Wa-Hi grad Wagner still excelling in wheelchair tennis. He just played at Wimbledon
It’s nice to see David Wagner is still excelling in wheelchair tennis.
Wagner, 48, is a Walla Walla High School graduate.
Last week at Wimbledon, Wagner was ousted in wheelchair singles in the semifinals, falling 6-0, 6-7, 6-1 to San Schroder of the Netherlands.
In wheelchair doubles play, Wagner teamed with England’s Andy Lapthorne to make it to the finals before losing to Schroder and his Dutch teammate Niels Vink by a score of 6-7, 6-2, 6-3.
Wagner has been no stranger to success in wheelchair tennis, and he’s traveled all over the world to have an 890–197 record.
More importantly, Wagner has won an incredible 28 Grand Slam titles in his career — which includes three singles titles at the Australian Open, and three more U.S. Open singles championships.
He’s even more prolific in Grand Slam doubles play, winning nine titles each at the Aussie and U.S. Open; three doubles crowns at the French Open; and he got his first Wimbledon doubles title in 2021.
College football
I’m thinking Kamiakin grad Zach Borisch might be one of the most exciting players to watch this fall in Big Sky Conference football.
And I think the University of Idaho, the team Borisch plays for, also thinks that.
When looking at the Vandals roster for this fall, Borisch’s position is listed as Slash. That’s because he can either play quarterback or running back.
Last season, Borisch — a redshirt junior — led Idaho in rushing with 502 yards. He also passed for 371 yards, and became a thorn in the side of defensive teams’ game plans.
Borisch isn’t the only area athlete on the Vandals’ roster.
Kennewick freshman Ayden Knapik is listed as a 6-foot-7, 260-pound offensive lineman.
Richland High grad Jack Schuster is a redshirt sophomore at tight end, where he stands 6-4 and weighs 240 pounds.
Prep baseball
Quick recap of the Eastern Washington Athletic Conference 2B East baseball first team from spring: Tri-Cities Prep senior Tyler Harper was named Player of the Year, while Prep’s Jason Jarrett was named Coach of the Year.
Joining Harper on the first team were teammates Henry Douglas, a sophomore; senior Noah Elliott; and junior Evan Sherfey.
Warden had three players on the first team: sophomore Owen Cox, senior Zach Elisalde, and junior Tyson Visker.
Three schools each had one first-team representative: Columbia-Burbank junior Michael Lenke, Walla Walla Valley Academy senior Ryota Nishi, and River View sophomore Riley Whitlow.
Little League baseball
Richland National’s 11-year-olds are headed to the Washington State Little League tournament, which begins this coming Saturday, July 16, in Federal Way.
RNLL defeated East Valley 14-1 in the District 12 championship game to qualify for the state tourney. Richland National will open state play at noon on Saturday.
Team members for RNLL are Dominick Gourley, Clayton Guymon, Liam Hall, Easton Lisenbey, Colten Lusk, Marshall Metcalf, Jackson Rhoten, David Robertson, Carter Sanchez, Henry Shaw, Mason Shinkoethe, Landon Smith, and Dallon Weddle.
Team manager is Sheldon Weddle, and his assistant coaches are Ed Lisenbey and Kenny Rhoten.
▪ Richland National went unbeaten and trounced Greater Richland 20-0 in the District 12 Little League tournament championship for 10-year-olds on Monday night at the Badger Mountain Sports Complex in Richland.
Members of the RNLL squad are Ethan Chung, Alex Diaz, Brody Haney, Hudson Hewitt, Jayden Kitchin, Steven Lechuga, Zubin McDermott, Nicholas Rogel, Mason Rowe, Charlee Sanchez, Jack Simons, Ethan Summers, and Heath Wick.
Manager A. Rowe and his assistants, Andrew Chung and TJ Simon are the coaches.
Richland National will advance to the state tournament, which is set to begin on July 23 at Fort Vancouver.
RNLL will open state tournament play at noon on Saturday, July 23.
Indoor football
The Indoor Football League has announced its nominations for its next Hall of Fame class, and two former Tri-Cities Fever members among those nominees.
Former standout Fever quarterback Houston Lillard tossed 208 touchdown passes for the Tri-City franchise, and totaled 9,102 passing yards during his career.
Adam Shackelford was the Fever’s head coach from 2010 through 2015, and led the team to two championship game appearances.
Shackelford compiled a 98-43 during his IFL career, and he ranks third in all-time coaching wins.
While living full time in Spokane with his wife and two boys, he currently is the director of player personnel and the senior offensive consultant for the IFL’s Frisco Fighters.
Former Fever defensive back Lionel Singleton is the only Tri-City connection already in the IFL Hall of Fame.
Fans can go to the IFL website and vote on the nominees.
College basketball
Last week, Northwest Nazarene University announced that the 1994-95 men’s basketball team will be inducted into the school’s athletics hall of fame during Homecoming weekend on Nov. 12.
NNU’s team went 27-7 that season, and made it all the way to the NAIA championship game before falling in overtime.
That squad was coached by former Columbia Basin College head coach Ed Weidenbach.
His top assistant, Rich Sanders, was a Kamiakin High School grad, a head coach at Hanford High School, and was Weidenbach’s assistant also at CBC. Sanders eventually would follow in Weidenbach’s footsteps as NNU’s head men’s basketball coach, and he also was at one time NNU’s athletic director.
Another assistant during the 1994-95 season was Curt Clark, who came from Hanford High.
And then there were five players from the Mid-Columbia on that squad: Roy Garcia (Grandview High grad), Chad Herron (Pasco High), brothers Tony Schumacher and Todd Schumacher (Kamiakin grads), and Trevor Stott (Kennewick High).
Garcia, Herron, Tony Schumacher and Stott all averaged in double-figures scoring that season.
Herron is the boys head basketball coach at Chiawana High School, while Todd Schumacher is the boys basketball head coach at Columbia Burbank High School.