Northwest Notes April 28, 2013

Timberlake senior to receive Spirit of the Sport award

Timberlake High senior Dexter Olmstead will receive the 2013 "Spirit of the Sport" Award on Wednesday, Aug. 7 at the Riverside Hotel in Boise, the Idaho High School Activities Association announced.

Prior to February 2012, Olmstead was a three-sport athlete (football, basketball and track) at Timberlake. He was, and still is, an honor student and member of the National Honor Society. On Feb. 18, 2012, Dexter was involved in an auto accident outside of Athol and suffered severe brain trauma, a broken neck, lacerated spleen and broken pelvis. Upon entering the hospital in Coeur d'Alene, doctors informed his parents to prepare for the absolute worst. Dexter survived that first night, yet remained in a coma for four months.

According to an IHSAA release, the qualities and characteristics that Dexter possessed as a student-athlete were on display as he came out of his coma and began a remarkable rehabilitation and recovery. On Aug. 31, 2012, Dexter returned to Timberlake, donned his No. 51 jersey and joined his football teammates for their season opener. Dexter sat in his wheelchair giving high fives and pats on the back and served as honorary captain for the remainder of the season. Dexter set his sights on making up the second semester, graduating with his classmates, no easy task with the challenges that lay before him.

With dedication, courage and perseverance, he will walk across the stage in June and receive his high school diploma, the IHSAA said.

Famous Idaho Potato Bowl to be played Dec. 21

BOISE - The Famous Idaho Potato Bowl learned Thursday that ESPN will telecast its 17th annual game Saturday, Dec. 21 at 2:30 p.m. PST from Bronco Stadium.

Billed as the nation's longest running outdoor cold-weather bowl, the game will feature a Mountain West vs. Mid-American Conference match-up for the first time in its history. The MW replaces the Western Athletic Conference, which has participated in the bowl since 2001. The WAC no longer sponsors football.

Famous Idaho Potato Bowl tickets will go on sale to the general public Oct. 21 through Idahotickets.com or the Bronco Stadium ticket office. Reservations for premium ticket packages are currently available, which include prime ticket locations, hospitality benefits in tent village and corporate exposure.

Information: Famous Idaho Potato Bowl office, (208) 424-1011

NAIA World Series to stay in Lewiston through 2016

Lewis-Clark State College will continue as the host of the NAIA World Series through 2016, the NAIA announced. The three-year extension will continue LCSC's streak of hosting the national baseball championship at Harris Field every year since 2000.

On May 24-31 LCSC, which also hosted the tournament from 1984-91, will host the event for the 14th consecutive year and 22nd time overall.

Tickets and information for the 2013 Series are available at www.naiaworldseries.com.

Year one of the extension agreement will see the 10-team double-elimination tournament run from May 23-30, 2014, while year two is scheduled for May 22-29, 2015, and year three is set for May 27-June 3, 2016. The field each year will be made up of host Lewis-Clark State and nine teams that qualify by winning one of nine opening round tournaments, which are played approximately two weeks prior to the Series.

Harris Field has welcomed 777,904 fans to the NAIA World Series over the 21 years of hosting the event, including a record 5,530 individuals to the 2008 championship game that featured Lewis-Clark State and Lee (Tenn.). The Warriors won their NAIA record 16th national crown that season with an 8-3 victory.

In 2012, Tennessee Wesleyan defeated Rogers State (Okla.) 10-6 to claim its first-ever NAIA World Series title. The Bulldogs became the 32nd program in NAIA baseball history to win the national crown.

Overall, 392 World Series games have been held in Lewiston with an average attendance of 1,984 per game.

Bloomsday orders 8,000 additional bracelets

SPOKANE - On April 18 Bloomsday organizers announced that participants in Spokane's annual rite of spring will receive a lilac-colored bracelet etched with the phrase "Bloomsday Stands With Boston" to wear during the run on May 5.

Initially, 50,000 bracelets were purchased.

On Friday, Bloomsday officials announced an additional 8,000 bracelets have been ordered for distribution to the volunteers who give thousands of hours to make Bloomsday happen, and to the police, fire and medical personnel who help ensure Bloomsday's safety and success.

Each year about 5,000 volunteers help organize and put on the Bloomsday race. Bloomsday participants, volunteers and safety personnel are encouraged to wear their bracelets on race day.

The lilac colored bracelets will be passed out to registered Marmot March, Junior Bloomsday and Bloomsday runners at check-in on Friday, May 3 from 11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m., Saturday, May 4 from 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. and on Bloomsday Sunday from 6:30 to 9 a.m.

Idaho rounds out volleyball roster with three additions

MOSCOW - Idaho volleyball coach Debbie Buchanan has finalized her roster for next season with the addition of three players this spring.

Tineke Bierma, a 6-foot-3 outside hitter from College of Southern Idaho and Terra Varney, a 5-foot-8 defensive specialist from Vista Murrieta High School in Murrieta, Calif., will join the team this fall, and Stephanie Hagins, a 6-foot-4 middle blocker, joined the team earlier this spring after transferring from the University of Hawaii.

Bierma, Varney and Hagins join Samantha Rouleau and Torrin Crawford, who signed during the early signing period in November, as Idaho's newcomers for 2013.

Australian Von Hofe joining Eastern men's hoops program

Australian forward Felix Von Hofe will join the Eastern Washington men's basketball team next fall, Eastern coach Jim Hayford announced.

The 6-foot-5 Von Hofe (pronounced "Hoff") is from Melbourne and is currently attending the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra. He graduated from Wesley College in 2012, and played for the Wesley College Firsts basketball team from 2010 to 2012. In his final year at Wesley, he averaged 24 points and seven rebounds per game.

He played for the Australia under-17 national team, which won the silver medal at the 2012 World U17 Championships held in Kaunas, Lithuania. He scored six points in a 95-62 loss in the championship game to the United States.

Von Hofe will join a pair of Australians in the Eastern program. Venky Jois (Boronia) was the Big Sky Conference Freshman of the Year in the 2012-13 season, and Daniel Hill (Sydney) was a freshman point guard.