Locally: Spokane’s Neil Everett signs multiyear extension with ESPN

From staff and news services

Neil Everett isn’t going anywhere, at least not quite yet.

The ESPN fixture for more than two decades, who has deep Spokane roots, has signed a new multi-year agreement to remain with “The Worldwide Leader” and continue as an anchor on the network’s 11 p.m. Pacific “SportsCenter” that originates from Los Angeles.

Everett’s sidekick, Stan Verrett, and Ashley Brewer, who will relocate to L.A. from ESPN’s Connecticut headquarters, also signed new contracts as ESPN announced it was “solidifying the lineup” at its Los Angeles Production Center.

That news came on the heels of published speculation that Everett would join other personalities who recently parted company with ESPN when their contracts expired.

“The on-air chemistry Neil and Stan have can’t be manufactured,” said Rob King, ESPN senior vice president, SportsCenter and News. “It’s as authentic as it gets, and we look forward to having them as part of our team for years to come.”

“When Stan said he was staying, then I had no choice,” said Everett, a 1980 Lewis and Clark HS graduate. “We are joined at the hip. Plus, it’s a great gig so I’m glad Stan decided to stay.”

Born in Portland, Oregon, as Neil Everett Morfitt, he grew up in Spokane and was a two-sport athlete – football and basketball – at LC. He was an undersized All-City guard in football who admits to being “king of the cut-back block.” His stepfather, Dave Robertson, was a longtime high school basketball coach at Shadle Park and Gonzaga Prep.

Everett left Spokane to attend college in Oregon, starting at Willamette University before transferring to the University of Oregon, from where he graduated in 1984. While in Eugene, his mother, Jackie, a high school teacher, died from cancer at age 45. His use of his middle name as a professional surname is a tribute to her.

Everett started in broadcasting in the small Oregon coastal city of Florence, but left the industry to move to Hawaii and become an athletic administrator at Hawaii Pacific University for 15 years.

He couldn’t get broadcasting out of his blood, however, and started easing back while keeping his day job. In 2000, he was hired as an anchor on ESPNews and in March 2009 he relocated to California to begin what has become his present position.

He may be gone, but you can tell he’s proud of his Northwest roots. Frequently during broadcasts he mentions Spokane, Gonzaga, Washington State and his Oregon Ducks.

Baseball

Drew Richardson, a 2019 graduate of Shadle Park HS, who played two years at Wenatchee Valley College and was named by the school to its Northwest Athletic Conference Top Performers list for 2021, has signed a letter of intent with Central Washington and will transfer to play for the Wildcats this fall.

The 6-foot first-baseman/right-handed pitcher appeared in all 26 games for the Knights in 2021, batting .292 with 11 of his 28 hits for extra bases, including three home runs, and 19 RBI. As a relief pitcher, he appeared in six games with one start, had a 0-1 record, two saves and a 4.96 ERA. He allowed 16 hits in 16 1/3 innings and struck out 19 while walking four.

College scene

Gonzaga freshman Mary Scott Wolfe defeated her freshman teammate, Cassie Kim, 3 and 2 in the 36-hole finals to win the 119th Pacific Northwest Golf Association Women’s Amateur Championship on Friday at The Home Course in DuPont, Washington.

Wolfe, from Beaverton, Oregon, who qualified eighth for match play, needed 19 holes to knock off the No. 1 seed in the first round, then defeated the No. 4 seed 4-and-3 in the semifinals. Kim, from Yakima, Washington, who qualified for the U.S. Women’s Amateur earlier this month, tied for seventh during stroke-play qualifying.

The championship match was all even after the morning 18 holes before Wolfe gained a one-hole lead after 28 and used a couple of birdies down the stretch to end it. Wolfe had finished second in the Oregon Women’s Amateur two weeks earlier.

• Eastern Washington and Idaho women’s volleyball teams earned a U.S. Marine Corps/American Volleyball Coaches Association (USMC/AVCA) Team Academic Award for maintaining a team GPA of at least 3.3.

Eastern, with 18 student-athletes on the fall Big Sky Conference All-Academic team and a team GPA of 3.55, received the award for the ninth straight year and 18th time overall. Idaho, which placed 11 on the Big Sky fall All-Academic Team, was honored for a second consecutive year.

• Twenty-five men and 14 women from the area’s four NCAA Division I schools with cumulative GPAs of 3.25 or higher were named All-Academic by the United States Track & Field/Cross Country Coaches Association and seven of the eight programs with minimum GPAs of 3.0 received All-Academic Team awards.

Washington State: Men: Ja’Maun Charles, sr.; Jacob Englar, jr.; Justin Janke (North Central), sr.; John Kolb, jr.; Paul Ryan, (Logos of Moscow); Gabe Shouman, fr.; and Zach Stallings, sr. Team: 3.05. Women: Stephanie Cho, sr.; Emily Coombs, jr; Kaili Keefe, sr.; Aislinn Overby, so.; Suzy Pace, so.; Anna Rodgers (Lewis and Clark), jr.; Kaylee Sowle, fr.; Charisma Taylor, jr.; and Skyler Walton, (Spokane; Wenatchee HS), so. Team: 3.48.

Gonzaga: Men: Ben Hogan, jr., 3.65; Peter Hogan, Grad Student, 3.55; Jake Perrin, RS jr., 3.66; Alex Walde (Coeur d’Alene HS), so., 3.38. Team: 3.35. Women: Kristen Garcia, jr. Team: 3.62 (28th in nation).

Idaho: Men: Deyondre Davis, fr.; Ben Doucette, GS; Caleb Hagan, fr.; Lorenz Herrmann, fr.; Grady Leonard (CdA HS), sr.; Zachary Nunis, jr.; Joseph Ruddell, fr.; Zack Short, sr.; and Tim Stevens, so. Team: 3.563 (6th in nation). Women: Henrike Fiedler, jr.; Hannah Ringel, sr.; and Malaina Thacker, sr. Team: 3.789 (2nd in nation).

Eastern Washington: Men: Justin Roosma, so. Team: No award. Women: Emmanuella Engle, sr.; Morgan Fossen, sr.; Vernice Keyes, jr.; Katrina Terry, sr. Team: 3.52.

• The Gonzaga and Idaho men were named All-Academic Teams by the Golf Coaches Association of America, among 41 schools receiving President’s Special Recognition with team GPAs of 3.5 or higher. It’s the fifth time GU has earned the honor and the second straight year.

• Community Colleges of Spokane had six and North Idaho College five named to 18-player Northwest Athletic Conference All-Decade Teams in men’s and women’s golf for the period 2010-2019.

Men: CCS: Brady Calkins, Dylan Maine, Evan Omelia. NIC: Sean Langham, Braxton Stewart, Braydon Swapp.

Women: CCS: Kelsey Berg, Megan Cysewski, Kelci Parker. NIC: Madi Brown, Nicole Miller.

High school scene

Three area wrestlers had top-eight finishes at the 2021 U.S. Marine Corps Junior & 16U National Wrestling Championships last week in Fargo, North Dakota, to earn All-America honors.

Q’veli Quintanilli, who will be a junior at Gonzaga Prep, won the national championship in the Junior (18 & under) 138-pound Greco Roman division to capture the gold medal. Josh Neiwert, who will be a sophomore at G-Prep, placed eighth in the 16U 126-pound Greco Roman division.

Rylan Rogers of Clarkston, who wrestled for Coeur d’Alene HS last year and is a University of Michigan commit, placed third in the Junior Freestyle at 195 pounds.

There were six other area wrestlers who competed for Team Washington: Jake Mark, Jacob “JT” Connors and Kelsey Loeun, all Mead; Noah Holman and Ivan Acosta, both G-Prep; and Bryon Newby, Chewelah.

• The Greater Spokane League, in conjunction with the National Electrical Contractors Association and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, announced recipients of the 20th annual NECA/IBEW GSL Award.

One male and one female student-athlete from each of the 14 GSL schools, who demonstrate superior balance in academics, athletics and community involvement, were selected

The NECA and IBEA train electricians for the future and encourage all high school students to explore, with their high school counselors, a career in the electrical construction industry.

The NECA/IBEW 2020-21 GSL athletes:

Central Valley: Abby Lewis, soccer, basketball, track; Sam Brown, football, basketball, track. Cheney: Avery Stark, volleyball, basketball; Ryan Reichman, football, track. Clarkston: Jenna Allen, soccer, tennis; Kaden Elben, football. East Valley: Hope Harrington, volleyball, track; Alex Petersen, cross country, soccer. Ferris: Jade Bratrud, tennis; Charlie Markham, football.

Gonzaga Prep: Kyah Le, soccer; James Franz, football. Lewis and Clark: Katie Kenlein, volleyball; Lucas Goeller, soccer, basketball. Mead: Sophie Koehler, tennis; Lane Lorenz, basketball. Mt. Spokane: Tia Allen, volleyball, track; Tyson Degenhart, basketball, track. North Central: Cheyenne Boviall, fastpitch; JJ Martin, track, basketball.

Pullman: Hailey Talbot, soccer, softball, basketball; Carson Coulter, football, baseball, basketball announcer. Rogers: Ellabelle Taylor, cross Country, track, wrestling; Keigon Shove, track, wrestling. Shadle Park: Chloe Flerchinger, volleyball, softball; Marcus Lemon, cross country, track. University: Ryan Griep, girls soccer, fastpitch; Eli Stachofsky, cross country.