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Sports
BYU-bound Johnston wraps up high school career with state titles, national record
By Craig Howard, News EditorShare:  
June 28, 2010 — No one was quite sure who had won the 3,200-meter race at last month's Washington State 3A Track and Field Championships in Tacoma after Ben Johnston and Drew O'Donoghue-McDonald crossed the finish line stride for stride.
A few weeks before graduating from North Central High School in Spokane, Ben Johnston glided to a pair of first-place finishes at the Washington 3A Track Championship Meet in Tacoma. Johnston earned titles in the 1,600 and 3,200 meter runs while helping North Central to its third straight team championship. Contributed Photo.
As the runners filtered onto the infield, Johnston's coach, Jon Knight, joined thousands in the stands at Mt. Tahoma High School in contemplating the question of the moment.
"I asked Ben if he'd won," Knight said. "He said, 'I think so, coach.' It was classic Ben - not real vocal, just a humble response."
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Sports
Premier soccer in Spokane strives for net gain
By Craig Howard, News EditorShare:
June 21, 2010 — While billions of soccer fans around the planet cheer on their favorite clubs during the latest rendition of the World Cup, a pair of teams from the Inland Northwest continue to generate some serious enthusiasm of their own.
The Spokane Black Widows (left) and the Spokane Spiders play their home games at Joe Albi Stadium in north Spokane. The Black Widows compete in the Premier Women's Soccer League while the Spiders are part of the Premier Development League, a branch of the United Soccer Leagues. Contributed Photo.
Spokane's Joe Albi Stadium might fall short of the 94,000-plus seats at Soccer City Stadium in Johannesburg, South Africa, but local followers of the world's most popular sport are quickly discovering that quality soccer has arrived in the form of the Spokane Black Widows and the Spokane Spiders, two premier league squads that feature area athletes competing for the love of the game, not a paycheck.
The Black Widows compete in the Pacific Conference of the Premier Women's Soccer League with teams from cities like Sacramento, San Francisco and Portland. Currently, Spokane stands at 2-3, good for fifth place in the Pacific's North Division.
The Spiders, meanwhile are looking for their second win in the competitive Northwest Division of the Premier Development League, a branch of the United Soccer Leagues. Formed in 1986, the USL serves as the soccer equivalent of minor league baseball with teams throughout the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico organized into separate leagues representing half-a-dozen skill levels.
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Sports
Spokane Valley family emphasizes hoops with a heart
By Craig Howard, News EditorShare:
April 5, 2010 — On the most celebrated day of the year in college basketball, Freddie and Austin Rehkow are preparing for church.
It's not the first time that the NCAA Final Four - featuring a quartet of the best teams in the nation - has coincided with the semiannual General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Last year, the University of North Carolina - the preferred team in the Rehkow household - competed in a semifinal game against Villanova, but Freddie and his son, Austin, bypassed the basketball to attend the Saturday night priesthood session.
This year, the Rehkows - members of the Belle Terre Ward in the Spokane East Stake - once again set aside their favorite sport to hear instruction from church leaders. Freddie said the arrangement of priorities is part of the family's commitment to put the gospel first.
Basketball is the No. 1 sport at the home of Freddie and Kim Rehkow, members of the Belle Terre Ward in the Spokane East Stake. The Rehkow starting lineup includes (from left to right) Ryan, Cameron, Kim, Austin, Freddie and Landon. Contributed Photo.
"You could make excuses about not going to church," he said. "But it's just the right thing to do."
The balance of church and sports has always been a pillar at the Rehkow home even when it meant Austin missing a chance to play in a national championship youth soccer game because it fell on Sunday. Austin said the policy has been a testimony builder.
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Sports
March Gladness - Former Spokane missionary finds balance between life, basketball
By Craig Howard, News EditorShare:
March 15, 2010 — You can count on an enthusiastic gathering of 10,506 to file through the turnstiles at Charles Koch Arena in Wichita, Kansas this Wednesday, where the attire may be casual but the fans are certainly not.
It's that way for every home game featuring the Wichita State men's basketball team - a devoted sell-out crowd, a sea of yellow and black and decibel levels that can be heard in most neighboring counties.
This week, the local squad hosts the University of Nevada in the first-round of the National Invitational Tournament, part of a bracket that leads to the national semifinals in New York's Madison Square Garden. Graham Hatch will be in the starting lineup for Wichita State, just as he has for all 31 games this season.
Graham Hatch averages over nine points and nearly four rebounds a game as a starting forward for Wichita State University. Hatch served an LDS mission in the Spokane area from 2005 to 2007. Photo by Dale Stelz.
While the usual thunderous applause will greet Hatch as he takes the court on Wednesday, it wasn't that long ago that the Arizona native was walking the quiet streets of Deer Park, WA., sharing his testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Hatch served two years in the Spokane area as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. His commitment from 2005 to 2007 meant putting his favorite sport on hold.
For Hatch, the decision was as simple as a breakaway dunk.
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Sports
Playing with heart - EWU linebacker triumphs over adversity
By Craig Howard, News EditorShare:
December 7, 2009 — In a football career distinguished by an inventory of individual and team success, Makai Borden has learned to cope with the despondency of defeat.
 There was the upset loss in the first round of the state playoffs when Borden was a senior at Puyallup High School, sending his previously undefeated team home for the year. As a sophomore at Eastern Washington University, Borden watched from the sidelines with a broken foot as eventual national champion Appalachian State escaped with a 38-35 victory in the NCAA Division 1A playoffs.
Yet none of the disappointments on the field compare to the day in 1996 when Borden lost his father, Randy, to cancer.
Randy had played football as well - first as a lineman at Brigham Young University then later at the University of Hawaii before a surfing injury shattered his wrist. He went on to become a successful musician in his native land - the songs he once played over three decades ago can still be heard over the airwaves in Hawaii today.
Randy met his wife, Patrice, when both were enrolled at BYU. They were married in the temple and had four children. Makai was the youngest.
Before he fell ill, Randy taught martial arts and gave motivational speeches at schools and youth centers. Even when he was undergoing treatment for cancer, he attended each one of his kids' sporting events, rolling out onto the soggy turf in a wheelchair, bundled up against the rain and chill.
"He never missed a game," Patrice said.
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Sports
Johnston wins state title
By Craig Howard, News EditorShare:
November 9, 2009 — Congratulations are in order for Ben Johnston, a senior at North Central High School and a member of the River Ridge Ward in the Spokane North Stake. Johnston won the 3A individual championship at the Washington 3A Cross Country Meet in Pasco last Saturday with a time of 15:15. North Central also won its fourth consecutive team title. Read more about Johnston's feats in the Sentinel Sports section.
Sports
North Central cross country athlete races to victory
By Craig Howard, News EditorShare:
November 2, 2009 — Ben Johnston, a senior at North Central High School and a member of the River Ridge Ward in the Spokane North Stake, ran to a first-place finish at the 3A/4A Regional Cross Country Meet at Wandermere Golf Course in north Spokane last Friday. Johnston completed the 3.1-mile course with a time of 15:23, 20 seconds ahead of the second-place runner. The senior will join his North Central teammates at the state meet this Friday in Pasco. A story about Ben's running achievements appears in the Latter-day Sentinel sports section.
Sports
Everyone a winner at North Stake Fun Run
By McKay Allen, Guest ContributorShare:
September 8, 2009 — Some would say that the words 'fun' and 'run' do not belong in the same sentence. It's sort of like saying 'enjoyable' and 'root canal' in the same breath. They just don't fit.
But, alas, 226 runners, from the young to the old, ran on Labor Day and they had fun along the way.
Yesterday marked the 29th anniversary of what's become a venerable Spokane North Stake tradition, the 5K Labor Day Fun Run. It started out as a community run, a neighborhood event for the stake and has grown to be, as one stake member described it, "a fairly big deal on the north side of Spokane."
The racers line up at the starting line preparing for the Fun Run to start. Photo by McKay Allen.
"Our focus isn't as much missionary work as it is neighborhood outreach," says former Stake Activities Chairperson, Chris Heftel.
But, a missionary tool the Fun Run has become. Organizers estimated that up to 30 percent of the 226 participants are not LDS. Full-time missionaries serve as volunteers at the event, helping runners register and ushering them along.
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Sports
North Central runner reaps rewards of going the extra mile
By Craig Howard, News EditorShare:
August 24, 2009 — The fleetest of the fleet gathered in Portland, Ore. on a early winter day in December last year.
The Nike Cross Nationals - the World Series of high school cross country events - featured 45 of the most accomplished runners in the U.S., along with teams like York High School, a program that had won no less than 30 straight Illinois state titles.
The North Spokane Cross Country Club, comprised of student-athletes from North Central High School, was also represented at the starting line. A month before, the team had won its third straight 3A Washington state cross country championship and followed it up with a win at the Northwest regional meet.
Ben Johnston, a senior at North Central High School and a member of the River Ridge Ward in the Spokane North Stake, helped the North Spokane Cross Country Club to a national championship at the Nike Cross Nationals in Portland, Ore. last December. Contributed Photo.
NC junior Ben Johnston and his teammates began the competition as the top-ranked team in the country, but by the four-kilometer mark, the squad was fading on the leader board. By the time the race was over, only senior Andy Kimpel would break into the top 10, placing sixth.
"We were pretty depressed," Johnston said. "I just remember runners passing me three or four at a time."
Then someone relayed the news that the team should report to the medal stand.
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Sports
Safe at home - LDS baseball players place integrity before innings
By Craig Howard, News EditorShare:
July 27, 2009 — "I want to compare faith to winning a race... And where does that power come from, to see the race to its end? From within."
Eric Liddell - British runner and Christian missionary who declined to run the 100-meter race in the 1924 Olympics because it was held on Sunday. Liddell eventually won the gold medal in the 400-meter run.
The cleats were replaced by dress shoes; the baseball glove was put aside for scriptures and Brandon Byers walked to a chapel instead of the dugout.
It was Sunday and Byers - a junior at University High School in Spokane Valley - knew he was in the right place.
Brandon Byers, a junior at University High School, competes in baseball and wrestling. This summer, he was on the roster of University's American Legion AA squad. Contributed Photo.
While his team was preparing to compete in the second round of the Washington State American Legion AA Tournament, Byers - a starter for much of the season - was speaking on the importance of covenants at the Belle Terre Ward Sacrament meeting. It was a decision that had been made at the beginning of the season - no games on the Sabbath, no wavering, no problem.
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Sports
Ironman competitor finds her own path
By Collette Bise, Staff WriterShare:
June 22, 2009 — On Sunday morning, the day of the Ford Ironman competition in Coeur d'Alene, Lynette Romney slept in. She was tired and her feet were a bit sore. When she did glance at the clock, she realized that the starting guns had sounded.
She trained hard for this race, churning out 50-mile bike rides, spending mornings in the pool and going for long runs that seemed to last forever. She was prepared for the distance, the physically and mentally exhausting day of Ironman racing. However, her event was already finished. After all, it is Sunday, her day of rest.
Over 2000 athletes competed in Sunday's Ironman in North Idaho. It is a grueling race consisting of a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride and a full marathon of 26.2 miles. The course must be completed in less than 17 hours to avoid disqualification.
Lynette Romney decided to participate in her own way. She followed the course on Saturday, June 20. She won't receive the t-shirt, the hat or the medal. Her reward is personal.
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Sports
Running to the mountain top - Work ethic propels Nelson to national success at BYU
By Craig Howard, News EditorShare:
June 22, 2009 — "They shall run and not be weary and they shall walk and not faint."
Isaiah 40:31
Rich Nelson was moving swiftly around the oval at the Lowdon Track and Field Complex in Ft. Worth, TX. last May, charging ahead as part of a quartet of runners from Brigham Young University.
Rich Nelson, a junior steeplechase runner at Brigham Young University, crosses the finish line in first place at the NCAA West Regional Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Ore. earlier this month. Nelson was a four-time All-Greater Spokane League cross country runner at Shadle Park High School. Photo courtesy of trackandfieldphotos.com.
Nelson and his BYU teammates left the starting line that day with a goal of earning the top four spots in the men's 3000-meter steeplechase at the Mountain West Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships - and, with one lap to go, it appeared the feat was within reach.
Then Nelson went tumbling to the ground.
The sophomore had clipped one of four 36-inch hurdles that runners must negotiate around each 400 meters of the steeplechase, an event that combines the rigors of long-distance running with the demanding obstacles of a cross country course.
As his teammates and competitors whisked by him, Nelson gathered his courage and rose to his feet.
"I knew I had to get up," he said. "I needed to get one of those four spots for our team."
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Sports
Central Valley senior reaches great heights in sports, school
By Craig Howard, News EditorShare:
June 1, 2009 — Kyle Brown was facing an uphill climb - 15 feet to be exact.
Even though the Central Valley High School senior competes in the pole vault - setting a school record earlier this spring - he would have to scale several hurdles in order to reach his goal of advancing to the state track meet in Tacoma as a regional champion.
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