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By my count, since originally being hired at the Cheney Free Press in July 2007, Eastern Washington has played 97 home football games. While the overwhelming number of those have been played at either Roos — or before that Woodward Field — a couple have been neutral site “Showdown by the Sound” contests at Century Link, now Lumen Field. Seen ‘em all… well, almost. As of last Saturday’s 40-29 Eastern win over Southeast Louisiana — the Eagles’ home opener — I did some counting...
CHENEY – If there's one thing that is at the forefront of Cheney High School football's now 0-3 start in 2023 it's a single word that transcends virtually every part of what has happened on the field so far. Failing to finish is what head coach Bobby Byrd said best describes things. "It really came down to not being able to sustain drives and limit big plays on defense," Byrd wrote in an email. "The word that best describes what we need to do is finish." With Central V...
MEDICAL LAKE – Newport quarterback Hank Kirkwood had a hand in five scores, three on his own runs as the Grizzlies rolled past Medical Lake 45-13 in the opening of Northeast A League football play Sept. 14 at Holliday Field. Kirkwood passed for two scores and ran for another pair for Newport (1-0 NEA, 2-1 overall), which led 26-0 at halftime. Medical Lake's Cylas Puzycki scored the first ML touchdown on a one-yard run in the third quarter and Taylor Oliver threw to Andrew R...
MEDICAL LAKE – Like the game he has coached as either that of being the head man, or before that as a longtime assistant, Dan Collins knows the ebbs and flows. Same goes for the soccer program at Medical Lake, where it is either feast or famine when it comes to participation and results. "I mean, we've in the past had groups of girls," Collins said. "I mean, they live eat, breathe. Sleep soccer and we just don't have that anymore." Entering his fourth season as head coach o...
CHENEY – Graduation left Cheney girls soccer stripped of some notable players, Coach Nels Radke said in a recent interview. But it hardly left an empty bench and Radke approaches 2023 with optimism that flows freely when discussing his team. Moving on were Emersyn Heuett, a defender, forward Kaiti Low, Ellie Barden at center mid and forward Kensie Roller. "We lost some key positions, but we were bringing back a lot of strength," Radke said. "I'm really excited for what I t...
CHENEY – Cheney and Gonzaga Prep spent the better part of the first quarter of their Greater Spokane League season opening game being more like a pair of sparring boxers, testing each other with a series of jabs. And once the Blackhawks landed their first real punch, a late first quarter touchdown, that certainly got the Bullpups' attention. Prep went on to land a succession of their own blows, scoring twice in both the second and third quarters en route to a 34-6 victory S...
The thought about reviving the idea of adding a local sports column to the Cheney Free Press came up at a recent staff meeting. And like the calls over the past several years since my “retirement” in 2019 to come back to help at the Free Press, I said let’s give it a go. Another topic covered was how we planned to staff upcoming fall sporting events — particularly football — and how there’s no view better than from the action standpoint one the sidelines. Those parts came...
MEDICAL LAKE – Aug. 18 changed lives here in ways both massive and minute. There likely isn't a soul who was not touched physically or mentally, including members of the Medical Lake High School cross country team, who were affected both personally and as a group. Junior Garrett Montney's family was one who lost their home and it inspired teammates to rally around the theme for the 2023 program shirts. Oftentimes, the team's yearly slogan often revolves around the 8...
Hampered by limited numbers, Medical Lake's opening football game against Greater Spokane 2A Rogers was halted with 2 minutes, 5 seconds remaining in the first half Sept. 2 where the Pirates led 35-0. The game, played at the Rogers' Harmon Field in Spokane, and in near 90-degree temperatures, saw the Cardinals bring just 22 players, but not all were able to participate having previously been in a junior varsity contest earlier that day. As the game neared halftime and several...
Cheney defender Hamza Al-Amin and an unidentified Blackhawk are too late to help on this leaping catch by G-Prep's Isaiah Docken....
CHENEY — It’s still summer until the wee hours of Sept. 23 but it’s fall sports time none-the-less on the West Plains. Things kick off, literally, Sept. 1 when Greater Spokane League heavyweight, Gonzaga Prep, visits Tom Oswald Field to meet the Cheney Blackhawks for 7 p.m. kickoff. The Blackhawks hope to rebound from a 3-8 mark in 2022 which included a 58-0 loss at Prep. The Bullpups would finish 9-3 including a three-game run into the state playoffs. Slow-pitch softb...
MEDICAL LAKE — The job Nick Puzycki accepted as head football coach in 2022 might be like playing Capt. Ed Smith, who tried to steer the Titanic away from its icy clash with disaster and history? Over the past five seasons victories have been few and far between for the program. They're 3-36 since 2018 and 13-89 in the last decade. The Cardinals' last victory was over Priest River, Sept. 3, 2021 and winning season (6-3) came under Wes Hobbs in 2012. But as the 2022 season c...
CHENEY — Following the departure of a bench full of seniors there will be many new faces in the Cheney High School volleyball program in 2023. The Blackhawks also welcome a new head coach, but someone who is still quite familiar to those in the program. After several seasons leading the team, Heather Zorrozua stepped away to become Cheney Middle School’s vice principal and athletics director. She handed the playbook down the bench to former assistant and volleyball vet...
MEDICAL LAKE - A rookie head coach no more. Hailey Van Soest has a lot better understanding as she enters her second season with Medical Lake High School volleyball. One thing Van Soest learned in 2022 with a team that finished 5-13 was how to depend on herself as a coach. Good thing because she'll not have an assistant this season. Van Soest, who spends her daytime hours "coaching" kindergarteners at Hallett Elementary, went through a series of trial-and-error periods she...
Redshirt sophomore safety Armani Orange works on some defensive technique Aug. 14 in drills at Roos Field....
CHENEY – The first rule when talking to Blackhawks cross country Coach Derek Slaughter is to not use the term “runners” when discussing his team. They are athletes, he insists. And those Blackhawks athletes have some lofty goals, particularly the boys. For the guys, they graduated one notable varsity runner, Adam Estock, Slaughter said. “Out of our top 10, we lost two so eight are returning.” In evaluating that group, Slaughter said “We added two extra guys that were part o...
CHENEY – New Cheney High School Athletics Director Ken Ryan has only been officially on the job for a short time but has a good idea how he will proceed in his new office. Ryan will call a great deal on his decades of experience as a basketball coach for the basic game plan. Ryan, who follows Tim Kennedy who moved into an assistant principal job at Cheney, was called to the AD's job because of the opportunity and reach it presented. Ryan moved from Deer Park where he coached b...
As far as twins go, Eli and Jamel Chabot naturally have a great deal in common. The Cheney High School grads certainly seem to live for baseball, something best illustrated with them playing in nearly 70 games in the past five months. There's academics, too, with both playing on Cheney's state Scholastic Cup champion baseball team, one with the best cumulative grade-point-average among 3A schools in Washington state. That, coupled with their baseball skills will lead both to V...
Eastern Washington's 2023 football season is officially underway as the team opened training camp on Aug. 3. Over 100 student-athletes, from returning veterans to walk-on freshmen, took over the EWU Sports & Recreation practice fields west of campus for a two-hour session. "We went longer than we normally do, and that's because a lot more guys stayed over in the summer," said head coach Aaron Best. "They're ready to go, in better football condition, so we felt like we could ex...
It's a relatively small number in the football world, but at Eastern Washington University, the No. 4 carries a ton of weight and distinction. Now in 2023, Eagles defensive end Brock Harrison will be the next to wear No. 4 jersey. The honor is given to the player who most embodies the characteristics of defense at Eastern: grit, toughness, effort, leadership and academic success. "Going into my fifth year (with the program), I've seen a lot of guys come through who have worn n...
While it proved to be a quick trip to the Washington State AAA American Legion baseball tournament in Centralia for the Spokane Cannons, one cannot forget this was the team's third consecutive berth for the team largely composed of West Plains players. Featuring a roster of six players from Medical Lake and five from Cheney, the Cannons represent the top tier of summer baseball in the area and their rise from mediocrity just several years ago has been a testament to the...
MEDICAL LAKE -The near 100-degree temperatures in Eastern Washington just might have grown old on the Mercer Island District 9 Little League champions? So, they decided an extra day here for the Washington Little League Juniors state championships in Medical Lake was not a place they wanted to be, rallying to defeat Everett 9-6 Saturday at Holliday Field. Mercer Island, which just needed one victory to finish the tournament with a perfect 4-0 record, erased a 5-0 Everett...
Combined, three West Plains American Legion teams entered their respective state tournaments with nearly 100 victories. They left back for home from their journeys last week with just one win between them. In Senior AAA play in Centralia the Spokane Cannons were limited to one run and six hits in losses to Hilander Dental, 5-1, July 22 and 1-0 to Yakima Pepsi Park for following day in the double-elimination tournament at Centralia, Wash.. The Cannons, with their big West...
The West Plains Little League 10U All-Stars saw their season come to a finish following a 12-2 loss Tuesday to Bonnie Lake at Othello. The game was halted after four innings by the 10-run rule. "They faced a powerhouse," WPLL President Stacy Ashcroft wrote in a text message, noting Bonnie Lake's eight-run third inning was too large a hole from which to climb out of. Kasen Webber had two of the four hits for WPLL. The WPLL team went 1-2 in the tournament, losing its opener...
The Spokane Cannons got a wake-up call last week in an early round of the Area 3 American Legion district tournament pool play and it allowed them to quickly resharpen focus. The Pullman Patriots scored the deciding run in the top of the seventh inning in a July 14 game and defeated the Cannons, 9-8 at Holliday Field. The Cannons had opened pool play prior to the Pullman loss with a 12-2 win over the Bandits where they put the game away with a seven-run sixth inning and solid...
