There’s plenty of local athletes competing in sports at four-year colleges. Here’s a quick look at how a few of them are faring as the winter ends and spring sports begin.
Editor’s note: Know a local athlete standing out at a four-year school? Email us (chroniclesports360@gmail.com) and let us know.
Softball
• Lexie Strasser, a freshman from Chehalis, started in the circle for Central Washington University and took a no-hitter into the sixth inning during a 5-3 win over Western Oregon on Wednesday. Strasser gave up just one hit, without a walk, in the complete-game win, which was CWU’s 10th straight victory. The freshman, who earned a Great Northwest Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Week nod on Monday, has worked 65 ⅔ innings this season with 31 strikeouts and 16 walks and a 7-3 record for the 14-4 Wildcats.
• Jordan Crawford, a freshman from Chehalis, went 1 for 3 with a home run for Davis & Elkins College (West Virginia) in a loss to Glenville State last Thursday. Crawford, an outfielder, has started all 14 games for the 5-9 Senators, who play in the NCAA Div. II Great Midwest Athletic Conference.
• Ali Graham, a junior from Chehalis, went 2 for 3 with an RBI and a double for Oregon Tech in a 4-1 win over the University of British Columbia on Sunday. Graham also got the save for the Hustlin’ Owls (19-5), and improved her batting average to .450 with 20 RBIs.
• Jessica McKay, a Boise State University out of Chehalis, went 2 for 4 with a two-run homer on Sunday in a win over Utah State. McKay, a sophomore outfielder, is hitting .355 and has started all 26 games for the 18-8 Broncos, with four home runs (tied for first on the team) and 20 RBIs (second on the team).
Baseball
• Ty Housden, a junior from Centralia who played two years at Tacoma Community College, went 4 for 4 with two RBIs last Friday for Campbellsville University in a win over Kentucky Christian. Housden, an outfielder, is hitting .384 for the 16-8 Tigers, an NAIA school in Kentucky.
Track & Field
• Forrest Wallace, a junior from Toledo, was fourth in the high jump last Saturday for Eastern Washington University in the high jump, at 5 foot, 11 ½ inches, at the Buc Scoring Meet in Spokane. Wallace also finished seventh in the 400-meter hurdles (1:02.76).
• Josh Schulz, a sophomore from Pe Ell, took sixth in the 200 meters (22.97 seconds) last Saturday for St. Martin’s University at the Lewis & Clark Spring Break Open in Portland.
• The Washington State University women’s 4x100 meter relay team finished fifth on Saturday at the University of Southern California’s Trojan Invitational. The Cougar team, which crossed the line in 46.47 seconds, featured Alissa Brooks-Johnson (a redshirt senior from Doty) and Regyn Gaffney (a junior from Adna). Brooks-Johnson also ran a leg on the third-place 4x400 team, which finished in 3:43.96, better than the relay team’s best time of 2017, and finished eighth in the javelin, while Gaffney was also fourth in the 100 (12.09 seconds).
Brooks-Johnson 11th in Pentathlon
Washington State’s Alissa Brooks-Johnson finished the indoor track season earlier this month, finishing 11th in the pentathlon at the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas, with 4,060 points on March 9.
Brooks-Johnson opened the NCAA meet with a 60m hurdles time of 8.63 seconds; ended the high jump clearing 5 feet, 6½ inches; and had a season-best toss of 40-0 ½ in the shot put. She long-jumped 18-8½, and finished the 800 in 2:22.07.
Taliyah Brooks, a senior at Arkansas, won the pentathlon with a score of 4,572 points.
"I thought Alissa competed very well. She set-up herself very well with her first four events, WSU coach Wayne Phipps said. “Placing 11th in her first time ever at the indoor championships was a great finish, although a little short of her goal of being a first team All-American, and provides a strong foundation for a great outdoor season."
NWAC Notes
Wyatt Stanley, a freshman from Napavine, is tied for the NWAC baseball lead in earned-run average. Stanley, in four games pitching for Edmonds Community College, has yet to give up an earned run, with 21 strikeouts, 12 walks and and eight hits, with a 2-0 record. … Sam Fagerness, a freshman from Napavine, is hitting .433 for Big Bend Community College, with 11 RBIs and a home run in 11 games. … Sharon Hazen, a sophomore from Morton, is hitting .591 with four homers and eight RBIs in eight games for Pierce College’s softball squad. … Cheyenne Gilbertson, a sophomore from Adna, is hitting .500 for Lower Columbia College with 11 RBIs and a home run. Shanay Dotson, also a sophomore from Adna, is hitting .300 for the Red Devils, while Morton-White Pass product Christine Robbins has pitched 36 innings with a 3.11 ERA and 28 strikeouts for LCC.
