Kennewick’s Zamora was rocking her first NASCAR race

Kennewick’s Brittney Zamora made her 2019 debut for Bill McAnally Racing in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East season opener Monday in New Smyrna in Florida.

Zamora was picking off opponents one at a time when she got spun out and crashed on the 156th lap of the 2019 New Smyrna 175. Zamora ended up placing 15th out of 19 drivers.

The 19-year-old drives in the K&N Pro Series West division, but the BMR drivers will also compete in some K&N Pro Series East races this season.

Her next race is scheduled for Feb. 28 in Las Vegas.

Columbia Basin College

Columbia Basin College athletic director Scott Rogers reported another successful hall of fame banquet.

CBC’s 13th annual CBC Athletic Hall of Fame Banquet, held Jan. 26 at the Byron Gjerde Center on the school’s campus, was sold out and raised almost $51,000 for athletic scholarships and facilities improvements.

It’s the second consecutive year that the event has cleared the $50,000 mark, thanks to silent and live auctions, and being a sold-out event.

It also gave CBC boosters a chance to see Shelly Siegfried, Ron East and the 1994 women’s soccer team inducted into the school’s hall of fame.

“It’s encouraging to see that level of support for our Hall of Fame inductions,” Rogers said. “It’s obviously a fund-raising event for athletics, but the priority to me is filling the room with sports-minded people to support both our inductees and current athletes being recognized. Fill the room with enthusiasm and a natural byproduct of that is generating funds to help support our student athletes. Attendees’ generosity helped us bring in more money to support our athletes than we ever could have expected.”

Notes

▪ Walla Walla Community College men’s basketball player Jake Albright was named the NWAC men’s player of the week for Feb. 6, after he scored a total of 51 points, grabbed 21 rebounds, had 9 assists and 7 blocked shots in the Warriors’ wins over Wenatchee Valley and Yakima Valley.

▪ Here is how tough the NWAC East is this season in women’s basketball: There are 34 women’s teams in the NWAC. Of the top 10 teams in the RPI rankings, seven are from the East. Only four of those East teams will advance to the postseason. Columbia Basin College is ranked ninth in the RPI, yet wouldn’t make the postseason if the season ended today.

▪ Seattle Pacific University’s Nathan Streufert (Richland) is one of eight members of the men’s basketball team who made the Great Northwest Athletic Conference’s All-Academic Men’s Basketball team. Streufert made it for the third consecutive year. The senior carries a 3.80 grade point average while majoring in Physiology.

▪ Congrats to Atticus “A.J.” Templeton, who announced on Twitter this week he’ll be heading to Whitworth next fall to play football. Templeton, who played quarterback and defensive back, was injured much of his junior and senior seasons at Kennewick High, but is talented enough to get a shot at the next level.

▪ The WIAA named its athlete of the week Wednesday: the weather. The snow wiped out almost all sports events over much of the previous week around the state.

▪ Former Kamiakin quarterback Mike Reilly signed a four-year, $2.9 million deal with the Canadian Football League’s British Columbia Lions this week. Reilly, 34, had been the Edmonton Eskimos’ quarterback the past six seasons, leading the team to a Grey Cup title in 2015, and being named the CFL’s Most Outstanding Player in 2017. He had been the CFL’s top passer these past three seasons. He was a free agent this offseason.

▪ In college wrestling this week, Iowa State beat Oregon State 23-14. In one of the matches, two Hermiston High graduates wrestled each other. Iowa State’s Sam Colbray had a major decision, 13-4, over Oregon State’s Bob Coleman.

▪ WSU’s baseball team is set to open the season this weekend with games Friday, Saturday and Sunday down in Moraga, Calif., against St. Mary’s. Junior Dillon Plew (Kennewick) is pegged to start at first base and bat second in the Cougars’ lineup. In addition to Plew, the Cougs also have freshman utility man Payton Flynn (Kamiakin) and freshman pitcher Trent Sellers (Kennewick) on the roster.

Bowling

Let’s wrap up the high school bowling season.

The MCC came out with its all-conference teams recently, naming Southridge junior Nicole Omlor its Bowler of the Year.

Omlor averaged a 181.39 pin count — tops in the conference by almost 10 pins.

Teresa Chavez, Pasco’s long-time coach, was named MCC Coach of the Year for leading the Bulldogs to the MCC title, and then a second-place finish at state.

Here are the other first-team all-stars along with Omlor: Chiawana senior McKailee Beck (171.88 average), Pasco junior Brandy Castaneda (170.0), Pasco senior Dani Leal (168.09), and Kennewick sophomore Skye Wheatley (165.96). Here is the second team: Kennewick freshman Paige Harns (160.60), Pasco senior Belle Bach (160.37), Walla Walla juniors Mya Jones (158.52) and Michaela Adams (158.31) and Hanford junior Suzanne Gelston (155.55).

Here is the honorable mention list: Walla Walla senior Natalie Manny (152.46), Chiawana junior Miranda Verduzco (152.44), Pasco seniors Yesenia Nunez (152.29) and Brisa Fraire (152.10), and Kennewick junior Aydri Turnbull (151.83).

This story was originally published February 15, 2019 at 5:15 PM.