Locally: Rogers football team wins sportsmanship award

From staff and news services

The Rogers High School varsity football team is the 2015 recipient of the Inland Empire Football Officials Association Sportsmanship Award.

Rogers is the first repeat winner of the award that was inaugurated in 2005, said Tom Reser, chairman of the IEFOA sportsmanship committee. The Pirates won their first award in 2006.

Nominees are judged on a “display of exemplary and widespread sportsmanship qualities” by its players and coaches on the field and voted on by IEFOA members. Teams at all levels officiated by the association, including SYSA and Pop Warner, are eligible.

Ben Cochran is head coach of the Pirates. After finishing in second place in the 3A classification of the Greater Spokane League, Rogers made its first postseason appearance since 1973. The school was presented with a traveling trophy at its recent football awards banquet.

Bowling

Clint Norlen and Mathew Shears spoiled the upset bid of Wyatt Rosenau and Toby Mertens to win the Junior Bowlers Tour doubles tournament at Valley Bowl last Sunday.

Rosenau and Mertens won three matches in the five-team roll-off to get a shot at top qualifiers Norlen, who had an 894 series during qualifying, and Shears in the championship match. Norlen and Shears won 403-371.

Garrett Boyce, who also rolled an 894 series during qualifying, and partner Troy McDonald finished third; Justin Spurlock and John Hilden were fourth; and Blake English and Nic Riorden were fifth.

Mertens had the day’s high game, a 267, and high series, a 900. Anthony Huck had an 869 series during the first round of qualifying. Ashley Kaufman led the girls with a 245 game.

The next JBT will be at Cheney Bowl on Jan. 10.

College scene

Aleisha Hathaway, a junior starting guard at Western Washington from Shadle Park, was named the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Player of the Week in women’s basketball after leading the Vikings in scoring in two games at the Las Vegas South Point Holiday Hoops Classic the previous week.

After collecting 10 points with five steals in a 65-45 win over Midwestern State (Texas) on Friday, Hathaway scored a career-high 24 points in the Vikings’ 72-62 loss to No. 23 Quincy. She leads the GNAC with an average of 2.5 steals per game and is fifth in the league with 4.4 assists per game.

Venky Jois of Eastern Washington, Junior Longrus of Washington State and KC McConnell of Whitworth are among a record number of 257 nominated for the 2016 Allstate Good Works Team in conjunction with the National Association of Basketball Coaches and Women’s Basketball Coaches Association.

In its fourth year, the honor recognizes basketball student athletes from all levels of NCAA and NAIA for their community service involvement. The final roster of 20 – 10 men and 10 women – will be announced in February.

Included among the involvement that earned them recognition:

Jois, a senior forward, mentors a fifth-grader at Whitman Elementary School in Spokane, volunteers at the West Plains Food Bank and the Salvation Army and helps on campus move-in days.

Longrus, a senior forward, works with Coug Pals, an activity that pairs college students with local elementary kids in a pen-pal exchange; volunteers at camps and clinics; and helps with Special Olympics.

McConnell, a junior guard from Clarkston, has worked as a youth development professional for the Boys and Girls Club in Lewiston, has helped on food drives and for the Generation Alive Million Meals campaign.

Football

Steve Bartlett was elected president of the Inland Empire Football Officials Association for 2016.

Other board members are John Love, vice president; Tim Davis, third-year board member; Dennis Williams, second-year board member; Joel Murphy, first-year board member; and Bob DeVleming, past president.

Officials

Twenty-three area officials worked Washington state high school championships this fall in football, volleyball and soccer at the semifinal or finals levels.

The group includes 13 in football, nine of them from the Inland Empire Football Officials Association, eight in volleyball and two in soccer.

The state officials by sport:

Football

Finals – Bob DeVleming, IEFOA, referee, 4A; Randy Searcy, IEFOA, linesman, 2A; Joel Murphy, IEFOA, line judge, 1A; Bruce Richartz, Colville Valley, line judge, 1B; Frank Flusser, Southeastern Washington Football Officials Association (Pullman), line judge, 1B; and Greg Morrison, SEWFOA, back judge, 2B. Semifinals – Dan Meyer, IEFOA, umpire, 4A; Dennis Williams, IEFOA, back judge, 3A; Steve McMillan, SEWFOA, referee, 2A; Mark Schafer, IEFOA, line judge, 2A; Tim Peterson, IEFOA, linesman, 1A; Bill Turnquist, IEFOA, referee, 1B; and Rob Owen, IEFOA, back judge, 1B.

Volleyball

3A-4A in Kennewick – Lisa Paull, Spokane Area Volleyball Referees Association. 2A in Lacey – Jim Nielsen, Inland Empire Volleyball Officials Association (Pullman); Mark Cullen, SAVRA. 1B, 2B, 1A in Yakima – Eric Finley, Colville Valley; Rich Waller, IEVOA; Keith Ward, SAVRA; Heide Wehr, SAVRA; Trent York, SAVRA.

Soccer

3A/4A girls in Puyallup – Melissa Beck, Inland Northwest Soccer Referees Association (Spokane). 1B boys in Sumner – Christine Haas, INSRA.