Locally: Pair of Spokane Zephyr FC players called up for international duty
From staff reports
Spokane Zephyr FC’s Emina Ekić, Sophia Braun and Riley Tanner have been called up for international duty to play for their respective senior national teams at the FIFA window at end of the month.
Braun will represent Argentina in an international friendly with the United States on Wednesday. She has 29 caps with the Argentina national team. She will report to training camp on Saturday and return to club play following the match.
Braun played for Argentina and scored the country’s first goal in the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup. She has appeared in five matches for Zephyr this season for a total of 382 minutes.
Ekić has been named to the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team for UEFA European Women’s Championship playoff matches against Serbia on Friday and Tuesday.
Ekić was first called up to the national team in 2023 and has since collected 12 international caps.
Ekić has played in five matches for Spokane this season. She scored Zephyr’s first goal in their inaugural match and has two goals and two assists on the season.
Tanner was called up to the Panama national team camp, reporting to training camp on Monday.
Tanner has collected 14 international caps for Panama including appearing in three matches in the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
Zephyr will play their final home match of the fall on Sunday against Tampa Bay Sun FC at 2 p.m. at ONE Spokane Stadium.
They will finish the fall season with a six-match road trip.
Wrestling
Medical Lake High School graduate Garrett Johnson won a gold medal for the United States in Division A freestyle at the Veterans World Championships on Oct. 10 in Porec, Croatia.
Johnson brought home the gold with a three-win effort at 130 kg. His first two matches were a 13-1 technical fall over American Mingo Grant and a 59-second pin against Germany’s Christian Lombardi. Johnson edged Gani Izbagambetov of Kazakhstan 4-3 in the heavyweight final.
Johnson also claimed bronze in the 130 kg Greco-Roman competition on Oct. 13.
College football
Eastern Washington defensive back Derek Ganter Jr. and Idaho quarterback Jack Wagner have been named to the Stats Perform Jerry Rice Award watch list, honoring the top freshman in the FCS.
To be eligible for the Jerry Rice Award, the player must be considered a freshman by his conference and be in his first academic year or second if he did not surpass four regular-season games played in his true freshman season.
Ganter leads the Eagles with 52 tackles, including 33 solo and 2.5 for a loss. Wagner is 5-1 as a starter for the Vandals and has thrown for 1,184 yards and 11 touchdowns.
College basketball
Gonzaga women’s basketball coach Lisa Fortier and Eastern Washington’s Joddie Gleason have been named to the 20-person watch list for the 2025 Kathy Delaney-Smith Coach of the Year Award presented by Her Hoop Stats. This is the second season of the award, named after the former Harvard head coach. Fortier was named the award’s inaugural winner. This year’s watch list includes coaches from 14 conferences.
• The Spokane Chiefs and Brett Sports announced that tickets are on sale now for Washington State men’s basketball’s inaugural home game as an affiliate member of the West Coast Conference against Loyola Marymount. This game will be played at the Arena on Dec. 30.
Tickets can be purchased online at www.ticketswest.com
College cross country
Gonzaga women’s cross country’s Rosina Machu was voted West Coast Conference women’s cross country runner of the week for the second time this season, the conference announced Tuesday.
Machu led the Gonzaga women to the team title at the Arturo Barrios Invitational in College Station, Texas, on Friday, setting the program’s 6,000-meter record in 19 minutes, 10 seconds, good for a fourth-place finish. All five of GU’s scorers notched top-10 program times and all eight Zags runners placed in the top 100 of a field of nearly 400 .
College swimming
Washington State junior Dori Hathazi was named the Mountain West Swimmer of the Week, the conference office announced Tuesday.
Hathazi won every event in which she competed during last week’s 3-0 road trip to Colorado State, Denver and Air Force. The junior from Nyiregyhaza, Hungary, won five individual events and was part of two winning relays. WSU has started the season 4-0 for the first time since 2010-11.