Tri-City Americans defenseman Jackson Smith scores twice for Canada at U-18 hockey Worlds

Tri-City Americans defenseman Jackson Smith made the roster for the Hockey Canada World U-18 Championships that began on April 23 in Frisco, Texas.

Canada opened pool play win a 9-2 victory over Slovakia on April 24, with Smith scoring a goal. The 17-year-old played 23 minutes and 8 seconds on the ice, and he had a plus-1 plus-minus rating.

The Canadians then took down Latvia 7-1 on Friday, April 25. Again, Smith scored a goal and was a plus-1 on the ice.Canada continues pool play with an April 27 contest against Finland, and an April 28 game versus Norway before the quarterfinals begin.

▪ Charlie Elick, the Tri-City Americans’ standout defenseman who the team traded for with Brandon in January, signed an amateur tryout contract with the Cleveland Monsters on April 10.

The Monsters are the American Hockey League affiliate of the NHL’s Columbus Blue Jackets, the team that drafted Elick in the 2024 NHL Draft.

Elick did not play any games with the Monsters, but he got to hang with the team for a few weeks.

▪ Richland product Cruz Waltze, a 16-year-old left-handed shooting center, played two regular-season games this past Western Hockey League season with the Victoria Royals. He’s also played in one WHL playoff game.

Waltze — at 5-foot-9, 176 pounds — has spent most of this past hockey season with the Delta Hockey Academy’s U18 Prep team.

In 35 contests for Delta, Waltze has 40 points — 23 goals and 17 assists.

College running

Kennewick High graduate Johan Correa has had a strong running year at Central Washington University.

Last November, the graduate student finished 36th in the NCAA Division 2 national cross country championships in Sacramento.

Correa covered the 10K course in 30 minutes and 28.4 seconds.

With his placing, Correa was named to the All-American team. It was the second consecutive year that he was named a cross country All-American (placing 17th overall in 2024).

In March at the NCAA Division 2 Indoor track championships, Correa was named to the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association all-region indoor team in both the men’s mile and 800 meters.

Correa finished fourth in the 800-meter finals with a time of 1 minutes, 49.56 seconds.

That finish earned him another All-American honor.

So far this spring, in the outdoors season, Correa has won one 1500 meters race, and two 800 meters finals.

On March 24, Correa earned Great Northwest Athletic Conference track and field athlete of the week honors.

Signings

Kadence Barnes (Walla Walla CC) signed a letter of intent on Feb. 21 to play for the Bushnell University women’s volleyball team starting in the fall.

Barnes, who competed for Lewiston in high school, had 193 kills, 175 digs, and 21 blocked shots for the WWCC Warriors in the NWAC.

▪ Chiawana senior Kamdyn Janshen signed a letter of intent on Feb. 23 to play for the Bushnell men’s soccer team starting this fall.

College rowing

Senior Sage Miller (Richland), competing for the second varsity 8, helped Pacific Lutheran University’s women’s rowing team win twice at its own invitational on March 15.

Both victories were over Lewis & Clark College.

College football

Eastern Oregon University began spring football practice on April 14. The Mountaineers will have 15 practices, and a spring game set for May 17.

Eastern recently signed four players who will be on the roster for the 2025 season that starts in August.

Offensive lineman Joshua Doig (Chiawana) heads to La Grande after playing for Pacific Northwest Christian Community College.

Both Adrian Magana (Connell) and Kolo Moser (Oroville) also come to EOU from PNWCCC in Kennewick.

And linebacker Dawson Gebers (Kennewick) has committed to play after he graduates in June.

College basketball

Senior Amar Rivers (CBC) was the No. 2 scorer for the Western Colorado University men’s basketball team this season, averaging 11.5 points a game.

Rivers also had 56 assists and 24 steals for WCU, which finished its season with an 8-19 record.

▪ Junior Kiana Rios (Warden) finished her Saint Martin’s University women’s basketball season by being named to the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) second-team all-GNAC team.

Rios helped lead the Saints to an 18-11 record by averaging 13.7 points and 6.1 rebounds.

Rios also averaged 2.0 assists, and had 41 steals this past season.

▪ Freshman Peter Dress (Kamiakin) had a strong first season playing men’s basketball for Embry Riddle University-Arizona.

Dress, a 6-6 forward, was the team’s No. 2 scorer, averaging 13.2 points a game. He also grabbed 4.1 rebounds, as his team finished the season with a 13-15 record.

College baseball

Kamiakin grad Brady Bean is one of the University of Portland baseball team’s top players this season.

Bean, a junior infielder, is batting .333, with five home runs. His 27 RBIs and 6 stolen bases are tops for the Pilots this season.

Portland has a 14-18 overall record, but the team has a 7-2 West Coast Conference record through April 6.