No headline

Zags announce addition of

grad transfer Woolridge

SPOKANE — Ryan Woolridge, a transfer from the University of North Texas, signed a financial aid agreement to attend Gonzaga University and will join the men’s basketball team for the 2019-20 season.

Woolridge, a 6-foot-3, 175-pound guard, recently graduated from North Texas. He will be eligible to play as a graduate transfer.

“Ryan will be a great addition to this year’s team, and we are very much looking forward to working with him as we feel he will have a big impact on our program moving forward,” Gonzaga coach Mark Few said.

Woolridge was named All-Conference USA Third Team in 2018-19. The Mansfield, Texas, native averaged 11.7 points, six rebounds and five assists last season for the Mean Green. He appeared in 30 games, starting in 27. He was the only player in C-USA to average over 10 points, five rebounds and five assists per game. Woolridge recorded the program’s first triple-double in 27 years on Dec. 5 at Indiana State with 12 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. He was the only player in C-USA to record a triple-double in 2018-19. He led the team with 58 steals last season.

Woolridge has scored 1,034 points in his collegiate career, averaging 11.6 points through his three seasons at UNT. Following his redshirt junior season, his 150 career steals were one shy of tying the program record. He graduated from North Texas with 433 career assists, which were the second-most in program history. In 2017-18 Woolridge dished out a single-season school record 221 assists. He started all 38 games during his redshirt sophomore season, playing a school record 1,391 minutes.

Woolridge joins a Bulldog squad that advanced to their fifth straight Sweet 16, the longest active streak in the nation, before ending the 2018-19 season in the program’s fourth Elite Eight. Gonzaga won 33 games, going 16-0 in West Coast Conference play.

Indoor swim lesson

registration nears

Registration will begin Monday, July 8, at 8 a.m. for the next six-week session of indoor swim lessons sponsored by the Coeur d’Alene Recreation Department and held at the Kootenai Health Therapeutic Pool.

Classes offered are Parent-Tot and 3-year-olds and above with different levels.

Classes are held on Monday or Wednesday evenings, and Saturday morning classes are offered for some levels. Classes start the week of July 22. Registration will take place at the Coeur d’Alene City Hall Recreation Department, 710 Mullan Ave.

Cost is $37. There is limited registration. No pre-registration is allowed.

Zummack, Toporowski

earn invites to NHL camps

Spokane Chiefs forward Eli Zummack is participating in the Tampa Bay Lightning’s 2019 Development Camp, taking place through Saturday at the Brandon Ice Sports Forum in Tampa, Fla.

Zummack, who set career highs in points (68) and assists (53) during the 2018-19 WHL season, is one of 25 players and 14 forwards invited. He is one of six undrafted players.

Chiefs forward Luke Toporowski is taking part in the Winnipeg Jets’ 2019 Development Camp, which runs through Friday at Bell MTS Iceplex in Winnipeg.

Toporowski, who posted 21 goals and 49 points for the Chiefs during the 2018-19 regular season, is one of 22 forwards invited to the camp and one of 17 undrafted players.

- The Spokane Chiefs announced their 2019-20 regular season home opener at Spokane Arena will be on Saturday, Sept. 28 versus the Tri-City Americans.

The game will mark the first time the Chiefs have opened at home against the rival Americans since the 2016-17 season, when they won 5-2. The Chiefs hosted Tri-City for their home opener in 12 consecutive seasons from 2005-06 to 2016-17, posting a 10-1-0-1 record including nine-straight wins beginning in 2008. Spokane went 6-5-0-1 versus the Americans during the 2018-19 regular season.

Spokane will begin its 2019-20 campaign on the road, playing in Kamloops on Sept. 20 and at Kelowna on Sept. 21. The Chiefs’ full regular season schedule is expected to be announced today.

Former Lake City star Johnson helps keep Shadow women in playoff hunt

Former Lake City High standout Havana Johnson scored in each game as the Spokane Shadow Women’s First Team defeated a pair of visiting teams from Oregon in WPSL play.

The Shadow downed the Eugene Timbers Azul 5-1 on Saturday and rolled past the Westside Timbers 8-0 on Sunday in their home finale.

Johnson will be a junior on the women’s soccer team at NCAA Division I McNeese State in Lake Charles, La., this fall.

The results keep the Shadow in the hunt for the postseason, which has essentially narrowed to a three-team race with only a few games remaining. They are tied with defending WPSL champion Seattle Sounders Women with a 5-1-0 record and 15 points, but need the champs to drop a point as they hold the tiebreaker with a win in their meeting earlier this season on the west side.

The Shadow wrap up their regular season campaign on the road this week with games Saturday and Sunday in Renton, Wash.