Son of former Tri-City American to hit the ice against his dad’s old team

If you’re headed to the Tri-City Americans’ game Wednesday night at the Toyota Center and see a familiar name on the opposing team’s roster, it’s not a coincidence.

The Vancouver Giants, who will play the Americans (puck drop at 7:05 p.m.) have a 17-year-old forward named Lukas Svejkovsky.

He is the son of former Tri-City American Jaroslav “Yogi” Svejkovsky, who played one season for the Ams in 1995-96.

In that one season, Yogi scored 101 points for Tri-City — 58 goals and 48 assists. In addition, he added 10 goals and 9 assists – 19 points — in 11 playoff games that season.

He ended up playing parts of four seasons in the NHL with the Washington Capitals and the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Since 2006, Yogi Svejkovsky has been the skills coach for the Vancouver Giants, and his family makes their home in Point Roberts, Wash., about a 45-minute drive to Vancouver.

Lukas Svejkovsky was selected in the second round of the 2016 WHL Bantam Draft by Vancouver. But the youngster didn’t immediately sign with the Giants.

Instead playing last season for the Wenatchee Wild, where he had 11 points (5 goals, 6 assists) in 16 games for the British Columbia Hockey League club.

But he signed with the Giants last July, and currently has 11 points (4 goals, 7 assists) in 39 games for the Giants.

Vancouver comes into Wednesday’s contest sitting in first place in the BC Division with 54 points (26-12-2-0), while the Americans are fourth in the US Division with 44 points (21-16-1-1).

The Giants will visit Tri-Cities once more, March 9, this regular season.

College track

Saturday marked the beginning of the college indoor track season, in earnest. There were plenty of Mid-Columbian athletes who got off to great starts.

At the Bronco Invite at Boise State University, Utah State freshman Roman Ruiz (Chiawana) won the men’s pole vault event with a height of 16 feet, 2.75 inches. Lindsey Schauble (Kamiakin) ran a leg of the winning women’s 4x400 relay for Washington State.

The foursome finished in 3:57.20. Schauble also gained third-place honors in the high jump with a leap of 5-3.25. Ethan Gardner (Walla Walla), competing for WSU, placed second in the men’s 200 meters with a time of 21.73 seconds. Gardner also tied for third in the men’s 60 meter dash with a time of 7.00 seconds.

Down in Provo, Utah, at the BYU Cougar Collegiate Indoor Invitational, BYU’s Andrea Stapleton-Johnson (Kamiakin) won the women’s high jump event with a leap of 6-0. BYU’s Dennis Christsensen (Richland) earned third-place finishes in three events: men’s discus (154-0 feet), shot put (51-2.25), and weight throw (47-5.25).

Over at the UW Indoor Preview in Seattle, WSU’s Mitch Jacobson (Walla Walla) tied for second in the men’s high jump with a mark of 6 feet, 8.75 inches.

Finally, at the Lauren McCluskey Memorial Open at the University of Idaho, Eastern Washington University’s Madison Doepker (Walla Walla) picked up a second-place finish in the women’s weight throw at 53 feet, 3.75 inches. EWU’s Joe Gauthier (Hanford) placed second in the men’s 60 meters at 6.99 seconds, and EWU’s Samantha Raines (Kamiakin) also placed second in the women’s pole vault at 12-5.25.

In the men’s 1-mile run, Idaho’s Fabian Cardenas (Umatilla) placed third with a time of 4:19.53. Current Kamiakin runners Stanford Smith and Ryan Child also competed in the event running unattached. Smith placed 14th in 4:31.46, while Child was 19th in 4:33.79. Austin Albertin (Kennewick) ran the anchor leg of the Spokane Community College men’s 4x400 relay team, which finished third out of nine teams in 3:29.06. Albertin also finished fifth of 36 competitors in the men’s 200 meters with a time of 49.74 seconds. In the same event, EWU’s Nate Maltos (Sunnyside) placed 11th in 52.73 seconds.

In the women’s 800 meters, Lewis-Clark State’s Emily Adams (Waitsburg) placed fifth in 2:20.65. On the men’s side, current Kamiakin High runner Cameron Gutierrez, running unattached, finished fifth out of 27 runners in the 800 meters, with a time of 1:58.59. EWU’s Dante Tyler (Richland) placed sixth in the men’s weight throw with a toss of 49-10.5, and EWU’s Jessica Linde (Sunnyside) was ninth of 36 competitors in the women’s 60-meter hurdles. Linde’s time was 9.48 sections.