Locally: Whitworth’s Tyler Adamson named Offensive MVP Honorable Mention at National Bowl All-Star Game
It’s always nice to have a recommendation in hand when you go job-hunting.
Tyler Adamson has one. Actually, more than one, including a handful of all-star honors. But one he received Dec. 9 should serve him well in his quest to play at football’s next level.
Whitworth’s 6-foot-5, 285-pound lineman was named Offensive MVP Honorable Mention for his performance in the National Bowl All-Star Game on Dec. 9 in Daytona Beach, Florida, in which his National team lost 16-13 to the American team.
He was one of four National players recognized, behind offensive, defensive and special teams MVPs.
Adamson, who played tackle for the Pirates, was a starting guard for the National team that had a 168-156 edge in rushing yards and 402-287 in total offense in the loss in one of two games for non-FBS schools in the ninth annual edition of the showcase event.
“I had a lot of fun and it was great to push myself out of my own comfort zone,” Adamson was quoted in a Whitworth release. “Dealing with bigger guys was a challenge, but once I got into the groove it came to feel natural.
“The great thing about the coaching was that they knew what we (players) could do, so we could focus more on the scheme of the offense. If you want to get a look after college this is the best way to go. The people at the National Bowl were very passionate on trying to get players to the next level.”
Adamson, who felt the experience was worthwhile to those aspirations, has added selection to the D3football.com All-America honorable mention list to his honors that also include All-Northwest Conference first team for a third time and first team All-West Region by D3football.com.
He was the anchor of the Pirates’ offensive line that led the NWC in fewest sacks allowed per game (1.67), total offense (459.6 yards per game) and rushing yards per game (181.6). He also stood out on special teams, setting a school record with six blocked field goals or extra points.
Basketball
Shalyse Smith, a 6-1 forward from Tacoma who started the 2018-19 season as a freshman at Arizona, is transferring to Idaho and will join the Vandals for the spring semester, UI coach Jon Newlee announced.
A much-decorated high school player at Bellarmine Prep, where she averaged 16.4 points and 11.1 rebounds her senior year, Smith played three games for the Wildcats this season. She averaged 13.5 minutes a game and scored four points with three rebounds.
“Shalyse is an unbelievably talented player both offensively and defensively,” Newlee said. “There is a reason she was ranked as the seventh-best wing in the country and the 48th-best player in the country regardless of position as a high school senior last year.”
Bowling
It was a singles tournament, but the Junior Bowlers Tour stop at Valley Bowl on Dec. 9 continued to be the Madison Hilden-Kyle Groves Show.
The pair, who combined to win the JBT Doubles in the previous tournament Nov. 11 at Lilac Lanes, put their stamp on the Valley Bowl stop early and carried it to the end with Hilden capturing the first singles title of her four-year JBT career with a 210-182 decision over Groves.
Groves bowled the day’s high series, a 950, in the first four games of qualifying and Hilden bowled 906, pitting them against one another in the match-play portion of qualifying, where they each won two games.
While they were hammering on one another – Groves bowled 888, Hilden 873 – Kaleb Ramelow put together an 879 to nudge Hilden into third place going into the five-person roll-off finals with Groves sitting first.
No problem for Hilden. After No. 4 qualifier Shaynie Montee knocked off Mason Georgeadis in the first match, Hilden overcame Montee 246-226 in one of the best matches of the day, then got past No. 2 Ramelow. That got the Newport High School sophomore another shot at Groves for the title.
Ramelow finised third, Montee fourth and Georgeadis fifth.
Hilden had a 289 for high game of the day and Georgeadis, who had a 950 series, led the boys with a 278.
The next JBT will be at North Bowl on Jan. 13.
College scene
It didn’t take long back in late August for Rachael Schlect to make her presence felt in the PacWest Conference.
In the second week of her first volleyball season in the NCAA Division II conference, the 2018 graduate of The Oaks Christian Academy in Spokane Valley was so impactful for Point Loma Nazarene University of San Diego that she was named PacWest Freshman of the Week.
Two and a half months and three more weekly honors later, Schlect was named the conference Freshman of the Year and accorded a spot on the All-PacWest second team, the only freshman honored on any of three all-conference teams.
A four-year letter winner playing for University High School, three-time All-GSL selection and 2016 GSL co-MVP, Schlect made a smooth transition into college and was among the PacWest kills leaders throughout the season.
The 5-11 outside hitter averaged 3.25 kills per set, which ranked third in the conference, compiling 328 kills, 33 aces and 36 blocks for a total of 381 points. She also added 241 digs and had nine double-doubles for the 18-11 Sea Lions. She had season highs of 23 kills and 14 digs in an early-season, four-set, nonconference win over Cal State Monterey Bay.
• Sophie Whittle, a Gonzaga senior, made it to the semifinals of the USTA Blizzard Wild Card Challenge tennis tournament in Orlando, Florida, last week before falling 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 to 37th-ranked Kelly Chen of Duke.
Whittle ended the fall season with a 14-3 record that included victories over nine ranked opponents, three in the top 10, and the program’s first national title. She won the ITA/Riviera All-American Championships in early October.
• Casey Legumina, a Gonzaga junior right-handed pitcher, was named to the Collegiate Baseball Preseason All-America second team.
Legumina, GU’s closer in 2018, returns to the Zags after being drafted in the 35th round by the Cleveland Indians. He ranked in the top 20 in the nation in saves with a school-record 13 on his way to earning All-West Coast Conference first-team honors.
The Chandler, Arizona, native appeared in 26 games in 2018, finishing with a 3-3 record. In 48 2/3 innings pitched, he had 52 strikeouts, seven walks and a 2.77 ERA and was named to the NCBWA Stopper of the Year watch list.
Legumina, who helped GU to the WCC Tournament championship and berth in the NCAA Regionals, is the third Zag named a Collegiate Baseball Preseason All-American, following infielder Jeff Bohling (2016) and pitcher Marco Gonzales (2013).
• Jeff Pollard from men’s basketball and volleyball’s McKenna Woodford have been named the Academic Services Student-Athletes for December at Washington State.
A junior, Pollard is majoring in business with an emphasis on management/operations with a minor in communications. He has a 3.74 GPA, will graduate in three years and plans to pursue his master’s in business administration during his fourth year of eligibility. He started six of the team’s first nine games, averaging 2.8 points and 1.9 rebounds a game.
Woodford, a senior, concluded her career helping lead the Cougars to the NCAA Sweet 16. She was named All-Pac-12, AVCA Pacific North All-Region honorable mention and AVCA All-America honorable mention. A general biological sciences major with a chemistry minor, she has a 3.82 GPA and was named to the 2018 Google Cloud Academic All-District 8 team.
• Everyone is going to be chasing Northern Arizona’s defending champions during the Big Sky Conference men’s and women’s indoor track and field season according to the coaches’ preseason poll.
Eastern Washington and Idaho shared sixth in the men’s poll while the EWU women were sixth and the Idaho women eighth. Southern Utah was tabbed second in the men’s poll and Sacramento State second in the women’s.
• Washington State athletics received the Washington State Psychological Associations’ 2018 Public Citizen Award for the athletic department’s commitment to mental health awareness to WSU student-athletes.
According to the WSPA, the award was given based of news reports that the WSU athletic department has introduced several initiatives to address the mental health needs of student-athletes, including formal mental health screenings and the addition of a clinical psychologist in the department.
Hockey
A fifth Spokane Chiefs prospect, forward Grady Lane from Virden, Manitoba, picked in the eighth round of the 2018 WHL Bantam Draft, has been selected to play for his provincial team, Hockey Manitoba, in the 2019 Canada Winter Games Feb. 16-22 in Red Deer, Alberta.
Named earlier were defenseman Graham Sward (British Columbia) and forwards Owen MacNeil (Alberta) and Blake Swetilkoff and Logan Cox, both Saskatchewan.
Golf
Travis Hansen from Clarkston, who played in the fall as a freshman at Lewis-Clark State and was named the 2018-19 Frontier Conference Player of the year, will transfer to Idaho and be eligible to play for the Vandals as a sophomore spring semester.
The Frontier plays its regular season in the fall, with the conference championship taking place in the spring. All-league honors were announced in October. Hansen had a 69.82 scoring average, No. 14 nationally in the NAIA. He had one win and three other top-five finishes in four events.
Letters of intent
Gonzaga women’s cross country and track – Paxton DePoe, 800/1,600, South Kitsap HS (Port Orchard, Wash.); Emily Phelps, 3,200/1,600, Fort Vancouver HS (Vancouver, Wash.); Lilly Visser, distances, Shorecrest HS (Shoreline, Wash.).
Idaho football – Kevin McGuire, WR, Los Angeles.
Montana football – Kale Edwards, LB, Coeur d’Alene HS, IEL 5A Offensive MVP and second team Idaho All-State 5A as a quarterback; Noah Kaschmitter, DL, Grangeville.
WSU women’s tennis – Savanna Ly-Nguyen, Brampton, Ontario.
Running
Andrew Gardner, a former Mead and Washington standout, was the top finishing local runner in the 2018 USA Track & Field National Club Cross Country Championships Dec. 8 at Plantes Ferry Park.
The 23-year-old finished 20th among 425 runners in the men’s open race, covering 10 kilometers in 30 minutes, 7 seconds. Andrew Kimpel (North Central and Washington State), 27, was the area’s second finisher in the men’s open division, placing 104th in 31:59.
Others in the top five for area men: John Whelan, Pullman, 111th, 32:02; Andrew Jordan, Spokane, 175th, 32:52; Vincent Hamilton, Spokane, 256th, 33:57.
Samantha Lewis of Moscow led the area contingent in the women’s open field that attracted 271 runners. She was 85th, timing 21:38 for 6K. Kari Hamilton, 23, of Spokane, was 98th in 21:47.
Others in the top five for area women: Jennifer Morris, Spokane, 173rd, 23:05; Courtney Cooper, Moscow, 176th, 23:07; Haley Scott, Spokane, 194th, 23:23.
Top-three area runners in masters age-groups:
Female 40-44 (6K) – 11, Rachel Jaten, Spokane, 23:25 (12th overall among masters women); 32, Jennifer Westra, Spokane, 27:46; 34, Susan Shirzad, Spokane, 28:26.
Female 45-49 (6K) – 8, Jodi Suter, Spokane, 25:09; 13, Heather LeFriec, Spokane, 25:52; 17, Sarah Ranson, Spokane, 26:28.
Female 50-54 (6K) – 22, Jackie Allen, Spokane, 27:48; 29, Lauriea Blume-Michels, 31:52; 30, Stephanie Kuest, Spokane, 32:29.
Female 55-59 (6K) – 114, Jackie Van Allen, Spokane, 29:02.
Male 40-44 (10K) – 54, Charles Joy, Spokane, 37:53.
Male 45-49 (10K) – 8, Michael Bresson, Spokane, 34:38; 29, Shawn Crockett, Addy, 36:46; 35, Steve Kirschke, Spokane, 37:21.
Male 50-54 (10K) – 3, Carl Combs, Cheney, 34:58; 5, John Burton Spokane, 40:05; 56, Bill Fitzner, Spokane, 41:01.
Male 55-59 (10K) – 8, Royce Hogue, Spokane, 37:43.
Male 60-64 (8K) – 54, Donald Driscoll, Spokane, 37:06; 53, Jim Johnson, Spokane, 36:53; 57, Lou Karl, Spokane, 37:35.
Soccer
Washington State and head soccer coach Todd Shulenberger agreed to a contract extension that will keep him in Pullman through June of 2024, Cougars’ director of athletics Pat Chun announced.
“In his four years in Pullman, Todd has elevated Cougar soccer to a national power,” said Chun. “His teams have succeeded on the field, in the classroom and been great ambassadors in our community.”
Shulenberger has led the Cougars to three NCAA Tournament appearances, reaching the third round in 2017 and the second round this season, and nine of his players earned Pac-12 All-Academic honors in 2018.