWAACC runners-up who hit .402 with 38 runs, just two errors and 9-3 record with 1.89 ERA earning All-Region honors.
Volleyball – JoEne Heimbigner-Liezen (1996-97), two-time All-East Region, All-NWAACC; Katie Hirst-Naipo (2000-01), two-sport standout (volleyball and softball) whose .300 career percentage as a right-side hitter remains the school record; Shannon Horn-Russell (1988-89), another two-sport athlete who helped lead both the 1988 CCS softball and volleyball teams (both are in the NWAC Hall of Fame) to NWAACC championships and earned All-Region honors in both; Jenni Rosselli-Hull (1995-96), a 1996 AVCA All-American, NWAACC MVP and two-time All-Region and All-NWAACC.
Just a little more than a month remains if you’re planning on nominating someone for the 2017 Class of the Inland Northwest Sports Hall of Fame. Deadline for nominations is April 30. Induction will be in October.
Biographies should be sent in care of selection committee chairman Jon Heimbigner to the Spokane Sports Commission, 714 N. Iron Bridge Way, Suite 202, Spokane, WA 99202.
Since the shrine was enacted in 1963 there have been 146 athletes, coaches and contributors inducted into the Hall of Fame and 46 into the Scroll of Honor. Induction is conducted every two years.
Info: Heimbigner, (509) 701-5741.
High school scene
Shania Graham, who scored 23 points in the finale as Republic won its first state title in 36 years, capturing the State 1B girls championship earlier this month in the Spokane Arena, was named the 1B Washington State Girls Basketball Association Player of the Year.
Mike Correia of Almira/Coulee-Hartline, whose Warriors ended Colton’s bid for a ninth straight state title in the semifinals and finished 23-5 after losing the championship game to Republic, was named the WSGBCA 1B Coach of the Year.
A handful of area boys and girls were involved in All-State basketball games March 18. Here’s a recap of how they fared:
Boys, at Mountlake Terrace High School:
Tanner Groves led 3A to a 125-123 win over 4A, scoring a team-high 21 points. Ryan Rehkow of Central Valley scored five points for 4A.
2A defeated 1A 118-91. Jett Sobotta of Clarkston scored five points for 2A.
2B defeated 1B 132-106. Tyler Haas of Liberty scored six points for 2B. Cedric Bowen of Wellpinit and Charlie Hunt of Almira/Coulee-Hartline scored 16 and 14, respectively, for 1B.
Girls, at King’s High School in Seattle:
4A defeated 3A 100-84. Jaidyn Lyman of Mt. Spokane scored three points and had four rebounds, two steals and two assists for 3A.
2A defeated 1A 72-65. Elle Burland of East Valley had five points, six rebounds, one assist and one steal for 2A.
2B defeated 1B 120-68. Hailey Higashi of St. George’s had 16 points, four assists and two steals; Christine Denny of Liberty had 14 points, four assists, one rebound and one steal; and Madison Abbott of Davenport had four points, three assists, one rebound and one steal for 2B. Shania Graham of Republic had 11 points, three rebounds, one assist and one steal; Meghan Dvorak of Colton had nine points, five rebounds and one steal; Michelle Vanslyke of Republic had two points, three rebounds and three assists; and Kendyl Druffell of Colton had two points, two rebounds and one assist for 1B. Ken Lindgren of Oakesdale coached the 1B team.
Letters of intent
Gonzaga men’s soccer – Theo O‘Malley, MF, Parker, Colorado; Sam Turner, D, San Diego.
Portland State cross country & track – Hannah Tomeo, Mead, 2nd team All-GSL cross country 2016, 1st team All-GSL cross country 2015.
Carroll College volleyball – Laurel Kassa, L, Mead; Aliyah Williams, S, Coeur d’Alene High, two-time All-North Idaho 1st team.
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 and helped the Pacific Northwest to one of its best overall team finishes, placing sixth out of 10 regions.
Obstacle racing
Ben Greenfield of Spokane has been selected to join a group of elite obstacle racing competitors in the 2017 Reebok Spartan Race World Championship that will culminate in Lake Tahoe, California, on Sept. 30.
Greenfield, a Spokane physiologist who received the National Strength & Conditioning Association Personal Trainer of the Year Award in 2008, has an extensive athletic background that includes triathlons, multiple Ironman Hawaii events, obstacle course races and bodybuilding competitions.
The U.S. Championship Series kicks off with the Emerald City Open in Seattle on April 22.
Weightlifting
USA Weightlifting has selected Spokane as the host city for the 2018 Nike National Junior Championships Feb. 15-18, 2018.
The event for the nation’s best 20-and-under lifters will be a qualifying event for the Pan Am Championships and International Weightlifting Federation Grand Prix events. More than 350 athletes are expected. The Spokane Sports Commission release announcing the event estimated the likely economic impact to reach $725,000.
It is the latest Olympic governing body to choose Spokane for a national event. Last month, USA Track & Field announced that Spokane will host the 2018 National Club Cross Country Championships, and Spokane will hold the 2017 USA Judo National and International Junior Olympics Championships in June.