Mid-Columbia sports briefs for Monday, March 21

Elk foundation plans banquet April 9

The Tri-Cities chapter of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation will hold its annual Big Game Banquet fundraiser Saturday, April 9, at TRAC in Pasco.

Dinner is $30 for RMEF members. Nonmembers need to purchase an annual supporting membership for $35 as well. Deadline for purchasing a ticket is April 6.

The night will include games, raffles and auctions with an emphasis on children.

The Tri-Cities RMEF chapter will be recognized this spring in Bugle magazine as a 2015 Outstanding Chapter for raising more than $100,000 last year. With 28 active members and seeking more, the chapter has raised close to $1.5 million in its 27 years to help fund land conservation, promote hunting and improve public access.

Track and field

Eastern Washington senior Kaytlyn Coleman (Kennewick) and redshirt sophomore Aaron Cunningham (Hanford) have qualified for the Big Sky Conference Outdoor Championships.

Coleman qualified in the women’s hammer throw with her winning mark of 189 feet, 7 inches at the Whitworth Buc Scoring Invite in Spokane. Teammate Kelsie Forcier was second (174-5), and EWU sophomore Samantha Lester (Kennewick) was third (161-0).

Lester was second in the women’s discus (144-10).

Cunningham won the men’s shot put, qualifying for the Big Sky championships with his toss of 53-2 3/4. He also was third in the hammer (162-1) and fifth in the discus (142-8).

Washington State junior Brendan Rexus (Kamiakin) won the men’s high jump at 6-6 3/4.

Gonzaga senior Maggie Jones (Richland) won the women’s 1,500 meters in 4 minutes, 39.14 seconds and was second in the 800 in 2:19.47.

▪ Marissa Berry (Southridge) placed third for San Diego State in the women’s pole vault (12-5 1/4) at the Irwin Collegiate Scoring Meet in Point Loma, Calif.

Tennis

Lewis-Clark State College sophomore Stephanie Buckingham (Kennewick) picked up a pair of wins over the weekend as the Warriors played three matches in Boise.

Buckingham and Deanri Human won the No. 3 doubles match 8-2 as the NAIA No. 18 Warriors beat Willamette University 8-0. Buckingham also posted a 6-1, 6-0 win at No. 3 singles in a 9-0 sweep of College of Idaho. She and Human lost their No. 3 doubles match against Boise State, 6-1.

Perkins was 2-for-3 with a triple for the Mustangs in the opener, while Kayla Johnson tripled for Prosser in the second game.

Softball

Western Washington sophomore Emily Benson (Kamiakin) had a pair of hits in Monday’s 5-2 win over Western Oregon to run her hitting streak to nine games.

Benson’s seven home runs and 24 RBIs far easily team highs through 24 games. She is hitting .329 (28-for-85) with a .972 OPS.

This story was originally published March 21, 2016 at 5:45 PM with the headline "Mid-Columbia sports briefs for Monday, March 21."