Northwest Notes May 27, 2011

Pope fails to advance

from West prelims

EUGENE, Ore. - Idaho senior pole vaulter Lucas Pope finished 23rd with a vault of 16 feet, 6 3/4 inches in the NCAA West Preliminary Round of the NCAA Track and Field Championships at Hayward Field on Thursday.

Pope, a senior from Lake City High, was a five-time Western Athletic Conference champion in both the indoor and outdoor seasons.

Chris Little of Brigham Young University won the event with a vault of 17-0 3/4 as the top 12 finishers advanced to the NCAA meet June 8-11.

Shock add lineman

to active roster

The Spokane Shock announced a couple roster moves, adding defensive lineman Ayanga Okpokowuruk to the roster and releasing defensive lineman Lance Witherspoon.

Okpokowuruk, 6-foot-3 260 pounds, has NFL experience as a member of the New York Giants' practice squad in 2010.

Prior to his professional career, Okpokowuruk spent four seasons at Duke, finishing with 108 tackles, 11 sacks in 47 games.

Spokane travels to Kansas City on Saturday.

Nachbaur named Canadian U-18 assistant

CALGARY, Alberta - Spokane Chiefs head coach Don Nachbaur will be the assistant coach for the Canada National men's summer under-18 team for the 2011 Memorial of Ivan Hlinka tournament, scheduled for Aug. 8-13 in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

Canada has won the tournament the past three years.

Nachbaur, 52, will be an assistant coach for the second time after winning gold at the 1999 Four Nations Cup.

Steve Spott, coach and general manager of the Kitchener Rangers, will coach the team.