Locally: Former Washington State kicker Jason Hanson inducted into College Hall of Fame with Class of 2020
Former Mead High School and Washington State University football standout Jason Hanson finally received his deserved recognition.
Hanson, who spent his entire 21-year professional career with the Detroit Lions, was inducted into the National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame last week in Las Vegas with the Class of 2020 after their scheduled induction the year before was wiped out by the coronavirus pandemic.
The 63rd NFF ceremony Dec. 7 at the ARIA Resort & Casino honored both Hanson’s Class of 2020 and the Class of 2021.
The two-time All-American kicker becomes the fifth Cougars player in the College Football Hall of Fame, joining Mel Hein (1928-30), Glen Edwards (1929-31), Rueben Mayes (1982-85) and Mike Utley (1985-88).
There are also four former WSU coaches in the shrine: William “Lone Star” Dietz (1915-17), Babe Hollingbery (1926-42), Forest Evashevski (1950-51) and Dennis Erickson (1987-88).
Hanson was a teammate of Utley as a freshman in 1988 when both played for Erickson, helping the Cougars earn a No. 16 national ranking and win the Aloha Bowl, the school’s first postseason victory in 73 seasons.
Hanson was the second-round NFL draft selection of the Lions in 1992 after setting 15 WSU records. He was the 1992 NFL Rookie of the Year, a two-time Pro Bowl selection and is the fourth-leading scorer in NFL history. He’s the only player with 2,000 career points for one franchise, holds every Lions placekicking record and was inducted into the team’s Ring of Honor in 2013.
College scene
Former Central Valley standout Lexie Hull, a member of Stanford’s defending national champion basketball team who is on three prominent watch lists, has been named a candidate for the women’s 2021-22 Senior CLASS Award.
An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.
Pursuing a degree in management science and engineering, Hull has a 3.92 GPA and was just the second player in Stanford program history to be a first team Academic All-American when she received the honor in 2021. She uses her athletic successes as a member of the school’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.
“Lexie Hull is a player that every coach in America wishes they had on their team,” Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer is quoted in a school release. “She is an ultimate worker and will do anything on and off the court to help her team succeed.”
• Julien Sears, a 6-foot, 260-pound guard at Northwest Conference champion Linfield from University HS, was named to the D3football.com 2021 All-Region 6 football first team.
Sears, a senior who a junior in eligibility, was a staple on the offensive line for the Wildcats, who ranked sixth in the country averaging 47.83 points-per-game and 12th averaging 485.8 yards per game. Seventh-ranked Linfield wound up 11-1 after losing 49-24 to No. 2 Mary Hardin-Baylor in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division III playoffs.
Whitworth placed senior defensive standouts Colten Chelin, a defensive back, and linebacker Jaylen Gonzales on the all-region second team.
Chelin, a first-team All-NWC selection, had 31 tackles, two interceptions and nine passes defended this fall. Gonzales, a two-time All-NWC first-team selection who suffered through injuries the previous two seasons, had 59 tackles (6.5 for losses of 20 yards), five pass breakups, an interception, fumble recovery and several forced fumbles.
• Two of the four Washington State Cougars who competed in the 2021 Junior Pan American Games Nov. 25-Dec. 5, both freshmen from Colombia, collected medals during the event in their home country.
Ronald Grueso-Mosquero placed second in the men’s shot put (17.98m) to earn the silver medal and Valentina Barrios-Bornacelli earned the bronze with a third-place finish in the women’s javelin (51.46m). Grueso-Mosquero was also seventh in the discus (47.18m).
Micaela De Mello, a sophomore from Brazil, placed fourth in the women’s 100-meter hurdles (13.51 seconds) and Carolina Ulloa-Daza from Colombia, who set the WSU freshman record in the women’s hammer last season with a throw of 59.97m, placed fifth in the event, breaking her school mark with a throw of 62.05m.
• After a historic inaugural soccer season at Washington State, freshman goalkeeper Nadia Cooper has been called into the training camp with the Under-20 U.S. Women’s National Team that is preparing for the CONCACAF U-20 Championships in early in 2022.
The Pac-12 Freshman of the Year and Goalkeeper of the Year compiled a 10-1-3 record with seven solo shutouts. In 15 appearances, Cooper allowed just 10 goals, finishing the season with a 0.617 goals-against-average, the third best average in program history.
• Washington State fifth-year senior soccer standout Elyse Bennett added another award to her list of honors for 2021. She was named a third-team Academic All-American by the College Sports Information Directors of America, just the Cougars’ third academic All-American.
Bennett finished her second degree at WSU in psychology with a 3.85 GPA in five-years on the Palouse. She previously earned a degree in biology in three years.
• Three former area high school soccer standouts, senior Darby Doyle (Gonzaga Prep), junior Taryn Baxter (East Valley) and senior Travis Swallow (Lake City), were named to 2021 NCAA Division II All-Region teams.
Doyle, a midfielder at Western Washington who was a second-team pick by the D2CCA, was a first-team women’s All-West Region selection by the United Soccer Coaches after collecting four goals and five assists in 23 matches. She finished her career as the Vikings’ all-time leader in games played with 99 (14 goals, 11 assists).
Baxter, an All-Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference West first-team defender at Mercyhurst University in Erie, was named to the women’s All-Atlantic Region second team. She had a goal and an assist for a team that made it to the NCAA Tournament before falling in the first round. She was also Academic All-District by the College Sports Information Directors of America.
Swallow, a senior midfielder at Seattle Pacific, was a men’s All-West Region second-team choice by the soccer coaches, but was a four-time first-team NCAA Division II Academic All-American by CoSIDA. He has a 3.94 GPA in a business administration curriculum.
• Emma Thompson, a Whitworth freshman from Mead, was named the Northwest Conference women’s swimmer of the week for the week Nov. 29-Dec. 5 after she won all three of her individual events at the Logger Invitational, setting two meet and one school record.
She broke the Logger Invite record, the Pirates’ team record and hit an NCAA B qualifying mark in the 100 backstroke (56.15) in the prelims. She won the event in 56.41. She also won the 200 back in a meet-record 2:03.59 and won the 200 IM (2:08.83) and swam legs on the winning 400 free relay and four runner-up relay teams.
• Gonzaga junior Matthew Hollingworth and sophomore Sasha Trkulja made history for the school when they were ranked 25th in the new Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings. GU’s highest previous doubles ranking was 33rd by Hollingworth and Sam Feit on Feb. 5, 2020.
The pair found early success in the fall season, winning the doubles title at the season-opening Easley Memorial. They later finished second at ITA Northwest Regional Championships and competed in the National Fall Championships in November.