McCorkle's Corner: The Spring Sports Preview (UPDATED)
College Athletics – Roll call for local athletes ready for their turn to compete at the next level
By Rick McCorkle for Blast Zone Media / blastzonenews@gmail.com
Collegiate Athletics / Alumni Radar
With Spring sports already setting sail, it's time to take a look at our former prep and Lower Columbia College athletes who are contributing at colleges and universities across the country in 17 states.
College Baseball
On the big diamond, competing at the University of Washington is senior pitcher Tommy Brandenburg of Kalama, and Toledo's Caiden Schultz is a freshman pitcher at Saint Martin's University.
LCC's Nate Gray Jr. is a senior outfielder at Whitworth, and Cam Oram of LCC is a senior pitcher/infielder at Seattle University.
At Grays Harbor College are sophomore pitcher Hunter Gutenberger of Rainier and sophomore infielder Peyton Robbins of Mark Morris, and sophomore catcher Trenton Lamb of MM is at Skagit Valley College.
Across the river in Oregon are Kelso's Carter Gaston, a senior pitcher at the University of Portland. Former LCC catcher Max Richards, a senior at Bushnell, and former LCC pitcher Josh Mejia, a junior at Oregon Tech.
At Corban are Toutle Lake's Eddie Gould, a junior pitcher, and Kellen Desbiens of MM, a sophomore infielder. Former Red Devils Jace Nagler, a junior shortstop, and Ryan Vorpahl, a redshirt freshman pitcher, are at Eastern Oregon. Ilwaco's Boston Caron is a sophomore catcher at Linn-Benton, and Naselle’s Jacob Lindstrom is a freshman with the Roadrunners.
Next door in Idaho are former MM and LCC pitcher and current junior Stephen Hammergren, and ex-LCC senior outfielder Cayden Wotipka at Lewis-Clark State College. Toledo's Geoffrey Glass, a sophomore catcher at The College of Idaho, and former R.A. Long and LCC catcher Jared Childers is a sophomore at Northwest Nazarene.
LCC grad Kaden Larson is a junior pitcher at Cal State-San Bernardino, Rainier and LCC's Brayden Marcum is a grad student pitcher at Ottawa University in Arizona, and Toutle Lake’s Connor Cox is a sophomore pitcher at Scottsdale Community College in Arizona. Naselle's Kolten Lindstrom is a junior outfielder at Arizona Christian University, while Metro State University has Kalama and LCC grad and senior pitcher Noah Imboden, LCC's Royce Vandine, a senior catcher, and Brayden Oram of LCC, a junior utility player.
At Mount Marty University in South Dakota are ex-LCC players Carson Kruckman, a senior pitcher, and junior pitchers Aaden Anderson and Kaden Harris. Northwestern Oklahoma State University includes juniors and former LCC players Matthew Bailey at catcher/infield, outfielder Blake Mattern and pitcher Ryan McClaskey.
In New York, ex-LCC pitcher Owen Luchies is a pitcher at Long Island University, and former LCC pitcher Hayden Morrison is a junior at Niagara University. Former Red Devils Carson Hayes is a senior infielder at Newberry University in South Carolina, and ex-LCC pitcher Chayse Oxborrow is a junior at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte.
In the coaching ranks are former LCC mentors Eddie Smith at the University of Washington, Donegal Fergus at Loyola-Marymount, Shane McCarroll at Eastern Oregon, Grady Tweit at Skagit Valley, Ian Sanderson at Tacoma, and LCC and Rainier's Justin Parrish at Grays Harbor.
MM's Matt Hollod is an Associate Head Coach at Northwest Nazarene and at the University of Washington are ex-LCC players Kade Kryzsko as an assistant coach, and Justin Jacobs as Recruiting Coordinator.
In the assistant coaching ranks are former LCC players Travis Jewett at the University of Southern California, Sean Winston at Bradley University in Illinois, Ethan Stacy at Bushnell, Jim O'Dell at Pierce, and Chase Matheny at Tacoma.
In Ohio, you'll find ex-LCC standouts as Recruiting Coordinators at Bowling Green (Jordan Barchus) and University of Akron (Brian Valentine). Former MM player Ryan Gorton is the Director of Operations at Oregon State, and former LCC player Michael Forgione is an Academic Advisor at Utah Valley University.
College Softball
On the smaller diamond, attending school and playing in the state are ex-LCC pitcher Teeghan Reems as a senior at Whitworth, former LCC outfielder Joelie Eder as a junior at Central Washington, and Kelso's Paityn Mackin as a freshman at Pacific Lutheran University.
Woodland's Alexis Alplanalp as a freshman infielder at Grays Harbor.
Three players with area ties are at Oregon Tech. Clatskanie's Olivia Sprague is a senior outfielder, and ex-LCC players Sawyer Stenson is a senior catcher/infielder, and Brooklyn Loose is a junior catcher/outfielder.
LCC's Alli Heater is a senior pitcher at George Fox. At Eastern Oregon you'll find Kelso and LCC grad Lexi Grumbois as a junior third baseman, and Allison Baumgart of LCC as a junior shortstop. Woodland's Penelope Tyler is a sophomore catcher at Pacific University, and Ainsleigh Utter is a freshman catcher at Mount Hood.
Outside of the Northwest, you'll find Woodland's Emily Hughes as a junior outfielder at The College of Idaho, Naomi Chavez of Toutle Lake as a junior outfielder at Mount Marty University in South Dakota, and LCC's Ella Dillon as a senior outfielder at Missouri Valley College.
College Track & Field
On the track and in the field, competing at schools in the state are the likes of Toledo's Carson Olmstead, a senior javelin thrower at the University of Washington, and MM freshman distance runner Isaiah Bradley at Pacific Lutheran.
At Western Washington University are RAL senior jumper Hewie Nguyen and sophomore thrower Kathryn Chapin, along with Castle Rock freshman sprinter Casie Kleine. Central Washington University features Kalama junior pole vaulter Alena Ross and RAL sophomore thrower Kamia Tootoosis-Didier. The Eastern Washington University Eagles have Kelso junior thrower Koda Woodard and sophomore sprinter Jordan McKenzie of Toledo.
Competing at The Evergreen State College are Wahkiakum sophomore thrower Marek Wynn, and from Kelso are sophomore distance runner Evan Williams, freshman distance runner Stanley Johnson, and freshman thrower Alexander Rheaume. Also in Olympia, Saint Martin's University has a pair of distance runners in sophomore Jake Beck of Kelso, and freshman Matthias White of MM.
A half-dozen area student-athletes are competing at Clark College, including RAL grads and sophomores Breyelle Box (jumps), Koynn Williamdyke (hurdles), and freshman distance runner Mariposa Perez. Also competing for the Penguins are Castle Rock freshman Myah Manzano (sprints), Woodland freshman Niel Valerio (hurdles), and MM frosh Tate Armstrong (distance).
A pair of senior distance runners from Rainier are competing at Oregon schools. Chloe Crawford is at Oregon Tech, and Peyton Kneeland is at Eastern Oregon. Also competing at Oregon schools are MM's Erica Snyder, a senior hurdler/jumper at Willamette University, Kelso's Silas Watkins, a sophomore sprinter/hurdler at George Fox, Hannah Butterfield of Woodland, a freshman distance runner at Portland State, Toledo's Treyton Marty, a freshman distance runner at Willamette University, and Isaac Fitch of Toledo, a freshman distance runner at Mount Hood.
A pair of Kelso grads are competing at schools in Idaho. Ruby Sereday is a junior thrower at Boise State, and Josie Settle is a sophomore multi-event athlete at Idaho State.
Brooke Wirkkala of Castle Rock is a senior sprinter/jumper at Rocky Mountain College in Montana, Woodland's Beau Swett is a sophomore jumper at Vanguard University in California, Kelso's Erin Tack is a graduate student thrower at the University of Arizona, and Maya Helmen of Clatskanie is a junior thrower at Columbia University in New York.
In the coaching ranks you'll find a pair of Kelso grads. Jake Stewart is the women's track coach at Gonzaga, and Somit Chhim is an assistant coach at Western Washington.
College Golf
Playing golf around the northwest are sophomore Cooper Hahn of Kalama at South Puget Sound, MM grads Austin Lindquist (sophomore) and Broden Toney (freshman) at Skagit Valley, and junior Ian MacArthur of MM at George Fox.
Kelso's Riley Kirk is a sophomore at Cal State-Stanislaus, Todd Tabor of Kalama is a senior at Colorado Christian, and Woodland's Dane Huddleston is a junior at the University of Illinois. In the women's ranks, MM grad Jana Knapp is a freshman at Northwest Nazarene
College Rugby, Tennis and Rowing.
Wahkiakum grad Megan Leitz is a senior back with the U.S. Naval Academy women's rugby team in Maryland. Lyla Khlee, a freshman RAL grad, is a women's tennis player at Linfield, and competing in rowing are freshmen Chloe Taitano of MM at Western Washington, and Kalama's Mekenzie Schockelt at Oregon State.
About The Author: Rick McCorkle is a respected former sports reporter for The Daily News. He previously covered the Lower Columbia College beat, in addition to other local sports, across several decades and two different centuries. To read the previous College Report from McCorkle, click here.
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