Tri-Cities athletes help stack WA, OR college rosters as fall sports ramp up

Whitworth’s women’s soccer team will have four Tri-City athletes on its roster this fall: sophomore forward Emma Ellerd (Chiawana), sophomore defender Lauren Ellerd (Chiawana), senior defender Maddie Kutschkau (Kamiakin, North Idaho College), and junior midfielder Claire Nguyen (Hanford).

The Pirates open the season on the road Aug. 30 at Hamline University in Minnesota.

▪ Jonas Olvera was a men’s soccer standout for both Pasco High School and then Columbia Basin College. The defender has now transferred to play for The Evergreen State College.

▪ Christopher Aguilera, who played men’s soccer for Walla Walla University last year, has signed a letter of intent to play this fall for Bushnell University.

▪ Kamiakin graduate Daniela Mesplie will be playing women’s soccer this fall for the Northwest University in Kirkland.

▪ Hector Castillo finished his community college men’s soccer career last year at Walla Walla Community College. Now he takes his skills to four-year school Corban University after signing a letter of intent.

Basketball

Luke Westerfield, the 6-foot-10 post player that helped lead Richland’s boys basketball team to the state championship game back in March, signed a letter of intent this summer to play for the Central Washington University men’s basketball team this coming fall.

Westerfield was the Mid-Columbia Conference Defensive Player of the Year; was named a first-team all-conference player, and was on the MCC all-defensive team.

Cross country

Miguel Duran, who competed at Hermiston High School, has agreed to run cross country at Walla Walla University starting this fall.

▪ Seth Huxley, who graduated from Walla Walla Valley Academy in the spring, will run cross country this fall for Walla Walla University.

Baseball

Dylan Runge, a Hanford High grad who spent the past few seasons pitching for Blue Mountain Community College, spent his summer pitching for the Medicine Hat Mavericks of the Western Canada Baseball League.

Runge, a 6-3 right-handed pitcher, had a 4-1 record, one save, a 4.74 earned run average, and 45 strikeouts in 55 innings pitched for the Mavericks.

He also has signed a letter of intent to pitch for Eastern Oregon next spring.

▪ Tanner Martinez of Walla Walla Community College will continue his baseball career after signing with Corban University.

▪ Catcher Griffen Bushnell spent two seasons playing baseball for the Walla Walla Community College squad. He now has transferred to Mount Mercy University, which is located in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

▪ Richland High grad Ethan Ammerman has transferred from Milligan University in Tennessee to Corban University for the coming season. Ammerman is an infielder.

Hockey

In early July, the Tri-City Americans named Jake Sloan as the 35th captain in their Western Hockey League history.

Sloan, 20, is a 6-foot-4 center.

He’s been with the Americans in all or parts of five seasons beginning in 2019-20.

In that time, he’s played in 203 regular-season games, scoring 72 goals and 96 assists.

▪ Tri-City Americans defenseman Ethan Peters, who finished his junior career eligibility this past season, is headed to Queen’s University in Canada to continue his education. He’ll continue to play hockey for the school’s squad.

The 6-2, 177-pound Peters spent two seasons with the Americans, playing 89 games from 2022 to 2024.

Football

Scorebook Live Washington’s Todd Milles recently released his top five preseason 3A football players of the year candidates for this coming season.

One of the five is Kennewick’s Alex Roberts.

The senior running back rushed for over 1,000 yards last season, averaging 7.9 yards per carry.

▪ Chiawana’s Braxton Feldmann, who will be a senior this fall, has started to receive some interest from small colleges for football.

The safety and running back has gotten offers from both Montana Tech and Pacific University in Forest Grove, Ore.

Feldmann is also a talented javelin thrower, placing second in the event at the WIAA Class 4A meet in late May with a toss of 184 feet, 4 inches.

Volleyball

Kamiakin grad Julie Whitley, one of the Braves’ stars on their girls volleyball team last fall, is headed to La Grande to play for the Eastern Oregon University women’s volleyball squad.

Awards

Walla Walla High School’s athletes of the year were announced in June, with Ashlyn Nielsen being named girls athlete of the year, and Carter O’Dell earned the top boys athlete of the year honors.