Locally: Reid Hatley earns Men’s Mid-Amateur Player of the Year honors
Reid Hatley’s domination of mid-amateur golf in the Pacific Northwest continues to gain him acclaim.
For a fourth consecutive year, he has been named the Men’s Mid-Amateur Player of the Year for the region by both of the area’s amateur organizations, the Pacific Northwest Golf Association and the Washington State Golf Association. The PNGA named its 2018 players of the year last week, the WSGA last month.
Mid-amateur is designed for post-college amateur golfers. Hatley, a former Ferris standout, was an All-American at the University of Arizona. He tried his hand as a touring professional before returning to the amateur ranks. He owns a business in Hayden Lake that manufactures accessories for golf courses.
In 2018, Hatley won the Men’s Mid-Amateur for both the PNGA and WSGA, and was a quarterfinalist in the PNGA Men’s Amateur. He finished third in the Washington State Amateur, tied for sixth in the Mexican Amateur, and qualified for the U.S. Mid-Amateur. He also tied for 15th in the Northwest Open, competing against the region’s PGA professionals.
The other PNGA Players of the Year: Men’s, Chris Crisologo, Richmond, B.C.; women’s, Mary Parsons, Delta, British Columbia; women’s mid-amateur, Gretchen Johnson, Portland; senior men’s, Tom Brandes, Bellevue; senior women’s, Lara Tennant, Portland; junior boys, Ian Siebers, Bellevue; junior girls, Brittany Kwon, Bremerton.
Bowling
It was Madison Hilden and Kyle Groves at the head of the pack from start to finish, winning the Junior Bowlers Tour Doubles tournament last Sunday at Lilac Lanes.
Hilden got the pair started, turning in the high girls game of the day, a 265, with high three- and four-game series (712-881) in the first qualifying set, and Groves added 228-659-868 scores as they went 4-0 in match play to qualify first into the roll-offs.
Groves saved his best for last, rolling the high game of the day, a 280, as they defeated the No. 3 qualifiers, Tim Blaski and Wyatt Grunwald, 446-396 for the title.
Blake English and Alex Holodnik finished third, Tate Moylan and Cassidy Peacock were fourth and Brayden Herbert and Conner Yokomizo, in his first JBT, were fifth.
Grunwald had an 841 series in his first JBT, Holodnick had 832 and 833 sets and English an 828.
The next JBT will be Dec. 9 at Valley Bowl.
College scene
It was a special day for Community Colleges of Spokane cross country last weekend in Lacey, Washington.
When the Sasquatch women captured their sixth Northwest Athletic Conference championship in a row, it made Sean McLachlan the winningest coach in NWAC history and produced All-America honors for four of his runners.
In his 10th season as head coach, and 15th on the cross country staff, McLachlan has produced 11 NWAC titles – six by the women and five by the men. Five of his women’s runners, including 2018 winner Michaela Kostecka, have won championships as have three of his men.
Kostecka, a sophomore from Mt. Spokane who was second a year ago, and three of her CCS freshmen teammates, Jolene Whitely, Yazmin Estrada and Bethany Meek, who finished third, fourth and fifth, respectively, gained All-America honors.
The CCS men finished second, with sophomore Ethan Green (third), freshman Keanu Daos (fourth) and sophomore Marcus Rice (seventh) earning All-America honors.
• Six area runners, led by Shadle Park graduate Nick Hauger of Portland, were named to U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association All-Region teams based on their performances in region championships.
Hauger, a redshirt senior who won the West Coast Conference and West Region championships, received the John Chaplin Award as the USTFCCCA West Region Male Athlete of the Year and repeated on the Division I men’s all-region team. The award is named for the longtime former Washington State coach and Hall of Famer.
Hauger was joined on the Division I men’s All-West Region team by Washington senior Tanner Anderson (North Central), who was ninth in the Pac-12 Championships and fourth in the West Region, and Gonzaga freshman James Mwaura, ninth in the WCC meet and 10th in the West.
John Dressel (Mt. Spokane), a Colorado junior, was Division I men’s All-Mountain Region. He was ninth in the Pac-12 and 12th in the Mountain Region meet.
Whitworth senior Marissa Mount, the Northwest Conference champion and second in the West Region, was named to the women’s Division III All-West Region team. Pirates sophomore Joel Mott was on the men’s D-III All-West team after finishing 33rd in the West regional. He was 13th in the NWC meet.
• Lewis-Clark State sophomore Cole Olsen from Clearwater, Idaho, earned NAIA Cross Country All-America honors for his 13th-place finish in the NAIA National Championships on Friday in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The L-C State men finished 1ith, the women 10th.
• Boise State senior quarterback Brett Rypien was named the national Manning Award Quarterback of the Week for his performance in a 24-17 come-from-behind win over nationally ranked Fresno State on Nov. 9.
The senior from Shadle Park completed 24 of 29 passes for 269 yards and a touchdown and gained 30 yards on eight carries. It was his 49-yard scoring pass with 9:22 to play that completed a comeback from a 14-point second-half deficit.
Rypien also reached a pair of career milestones in the game, becoming the Mountain West Conference’s all-time leader in passing yards (12,924) and completions (981). He threw for 222 yards in a 45-14 victory at New Mexico on Friday night, becoming the 17th FBS quarterback to surpass 13,000 yards. He has thrown for 3,270 yards this season.
• Joey Biel capped a second straight football season by being named the kicker on the Midwest Conference South Division All-Conference first team.
The Northwest Christian graduate, a junior at Monmouth College, an NCAA Division III school in Illinois, is the dual-threat kicker and punter on a Scots team that finished 8-2 and won the South Division but lost a playoff for the conference championship and NCAA berth.
As a kicker, he compiled 61 points, going 43 of 46 on PATs and 6 of 11 on field goals. He ran his two-season PAT streak to 51 in a row before missing on his 34th attempt of the season in the Scots’ seventh game. His 145 PATs are 11 short of the school career record. He averaged 40.56 yards on 50 punts with a long of 77 yards. He landed 15 inside the 20-yard line.
• Reilly Hennessey, Central Washington’s senior quarterback, who transferred to the Wildcats following his sophomore season at Eastern Washington, was the unanimous choice as Great Northwest Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Year in football and first-team All-GNAC for a second straight season.
In leading the Wildcats to an 8-3 record and share of the GNAC championship, Hennessey had a 161.9 passing efficiency rating and completed 183 of 290 passes for 2,705 yards. He averaged 245.9 yards passing and 289.3 in total offense a game.
• Two Eastern Washington football players and a football player and volleyball player from Washington State head the list of eight area athletes named to Google Cloud Academic All-District teams by the College Sports Information Directors of America.
The Division I District 8 football selections include senior running back Sam McPherson (3.75 GPA, mechanical engineering) and senior offensive lineman Spencer Blackburn (3.67, professional accounting) of Eastern and graduate linebacker Peyton Pelluer (3.48, teaching) of WSU.
On the Division I District 7 football team are Idaho senior linebacker Ed Hall (3.83, mechanical engineering), a repeater, and Montana graduate defensive lineman Reggie Tilleman (3.90, MBA) from Genesee, Idaho.
Whitworth senior running back Mason Elms (3.82, psychology) is on the District 8 Division III football team and Carroll College senior defensive back Drew Melton (3.88, finance) from Lewiston is on the District 4 NAIA team.
WSU senior McKenna Woodford (3.82, general biological sciences) is the only area volleyball player honored, named to the Division I District 8 first team.
All are eligible for CoSIDA Academic All-America teams.
• Kasey Ames, a senior midfielder at Concordia University in Portland from Central Valley, was named to the 2018 D2CAA (Conference Commissioners Association) All-West Region first team in women’s soccer. She had four goals on 16 shots and three assists for 11 points.
• Gonzaga senior goalkeeper Ben Willis and redshirt junior defender Garrett Wilson were named honorable mention on the All-West Coast Conference men’s soccer team.
It was the second straight honorable mention for Willis, who led the WCC with 77 saves and was second in saves-per-game with a 4.53 average. His two shutouts gave him nine for his career, fifth all time at GU. Wilson was named to the WCC All-Freshman team in 2015.
The Bulldogs’ leading scorer, forward Demitrius Kigeya, was named to the All-Freshman team this season.
• Idaho’s Reece Carman and Nikki Ball swept Big Sky Conference Volleyball player of the week awards after the Vandals went 2-0 the week of Nov. 5-10 in extending their winning streak to 12.
Carman, a senior outside hitter/middle blocker who compiled 31 kills in the two matches with a .509 hitting percentage, was the Offensive Player of the Week. Ball, a redshirt freshman middle blocker who leads the Big Sky in blocks, was the Defensive Player of the Week. She had 10 blocks with no errors and helped UI hold its opponents to a .222 hitting percentage.
• Aubrey Stephens, Western Washington’s senior libero from Colville, picked up a couple of volleyball honors last week.
She was named the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Defense Player of the Week for games Nov. 5-11 after she compiled 43 digs, a 5.38 per-set average, and two assists as the Vikings won twice to cap a 20-0 regular season.
Stephens also earned honorable mention for the second consecutive season on the All-GNAC team. She was fourth in the conference with 4.96 digs per set, recording double-digit digs in 27 of 28 matches. For her career, Stephens is 10th in WWU history with 1,212 digs and 14th in GNAC history, averaging 4.77 digs per set.
Joining her on the All-GNAC honorable mention list is Alaska Fairbanks junior middle blocker Kim Wong from Mead, who also received the honor for a second straight season. Wong was second on the team in points (240.5) and attacking percentage (25.3) in 99 sets.
• Carroll College teammates Lexi Mikkelsen, an outside hitter from Lakeside (Nine Mile Falls); Aliyah Williams, a setter from Coeur d’Alene High School; and Paige Wollan, a middle hitter from Central Valley, were named to the Frontier Conference All-Freshman team in volleyball.
• Whitman and Whitworth, ranked No. 4 and No. 6, respectively, in the D3hoops.com preseason men’s basketball poll, are predicted to finish 1-2, respectively, in the Northwest Conference coaches’ preseason poll.
The schools are perennial title contenders. They were 1-2 in the national poll at the end of the regular season last year after Whitman finished first and Whitworth second in the NWC. Whitworth defeated the Blues in the NWC tournament, but Whitman advanced further in the NCAA Division III tournament, finishing second.
Whitman returns three All-NWC selections while Whitworth returns NWC Player of the Year Kyle Roach and three other All-NWC picks.
• Whitworth, with NWC Freshman of the Year Camy Aguinaldo and All-NWC honorable mention Madison Moffat heading the cast for new coach Joial Griffith, was selected to finish fifth in the NWC women’s preseason coaches’ basketball poll. Defending champion George Fox was first.
High school scene
Pullman finished eighth, Cheney was 12th and Clarkston 24th among the 31 schools that competed in the 2018 Washington Interscholastic Activities Association State 2A Girls Swim Championships last weekend at the King County Aquatics Center in Federal Way.
Pullman freshmen Melrose Gilbert, in the 200-yard freestyle, and Mya Reed, in the 50 free, were each fourth for the top finishes for area entries. Cheney’s best was a fifth by freshman Janie Richards in the 100 backstroke. Clarkston’s was 11th by senior Ally Webb in the 500 free.
Other finishes by school:
Pullman: Reed, 5th 100 free; Gilbert, 7th 500 free; Nancy Yang, 19th 100 free; 200 free relay (Madison Weber, Yang, Gilbert, Reed), 6th; 400 free relay Gilbert, Yang, Weber, Reed), 8th.
Cheney: Jade Gere, 10th 100 free, 16th 100 breaststroke; Julie Richards, 14th 500 free, 20th 200 free; Janie Richards, 21st 100 butterfly; Courtney Hanson, 19th 100 free; 200 medley relay (Janie Richards, Gere, Echo Mecklenberg, Hanson), 9th; 200 free relay (Mecklenberg, Abby Wood, Tilly Baldwin, Izzy Williams), 14th; 400 free relay (Janie Richards, Williams, Hanson, Gere), 7th.
Clarkston: Webb, 18th 200 free.
• Wil Smith, a Lewis and Clark junior, was the only area runner to qualify through the NXR Northwest Regional last weekend in Eagle, Idaho, for the Nike Cross Country Nationals on Dec. 1 in Portland.
Smith, fourth in the State 4A championships, placed fifth in Eagle in the men’s championship division, covering 5,000 meters in 15 minutes, 30 seconds. His South Central team was third, missing a team qualifying spot by one point. North Central placed sixth.
North Central sophomore Allie Janke, the State 3A champion, was ninth in the women’s championship division in 17:59.80 for 5K, the best finish by an area girl. Her NC team was fifth.
The top five individuals and top two teams were automatic qualifiers.
Hockey
Spokane Chiefs co-captain and defenseman Ty Smith scored the lone goal for Team WHL in a 3-1 loss to Russia in the second game of the CIBC Canada Russia Series Nov. 6 in Langley, British Columbia.
Team WHL won the first game 2-1 on Nov. 5 in Kamloops, B.C. The WHL and Ontario league split their two games, but the Quebec league lost its two games as Russia won the last three games for a 4-2 advantage in the series.
• Mead’s Keanu Yamamoto is one of 32 former Chiefs who are among a record 386 WHL graduates awarded scholarships for the 2018-19 fall semester through a program funded by WHL teams.
Yamamoto is also among 27 of the ex-Chiefs contining their playing careers in college.
Former Chiefs taking advantage of the education program (* indicates playing collegiately):
*Jason Fram and *Curtis Miske, University of Alberta; Tanner Wishnowski, University of British Columbia; *Luke Harrison and *Jordan Henderson, University of Calgary; *Garret Hughson and *Jeff Rayman, University of Lethbridge; *Reid Gow, University of Manitoba; *Colton Bobyk, *Connor Chartier, *Tyson Helgesen and *Mitchell Lipon, Mount Royal University.
Also, *Tyler King and *Tyson Predinchuk, University of Regina; *Evan Fiala, *Todd Fiddler, *Wyatt Johnson and *Wyatt Sloboshan, University of Saskatchewan; *Rykr Cole and *Matt Sozanski, Carleton University; *Riley Whittingham, University of Prince Edward Island; *Calder Brooks, St. Mary’s University; *Markson Bechtold, University of Waterloo.
Also, *Kolten Olynek, University of Western Ontario (King’s University College); *Marcus Messier and *Lasse Petersen, University of Windsor; *Alex Mowbray, York University; Tyson Verhelst, Lethbridge College; Jayden Sittler, Red Deer College; Blair Oneschuk, SAIT Polytechnic; Jake Toporowski, Scott Community College.
Letters of intent
Carroll College women’s basketball: Genesis Wilkinson, F, East Valley.
Eastern Washington women’s golf: Morgan Baum, Yakima (East Valley HS); Stephanie Heimler, San Diego.
Eastern Washington women’s tennis: Renata Gabuzyan, Richmond, British Columbia.
Eastern Washington track & field: Madelyn Knight, hurdles/heptathlon, Walla Walla HS; Madison Wilson, hurdles/heptathlon, Hermiston, Oregon.
Gonzaga women’s golf: Cassie Kim, Yakima (Davis HS); Alyssa Ngyen, Renton, Wash. (Kennedy Catholic HS).
Gonzaga women’s soccer: Lauren Elwer, F, Eagle, Idaho (Bishop Kelly HS); Erin Healy, F/M, San Diego; Kacy Johnston, M, Aurora, Colorado; Madison Kemp, F, Camas, Wash.; McKenzie Moran, F, Barboursville, West Virginia; Thea Nelson, D, Kent, Wash.; Allison Pelstring, M, Placentia, California; Shyh Saenz, GK, Hayward, Calif.; Britney Weedman, M, Sammamish, Wash. (Eastside Catholic HS); Darcy Woodward, M, Smithfield, Utah.
Gonzaga baseball: Anthony Garrett, INF, Sherwood, Ore.; Reagan Haas. RHP, Wapato, Wash.; Gabriel Hughes, RHP, Eagle, Idaho; William Kempner, RHP, San Jose, Calif.; Trystan Vrieling, RHP, Kennewick (Kamiakin).
Gonzaga volleyball: Tia Andaya, OH/S, Ellensburg; Alyssa Hughes, MB, Portland; Zoe Thiros, OH, Pocatello (Century HS).
Idaho women’s basketball: Beyonce Bea, G/F, Washougal, Wash.; Champney Pulliam, G, Fresno, Calif.; Caitlyn Jones, G, Perth, Australia.
Washington State women’s soccer: Sophie Dimry, D, Carlsbad, Calif.; MacKenzie Frimpong-Ellertson, F, Vancouver, Wash. (King’s Way Christian HS); Aly Hay, GK, Vancouver, B.C.; Kaitlyn Kowalchuk, D, Henderson, Nevada.; Grayson Lynch, F, Castle Rock, Colo.; Skye McMillon, F, Phoenix; Liz Weis, M/F, Carlisle, Pennsylvania; Rose Young, D, Des Moines, Wash.(Shorewood Christian HS).
Rowing
Former and current Washington State Cougars – Nicole Hare (2013-15, ’17), Lisa Roman (2010-12), junior Ivy Elling Quaintance and sophomore Lisa Gutfleisch – captured silver, bronze and a sixth-place finish in women’s pairs at the 2018 Canadian National Rowing Championships and Canada Cup in Burnaby, B.C., last weekend.
Hare and her teammate placed second in the W2 A final to claim the silver medal, finishing just ahead of Roman and her teammate, who took the bronze. The Hare and Roman pairs went 1-2, respectively, in their flight to advance to the finals. Quaintance and Gutfleisch paired to finish sixth in the final after winning their flight.
Senior games
Ten Spokane women played on softball teams that won medals in 60+, 65+ and 70+ divisions at the Huntsman World Senior Games last month in St. George, Utah.
Pam Hodaka, Cindy Thiel, Lola Lile, Bonnie Patey, Peggy Rose, Sue Anderson, Sheri DeGuire and LaDonna Schuster were on a Seattle Wet Socks team that won silver in 60+ Division 3.
Thiel, Lile, Rose and Schuster were also a Wet Socks team that took silver in 65+ Division 3. Kathy Smith played on Ye Ole Bats from Nevada that won bronze in Division 2.
Noncie McKelvey played on the Salt Chuckers from Vancouver, British Columbia, that took bronze in 70+ Division 2. Donna Froelich, Voni Tombari, Marcia Payson and Schuster played on 70+ teams that did not medal.
Softball
Bob Baugh, a 15-year umpire, received the Spokane Softball Umpires Association’s major honor, the Campbell-Stewart Award, at the group’s annual banquet last weekend.
The award, which started in 1975 and is named for two former longtime Spokane umpires in chief, annually recognizes an umpire for “longevity, dedication, excellence and service to softball umpiring in the Spokane area.”
Baugh, who overcame health issues early in his career, received a rookie of the year award in 2003, was an umpire of the year in 2015, has worked three state high school tournaments and numerous USA Softball championship tournaments.
Other awards went to: John Klemish, Presidential Pride; Dave Berghammer, Umpire of the Year-Adult; Joseph “Kenny” Williams, Umpire of the Year-Youth; Robert “Bobby” Kuck, Most Improved; Carissa Ware, Rookie of the Year-Adult; and Chris Hargrave, Rookie of the Year-Youth.
Sal Jackson, one of the founders of the Spokane Valley girls program, was given the association’s Home Run Award that goes to a non-member who has made a significant contribution to softball in the community.
• President Steve Quaid and at-large director Gary Kuck have been re-elected to two-year terms on the Spokane Softball Umpires Association board and first-year umpire Hargrave was elected to a one-year term as an at-large director during SSUA elections.
Returning to complete two-year terms are vice president Bryan Raschka; Dennis Keys, an at-large director; and Jeff Camp, secretary. Ron Snyder remains on the board as past president.