Lee’s badminton repeat earns trip to nationals

Nicholas Lee of Spokane will be making his third straight trip to the Junior National Badminton Championships after winning state titles for a second straight year.

Lee, 15, a freshman at Ferris High School, successfully defended titles in singles, doubles and mixed doubles in the U17 age group at the Washington State Junior Championships last weekend in Bellevue.

In 2007, Lee made it to the round of 16 in the 64-player national event.

This year’s Junior Nationals will be June 28-July 2 in Marblehead, Mass.

Basketball

Brook Ferderer from Reardan and Kelsey Raines from Freeman are among three players who have signed letters of intent with Community Colleges of Spokane, CCS announced.

Also signing is Meghan Eisenmann of Sentinel of Missoula.

Ferderer averaged 18-plus points a game in earning first-team All- Bi-County League. Raines was All-Northeast A League the last three years, capped by first-team honors this past season. Raines will also play softball for the Sasquatch.

Eisenmann was first-team all- conference as a junior and senior and honorable mention all-state this year. Her sister, Rachel, plays softball at CCS.

College scene

Tyler Nelson, a Linfield sophomore from Shadle Park, earned All- Northwest Conference honors for a fourth-place finish in helping the Wildcats win the league men’s golf championship last week in Yakima.

Nelson shot a 2-over-par 146 as Linfield’s second leading scorer, and the Wildcats earned the NWC’s automatic berth to the NCAA Division III Championships May 13-16 in Braselton, Ga.

•Lianne Matkin of Northwest Christian, a sophomore at Western Washington who has had three top-10 finishes this season, is a key member of the Vikings, who play in the NCAA Division II West Regional women’s golf championships this week in Phoenix. The Vikings are the No. 3 seed in the six-team regional.

•Alaina Smith, a Dartmouth junior from North Central, had a fourth- place finish in novice fences during the regular classes to help the Big Green tie host Cornell for reserve champion at the Ivy League Equestrian Championships April 19.

In a separate competition for the top six finishers in each event, Smith finished sixth in novice fences.

Dartmouth will compete in the NCAA Championships this week in Los Angeles.

•Trevor Pease, a Puget Sound senior pitcher from Cusick, wound up his baseball career for the Loggers last Sunday with a relief appearance. When he left the game, the UPS crowd gave him a standing ovation.

•Stewart Davis, a junior who played his high school ball at Freeman and Central Valley, hit .333 with 12 doubles, five home runs and 24 RBIs for Northwest Conference champion Linfield. The Wildcats earned a berth in the NCAA Division III West Regional May 14-18.

•Idaho freshman Andrey Potapkin was a first-team All-Western Athletic Conference tennis selection in men’s singles. He and partner Stanislav Glukhov were second-team in doubles.

•Three members of the North Idaho College women’s basketball team collected postseason awards, the school announced.

Ula Tauala, a freshman from Lewis and Clark, was named first-team All- Scenic West Athletic Conference, first-team all-tournament and All- American honorable mention. She had top-11 finishes in the league in scoring (11th, 10.0), rebounds (sixth, 6.0) and assists (fourth, 3.4).

Cassie Pilkinton, a sophomore from Chelan who will attend Whitworth, was second-team All-SWAC and made the all-tournament team. Danika Lawson, a sophomore who will transfer to Saint Martin’s, was All-SWAC honorable mention.

•Seniors Amelia Whitcomb from Ferris and Samantha Marikis from Republic row No. 3 and 4, respectively, for the No. 1-ranked Western Washington women’s varsity eight that is competing in the Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championships this weekend near Sacramento, Calif.

•Five area athletes at Eastern Washington with grade-point averages of 3.20 or better were named to Big Sky Conference All-Academic teams for winter quarter.

Katy Baker, a junior from Lewis and Clark, and Kari Darnell, a senior from Lakeland in Rathdrum, were selected in women’s basketball.

Ryan Taylor, a freshman from Deer Park who graduated from Lakeside, and Erik Walter, a junior from Odessa, were picked in men’s indoor track and field. Bonnie Millard, a junior from Priest River, was named in women’s indoor track and field.

•Whitworth, which had a league-high six championships and four runner-up finishes, has won the Northwest Conference McIlroy-Lewis All-Sports Trophy for the 2007-08 school year.

The Pirates compiled 253 points to 234 for runner-up Linfield in earning the school’s second all-sports title. The first came in 2005.

Football

Colton Jumalon, a 6-foot-5, 285-pound offensive lineman from Ferris, and Christian Hanna, an All-North Idaho first-team defensive back from Lake City of Coeur d’Alene, have announced their intentions to attend Linfield, Wildcats coach Joseph Smith announced.

Golf

Frida Nilsson from Sweden, who has six Skadia Tour victories and four runner-up finishes the last three seasons, has signed a letter of intent to attend Idaho, Vandals coach Lisa Johnson announced.

Swimming

Lorraine Zannini, a breaststroke specialist from Flagstaff, Ariz., and Rachael Krager, a freestyle and butterfly swimmer from Panorama City, Calif., have signed letters of intent with Washington State, Cougars coach Erica Quinn announced.

Volleyball

Ashlee Lupfer, a 5-foot-10 outside hitter from Community Colleges of Spokane, will transfer to Carroll College, Saints coach Mo Boyle announced.

Lupfer, a graduate of University High School, set CCS records for career digs and led her team in kills, recording 750 in two seasons.

Wrestling

North Idaho College has signed two high school seniors from South Haven, Mich., Cardinals coach Pat Whitcomb announced.

Slated to join the Cardinals are Celic Bell, a 184-pounder who was runner-up at the state tournament, and Cameron Jackson, 174 pounds, a two-time state champion.

•Tyson Thivierge from Clarkston, a former NAIA All-American who had four top-four national finishes for Montana State-Northern from 1999-2002, has been named the new wrestling coach by his alma mater.

Miscellany

Jeff Carroll and Peter Piscitello are new hires by the Eastern Washington University athletic department, the school announced.

Carroll will serve as the head strength and conditioning coach. He has been an assistant strength and conditioning coach with the Seattle Seahawks for nearly three years.

Piscitello, an intern for Eastern’s associate athletic director for development since October, will manage the business operations and ticketing.

•The North Idaho College Booster Club spring auction and athletics awards banquet will be at 5 p.m. Saturday at the Shrine Club, 1250 W. Lancaster Road in Hayden.

Awards to the outstanding male and female athletes and scholar-athletes will be presented after a catered dinner, and there will be a silent and live auction during the evening.

Idaho football coach Robb Akey will be the speaker.

Tickets are $35 per person or $250 for a table for eight. Proceeds benefit the NIC athletics department.

For tickets call the athletics department at (208) 769-3348.