Locally: Stanford’s Lexie Hull declares for WNBA draft, named honorable mention on All-America team
Stanford senior and former Central Valley standout Lexie Hull chose to forgo her final year of eligibility and declared for the 2022 WNBA Draft on Monday in a statement thanking her sister Lacie, coach Tara VanDerveer, teammates and the Cardinal fans for their support during her collegiate career.
“It truly has taken a village and without you all, I would not have gotten to where I am today,” Hull said. “It was an honor to put on a Stanford jersey.”
Hull finished her career with 1,402 points, the 24th most in Stanford history. Her 191 career 3-pointers are the 11th most all-time.
“You truly could not ask for someone to do more for a team than Lexie Hull has done,” VanDerveer said. “She has been the engine that’s made us run, while excelling at such a high level in every facet of her life.”
Last week Hull received the 2022 Elite 90 Award, was named winner of the 2022 women’s basketball Senior CLASS Award and was honorable mention on the 2021-22 Women’s Basketball Coaches Association Division I All-America team.
Her choice, however, would have been to help lead the Cardinal to a second straight NCAA Division I championship. That dream ended Friday night in a 63-58 loss to Connecticut in a Final Four semifinal.
The Elite 90 Award annually goes to the student-athlete at each of the NCAA’s championship sites with the highest grade-point average. Hull’s 3.90 was the best in Minneapolis. She is set to graduate this spring with both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in management science and engineering.
A nationwide vote of Division I women’s basketball coaches, media and fans determines the recipient of the Senior CLASS Award. Selection of the student-athlete judged to be the most outstanding in the division focuses on the total student-athlete, applying the CLASS acronym, Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School.
Student-athletes are encouraged to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities and have notable achievements in the classroom, community, character and competition.
Hull, the third Cardinal to win both of those awards, is joined on the WBCA All-America honorable mention list by Washington State sophomore guard Charlisse Leger-Walker, making the Cougar a two-time All-American. She was All-America honorable mention last season as a freshman.
The coaches’ All-America team is composed of the 10 best players in Division I regardless of position as chosen by the division’s head coaches. Other worthy candidates are designated honorable mention.
Leger-Walker, the first Cougar to earn All-America distinction from the WBCA, and Hull are among nine Pac-12 players honored. Two were first team, seven among 32 on the HM list.
Basketball
Gonzaga University’s Lisa Fortier was honored by the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association Victory Club for her 200th career win on Feb. 21, 74-58 over Santa Clara at McCarthey Athletic Center.
Fortier is the youngest GU women’s coach to reach 200 wins and the fastest to the milestone. She finished GU’s 27-7 season with 205 career wins.
The WBCA Victory Club honor is bestowed on a member head coach who achieves 200, 300, 400, 500 or more career victories during the season.
College scene
Maggie Nelson‘s school-record performance in the heptathlon during the first multi event of the outdoor season on March 24-25 at the Buc Scoring/Combined Events Invitational earned the Eastern Washington senior the Big Sky Conference women’s field athlete of the week award.
The former Liberty HS and Community Colleges of Spokane standout from Spangle became the first Eagle to surpass 5,000 points, compiling 5,130. That’s the top heptathlon mark in the Big Sky, eighth in the West Region and 14th in the nation.
She placed first in four out of the seven events, tying or setting PRs in the 100 hurdles (15.84 seconds), high jump (5 feet, 4 ¼ inches), 200 (27.14) and javelin (158-8).
• Tyler Shea, a Northwest Nazarene junior from Northwest Christian HS, was named Great Northwest Athletic Conference men’s outdoor track athlete of the week after setting the school record for 5,000m on March 26 at a meet in Irvine, California. Shea’s 14:23.08 is an NCAA Championships provisional qualifying time and ranks 12th in Division II. He won by 38 seconds.
• Beau Sheeran of Western Washington, who transferred from Washington State for his senior year and won the Great Northwest Athletic Conference indoor championship in the high jump (6-10¾), was named the league’s newcomer of the year.
The height is a school record, the third best in conference history, ranks No. 11 in NCAA Division II and earned him a spot on the All-West Region team. Sheeran went on to tie for 14th at the NCAA Indoor Championships.
• Luke White and Madigan Kelly, Lewis-Clark State athletes from Lewiston, collected Cascade Collegiate Conference player of the week awards for the week of March 21-27.
White, a senior first baseman, received the baseball player award after a record-setting weekend. He hit two home runs in the same inning and became the first L-C State player to homer in four straight at-bats, added two doubles among nine hits in 15 at-bats and drove in 14 runs during a four-game sweep of British Columbia.
Kelly, a freshman, was the women’s outdoor track athlete of the week after she won the 100 hurdles with an NAIA Nationals automatic qualifying time of 14.41 seconds at the Buc Scoring and Multi meet and finished second in the 400 hurdles in 1:06.16.
• Whitworth senior Rylee Gentner was the Northwest Conference softball player of the week for the week of March 21-27 after she went 10 for 15 with two home runs and two doubles. She also drove in five runs, scored nine of the Pirates’ 36 runs in the four games, was 4 for 4 on stolen base attempts and did not commit an error on six chances in center field.
High school scene
Four of the nine Panhandle athletes voted to 2021-22 All-Idaho basketball teams by the state coaches in each classification and announced last week were named to first teams.
Lake City juniors Blake Buchanan, a center, and guard Kolton Mitchell are on the 5A boys first team; St. Maries senior center Tristan Gentry-Nelson is on the 2A boys first team; and Coeur d’Alene senior guard Skylar Burke is on the 5A girls first team.
Second teams: St. Maries’ junior guard Greyson Sands, 2A boys; Lakeside junior guard Vander Brown, 1A Division I boys; Coeur d’Alene junior forward Madi Symons, 5A girls; Kellogg senior forward Hailey Cheney, 3A girls; and Wallace senior guard Jaden House, 1A Division I girls.
Miscellany
Washington State director of athletics Pat Chun has been recognized by the Sports Business Journal as part of its ongoing program, “All In: Leaders in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.”
“Diversity, equity and inclusive excellence are core tenets of the Washington State University system,” said WSU system president Kirk Schulz. “During his tenure, Pat has worked assertively to ensure that these principles are fully embraced within WSU athletics.”
Chun is co-chair of the Pac-12 Social Justice and Anti-Racism Advisory Group. Under his leadership, the WSU athletic department has created a Black Student-Athlete Association, the Cougar Pride Student-Athlete Alliance (LGBTQ+) and a “report card” to measure staff diversity.