Hometown sports: The 2013 highlights

January

The LaCrosse-Washtucna/Kahlotus Tigercats continued their winning basketball season during the Dayton Tournament on Dec. 27-28. The Tigercats faced Dayton and Elgin during the tournament, and added two wins to the season’s flawless record of 9-0.

The LRS wrestling team traveled to Springdale for a tournament on Jan. 12 to compete against a variety of teams with six athletes. Keanu Niezwaag, 145, won two matches by pin before continuing on to the finals and defeating the number one ranked athlete in the state with a takedown.

February

The LRS Broncos sent two athletes to the WIAA State Mat Classic for wrestling and both returned home with hardware. Keanu Niezwaag, 145, brought back a third place medal while teammate Cory Goble, 220, earned a fourth place finish at the state competition.

The LWK Tigercats and the LRS Broncos both earned bragging rights when the two local teams qualified for the WIAA Hardwood Classic state championships. The Tigercats defeated Wellpinit in order to move on to state, while the Broncos beat Bear Creek for the right to battle at the state tournament.

March

The LaCrosse-Washtucna/Kahlotus Tigercats basketball season came to a close in the Spokane Arena when the team left the court with a trophy in hand. The Tigercats earned third place in the 1B Hardwood Classic State Tournament with a 67-36 landslide win over Pomeroy.

The LRS Broncos finished their season run with a fifth place trophy in the WIAA 2B Hardwood Classic after falling to the Wahkiakum Mules, 62-54.

April

The St. John-Endicott/LaCrosse-Washtucna competed in the Southeast B Schools track and field meet. Darcy Stamper earned another personal record and broke the LaCrosse Schools high jump record with a 6-foot-6 leap.

Over 600 athletes packed the Medical Lake track and field facility to compete in the 8th annual Undeberg Invitational, hosted by the Lind-Ritzville/Sprague track team. Two LRS athletes, Matt Fryberger and Ryan Whitmore, continued to shine for the track team by bringing home top places in their individual events and helped the LRS boys’ team earn fourth place.

May

The LRS tennis team finished league play on April 23 in a match against Wilbur-Creston before traveling to the Inland Empire Tournament over the weekend. Against WC, the LRS boys and girls’ teams took a 4-1 victory and secured the girl’s position as the number one team in the league, with the boys’ team ended as the second place team.

The LRS athletes qualifying for the state meet were Ryan Whitmore, Hugh Hennings, Maya Wahl, Caitlin Schoessler, Holly Nygren, Kate Schell and Heidi Hennings. Tracy Melville, Kelly Melville and Alanna Wheeler all earned a trip to the state tennis tournament in Yakima.

Four golfers, Trevor Jantz, Kristine Lamping, Logan Morley and Colby Starring, competed in the state tournament on May 21. Darcy Stamper secured a trip to state track in the high jump for SJELW.

June

The 26th annual Lind Combine Demolition Derby ended with a tie for the title between Jim Oswald and Brian Jeske. The two drivers battled until the end, but shared the title and split the $2,200 purse for first place. A total of 18 combines entered into the competition and every contestant received monetary funds to help pay the expense of the combines and travel to the event.

July

Seventeen local teams participated in the 24th annual Spokane Hoopfest tournament held on June 28-30 in downtown Spokane, with one local team earning championship honors. In the high school male division, the Show Me Your Tweets team of Dylan Hartz, Colby Starring, Connor O’Neill and Bridger Smith, won their bracket.

The Lind-Ritzville/Lamont Middle School Bulldogs softball team went undefeated for the season with a 10-0 record. The team consisted of 16 athletes and three managers, and was coached by Steve and Heidi Nygren.

August

Fifty-two women participated in the annual Ladies Golf Tournament at the Ritzville Municipal Golf Course on Aug. 12. The group played nine holes of a best ball format, followed by a nine-hole Chapman format.

With the hiring of a new contractor for the annual Ritzville Rodeo, ranch bronc riding made its debut in the arena to the rodeo fans delight.

September

The Lady Tigercats volleyball team went on the road to battle against Tri-Cities Prep in a nonleague match, and participated in the Rosalia Tournament on Sept. 15. The Lady Tigercats secured a fourth place finish at the Rosalia Tournament, after competing in six varsity matches and three junior varsity matches.

October

The Lady Broncos secured a tight grip on second place in the Northeast 2B League after recording a pair of wins over Liberty and Reardan. The LRS volleyball team rolled to wins in both matches with three game sweeps.

Two months of hard work and dedication came to fruition on Oct. 13 when Dana Telecky, of Ritzville, ran her first half marathon in Seattle. Telecky completed the Biggest Loser Half Marathon with a time of 2:45 and finishing 523 out of 780 participants.

November

The Lind-Ritzville/Sprague Broncos recorded their 21st consecutive win on Nov. 5, sealing the deal on another undefeated regular season.

The Broncos claimed ownership of their second league championship and launched a new run at the WIAA 2B State Football Championship by defeating Colfax.

The Lady Broncos earned a trip to compete in the WIAA State 2B Volleyball Championship Tournament in the Yakima SunDome and after winning the first match of the tournament, earned the chance to compete in the second day of the event.

The Lady Broncos defeated Kittitas, before suffering losses to Darrington and Morton-White Pass at the tournament.

December

One explosive play in the first 16 seconds of the game proved to be the play the Broncos needed most to ensure they would successfully defend their WIAA 2B State Championship. Connor O’Neill bolted through the crowd of Morton-White Pass defenders and sprinted into the end zone, which gave the Broncos the only touchdown they needed to win the championship game against the Timberwolves.

The LWK Tigercats started off the league games on the right foot after earning two back-to-back wins against Southeast 1B teams.

The Tigercats defeated Tekoa-Oakesdale 58-30 on Friday, Dec. 13, before traveling to Richland Saturday and winning 71-53 against Liberty Christian.