Richland High soccer standout named 4A co-Player of the Year
Richland High senior Hayden Crowley, who will play for the University of Washington next fall, was honored by the Washington State Girls Soccer Coaches Association this past week when the organization released its all-state team.
Crowley was named the Class 4A co-Player of the Year, along with Maya Parman of Camas.
Crowley was also named first-team all-state as a forward.
Chiawana defender Emma Haertling was named to the second team.
Two Othello standouts were second-team selections in the Class 2A team: forwarde Hailee Guzman and defender Rubi Mondragon.
Royal midfielder Blake Jenson was an honorable mention pick for the Class 1A team.
▪ The Washington State Volleyball Coaches Association announced its all-state teams from this fall season, and there are a number of area kids on the teams.
Kamiakin senior outside hitter Taryn Vrieling was named to the second team of the Class 4A team. And there were three honorable mention players: Chiawana middle blocker Emily Dawes, Kamiakin setter Rylie Dolven, and Richland libero/defensive specialist Morgon Maxwell.
Three area products were honorable mention picks in the Class 3A team: Kennewick setter Janie Buckingham, Kennewick outside hitter Autumn Larson, and Walla Walla setter Becky Merca.
College Place’s Zoe Hardy was named to the Class 1A second team as an outside hitter, while three others were honorable mention picks. They are College Place setter Jenn Hill, Wahluke middle blocker Ellee Marlow, and College Place middle blocker Maeve Thompson.
In the Class 2B team, Walla Walla Valley Academy outside hitter Sahara Browning was a first-team selection. Honorable mention picks were Tri-Cities Prep middle blocker McKaila Balcom and WWVA middle blocker Rylee King.
Finally, DeSales outside hitter Maddie Wahl was an honorable mention selection for the Class 1B team.
College football
There is an interesting matchup in college football on Saturday that local fans might want to take in.
The LA Bowl featuring Oregon State (7-5) and Utah State (10-3) will showcase a few Mid-Columbia athletes.
For Oregon State, Kamiakin grad Korbin Sorensen is a redshirt senior offensive lineman. The 6-foot-6, 296-pound Sorensen hasn’t started this season, but he’s played in all 12 of the Beavers’ games as either a backup or on special teams.
Sorensen spent his first three seasons in college football playing for Portland State before transferring to Corvallis in January of 2020.
Meanwhile, Chiawana graduate AJ Vongphachanh has been a starting linebacker all season for the Aggies, collecting 53 tackles in 13 contests. Of those tackles, 17 were solo, seven were for loss, two were quarterback sacks, and he had two hurries.
Vongphachanh, a junior, is 6-2 and 230 pounds.
Also on the Utah State roster (but he hasn’t played this season) is redshirt-freshman wide receiver Garrett Walchli, a Hermiston High graduate.
Saturday’s game kicks off at 4:30 p.m., and will be televised on ABC.
Wrestling
There were a lot of local champions at Kennewick High’s Bob Mars Invitational on Dec. 4.
Led by the Johnson brothers from Chiawana, Darion and Daeton, the Riverhawks dominated by winning the team title with 333 points.
Senior Darion won the 182-pound title and was named the upper weights wrestler of the meet, while freshman Daeton took the 113-pound title and was named the lower weights wrestler of the tournament.
Other Chiawana champs were Isaiah Medina (120), Jordan Tobias (138), Lance Stover (145) and Evan Sauceda (152).
Othello wrestlers won three titles: Victorino De La Cruz (106), Mason Perez (285) and Josue Solorio (220).
Pasco’s Victor Godinez (132 pounds), Kamiakin’s Juan Hoffman (126), Walla Walla’s Jake Humphrey (170) and Connell’s Adrian Magana (195) were also tournament champions.
▪ Kennewick came away with two tournament champions at the Warden girls invitational on Dec. 11.
Ayanna Asselin had three pins en route to her victory at 170 pounds, while Sara Correa Gambindo did the same in winning at 145.
Prep basketball
Despite the 72-57 loss to Richland last week, Chiawana boys basketball coach Chad Herron likes what he sees in his hustling, scrappy Riverhawks.
“I thought we had some excellent looks at shots,” said Herron. “With a little maturity, we’ll start making them. I love coaching this team.”
The next day, Saturday, Chiawana ran away from Southridge for a 66-33 victory to get back on track.
Senior Connor Mendez is the lone returner from the MCC title team of two years ago. Junior forward Donavin Young, who is 6-foot-6, is the younger brother of Riverhawks grad Kobe Young, who is now at Boise State University on the men’s basketball team.
▪ River View senior forward Skyln Munson is a strong candidate to be all-EWAC player this season. In a 49-45 loss to Kittitas last week, Munson scored 22 points for the Panthers (who are 0-6 to start the season).
Munson is great at driving to the basket, creating lanes that somehow seem too small.
And if she misses the shot, she’s great at getting the offensive rebound. Tough player.
Prep football
Graham-Kapowsin’s football team — which rolled over Kamiakin in the Class 4A football semifinals last month, then did the same to Lake Stevens to win the state title — has been invited to play in the Geico State Champions Bowl Game in Las Vegas.
The Eagles will take on Georgia 7A state champion Collins Hill. The game kicks off at 1 p.m. Saturday and will be televised on ESPNU.