Three rowers from Snohomish County helped the University of Michigan women’s first varsity eight earn recognition as the co-Big Ten boat of the week, the conference announced April 22.
Lake Stevens High School alum Adrienne Mecham, Marysville-Pilcuck graduate Sarah Gribler and Kamiak alum Ashley Kroll helped Michigan sweep a pair of races against Louisville and No. 15 Minnesota on April 19.
Michigan’s first varsity eight defeated Louisville by 1.3 seconds, crossing the finish line in a time of 5:48.7. The Wolverines increased their winning streak to three races with an afternoon victory over the Golden Gophers, finishing in 5:42.54 to Minnesota’s 5:47.94. Michigan’s first varsity eight finished the regular season with a 4-1 record.
Michigan shared the Big Ten Boat-of-the Week honors with Michigan State.
Curling
Lehto rink wins bronze: The Darren Lehto rink from the Granite Curling Club won the bronze medal at the 2008 Pacific International Cup curling tournament on April 20 at the Richmond Curling Club in Richmond, B.C.
Playing as Team Washington, Lehto, of Snohomish, and teammates John Rasmussen of Edmonds, and Liam Barksdale and Andrea Callegari of Seattle, beat Team Minnesota 9-6 in the men’s bronze-medal game.
Team Washington was 6-1 in round-robin play, but lost its semifinal match 6-5 in an extra end to Island North, a club team from British Columbia.
The Pacific International Cup featured club champions from British Columbia in competition against clubs from the Western United States and international teams from Pacific Rim countries.
Invitations to participate were extended to curling associations and clubs from Alaska, Arizona, Australia, British Columbia, California, China, Chinese Taipei, Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Japan, Korea, Michigan, Minnesota, New Zealand, North Dakota, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin and Yukon.
Golf
Koppenberg named player of the year: Western Washington University junior Jake Koppenberg has been named the men’s golf player of the year and the newcomer of the year by the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.
Koppenberg, an Everett High School alum, led the league with a school-record 71.3 scoring average.
He was recently selected by the Golf Coaches Association of America as one of 18 NCAA Division II players named to the Jack Nicklaus Watch List.
Peters named to All-GNAC team: Western Washington University sophomore Julian Peters was a first-team selection to the all-Great Northwest Athletic Conference men’s golf team. Peters, a Kamiak High School alum, finished Western’s 10-tournament regular season with a 74.3 scoring average.
Baseball
Pitch, hit and run winners: Arlington youths swept the age-group titles at the Aquafina Major League Baseball Pitch, Hit and Run competition held April 19 at Evans Field in Arlington.
Marcus Bryson won the 13-14 year group, Isaiah Flores finished first in the 11-12 age group, Riley Oakes placed first in the 9-10 age group, and Dane Diel won in the 7-8 age group.
The winners advance to the sectional competition on May 18 at Everett Memorial Stadium.
Bryson, who finished with 935 overall points to win the 13-14 group, tied with Zach Keefe for first place in the run category with 447 points. Nick McKenzie, Kristen Backstom, Alex Keen and Keefe tied for first with 378 points in the pitch category, and Stephen Adams won the hit category with 378 points.
In the 11-12 group, Flores finished with 976 overall points. Zachary Stillings and Dalton Evans tied with 375 points in the pitch category, Sam Roe’s 344 points led the hit category and Kaleb Bryson won the run category with 425 points.
In addition to winning the 9-10 group with 764 overall points, Oakes finished first in the hit category with 286 points. Tristan Steward was first in the pitch category with 300 points and Keyton Holcomb’s 366 points led the run category.
Diel, who finished with 700 points to win the 7-8 group, also won the pitch category with 300 points. Griffin Gardoski was first in the hit category with 200 points and the run category with 315.
Gymnastics
Leading Edge’s Level 8 team three-peats: The Level 8 team from Everett’s Leading Edge Gymnastics Academy won its three straight state team title at the Region II Gymnastics Championships held April 18 in Spokane.
Leading Edge sent 12 gymnasts to the tournament, which featured teams in Levels 8, 9, and 10 from Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Oregon, Montana and Washington. Leading Edge athletes won 50 medals along with the Level 8 team trophy.
Six Leading Edge athletes qualified to compete at national tournaments later this year and one earned a spot on an international team.
In Level 10, Kelsey Morris of Snohomish finished first overall in the Junior B Division with a score of 38.075. She placed a first on the vault (9.725), third on bars (9.350), second on beam (9.375), and first on floor (9.625). In the Junior C Division, Kailie Ponto of Kenmore finished second in the all-around (37.125). Ponto was second on the vault (9.350), second on the beam (9.350), and first on floor (9.550).
Morris, who had the second-highest all-around score in Level 10, was selected as a member of an international team that will compete this July in Japan. Both Morris and Ponto qualified to compete at the Level 10 National Championships on May 16-18 in Kissimmee, Fla.
Carah Solemsaas of Lake Stevens placed third in the all-around (36.900) in the Level 9 Junior A Division with a second-place finishes on the vault (9.175) and in the floor exercises (9.450). In the Junior B Division, Makayla Betz of Everett placed third all-around (36.800). Lily Gaffney of Snohomish finished second (37.400) in the Junior C Division and Madison Podlucky of Redmond was first overall (37.825) in the Junior D division.
All four Level 9 gymnasts from Leading Edge qualified to compete in the national tournament on May 9-11 in St. Louis.
In Level 8, Jordan Widener of Snohomish placed first overall (38.075) in the Junior B division after finishing first on vault (9.700), bars (9.625) and floor (9.650).
Volleyball
Everett fifth-graders runners-up in tourney: The fifth-grade boys volleyball team from the Immaculate Conception/Our Lady of Perpetual Help School in Everett finished second in the greater Seattle Catholic Youth Organization tournament.
The team played in the sixth-grade division.
Members of the team, which won the tournament Spirit and Sportsmanship Award, were Patrick Stanton, Phil Wilson, M.J. Myers, Scott Rohlinger, Luke Swatosh, Morgan Kussy, Bo Gould, Jeremy Emge, Bryan Lucas, Nolan Rogge, Grant Fisher and Dominic Barashkoff. They were coached by Francine Veith.
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