Wide World of Kitsap Sports

Ryan Villopoto’s monster motocross season continued over the weekend as he led the USA team to victory at the Motocross of Nations in France.

The Poulsbo rider, now living in Florida, won the AMA Supercross and AMA Motorcross 450cc titles previously.

There’s no disputing that the Kawasaki rider is the best in the world at what he does. How many people can say that?

South Kitsap graduate Dave Villwock earned win number 64 on Sunday, claiming the H1-Unlimited hydroplane race in San Diego at Bayfair.

Driving the U-96 Spirit of Qatar, Villwock easily held off Kip Brown in the U-17 Miss Red Dot in the final heat in 154.109 mph. Brown finished in 148.149.

Villwock holds the overall points lead with 1,600 as the series heads to Doha, Qatar, Nov. 17-19 for the final race of the season. Steve David of the Oh Boy! Oberto is in second place with 1,425.

Villwock is seeking his first national championship in four years.

This just in from Seattle Sounders FC…..

RENTON, WASH. – Seattle Sounders FC has signed goalkeeper Bryan Meredith, the club announced today. Meredith was Seattle’s fourth pick and 29th overall in the 2011 MLS SuperDraft. Per Major League Soccer and club policy, terms were not disclosed.

A native of New Jersey, Meredith, 22, was a three-year starter at Monmouth University. He trained with Seattle throughout the 2011 preseason and started in net for the nearby USL Premier Development League champions Kitsap Pumas. Meredith started Kitsap’s 2-1 loss to Sounders FC in the U.S. Open Cup third round on June 28.

“We are excited to add Bryan Meredith to our roster,” said Sounders FC technical director Chris Henderson. “He will join Kasey Keller and Josh Ford in the nets for us. Bryan had a solid season this year in the USL and had some fantastic games. We expect he will continue to progress under goalkeeper coach Tom Dutra.”

Meredith was named to the 2010 All-Northeast Conference first team and NEC Tournament MVP as a senior at Monmouth. As a junior, Meredith led the nation in goals against average (0.306) and also led all NEC keepers with 12 shutouts.

Seattle travels to Costa Rica for a CONCACAF Champions League group stage match against CS Herediano at 7 p.m. PT on Wednesday night. Sounders FC then returns home for an MLS match against D.C. United on Saturday night. First kick is 6 p.m. PT on the Xbox Pitch at CenturyLink Field.

Transaction: Seattle Sounders FC (MLS) – Signed GK Bryan Meredith
Position: Goalkeeper
Height: 6-2
Weight: 195
Birthdate: 8/2/1989
Place of Birth: Scotch Plains, New Jersey
Hometown (Citizenship): Scotch Plains, New Jersey (USA)
College: Monmouth University

Olympians and Kitsap natives Emily Silver and Dana Kirk will be participating in the Swim Across America fundraiser at Lake Washington on Saturday.

Silver is a Bainbridge native and won a silver medal in Beijing in 2008 while Kirk, a Bremerton grad, competed in the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece.

To find out more about Swim Across America, click here.

Bremerton’s Nathan Adrian was officially named to the U.S. National swim team roster for the 2011-12 season.

This does not automatically mean he will be swimming in London, the U.S. trials are in Omaha next July. Adrian, along with standouts Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte and newcomer Missy Franklin, were chosen based on their times in Olympic events from the FINA World championships, the national championships and the World University Games that were completed this summer.

Swimmers with the top six times in each event make the team, said USA Swimming in a press release. Nathan has the top times in the nation in the 50 and 100 freestyle events.

Nathan is also ranked No. 4 in the world in the 50 free and fifth in the 100.

You can find the full roster here.

Also, contributing writer Mark Fleming, of bleacherreport.com, has already come out with the top swimmers who could and should win multiple gold medals at the London Games and Adrian is among those mentioned.

You can find that article here.

Former North Kitsap star Jared Prince of the Myrtle Beach (S.C.) Pelicans was named to the Class A Carolina League All-Star team. The Texas Rangers’ farm hand made it as a utility outfielder.

Here’s what the press release reported on Prince:

After a brutal 4-for-45 start to the season, the Washington State University product has been a constant engine in the Myrtle Beach order, batting .297 in 116 games since. The versatile offensive performer has spent 13 games or more at the second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh spots in the order and currently leads Pelicans regulars in games played (128), average (.278) and RBI (67) and is tied for the team lead in hits (131), walks (45), and doubles (29). Prince leads the Carolina League in on-base percentage (.371) and is the second-hardest batter to strike out in the league with one K per 11.83 plate appearances. The Poulsbo native also has made his mark on the Carolina League in a more painful way. Prince has been hit by pitches 29 times this season, a mark that ranks second in all of Carolina League history, one behind the single-season league record set by Winston-Salem’s Seth Loman last season

The University of Washington volleyball team, which includes Bainbridge High product Kelcey Dunaway, will be featured on UWTV in eight live broadcasts on Ch. 27.

The first match to be televised is Sept. 16 at 7:30 p.m. against the USC Trojans. 

Dunaway, a junior, is a two-year letter winner and is coming off her most successful season at UW. The 6-foot-2 middle blocker has developed into a formidable server, dishing up 25 aces as a sophomore — second-most on the team. She also had a team-high four aces in the NCAA Tournament last season.

Here’s the TV schedule: 

Friday, Sept. 16 at 7 p.m. vs. USC 

Saturday, Sept. 17 at 7 p.m. vs. UCLA 

Friday, Sept. 30 at 7 p.m. vs. Oregon 

Friday, Oct. 7 at 7 p.m. vs. Colorado 

Saturday, Oct. 8 at 7 p.m. vs. Utah 

Friday, Oct. 28 at 7 p.m. vs. Arizona State 

Saturday, Nov. 12 at 7 p.m. vs. California 

Tuesday, Nov. 22 at 7 p.m. vs. Washington State