Locally: Area collegiate athletes earn All-Academic honors, Brycen Campbell hired as WSU director of baseball operations
By From staff and news services
Claire Neder, a Seattle Pacific senior from Mead, earned her fourth Great Northwest Athletic Conference All-Academic honor in women’s soccer to lead the showing by seven former area high school players. Neder has a 3.67 GPA.
Four attend Northwest Nazarene, including sophomore two-time recipients Carolyn Moravec (Lewis and Clark, 3.90 GPA) and Kaitlyn LaBrosse (Central Valley, 3.72). They are joined by sophomore Yacine Bitibale (Ferris, 3.35) and freshman Alexis Van Horne (Cheney, 3.59).
Others are Western Washington freshman Kendal Houston (Mead, 3.71) and Central Washington junior Jaxyn Farmen (Medical Lake, 3.78).
• Tyler Shea, a Northwest Nazarene junior from Northwest Christian HS, received a third GNAC All-Academic cross country award with a 3.93 GPA to lead the showing by five former area high school runners.
Seattle Pacific: Annika Esvelt, so., West Valley HS, 4.0; Libby Michael, so., Deer Park HS, 3.95. Central Washington: Ryan Hyatt, so., Pullman, 3.46. Western Washington: Shawnee Konrad, sr., Mt. Spokane, 3.21.
Baseball
Brycen Campbell, who has six years of college coaching experience, including two as a student assistant at New Mexico State working for Washington State head coach Brian Green, has been hired by Green as the Cougars’ director of baseball operations.
Campbell spent the last two seasons at Point Loma (California) Nazarene as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator following two seasons as an assistant coach and strength & conditioning coach at Riverside (Calif.) City College.
“Brycen is a tremendous addition to our program,” said Green. He “brings extensive experience in recruiting and offensive baseball and he was a part of our coaching family before, as a player and student assistant.”
College scene
Led by senior Taylor McCoy (Pullman), who won 200-yard backstroke and 200 individual medley and scored 21 points, the Washington State women’s swimming team posted its first win in program history over Arizona on Friday in Pullman, 131.5-129.5.
• Abigail Neff, a North Idaho freshman from Lakeland of Rathdrum, was the NWAC volleyball setter of the week for Oct. 3-9 for her play in a four-set win over Columbia Basin. She compiled 55 assists (13.75 per set) with three kills and nine digs.
“Abigail did a great job,” said NIC coach Kelsey Stanley. “She found our hot hitters and spread the offense well.”
• For the second time in a month, Megan Billeter, Western Washington junior co-captain from Mt. Spokane, earned a Great Northwest Athletic Conference women’s golfer of the week award.
Billeter and her junior co-captain teammate, Sarah Shea, shared the honor for Oct. 4-10 after tying for seventh place at 7-over-par 151 for 36 holes at the Westminster Wasatch Invitational, Oct. 7-9 at South Jordan, Utah. Oct. 4-5, Billeter tied for 19th at the Sonoma State Fall Invitational at 15-over 159 for 36 holes.
Billeter, previously honored Sept. 13-19 after posting a school-record 4-under 68 at the Saint Martin’s Invitational, led the Vikings in the fall season – and was second in the GNAC – with a 76.50 scoring average.
• Idaho senior Vicky Tsai was Big Sky Conference women’s golfer of the week for her performance at the Pat Lesser-Harbottle Invitational Oct. 11-12 in Seattle. She finished 14th with a 7-over-par 223 (79, 70, 74) for 54 holes. It is the second award of Tsai’s career.
• College of Idaho sophomore Logan Hunt from Athol, Idaho (Timberlake HS), received his third Cascade Collegiate Conference men’s cross country runner of the week award Oct. 4-10. Hunt set a school record for 7K (21 minutes, 29 seconds) running at 4,500 feet at the Steve Reeder Invite in Logan, Utah.
• Two former area high school standouts, Carroll College senior guards Christine Denny from Liberty and Shamrock Campbell from Ferris, were named to All-Frontier Conference Preseason women’s and men’s basketball teams, respectively.
Denny is coming off two-straight seasons receiving NAIA All-America honors. Campbell was the 2020-21 Frontier men’s defensive player of the year and NAIA All-America honorable mention.
Golf
Four area golfers were involved in the annual Hudson Cup matches last week in Lake Oswego, Oregon, where a 10-man team of professionals defeated an amateur team 10 ½ – 5 ½ in the 73rd edition of the team event and the senior pros prevailed 11-9 in the 30th renewal of that series.
Former Manito pro Steve Prugh and Billy Bomar of Post Falls were on the winning senior team.
Ritzville native and University of Idaho grad Ryan Benzel, now a PGA pro at Sahalee Country Club in Redmond, Washington, was on the winning Hudson Cup team. The 10-man amateur team the pros defeated included Andrew Von Lossow from Indian Canyon and Idaho senior Colt Sherrell.
Softball
The Spokane Sparx took three women’s senior slowpitch teams to St. George, Utah, last week for the Huntsman Games Senior Olympics and brought home two silver medals and a fourth-place finish.
The Sparx’s 60+ team knocked off the unbeaten Cal Spirits 13-12 in the championship game to force an extra game in the double-elimination tournament to decide the gold medal. Cal Spirits, which beat Sparx 13-6 in the second round, won 18-12, relegating Spokane to second place.
The 50+ team lost its championship game 23-19 to the unbeaten Utah Relics.
The 55+ team split four games in bracket play and finished fourth.
Eight of the 16 players were on all three teams, compiling a combined 14-9 record. Lori Serbousek batted .823 to lead to 50+ team that had five players bat .600 or better. Karen Bauer and Bonnie Patey batted .750 for the 55+ team. The 60+ team had four players above .600.
Brunette/Spikes of Spokane men’s 70+ team, after going 2-1 in pool play, was hit by injuries, went 1-2 in bracket play and tied for fifth in its division.
Sparx players:
50+: Pam McLeod, Cheryl Wartinger, Shelly Hilton, Natalie Long, Sue Hart-Anderson, Lori Serbousek, Renate Schumaker, Kellie Clinton, Krista Forester, Daylene Boehm, Terry Graham, Karen Bauer, Jackie Jarabek, Marie Youngs, Shari DeGuire.
55+: McLeod, Wartinger, Hilton, Long, Hart-Anderson, Serbousek, Schumaker, Clinton, Forester, Laurie Lund, Graham, Bauer, Bonnie Patey, Youngs, DeGuire, Joann Fukuma.
60+: McLeod, Wartinger, Hart-Anderson, Graham, Clinton, Lund, DeGuire, Lola Lile, Verna Carpenter, Patey, Tina Marable, Sandy Karlsson, Karen Fowler, Youngs.
Miscellany
Eastern Washington University director of athletics Lynn Hickey announced two new hires in her department last week.
Monica Jaenicke, an EWU alumna and four-year letter winner in track and field and cross country who was the school’s assistant sports information director the last 41/2 years, was promoted to assistant athletic director for communications. As the new SID, Jaenicke replaces her former boss, Dave Cook, who retired in July after 31 years.
Jaenicke graduated from Eastern in 2014 with a bachelor’s degree in communications with a public relations emphasis and a minor in journalism, and earned a master’s in sports management from Western Illinois University. While finishing her degree at Eastern, Jaenicke was an SID student assistant.
Courtney Bilodeaux, who has worked at the school in various academic roles full time since 2016, was hired as Eastern’s new associate athletic director for academic success.
The native of Ritzville, who received a bachelor’s degree in exercise science and a master’s in sports and recreation administration from Eastern, works as a senior adviser and first-year experience coordinator where she assists students in developing academic plans that keep them in line with their career goals.