WSU swimmer Anna Rosen wins Pac-12 Sportsmanship Award
Anna Rosen, a Washington State senior swimmer from Sweden who has competed for three years with a rare and serious heart condition, was awarded the 2017 Pac-12 Sportsmanship Award by the conference Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.
Rosen was diagnosed with Long QT Syndrome, which can lead to cardiac arrest, within her first month at WSU in 2013. Doctors advised her to stop all physical activity and informed her that her life would be in danger if she were to exercise at all.
Not an option, thought Rosen. Through her own research and consultation with a doctor at the Mayo Clinic who had done extensive research on Long QT Syndrome and explained her option of getting an Implantable Cardioverter-Defibrillator (ICD) in her body, she decided to accept the risks and continue with competitive swimming.
After a long recovery from the surgery, which necessitated a redshirt season, Rosen was back in the water in the fall of 2014. Despite the challenge of managing incredible pain while swimming with the device in her abdomen, Rosen set personal records throughout her career. This season she set personal bests in the 50 and 100 free and 100 breaststroke and was part of the WSU 200 free relay team that set a season best at the Pac-12 Championships.
A three-time Pac-12 All-Academic second-team selection with a 3.60 GPA in mechanical engineering, Rosen said she plans to use that degree after graduating this fall to develop and improve medical devices such as hers to help others with similar conditions.
“Anna’s desire and willpower to be a Division I student-athlete in the Pac-12 Conference was undeniable,” said Cougars coach Tom Jager. “When the doctor told her she would never compete again, Anna did not settle for ‘no.’
“Anna’s accomplishments have been proud moments for all involved and I will never forget them,” added Jager. … She “will impact the world in a positive way and we are very fortunate to have had her represent Washington State.”
Rosen called the award “very humbling. … I am forever thankful for the people who got me back to being able to do what I love and live the life I want. I hope my story can inspire others to fight and not let setbacks be the end of their journey.”
The second Cougar to receive the award in consecutive years – football player Riley Sorenson was the 2016 recipient – Rosen was selected for her strength of character, dedication to her sport and a strong desire to help others.
Basketball
Nahshon George, a former Idaho Vandal who spent last season playing professionally in the Thailand Basketball League, is returning to North America and has signed to play in the Mexican CIBACOPA with the Tijuana Zonkeys.
A forward who played two seasons for Idaho (2014-16) after transferring from Shoreline Community College, George averaged 14.2 rebounds per game, fifth most in the Thailand league, and 19.2 points per game last season and earned all-league honorable mention. In Tijuana, he’ll join a club heavily stocked with former U.S. collegians that won back-to-back titles in 2014-15.
His best season at Idaho was his senior year when he average 4.3 points and 4.1 rebounds.
College scene
JJ Robinson, a Lewis-Clark State senior from Colfax, has repeated as NAIA West Player of the Year in baseball after leading the Warriors to a conference-best 22-8 record (35-13 overall) and a spot in the NAIA World Series beginning May 26 in Lewiston.
Robinson, the first back-to-back player of the year since 2011-12, led the division in home runs (19), doubles (15), RBI (62), hits (63) and slugging percentage (.730). He was also second with a .341 batting average and finished the regular season on a 13-game hitting streak, during which he slugged eight home runs.
• Mihaela-Teodora Berindei, a Washington State senior from Romania, has been named the 2016-17 Pac-12 Women’s Rowing Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
Berindei and teammate Paige Danielson also were named to the 2017 Academic All-District 8 Women’s At-Large first and second teams, respectively, by the College Sports Information Directors of America. The first-team honor makes Berindei eligible for selection to the CoSIDA At-Large Academic All-America teams.
Berindei received her accounting degree earlier this month with a 3.93 grade-point average. A two-time Pac-12 Al-Academic and Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association National Scholar-Athlete, she has rowed in the WSU varsity eight boat for four years, helping the Cougars qualify for the NCAA Championships the last three. They are trying for a fifth straight trip this spring.
The Pac-12 award is presented in each of the 23 sports the conference sponsors to honor student-athletes who are standouts both academically and athletically.
Danielson is a sophomore from St. Cloud, Minnesota, with a 4.0 GPA in electrical engineering.
• The Gonzaga women’s varsity eight, which started the month with a victory on its home course at Silver Lake and finished a three-regatta schedule in South Carolina at the Clemson Invitational, was named the West Coast Conference Crew of the Month for April.
The crew of Alexa Jadallah, Lindey English, Olivia Marsh, Isabelle Belzil, Lauren English, Meghan McCallum, Micailah Donner, Caroline Maguire and Olivia Lada defeated Oregon State by nine seconds at Silver Lake, turned in its fastest time of the spring at the Lake Natoma Invitational just outside Sacramento in mid-month and completed the month by winning the C Final, defeating Oregon State again in the process, in the Clemson Invitational.
• Whitworth collected six individual awards and landed 34 athletes on all-conference teams when the Northwest Conference announced its postseason awards for spring sports.
Half the individual honors came in softball, where Cristal Brown was named Coach of the Year, senior Madi Perez Pitcher of the Year and outfielder Kinsey McNaught Freshman of the Year.
Two awards came in women’s track and field, where juniors Kayla Leland (Gonzaga Prep) and Kayla Brase were the track and the field athletes of the year, respectively.
Sam Stiles from Mt. Spokane was Freshman of the Year in men’s golf.
The Pirates’ All-NWC selections by sport:
Women’s track & field - Leland, 800, 1,500, 5.000; Brase, high jump, triple jump, heptahlon; Maggire Callan, sr., 4x400; Sierra Carlson, sr., hammer ; Sarah Cool, fr., 400, 4x400; Sarah Martinez, jr., 100 hurdles, 400 hurdles, 4x400; Kameha Medallada, so., 100, 200, 4x400; Danielle Openiano, jr., shot put, discus; Allison Wood, sr., 5,000, 10,000.
Men’s track & field - Grant Bingham, jr., 10,000; Andrew Bloom, jr., javelin; Daniel Harper, jr., 800; Jacob Hubbard, so., hammer; Nicholas McGill, fr., high jump, long jump; Come Nzibarega (Spokane) fr., 5,000; Jalen Robinson-McClure, so, 400; John-Robert Woolley, jr., 110 hurdles, 400 hurdles.
Women’s tennis – Bella Hoyos,sr., first team repeater.
Baseball – First team: Matthew Nelson (Mead), sr., 1B. Second team: Joel Condreay, jr., SS (honorable mention In 2016); Matthew Young, fr., starting pitcher. Honorable mention: Jordan McGowan (Mead), sr., OF (1st team in 2016).
Softball – First team: Perez, P; Michelle Silva, so., 3B (honorable mention in 2016); Shannon Wessel, sr., OF (2nd team in 2016); Darian Myranda Ramirez, sr., OF (honorable mention in 2016). Second team: Tessa Matthews, sr., SS; McNaught, fr., OF. Honorable mention: Allie Rude, jr., C; Desi Graham, so., 2B.
Women’s golf – Second team: Maggie Peters, fr.
Men’s golf – First team: Stiles. Second team: Keegan Loo, fr.; Elijah Pittser, so.
• Scott Hilpert, a Linfield senior outfielder from Central Valley, was named to the All-NWC first team in baseball and Anthony Gosline, a Pacific Lutheran junior third baseman from Gonzaga Prep, was a second-team selection. Hilpert was a second-team choice in 2016.
• Corbin Carlton, a Community Colleges of Spokane sophomore from Mead, was named the NWAC Men’s Track & Field Athlete of the Week after turning in the top junior college time in the nation in the 3,000 meter steeplechase by 13 seconds, 8 minutes, 59.10 seconds in the Oregon Twilight meet last weekend.
• Guzal Yusupova, a freshman at Washington State from Uzbekistan, received honorable mention on the All-Pac 12 team in women’s tennis. She compiled an 18-8 singles record, going 4-1 at No. 1, and led the team with five match-clinching wins and a 5-2 Pac-12 record.
She was the first WSU women’s tennis player to defeat both USC and UCLA in the same season since 2002.
• Malachi Flynn from Tacoma, who will be a sophomore at Washington State next season, has been invited to the USA Basketball U19 Men’s Junior National Team training camp June 18-20 at the U.S. Olympic Team Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Players selected for the team that will play in the FIBA U19 World Cup July 1-9 in Cairo, Egypt, will begin practice June 21.
Flynn, the first Cougar invited to the U19 camp since Klay Thompson and DeAngelo Casto in 2009, was named honorable mention on the Pac-12 All-Freshman team after leading WSU, and ranking 15th in the conference, with 58 3-pointers. He is just the third freshman start every game for the Cougars, joining Thompson and Mark Hendrickson.
• Two sophomore golfers, Haley Rotchford from Lakeland of Rathdrum and Derrick Phelps from Zillah, Washington, are the Community Colleges of Spokane Female and Male Scholar-Athletes of the Month for April, respectively.
Rotchford, the women’s team captain with a 3.6 cumulative GPA, has finished in the top 15 in seven of eight tournaments this season, noted coach Christie Dalsanders. Rotchford will earn her AA this spring and looks to continue her education and golf career at a four-year school.
Phelps shot 68-69 to win the Grays Harbor Invitational last fall for his first collegiate victory. Phelps has a 3.8 cumulative GPA and has signed to play at Saint Martin’s University.
• Page Mackleit, a Lewis-Clark State senior from Colfax, was named to the Frontier Conference All-Academic team in women’s golf with a GPA of 3.0 or higher in elementary education.
Letters of intent
Idaho women’s basketball – Haley Blankinship, G, Springfield, Virginia; Sarah Bersang, G, Horsens, Denmark.
Idaho men’s track & field – Jenner Higgins, 400m/800m/1,500m, Eugene, Oregon.
Soccer
The Spokane Sounders 01 16U girls team qualified for the 2017 U.S. Youth Soccer Region IV (West) Championships June 19-25 in Redmond, Washington, by winning the Washington state championship in its age division. It is the only girls qualifier from Eastern Washington.
Idaho’s qualifying tournaments will be later this month.
The Region IV Championships will feature top teams in 13U through 19/20U age groups beginning with round-robin games June 19-21. Following a rest day, quarterfinal matches will be June 23, the semifinals June 24 and finals on June 25.
Regional winners qualify for a berth in the 2017 U.S. Youth Soccer National Championships July 24-30 in Frisco, Texas.
Track & field
Linda Lanker of Coeur d’Alene, who has shared her wealth of coaching knowledge locally, nationally and internationally for more than three decades, has been named by USA Track & Field as head coach of the women’s team for the 2017 Pan American Junior Championships July 21-23 in Lima, Peru.
Lanker, who last year received the USA Track & Field President’s Award for her tireless work for the sport, has coached U.S. international athletes at several events, including the 2006 IAAF Junior World Championships in Beijing, China, and the 2014 Junior World Championships in Eugene, Oregon.
The former national hurdles champion and All-American is in her 19th season as an assistant coach at Community Colleges of Spokane and also continues to assist at Coeur d’Alene High School, where she was head coach from 2010-16.
Volleyball
Tyler Fenton, head women’s coach at Treasure Valley Community College in 2016, has joined the Eastern Washington staff as an assistant to third-year head coach Michael King.
A two-time, first-team all-league selection as a setter during a four-year career at Boise State, where he graduated in 2014, Fenton was a volunteer assistant at his alma mater and College of Idaho and has served as a head coach at the club level since 2013.
Wrestling
Three of the area’s most decorated high school wrestlers pinned down more acclaim when Wrestling USA Magazine named Casey Randles of Coeur d’Alene, Dalton Young of Lakeside-Nine Mile Falls and Clai Quintanilla of North Central to its 2017 Scholastic All-American teams.
Randals, a three-time state champion with a 154-11 career record, including 135 falls, was Idaho’s only All-American selection, picked at 220 pounds. He has a 4.04 grade-point average.
Young, an unbeaten, four-time Washington champion with a 170-0 career record with 107 falls, was named to the 13-man Academic section at 138 pounds. He has a 4.0 GPA.
Quintanilla, a four-time Washington champion with a 143-10 record, 66 by fall, and a 3.22 GPA, received All-American honorable mention at 132 pounds.
Posters featuring the All-Americans will appear in the May 30 issue of Wrestling USA.
Randals and Young last week were named the 2017 U.S. Wrestling Hall of Fame Dave Schultz Award winners for Idaho and Washington, respectively.