Community roundup: Battle sticking with WVU despite Huggins’ exit

RaeQuan Battle is sticking with West Virginia.

The Marysville Pilchuck High School product and college basketball star confirmed his commitment to the Mountaineers, despite the unexpected departure of head coach Bob Huggins.

Battle, a 6-foot-5 shooting guard, is coming off a season in which he averaged 17.7 points per game while leading Montana State to the NCAA tournament. He transferred to West Virginia in April to spend his fifth season playing in one of college basketball’s top leagues, the Big 12.

However, longtime Mountaineers coach Huggins stepped down two weeks ago following an arrest for a driving-under-the-influence incident. Huggins’ departure sparked a flurry of West Virginia players entering the transfer portal.

But Battle confirmed reports he was staying at West Virginia via his social media accounts, posting “Not going anywhere” on Twitter on Tuesday.

Not going anywhere🤞🏾. https://t.co/2xmYM5bRju

— RaeQuan Battle (@RaeQuanBattle) June 27, 2023

Morin to represent U.S. at beach volleyball worlds

Lake Stevens High School graduate Samaya Morin, who just completed her sophomore season with the Grand Canyon University beach volleyball team, will represent the U.S. at the FIBV U21 Beach World Championships on Nov. 8-12 in Roi-Et, Thailand.

Morin and her partner, Stanford’s Taylor Wilson, finished first among 32 teams at the USA Volleyball U21 FIBV Beach World Championship Trials held June 19-22 in Hermosa Beach, Calif. Morin and Wilson were a perfect 3-0 in pool play. They then won four straight elimination bracket matches, finishing it off with a 21-12, 25-27, 15-13 victory over UCLA’s Sally Perez and Alexa Fernandez in the championship match.

Everett native and King’s High School graduate Alli Hansen, who recently announced her transfer to Florida State following her junior campaign at Grand Canyon, finished as runner-up in the U23 competition. She and partner Kate Reilly from Stanford lost 21-15, 21-13 to LSU’s Grace Seits and Ella Larkin in the championship match.

Casto claims long drive victory

Snohomish High School graduate Colton Casto claimed his first World Long Drive tour victory when he took first place at the WLD Memphis on Sunday in Memphis, Tennessee.

Casto, who came into the competition ranked No. 8 in the world and has been a professional long drive competitor since 2019, progressed through the first two rounds. Then in head-to-head knockout bracket, he recorded a drive of 367 yards to defeat Mark Costello in the quarterfinals, a drive of 376 yards to beat Josh Koch in the semifinals, then hit his best drive of the competition in the finals, recording a 380-yard drive to top Justin James by four yards.

Lawrence places second in mid-amateur

Monroe resident Sarah Lawrence placed second in Washington Golf’s Women’s Mid-Amateur tournament, which took place last week at Wing Point Golf & Country Club on Bainbridge Island. Players are eligible for mid-amateur tournaments if they are amateur players aged 25 and older.

Lawrence finished with a three-round score of 24-over par 237, which was eight strokes behind the winner, defending champion Jacqueline Bendrick of Mercer Island.

Raz takes checkered flag at Galloway race

Kole Raz took home the big trophy from the Mark Galloway Shootout, which took place Saturday at Evergreen Speedway in Monroe.

The Oregon-based driver started in the sixth spot in the Super Late Models main event, but quickly worked his way into first place and led the final 60 laps of the 75-lap main event. Haeden Plybon finished second while Naima Lang took third.

In the 75-lap Pro Late Models main event, Thomas Stanford grabbed the lead on lap 50 and led the rest of the way to edge track points leader Lang and claim the title. Greg Bennett finished third.

EvCC places high in NATYCAA competitions

Everett Community College had its best ever showing in the National Alliance of Two-Year College Athletic Administrators’ (NATYCAA) State Association Division and Learfield Directors Cup, which evaluate excellence in all sports.

Everett, led by its second-place finish in men’s basketball at the Northwest Athletic Conference tournament, as well as men’s soccer’s trip to the NWAC semifinals and softball’s top-six finish, compiled 119 points. That placed the Trojans 10th in the State Association Division, which covers 146 two-year schools in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and California. It also placed Everett 19th in the Learfield Cup, which includes more than 660 schools nationally. Mt. San Antonio CC of Walnut, California, won both competitions with 180.5 points. The Trojans finished third among NWAC schools behind Lane (144) and Spokane (123).

The finishes were Everett’s best since the competitions began in 2004.

If you have an item for the community sports roundup, email Nick Patterson at npatterson@heraldnet.com.