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Northwest Notes Sept. 8, 2010

| September 8, 2010 9:00 PM

Cardinal Athletics Showcase

set for Sept. 28

COEUR d'ALENE - The North Idaho Athletics Department is hosting its second Cardinals Athletics Showcase on Tuesday, Sept. 28 at 11:30 a.m. at the Coeur d'Alene Resort. The event will include presentations from members of the NIC coaching staff with preseason and regional and national predictions from all NIC sports, as well as status reports from fall sports teams.

Presentations will include comments from team captains, with a question-and-answer session to follow.

The event will be held in place of the usual end-of-the-month Booster Club luncheon.

Tickets for the lunch can be purchased in advance from the athletic department or the NIC Booster Club.

Scheduled to appear include: Wrestling coach Pat Whitcomb, men's basketball coach Jared Phay, men's soccer coach Scott Moorcroft, women's soccer coach Dan Hogan, softball coach Don Don Williams, women's basketball coach Chris Carlson, volleyball coach Colleen Frohlich, golf coach Derrick Thompson and cheerleading coach Dawn Smith.

Information: 769-3348.

Chiefs sign Cunningham,

release Betz

The Spokane Chiefs made two player moves on Tuesday as they reassigned defenseman Tyler Cunningham (1995) to Moose Jaw in the Saskatchewan AAA Midget Hockey League and released left wing Mike Betz ('92).

"As an organization, we hoped things would work out differently with Michael, but we feel this is the right move for him and our team," Spokane general manager Tim Speltz said. "We wish him all the best in the future."

Betz played in 32 games for Spokane, 30 in 2008-09 as a 16-year old. He also played in two games this past weekend at the Silvertips preseason classic.

Cunningham, Spokane's first-round pick, 17th overall, in the 2010 WHL Bantam Draft, appeared in two of Spokane's three preseason games last weekend.

The Chiefs are currently carrying 29 players on their roster, with four goaltenders, eight defensemen and 17 forwards.

Four Spokane players

leaving for NHL camps

Four Spokane Chiefs players will leave this week to attend NHL camps.

Tyler Johnson, a former Coeur d'Alene Laker, will travel to Minnesota for camp today. It will be the second year in a row that Johnson will attend the Minnesota camp. Johnson recorded a career-high 35 goals and 71 points last season, his third for Spokane.

Defenseman Brenden Kichton will leave for the Detroit Red Wings' camp on Thursday. Kichton is entering his third year in Spokane, appearing in 70 games with four goals and 19 points last season.

Both Johnson and Kichton will be playing for their respective teams at the 2010 NHL Prospects tournament in Traverse City, Mich., from Sept. 11-15.

Blake Gal will attend the Philadelphia Flyers camp starting Friday. Gal played 71 games last year, recording 11 goals and 36 points. The 18-year-old was originally a second-round selection in the 2007 WHL Bantam Draft.

Levko Koper, Atlanta's seventh-round pick in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, will leave for the Thrashers camp on Saturday. Koper has scored 65 goals in 258 career games in his four-year career for Spokane.

Jared Cowen, Ottawa's first-round pick in 2009, has been with the Senators this fall preparing for their camp. Cowan is eligible to return to Spokane as a 19-year old.

Fundraiser for Cd'A High,

Lake City on Friday

COEUR d'ALENE - Sterling Savings Bank will be hosting a Customer Appreciation Day on Friday from 2 to 6 p.m. in the bank lot, located next to Outback Steakhouse.

This is a fundraising event for Coeur d'Alene and Lake City high schools. There will be silent auction items and raffle prizes, including a car raffle from Parker Toyota.

All money earned during this event will be split between both schools' athletic departments.

Coeur d'Alene native wins

inaugural Priest River triathlon

PRIEST LAKE - Derek Garcia of Coeur d'Alene won the Olympic marathon division at the first Priest River Triathlon on Aug. 28.

More than 200 participants competed in the event, which included a 1,500-meter swim, 40k bike ride, and 10k run.

Garcia finished in a time of 14 minutes, 34 seconds in the swim, 1:02.00 in the bike and 39:57 in the run for a top time of 1 hour, 58 minutes, 13.5 seconds.

Complete results: www.milliseconds.com

Means takes over as

Vandal men's golf coach

John Means was named the men's golf coach at Idaho, officials announced on Tuesday.

Means' coaching career began at the U.S. Military Academy, where his teams won 11 conference titles in 11 years. He then moved onto the University of Minnesota, where in three seasons he led the Golden Gophers to the NCAA tournament, starting a run of eight successive trips to the tournament and years ranked in the top 20.

"There is an opportunity at Idaho to do something that has never been done before - compete for a national championship from the snowy country," said Means, who replaces Jon Reehoorn, who accepted the Oregon head coaching job last month. "I'm really excited about what Jon Reehoorn did. We can do things to shake up the world of golf."

Means left college golf in 2002 to start his own golf teaching center. He was the Director of Golf and consultant for the Mulligan Masters Golf Learning Center in Lake Elmo, Minn., for the past four years. He doubled as the coach of the Wisconsin-Eau Claire women's team during that time, leading them to four NCAA tournaments.

He earned his bachelor's degree from the University of Oklahoma and his master's degree from Colorado State.