Locally: Former LC boys basketball coach Larry Walker will enter NWAC Hall of Fame

Former Lewis and Clark High School boys basketball coach Larry Walker, who had a highly successful 31-year career as a coach and administrator at Everett Community College, is being inducted into the Northwest Athletic Conference Hall of Fame during virtual ceremonies on Wednesday.

Walker, who will join the NWAC shrine as a contributor, compiled a 73-55 league record at LC from 1977-85 before being hired by EvCC in 1985 as head men’s basketball coach.

In 31 seasons before retiring in 2016, he had a 404-474 record after first reinstating a basketball program that had been on a two-year hiatus. He later also added the athletic director job.

As A.D., he oversaw the expansion of the Trojans’ athletic programs to one of the largest in the NWAC, starting softball and women’s soccer, and reinstating cross country, track and field and baseball. He was also responsible for building the school’s Walt Price Student Fitness Center.

Walker was inducted into the Washington Interscholastic Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2018.

• Corby Schuh, a 3-point-shooting star at Central Valley HS before graduating in 1996 and continuing his basketball career at Everett Community College, is being inducted into the Trojans’ Athletic Hall of Fame in the Class of 2021.

A two-time All-Greater Spokane League second-team selection, Schuh connected on an EvCC-record 231 3-pointers his two years playing for the Trojans before moving on Central Washington. As a senior at Central, he led the Wildcats to a 21-7 record and to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Division II Tournament.

Schuh, who lives in Arlington, Washington, with his wife and two daughters, has been teaching and coaching high school basketball for 20 years. He’s currently head coach at Marysville Getchell, which he took to the State 3A playoffs in 2019-20 for the first time in school history.

College scene

Melisa Ates of Washington State and the Gonzaga women’s team collected Northwest Region awards from the Intercollegiate Tennis Association.

Ates, a senior from Antalya, Turkey, who completed one of the finest careers in WSU program history this season, was the Northwest recipient of the Arthur Ashe Leadership & Sportsmanship and the Cissie Leary Sportsmanship awards. It is her second straight Ashe award. She is the first player in program history to receive both awards in the same season.

The Ashe award recognizes individuals who exhibit outstanding sportsmanship and leadership as well as scholastic, extracurricular and tennis achievements. The Leary award goes to a Division I women’s player who displays inspiring dedication and commitment to her team.

A three-time Pac-12 All-Academic selection, Ates graduated last month with a degree in computer science and received the 2021 WSU President’s Award. The two-year captain is WSU’s career leader for combined single and doubles victories (197), holds the program record for doubles victories (91) and is third in the singles wins.

The Gonzaga women received the ITA Northwest Region Community Service Award for their outreach after earning honorable mention in 2020.

While community service opportunities were severely limited with COVID-19 restrictions, the GU women were able to dedicate nearly 40 hours at six different agencies that included neighborhood cleanups, virtual classroom visits, handwritten letters and homemade blankets.

• Zach Stocker, a Gonzaga junior from Central Valley HS, was named honorable mention on the West Coast Conference All-Academic team in men’s golf with a GPA of 3.20 or better.

• Rachael Schlect of Spokane, a sophomore on the Point Loma Nazarene volleyball team, received the school’s Comeback Player of the Year Award after she overcame a severe knee injury during the 2019 offseason to lead the Sea Lions in kills per set and was second in aces during the modified 2021 spring season.

The outside hitter, who played her volleyball at University HS and graduated from The Oaks Christian Academy, had been the PacWest Conference Freshman of the Year in 2018 before requiring major surgery and being off the court nearly two years.

• North Idaho College landed three freshmen – first baseman Taryn Vanderwiel, outfielder Taya Escalante and Kasey Davis – selected designated player/utility nonpitcher, on the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Northwest Athletic Conference All-America softball team.

Vanderwiel hit .578 with 12 doubles, 13 home runs and 55 RBIs while not striking out in 121 plate appearances. She led the NWAC in hits, ranked second in batting average and home runs, and tied for second in RBIs.

Escalante ranked in the league’s top 10 in five categories and hit .545 with a 14 doubles, five home runs, 39 RBI, a team-high 48 runs. Davis, the NWAC’s top slugger at 1.110, tied for second in home runs (13) and RBIs (55), fourth in batting average (.560) and seventh in hits (51).

• Washington State and Gonzaga each had 11 named 2021 National Scholar Student-Athletes by the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association with cumulative GPAs of 3.5 or above.

WSU: Isabella Cristelli, Renee Kemp and Sue Yu, fifth-year seniors; Emma Barrett and Abigail Linnenkohl, seniors; Samantha Schmidt, junior; and Caitlin Donaldson, Cate Field, Laurita Nemeraviciute, Maddy Pollard and Makenna Price, sophomores.

GU: Schuyler Peters and Zoe Calambokidis, seniors; Alexandra Moeller, Grace Nickas, Kathleen Fisher and Lucianne Salmick, juniors; Alyssa Helgesen, Grace Dojan, Kaley Grau and Stephanie Westlund, sophomores; and Perrine Sarraute, freshman.

• Seattle Pacific senior Travis Swallow from Lake City HS was named a CoSIDA Academic All-District 8 selection in Division II men’s soccer for a third straight season with a 3.94 GPA.

• Eastern Washington, at No. 19, is one of five Big Sky Conference football teams named to the Athlon Sports Preseason FCS Top 25 for the upcoming season. Defending champion Weber State is No. 6, Montana State No. 8, Montana No. 11 and UC Davis No. 17.

Golf

Karen Madison of Spokane Valley won the Super Senior division during the 2021 Washington Golf women’s championships last week at the Fairwood Golf & Country Club in Renton.

Madison defeated Kris Adams of Lake Tapps, Washington, on the second playoff hole after they tied at 10-over 152 in the 36-hole tournament. Marcy Hold of Spokane finished ninth at 180.

Darcy Habgood of Pullman was eighth at 9-over 222 and Taylor Mularski of Spokane finished ninth at 223 in the 54-hole Women’s Amateur that was won by incoming University of Washington freshman Kennedy Knox of Normandy Park, Wash., at even-par 213.

Other area players in the field and their finishes: Amy Chu, Pullman, 13th, 229; Lauren Greeny, Pullman, 33rd, 241; and Kaysa Panke, Davenport, tie for 44th, 252.

Gonzaga University assistant women’s coach Victoria Fallgren, a two-time Washington Mid-Amateur champion, finished second in that division at 8-over 221 for 54 holes. Kayla Monroe of Kellogg tied for eighth at 253. Jacqueline Bendrick of Mercer Island, Wash., won the division at 6-over 219.

There were no area women in the senior division.

• Amateurs fared the best of area players in the men’s Oregon Open Invitational last week at Black Butte Ranch in Sisters, Oregon, led by Nate Plaster from Manito Golf & Country Club and Andrew Von Lossow of Indian Canyon. They tied for ninth at 6-under par 210 for 54 holes.

The area’s leading pros were North Idaho College coach Russell Grove (211), who tied for 11th, and Community Colleges of Spokane coach Corey Prugh (213), who tied for 16th. Amateur Reed Hatley of Hayden Lake Country Club was in a four-player tie with Prugh in 16th.

Amateur Kenny Swann of McKenzie Bridge, Oregon, won by two strokes at 11-under 205.

Hockey

Ron Robison, commissioner of the Western Hockey League for 21 seasons, has been given a new three-year contract by the league through the 2023-24 season.

The WHL board of governors also announced that Yvonne Bergmann retired as vice president of business after 20 years and Marco De Iaco, who has an extensive business background, was appointed to replace her.

Volleyball

Spike & Dig is making a comeback.

Officials of Spokane’s outdoor 6-on-6 coed tournament, which they had to put on hold last summer because of the coronavirus pandemic, have scheduled the 29th edition for Aug. 7-8 at the Dwight Merkel Complex.

Registration is underway; deadline for guaranteed entry is July 21. Cost is $230 for an adult seven-person team and $200 for senior high and junior high seven-person teams. There’s a $35 charge for each extra player. Late entry is $300. Info: spikeanddig.com.