Ferris grad Joey King named to Academic All-America team

Portland State senior linebacker Joey King from Spokane has been named to the ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-America first team.

Washington State senior tight end Troy Bienemann was a second-team selection with a 3.73 grade-point average in communication finance.

King, a Ferris graduate who was a second-team Academic All-American in 2004, has a 3.93 GPA. He will graduate this spring with a degree in psychology.

During his career at PSU, King won virtually every academic honor available to him. He is also a three-time All-Big Sky Conference selection.

A three-year starter for the Vikings, King ended his career with 249 tackles after a senior season in which he finished third in the Big Sky with 96 tackles.

The Academic All-America team includes both divisions I-A and I-AA. Fourteen of the 25 players on the first team are from I-AA programs, including Montana State quarterback Travis Lulay, who joins King as the only Big Sky players honored.

Bienemann is one of only two Pac-10 players on either the first or second teams. USC defensive back Ryan Ting was also a second-team selection.

College scene

Brittney Kubik, a sophomore middle blocker at Walla Walla Community College from Ritzville, has been named a first-team Junior College All-American by the American Volleyball Coaches Association.

A 6-foot middle blocker who holds four school records, she was named most valuable player of both the Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges Tournament and East Region, both of which WWCC won. The Warriors had a 36-4 season record.

Kubik averaged 3.51 kills and 1.39 blocks per game while hitting .397 for the season.

“ Ben Poffenroth of Spokane (Ferris), a freshman at Lane Community College in Eugene, Ore., capped an injury-plagued season by earning first-team Junior College All-America honors in cross country.

After five weeks on the sidelines recovering from an Achilles’ tendon injury, Poffenroth returned to finish sixth in the NWAACC men’s championships in Battle Ground, Wash., covering 8K in 26 minutes, 26 seconds. The finish earned him the national honor.

“Washington State sophomore Haley Paul has added an All-Pac-10 Conference honor in cross country to her All-America award.

Paul, named an All-American off her 14th-place finish in the NCAA Division I women’s championships, was named to the All-Pac-10 first team for finishing ninth in the league championships.

“Gonzaga sophomore forward George Josten has been named to the ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-America men’s soccer team.

Josten, from Idaho Falls, Idaho, has a 3.89 GPA in civil engineering. He is the first Gonzaga men’s soccer player to receive Academic All-America recognition.

“Emily Faurholt, a senior post on the University of Idaho women’s basketball team, is a candidate for the 2005-06 Bayer Advantage Senior CLASS Award.

In its fifth year, the award recognizes seniors in NCAA Division I men’s and women’s basketball for staying in school to complete their eligibility.

Faurholt, from Kennewick, who ranked second in the nation in scoring last year, is averaging 20.5 points and 5.0 rebounds a game this season.

“Idaho sophomore Renee Skidmore was chosen the Western Athletic Conference women’s golfer of the month for November after winning the Edwin Watts/Palmetto Invitational in Kiawah Island, S.C. Her 220 led the Vandals to the team title.

“Washington State senior outfielder Jay Miller is one of 120 college baseball players nationwide, 11 of them from the Pac-10, named to the initial watch list for the 2006 Brooks Wallace Award.

In its third year and named for a former Texas Tech player and assistant coach, it is presented by the College Baseball Foundation to the individual selected the national college baseball player of the year.

Last season Miller hit .322 with three homers and 32 RBIs and was All-Pac-10 honorable mention.

Football

Four of seven individuals who represented the Eastern Washington section in the Seahawks team championship in the Pass, Punt & Kick competition last Sunday won their divisions to remain in the running for a spot in the national finals.

Winning Seahawks team championships were Kolby Dehaas from Coeur d’Alene, boys 8-9 years old; Bryan Peterson, Spokane, boys 14-15; Danielle Crawford, Moses Lake, girls 8-9; and Rekiyih Carney, Spokane, girls 10-11.

Their scores will be submitted to the national PPK office. The top four in each age group nationwide will advance to the national championships in January.

Three other Eastern Washington winners had top-four finishes during the Seahawks event. Jessica Coffman, Nine Mile Falls, was third in girls 12-13; Kelly Sutherlan, Moses Lake, fourth girls 14-15; and Matt Watson, Walla Walla, second boys 12-13.

Golf

Brandon Crick from McCook, Neb., a two-time all-state selection after second- and third-place finishes in the Nebraska Class B championships, has signed a national letter of intent with Gonzaga University, Bulldogs men’s coach Robert Gray announced.

Crick had a stroke average of 74 during his junior year, winning six meets with two second-place finishes.

Soccer

Ceri Palk from Cheney, one of the 13 healthy players who helped the Spokane Shadow U-16 girls team to a second-place finish nationally, was inadvertently left off the list of players supplied by the team that ran in last Sunday’s Locally column.