Locally: Whitworth’s Madelyn Buckley leads Pirates at Northwest Conference Cross Country Championships

Madelyn Buckley, a Whitworth junior from Lakeside of Nine Mile Falls, finished fifth in the women’s division to lead the Pirates at the 2022 Northwest Conference Cross Country Championships Saturday at Killarney West Golf Course in Hillsboro, Oregon.

Buckley, second in the NWC Championships in 2021, timed 21 minutes, 50.5 seconds over the 5K course. Brenna Sclair, a George Fox junior, won in 21:33.2, leading the Boxers to a repeat title with 26 points. Whitworth was eighth with 199.

In the 8K men’s race, the Pirates’ top five runners, led by freshman Joel Nealon in 19th at 25:25.7, were roughly 40 seconds apart and placed fourth as a team with 199 points.

George Fox repeated as team champion, besting Pacific Lutheran 38-45. Lutes’ junior Ryan Stracke won in 24:02.4.

College scene

For the second time in October, Washington State senior middle blocker Magda Jehlarova was named Pac-12 volleyball defensive player of the week on Oct. 24 for her performance the previous weekend as the Cougars swept the visiting Arizona schools in Bohler Gym.

Jehlarova, who also received the award Oct. 3, averaged 1.50 blocks and 1.88 kill per set as the Cougars presented coach Jen Greeny with her 200th and 201st victories at WSU. Jehlarova had three solo blocks in five sets against Arizona to move into third all-time in program history in career solo blocks with 99.

• Gonzaga’s five-set West Coast Conference volleyball victory over visiting No. 22 Pepperdine on Oct. 22 at the Martin Center was the Bulldogs’ first win against a ranked opponent in program history and first over the Waves since 2017, snapping an 11-match losing streak in the series.

The Bulldogs (5-16, 1-9) connected on 13 service aces in the match and out-blocked the Waves 14-11 to help offset Pepperdine’s 14-kill advantage. GU rallied after losing the first two sets for an 18-25, 21-25, 25-22, 25-19, 16-14 win.

Senior Zoe Thiros had 21 kills and was one of five Zags with two aces and senior McKenna Marshall had 11 kills and a team-high .458 hitting.

• Idaho redshirt junior middle blocker Travel Morris was rewarded with a share of the Big Sky Conference volleyball defensive player of the week award on Oct. 24 for her performance the previous weekend in matches against Northern Arizona and Northern Colorado.

She had 14 total blocks, including a career-high 11 as UI recorded its first victory in conference play against the Lumberjacks, 13 assists and three digs. The 11 blocks were a single-match high in the conference this season.

• Seven athletes with area ties, two of them at Central Washington, were named to 2022 Great Northwest Athletic Conference All-Academic teams in volleyball with GPAs of 3.20 or better.

Central Washington: Ashley Kaufman, Lake City, junior, 3.89 GPA (her 3rd award); Hannah Stires, Lakeside-Nine Mile Falls, sophomore, 3.67 (2nd). Montana State Billings: Olivia Schwartz, Ferris, jr., 3.50 (2nd). Northwest Nazarene: Megan MacKinney, Coeur d’Aene Charter Academy, so., 3.56 (2nd). Saint Martin’s: Tia Allen, Mt. Spokane, so., 3.51 (1st); Seattle Pacific: Paige Dawson, Northwest Christian, sr., 3.68 (3rd). Western Oregon: Carly Cox, Ferris, sr., 3.83 (2nd).

• Bella Murekatete, a Washington State senior from Rwanda who played her high school basketball at Genesis Prep in Post Falls, was named to the 2023 Lisa Leslie Award watch list by the Basketball Hall of Fame and Women’s Basketball Coaches Association for a second straight year. The award goes to the best center in NCAA Division I women’s college basketball.

• Tru Allen, a Northwest Nazarene sophomore guard from Clarkston, and Abdullahi Mohamed, an Alaska Fairbanks junior forward transfer from Eastern Washington, were unanimous choices on the Great Northwest Athletic Conference men’s basketball preseason all-conference team.

• Washington State transfer Taryn Shelley, a 6-foot-3 forward at Montana State Billings, and Saint Martin’s sophomore forward Rian Clear from Pullman, who played her high school basketball at Walla Walla, were named to the Great Northwest Athletic Conference women’s basketball preseason all-conference team. Shelley was a unanimous choice.

• Maddie Kutschkau, a North Idaho College freshman, was named Northwest Athletic Conference women’s soccer defensive player of the week on Oct. 16 for her performance in two 1-0 Cardinals’ victories the previous week.

With Kutschkau anchoring the back line, NIC has limited NWC opponents to just three goals as they qualified for the post season. The last five matches have been shutouts.

• Redshirt sophomore football player Ma’ake Fifita and junior volleyball player Logann Golden were named the Washington State Academic Services Student-Athletes of the Month for September.

Fifita, a two-time Pac-12 fall academic honor roll selection, began the semester with a 3.45 GPA in mechanical engineering with a minor in mathematics. The Everett native, named to the Polynesian College Football Player of the Year Watch List, started the first eight games on the offensive line.

Golden, who gives a lot of her time volunteering in the community, has a 3.51 GPA in sport management and was on the Pac-12 fall academic honor roll last year. The defensive specialist/libero has appeared in 19 matches the last two seasons. She had 11 digs and three aces against UNLV in 2021 and a 10-dig match as a freshman against Arizona.

• Idaho sophomore Yvonne Vinceri was named Big Sky Conference women’s golfer of the week for her performance in The Clash at Boulder Creek (Nevada) on Oct. 23-25. She had a top-five finish with a 5-under-par 211, four strokes behind the medalist.

• The North Idaho College men and women go into the NWAC winter break in golf leading both the men’s and women’s standings. Spokane is second in the women’s, fourth in the men’s. The conference season will resume April 16-17 at the Columbia Basin Spring Invitational.

Hockey

Spokane Chiefs defenseman Saige Weinstein is among 43 Western Hockey League players named to NHL Central Scouting’s Preliminary Players to Watch List ahead of the 2023 NHL draft.

The 2005-born Weinstein, in his first year of NHL draft eligibility and one of 12 WHL defensemen on the list, earned a “C” ranking. In the first 10 games this season, the 6-foot-1, 183-pounder from Edmonton, Alberta, had two goals, four assists and a -6 plus-minus rating.

• The Chiefs announced a 10-game regular-season TV broadcast schedule – six home, four away – live on SWX starting Saturday, Jan. 21, against Victoria at the Spokane Arena.

Jan. 21 vs. Victoria, Jan. 27 vs. Seattle, Jan. 28 at Tri-City, Jan. 29 at Portland, Feb. 18 at Tri-City, Feb. 25 vs. Tri-City, March 10 vs. Portland, March 17 vs. Tri-City, March 18 at Tri-City, March 25 vs. Tri-City.

Miscellany

Brent Meyer, who spent the last eight years at the University of Nebraska at Omaha as the executive associate athletic director/chief financial officer, has been hired at Washington State University in a similar role, as senior associate athletic director/CFO, WSU director of athletics Pat Chun announced.

Meyer is responsible for all business operations within WSU athletics, including budget development, implementation and reporting, as well as oversight of nonsport contracts and department audits. He will also represent the athletic department on fiscal issues throughout campus and with all external agencies, such as the NCAA and Pac-12 Conference.