Prep notebook: Area cross country coaches to receive Hall of Fame honors
The Washington State Cross Country Coaches Association (WSCCCA) on Friday will induct its 2020 class, all with local ties.
Mike Hadway (Ferris), Wes Player (Mead and Deer Park) and Jef Rettmann (Lindbergh) will be honored at the WSCCCA banquet in Tacoma.
Hadway coached boys cross country at Ferris from 1986-2017. He took 15 teams to state and captured five team titles, three individual state championships and 28 top-10 placings. His teams qualified for the Nike Team Nationals four times, placing second in 2009.
Hadway was named Washington State Cross Country Coach of the Year in 2004 and is a member of the Spokane Community College and NWAACC halls of fame.
Player coached girls cross country at Mead from 1981-2006. His teams won eight Greater Spokane League titles and nine district or regional titles.
Under Player, the Panthers placed at state 10 times, with one state title in 1988, seven second-place trophies and two fourth-place finishes. He finished his career at Deer Park.
Rettmann’s Lindbergh boys team won 10 consecutive South Puget Sound league titles and went 72-0 over a decade.
Rettmann is from Spokane and attended Mead and Eastern Washington.
Siblings produce big games at UCA
On Tuesday night, freshman Mia Pierce scored 37 points to lead Upper Columbia Academy of Spangle over Tekoa-Rosalia 48-43 in a Northeast 2B South league game, the Lions’ first win of the season.
In the boys game, her brother, junior Evan Pierce, scored 38 points in a 95-83 loss to the T-R.
McDonald’s nominees announced
Three local players were among the nominees for the McDonald’s All-American Games, announced on Tuesday.
Ellie Boni (University), Jayda Noble (Mt. Spokane) and Maisie Burnham (Liberty) were part of the group of 15 state players to receive nominations.
Boni and Noble were both All-Greater Spokane League first-team selections last season. Burnham was Northeast 2B South MVP last season.
No boys players from Eastern or Central Washington, or any players from North Idaho, were nominated.
Senior players can be nominated by their high school principal, athletic director or coach, or a member of the game’s selection committee.
The committee selects 24 boys and 24 girls for the prestigious games, to be held April 1 in Houston.
Multnomah’s Martin breaks own record
Justin Martin, a 2016 graduate of Lewis and Clark, broke his NAIA Division II single-game scoring record with 74 points to help Multnomah beat Northwest Christian 118-111 in overtime in a Cascade Collegiate Conference game Saturday.
Martin went 15 of 22 from beyond the arc and scored 21 of Multnomah’s 22 points in the extra session.
The 15 baskets from long range equaled his record set last year in his 71-point performance against rival Warner Pacific. The 15 3-pointers in a single game are the second most recorded in NAIA history.
For his performance, Martin was named the NAIA Division II national player of the week as well as Cascade Collegiate Conference player of the week.