Gonzaga Aide Rejects Nic In Favor Of Cbc

Gonzaga University assistant baseball coach Scott Rogers on Tuesday turned down an offer to become the head coach at North Idaho College.

Instead, Rogers accepted a teaching/coaching position at Columbia Basin College in Pasco.

Columbia Basin’s offer included a tenured teaching position; NIC’s didn’t. At Columbia Basin, Rogers will assist the baseball program for a season with the expectation of becoming head coach the following year.

“I’m not sure what we’ll do now,” NIC athletic director Jim Headley said. “I have to get with (search committee members) Jack (Bloxom) and Steve (Widmyer) and let them know what’s happened and we’ll see where we go from here.”

NIC interviewed Rogers, Whitworth coach Rod Taylor and NIC volunteer assistant Paul Ivanovsky.

Headley hasn’t determined if other interviews would be conducted or if the job would be offered to one of the other two finalists.

Rogers has been a full-time assistant at GU for seven seasons and was a graduate assistant in 1990. He was a third baseman at GU for two seasons.

White a finalist

Mark White, North Idaho College assistant men’s basketball coach, will interview for the head coaching/athletic director jobs at Hiwassee College in Madsonville, Tenn.

White is one of four finalists, search coordinator Jim Murrell said. White will interview on May 29.

White has been at NIC one season under coach Hugh Watson, who was head coach at Hiwassee from 1984-90. White’s primary duties at NIC are recruiting and working with the defense.

GU, WSU crews shut out

Gonzaga and Washington State women’s crew teams did not receive at-large berths to the national championships to be held May 30-June 1.

Invitations for the 1997 NCAA National Collegiate Women’s Rowing Championship at Lake Natoma near Sacramento, were announced Tuesday.

The University of Washington is one of eight teams that will compete for the team championship and has three boats - Varsity Eights, JV Eights and Varsity Fours - ranked in the top three. Also representing the Pac-10/West Coast is Oregon State.

Gonzaga’s Varsity Fours finished second last weekend in the Pac-10 Championships. Washington State finished fourth in the Varsity Eights, the Novice Eights and the Varsity Fours. Those boats were, in varying degrees, considered contenders for at-large berths.

This year’s national championship is the first to be sanctioned by the NCAA.

At the Pac-10 championships, Washington won the men’s and women’s team titles. Gonzaga and Washington State tied for fifth in the men’s field. The Washington State women placed fourth and the Gonzaga women sixth.

, DataTimes