Monthly Archives: March 2015

Villopoto wins in Thailand

In case you missed it — and I did — Ryan Villopoto has already secured his first victory in the World Motocross Grand Prix Championships.

After placing seventh in the season opener at Dubai, where some critics wondered if the American was really all that, the rider from Poulsbo bounced back to win in Thailand.

Villopoto won four-time Supercross championships, stamping himself as one of the all-time greats, but decided to skip the 2015 season and head to Europe for the MXGP World Championships. It’s the first time in the modern era of motocross that a U.S. rider has competed in the full series. For Villopoto it’s a one-shot deal. He says he’s retiring at the end of the year.

The next race is March 29 in Argentina.

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Chandler, Edwards, Owens, Sumners, Walker, Pocock elected to state HOF

The Washington State Hall of Fame announced its class of six inductees on Thursday morning. Here’s the press release:

Chris Chandler and James Edwards, who starred at the University of Washington then went on to long pro careers in football and basketball respectively, are among six individuals voted this year into the State of Washington Sports Hall of Fame.

The others are figure skater Rosalynn Sumners, women’s basketball phenom Joyce Walker, the late Post-Intelligencer sports columnist John Owen and legendary racing shell builder George Pocock.

 “This is a wonderful class for our hall of fame that started in 1960,” said executive director Marc Blau. “It was selected by a panel of experts, many of them sportswriters and broadcasters, from throughout the state.”

Chandler, who earned letters in five sports at Everett High School, was MVP of two bowl games as a Husky. In his 17-year NFL career he passed for 170 touchdowns and more than 28,000 yards. He led Atlanta into the 1999 Super Bowl after a 14-2 regular season record.

Edwards, a 7-footer from Roosevelt High School, played 19 seasons in the NBA following an All-American career as a Husky. He won two NBA championship rings with Detroit (1989, 1990) and one with Chicago (1996). He scored 14,862 points and collected 6,004 rebounds in his pro career.

Walker is considered one of the best female basketball players in state history. She led Garfield to a state championship and in the 1980 tournament opener outscored the entire Renton team with 40 points in a 68-35 victory. She starred at Louisiana State where she averaged 25 points, played in Europe and later was one of the first women to play with the Harlem Globetrotters. She is the girl’s basketball coach at Garfield and formerly assisted at Kingston.

Sumners, who grew up in Edmonds, was world figure skating junior champion in 1980, U.S. champion in 1982, 1983 and 1984 and a silver medalist in the 1984 Winter Olympics.

  Owen was at the P-I for 36 years until 1993 and seven times was named state sportswriter of the year. He was sports editor as well as columnist for much of that span and also wrote a popular food column “Intermediate Eater” that he continued to write after retiring. Owen died last year.

Pocock was a native of England and a master boatbuilder who was invited by UW rowing coach Hiram Conibear to establish his shell-building business on campus. He mentored UW coaches and athletes and became famous internationally as a boat-builder and rowing authority. His expertise and contributions to the 1936 UW crew that won the Olympic Gold Medal are described in the best-selling book “The Boys in the Boat.”

 The State of Washington Sports Hall of Fame was started by sportscaster Clay Huntington of Tacoma. The addition of this year’s class will bring the total of inductees to 195. An induction ceremony will be held at Safeco Field prior to a Seattle Mariners game at a date to be determined. Plaques honoring hall of fame members are on display in the Tacoma Dome at the Shanaman Sports Museum.

For additional information visit www.washingtonsportshof.com.

  

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Collegians: Flora, Seattle U come up a victory short

Seattle University’s Jarell Flora,  senior guard from Bremerton, scored just five points in an 82-61 loss to New Mexico State in the Western Athletic Conference championship game at Las Vegas on Saturday.

A victory would have advanced Seattle U (16-15) to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1969.

Flora is Seattle’s second-leading scorer (14.0 points) and third-leading rebounder (4.6).  He was a second-team All-WAC selection. The 6-foot-3 guard finished with 165 3-pointers in his career, fifth all-time in school history.

There’s a chance Flora hasn’t played his last college game as the Redhawks could be a candidate for the College Basketball Invitational, or possibly the NIT.

Jalen Carpenter (jr., Bremerton) was Weber State’s leading scorer (11.8 points) and rebounder (7.9). Weber State finished 11-8, 7-8 in the Big Sky Conference.

Rhyley Callaghan (fr., South Kitsap) and Deonte Dixon (fr., Bremerton) helped Peninsula to a third-place finish at the NWAC Championships. Callaghan averaged 17.5 points, 15th in the NWAC, and was the conference’s fifth-leading shooter from the free-throw line (87.2 percent).  Dixon averaged 16.4 points and 4.1 rebounds.

Western Oregon’s Dana Goularte (sr., South Kitsap) was a second-team All-Great Northwest Conference pick. For the second straight year, she ranked among the conference’s top five in scoring (15.6 points, fifth) and rebounding (8.6, second). Goularte led the Wolves (8-18) in 13 statistical categories this season.

Krista Stabler (jr., Central Kitsap) was an honorable mention All-GNAC pick for St. Martin’s.  She led the Saints (11-16) in scoring (12.1 ppg) and assists (48).

Sadee Jones (sr., North Mason) was an All-Cascade Collegiate Conference first-team pick for Evergreen State. Jones averaged 15.6 points and a conference-leading 8.6 rebounds a game despite her 5-foot-6 stature. Jones had 14 double-doubles. Irene Moore (sr., King’s West/Olympic College) was a reserve guard for Geoducks (16-10). Brittany Gray (sr., Bainbridge/Skagit Valley) averaged 15.9 points and 9.3 rebounds in 12 games before using up her eligibility.

Ashli Payne (so., Olympic HS) and Sawyer Kluge (fr., Bremerton) helped Umpqua to a 27-5 record and third-place finish at the NWAC Championships. Payne, who is playing in the NWAC All-Star games on Sunday at Clackamas, Ore., averaged 17.8 points (5th in the NWAC), 10 rebounds (4th), 4.3 assists (8th) and 2.1 steals (18th). Kluge averaged 14.7 points (18th) and was seventh in the conference in free-throw shooting (81.6 percent).

BASEBALL

Shane Matheny (fr., Olympic HS) is the starting third baseman at Washington State. Matheny was hitting .229 with a home run and seven RBI going into Saturday’s Pac-12 game at USC. He had started all 17 games for the Cougars (11-6).

Central Washington first baseman Kasey Bielec (sr., North Mason) was 9-for-15 in a four-game series against Northwest Nazarene and it hitting .397 with four HRs and 16 RBI for the Wildcats (12-10). Infielder Tanner Romo (jr., South Kitsap/Everett CC) is a backup infielder at CWU.

Catcher Curtis Windung (jr., North Kitsap) is hitting .243 with a home run for Pacific Lutheran (14-6).

Tyler Ludlow (fr., South Kitsap), a first baseman, is hitting .292 (7-24) with a double for Jamestown (N.D.). Nick Torres (fr., Bremerton) is also playing for the Jimmies (8-4). Torres has a save and 6.23 ERA in 4.1 innings after appearing in three games in relief.

Arory Milyard (so., North Kitsap) is a relief pitcher at Whitworth (11-8). He’s got a 6.97 ERA after six appearances and 10.1 innings (10 strikeouts, 4 walks, 13 hits, 8 earned runs).

SOFTBALL

Alissa Buss (so., South Kitsap) and Erin Kinney (so., Bainbridge) are holding down the left side of the infield for Linfield (11-5). Buss, playing shortstop, is hitting .441 (26-for-59) with a double and triple. Kinney, a third baseman, is hitting .306 (15-49) with a home run and 9 RBI.

Emma Keller (fr., North Kitsap) was hitting .353 (12-34 with 2 doubles) for the NAIA Jamestown (N.D.) Jimmies (10-8). She has made two pitching appearance and had a 14.8 ERA for 5.2 innings of work. Kalea Chapman (jr., Juneau, Alaska/Olympic College) is a backup utility player for the Jimmies.

GOLF

UNLV’s Carl Jonson (sr., Bainbridge) tied for 43rd at the Southern Highlands Collegiate Masters, which was played at Southern Highlands Golf Club in Las Vegas this week. UNLV finished 10th in a field that included 10 of the top 25 teams in the country. Jonson ranks No. 168 in  the World Amateur Golf Rankings, down 12 spots from the previous week.

UCLA’s Erynne Lee (sr., Central Kitsap) is coming off a victory in the Bruin Wave Classic and is off until the Liz Murphy Collegiate Championship, which begins March 27 in Athens, Ga. Lee’s victory boosted her from No. 55 to No. 29 in the women’s World Amateur Golf Rankings.

 

 

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The argument: multi-sports athletes vs. one-sports athletes

This isn’t anything knew, but it’s a good reminder about a topic that seems to pop up all of the time.

The author of the blog, Mark Rerick, is from Grand Forks, N.D. He’s a coach, an athletic director, and a dad, and his post on his blog about multi-sports athletes vs. one-sport athletes received more than a million views.

Rerick talked with the Grand Forks Herald after his post went viral.

 

 

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