Locally: Whitworth’s JT McDermott and Olivia Mayer earn second-team All-Region honors from D3hoops.com
From staff and wire services
Whitworth basketball players Olivia Mayer and JT McDermott have earned second-team All-Region 10 recognition from D3hoops.com.
The selection is based on voting by a committee of Sports Communications professionals. D3hoops.com has selected All-Region teams for 22 seasons.
Mayer, a sophomore, led the Northwest Conference in scoring (17.3 ppg), rebounding (11.5 rpg) and double-doubles (20) this season. She was also third in the NWC in blocked shots and tied for eighth in steals. She was women’s basketball NWC student-athlete of the week three times this season.
McDermott, a graduate student, was Whitworth’s top scorer for the second year in a row. He put up 13.6 points per game, including a total of 41 (20.5 ppg) during the Northwest Conference tournament. He was a two-time first team All-NWC selection over the last two seasons and helped the Pirates to consecutive NWC tournament championships and appearances in the NCAA Division III tournament.
• In addition to being named a National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) scholar-athlete, Garrett White of Post Falls and Vanguard University was named Academic All-District by the College Sports Communicators.
All-Americans
Two Mead High graduates earned All-American status this month at their respective national wrestling championships.
Ben Mitchell, wrestling for North Idaho College, placed second in his weight class at the NJCAA National Championships. Mitchell reached the 157-pound final where he lost a hard-fought 5-4 decision to Fabian Padilla of Iowa Western.
Chase Randall, wrestling for U.S.Coast Guard Academy, placed eighth in his weight class at the Division III National Championships.
Letters of intent
Gonzaga Men’s Cross Country and Track & Field announced the signing of five highly touted distance standouts to National Letters of Intent.
Samy Anderson, Ryan Mitchell, Alexander “Zander” Trevino, Gus Clevenger and Joshua Augustine are set to join the Zags in the fall as Gonzaga seeks a fourth-straight trip to NCAA Nationals.
GU is coming off its best performances at NCAA XC Nationals and NCAA West Regionals after placing 13th in the nation and second in the West Region.
Trevino, from Lakes High in Lakewood, Washington, finished fifth at state in the 3200 meters last spring and eighth at the 2022 cross country state meet.
Augustine, from Jesuit High in Portland, placed fifth at the Oregon cross country championships in 2022 and was a member of the second-place team, the Nike XC Nationals.
Clevenger, also from Jesuit High, placed third at Oregon’s 6A state cross country race and 27th at Nike Nationals.
Anderson, from Portland’s Lincoln High, finished second in Oregon’s cross country championships, seventh at the Nike NXR Northwest Race and 31st at the Nike Cross Country Nationals.
Mitchell, from Davis High in Davis, California, has PRs of 4:13 in the 1,600 meters and 9:12 in the 3,200. In cross country he placed fifth at the prestigious Clovis Invitational.
Track and field
The Big Sky Conference has announced the 2023 Outdoor Track and Field Preseason Rankings, as voted on by the league’s coaches.
Eastern Washington came in at fourth in the men’s poll and seventh in the women’s poll. Northern Arizona is the favorite in both.
The Eagles finished in the same slots during the recently completed indoor season, with the men taking fourth at the 2023 Big Sky Indoor Championships in Moscow, Idaho, with 70 points. The women finished seventh with 34 points.