Locally: Spokane natives Ingrid Lindeblad Finstuen, Tammy Skubinna inducted into PLU Athletics Hall of Fame
From staff and news services
It took two years, but Ingrid Lindeblad Finstuen and Tammy Skubinna, both Spokane natives, have finally been inducted into the Pacific Lutheran University Athletics Hall of Fame.
The former Lutes standouts were nominated in 2020, but because of COVID-19 restrictions and protocols, the school’s induction ceremonies the past two years were postponed. The Class of 2020 was officially enshrined on March 12.
Finstuen, who was Ingrid Lindeblad when she was a member of Lewis and Clark’s state volleyball champions in 1992 and ’94, was a two-time All-Northwest Conference selection at PLU. The star setter helped the Lutes win their first NWC Championship in 1999 and make the program’s first appearance in the NCAA Division III Tournament.
The 1996 LC graduate was a two-time District All-Academic selection at PLU, earning first-team honors as a senior in 1999. After transferring from Saint Olaf College in Minnesota, where she played her freshman year, Finstuen helped the Lutes win 45 games during her three-year career. She shared the school’s prestigious woman of the year in sports award her senior year.
“In thinking about colleges, I wanted both a high-quality liberal arts education and a competitive collegiate athletic experience,” Finstuen said of her decision to transfer. “PLU was a great fit in both categories. … I am proud of contributing to a strong volleyball program and receiving an education that encouraged curiosity and openness.”
Skubinna, a three-sport athlete who played basketball, field hockey and tennis at PLU from 1970-74, didn’t play high school sports in Spokane because there were limited opportunities for girls in the late 1960s. She played intramurals and adult city league basketball.
“The fact that PLU had sports for women was a pretty big deal,” Skubinna is quoted in the hall of fame release. “There weren’t a lot of opportunities. Timing wise, it was just right for me to get there and get to play.”
She was named the PLU athletic department’s George Fisher Scholar-Athlete her senior year after helping lead her three teams to 31 victories: Field hockey was 10-8-1, basketball was 11-5 and tennis 11-3. She was a captain and the leading scorer of the basketball team.
“I was an outside shooter, basically,” she said of her basketball career. “There was no 3-point line in those days, so my scoring records would have been a little different today.”
• Former University of Idaho running back Joel Thomas, entering his seventh season as the running backs coach of the New Orleans Saints, will be doing double duty at the 60th North Idaho Athletic Hall of Fame awards banquet April 16 at The Coeur d’Alene Resort.
The Vandals’ career (1993-98) rushing leader, whose name in scattered throughout the football record book, will be the featured speaker and one of four inducted into the hall of fame that night.
He’ll be joined by Duane Ward, former standout Sandpoint HS and Lewis-Clark State College athlete and longtime coach who retired in 2021 after 55 years; Jim Wilund, a former standout Coeur d’Alene HS and University of Idaho athlete who went on to a long coaching, teaching and administrative career in North Idaho; and Emily Faurholt Sann, whose name is still prominent in the Idaho women’s basketball record book after an All-America career (2003-06) that saw her lead the nation in scoring as a sophomore (25.4 ppg) in her first season as a Vandal.
The banquet is also the occasion to honor athletes, teams and coaches from 29 District I and II high schools in North Idaho and the University of Idaho, North Idaho College and Lewis-Clark State with multiple awards for their successes during the 2021 spring season and 2021-22 fall and winter seasons.
Doors open at 5:30 p.m. with the banquet starting at 6:30. Tickets are $31.75 and must be purchased in advance. They are available through the website www.nihof.com.
• John Utendale, a ground-breaking member of the Spokane Jets Western International Hockey League senior amateur team in 1967-68, and Jodie Kaczor Berry, a standout point guard who is one of the top assistant coaches in Division I women’s basketball, are two of six people who will be inducted into the Western Washington University Athletics Hall of Fame on May 21.
Utendale, who played for the Jets’ Savage Cup champions while getting his master’s degree at Eastern Washington, became the first Black player to sign an NHL contract in 1955. That was three years before Willie O’Ree broke the NHL’s color barrier with the Boston Bruins. Utendale signed with Detroit but never played for the Red Wings.
He did, however, continue his pursuit of educational excellence. He received a doctorate of education from Washington State in 1972, which he earned during a three-year tenure that included being assistant dean of students, academic coordinator for the athletic department and a member of the Washington State Human Rights commission among his positions.
Following graduation, Utendale was hired at Western Washington, becoming the first Black faculty member in the school of education, where he served until his death from cancer in 2006.
He was Western’s faculty athletic representative for 11 years and led the university’s student personnel administration graduate program for more than 25 years that intensely recruited and dramatically increased the number of minority students at the school.
On Jan. 28, the Washington State Legislature passed a House Bill honoring Utendale for his lifetime of barrier-breaking contributions as an athlete, educator and civil rights trailblazer.
Berry has been the top aide to Oregon coach Kelly Graves since their years at Gonzaga. She worked in Graves’ program at GU in one position or another for 11 years, the past six as his top assistant. They have been together eight years at Oregon, where she is associate head coach.
Berry helped lead the Ducks to three straight Pac-12 regular-season titles and two Pac-12 Tournament championship in a three-year span in 2019-20.
Oregon had a 31-2 overall record in 2019-20 and was in position to be a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history before the season was cut short due to COVID-19.
As a player, she earned four letters at Western, finishing as the career leader in 3-pointers (210) and free-throw percentage (81.9), and was a two-time all-conference selection (2001, 2002).
Letters of intent
North Idaho College softball: Kailey Cramer, SS, Post Falls; Sophia Solberg, IF, Post Falls.
Lewis-Clark State women’s cross country/track: Dixie Sefton, distances, Freeman; Haileyann Johnson, distances, Timberlake.
College of Idaho women’s soccer: Lucy Evans, D, Lake City.
Southern Oregon women’s soccer: Taytum Curtis, F, Lake City.
Ripon (Wisconsin) College men’s soccer: Tyler Gasper, MF, Lake City.