Local briefs: Spokane-area water skiers qualify for nationals
Several Spokane-area athletes recently competed in the U.S. Western Regional Water Ski Championships and qualified to compete this month in the U.S. National Water Ski Championships in West Palm Beach, Florida.
At the regional competition in Vancouver, Washington, Tim Farley won the silver medal in the men’s slalom. Juli Kienbaum earned four medals, including a silver medal for overall. Genevieve Kienbaum earned a silver in the jump and bronze for overall. All three qualified for nationals, Tuesday through Saturday.
Others from the Spokane area who competed in regional event were Jim Little, Bob Hodge, Paul Kienbaum, Charlie Kienbaum, Matt Kienbaum, Mary Kienbaum, Grace Kienbaum, Grant Cox, Sam Hislop and Branden Clemson.
Softball
The Coeur d’Alene Crush girls recently finished second in the 16U ASA Western National Championship in Spokane. The tournament included teams from California, Oregon, Washington and Idaho.
The Crush, coached by Mike Cavanagh and Holly Gleaves, was made up of primarily of players from North Idaho and Spokane. They finished 7-2.
Team members included Bailey Heit, Shelby Salois, Abby Melton, Laurie Jones, Bailey Cavanagh, Kyllie Sappington, Bailey Gleaves, Darian Juhnke, Hannah McGrath, Morgan Dement and Leslie Jones.
• Seven umpires from the Spokane Softball Umpires Association, and six from North Idaho, have been selected to work in Amateur Softball Association national championships.
Jeff Camp of Spokane worked the ASA/USA girls 16U Gold tournament in Salem and Bryan Raschka of Spokane and Scott Berburg of Post Falls umpired in the ASA/USA girls 14U A Western National in Boise.
Spokane ASA umpire in chief Ken Mathia was the umpire coordinator at the girls 16U B and 18U B Western Nationals at the Merkel Complex where SSUA’s Bob Baugh, Marty Boles, Mike Carlson, Dennis Keys, Mike McCaskill and Steve Quaid were umpires along with Tony Luzzo and Chuck Moreland of Coeur d’Alene, Ted Yurek of Rathdrum and Mike Hollenbeck of Lewiston.
John McDonald of Worley will umpire in the ASA Men’s D and E Slowpitch Western Nationals in Medford, Oregon, Sept. 4-7.
College scene
• Gonzaga’s Brandon Pollard recently won the silver medal in the men’s 1,500 meters at the Pan American Junior Championships.
The rising sophomore was edged at the line by Oregon’s Blake Haney, who won the event for the United States with a time of 3 minutes, 56.49 seconds. Pollard finished with 3:56.51.
The Pan American Junior Athletics Championships are held every two years for track and field and it is organized by the Association of Pan-American Athletic) open for junior (under-20) athletes.
They were first held in 1980.
During his freshman season, Pollard ran a 3:48.85 at the Portland Twilight on May 17. That time ranked as fourth fastest in GU history.
On June 13, Pollard ran the fastest 800 in Gonzaga history, winning his heat at the Portland Track Festival in 1:49.88.
• Former Washington State women’s basketball player Jazmine Perkins signed a contract to play professionally in Bulgaria.
Perkins, who played for WSU from 2008-12, will play for Haskovo 2012 in Haskovo, Bulgaria.
She is the all-time leader at WSU in games played with 122.
She’s the only player in WSU history with 1,000 points, 700 rebounds and 250 steals, and ranks second with 144 made 3-pointers.
• The Gonzaga women’s golf team filled its roster for the upcoming season by adding redshirt senior transfer Michelle Condry to the team.
Condry comes to the Bulldogs from the University of San Francisco where she graduated in May with a finance degree.
“We’re very excited to bring her experience and maturity as a grad student into our team,” coach Brad Rickel said in a news release.
Condry is the third new addition to the roster, joining incoming freshmen Jena Gao and Bianca Pagdanganan.
The other returning golfers are Raychelle Santos, Ciera Min and Dania Uy.