Booster Club NewsN O R T H I D A H O C O L L E G E

F I N A L L U N C H E O N O F T H E S C H O O L Y E A R : M A Y 1 0 : N O O N - R I V E L L E ' S R I V E R G R I L L ( R I V E R S T O N E )

MAY 2016

H A G U E M E M O R I A L G O L F T O U R N A M E N T J U N E 3 AT AV O N D A L E

All-American recognition

Sophomore guard Braian Angola-Rodas was selected to the 1st team, and sophomore forward Brayon (BJ) Blake was selected to the third team. It’s the first time in school history that NIC was awarded two players to the All-American teams in the same season for men’s basketball. Both are well deserved honors af-ter the duo led NIC to the school and confer-ence’s first undefeated regular season, 30-0.

In Wrestling, at the conclusion of the NJ-CAA national tournament, sophomore Dajour Reece earned first team All-American honors after winning the NJCAA individual national championship at 165 pounds.

Angola-Rodas was arguably the most high-ly recruited athlete in NIC men’s basketball

history with multiple offers from the SEC, BIG 12, PAC 12, Mountain West, and many other power 5 conferences. He eventually se-lected Florida State of the prestigious ACC to continue his basketball career, opting to com-pete against Duke, Virginia, North Carolina and Syracuse on a regular basis. He was the 13th leading scorer in the nation, averaging 21.4 points a game, and was selected the Re-gion Player of the year.

BJ Blake was also a Region 18 first team selection and averaged 21.2 points, good for 17th in the nation. Blake had 28 points in his final game as a Cardinal in the NJCAA na-tional tournament, as NIC lost in the NJCAA Sweet Sixteen. Blake has committed to the

University of Idaho to continue his career as a Vandal!

Dajour Reece was determined to finish his NJCAA career on top, despite competing in the NJCAA tournament just 10 days after ar-throscopic knee surgery. Dajour had five of the top eight wrestlers on his side of the bracket and put on a strong performance with a pin, technical fall, and three decisions to win the National Title. Dajour was ranked #1 all year, and was in strong consideration for the Most Outstanding Wrestler Award at the NJCAA Tournament. Dajour was also the NJCAA Runner-Up last year at 165 as a freshman, with only two losses to NJCAA opponents in his career at NIC.

P ost season awards continue to come in for the Cardinals in the Athletic are-na. The NJCAA released All-Amer-

ican award winners for the 2015-16 basket-ball season and two members of the Cardinals men’s basketball team were honored. Brayon (BJ) Blake Braian Angola-Rodas Dajour Reece

Nikki Miller has been a model of consistency in her golf career at NIC, placing 3rd in her first college tournament. Yet even her head coach, Russell Grove, had no idea that the freshman from Renton, WA would have this kind of success. As a follow-up, Nikki shot a personal low round of 74 in

her second tournament at Avon-dale golf course, an NIC women’s golf record. Nearing the end of the spring season Nikki is now the top candidate for NWAC female Golfer of the Year after winning three consecutive tournaments

- Continued on Page 3 -

Miller earns 3-peat

Erica Frazier, Sierra Tingey, Mackenzie Phillips, Nicole Miller, Amalia Negrette and Coach Russell Grove.

Board of Trustees amongst the many boards he served, and he was a long-time Cardinals athlet-ic supporter. Denny was induct-ed into the Idaho Hall of Fame in May 2014 for his “Outstanding Achievement as a Military Hero and Community Leader”. Join us for a fun day of golf and re-membrance with members of the Hague family and fellow Booster Club members and friends. The tournament is a scramble for-mat with a 1:00 shot-gun start at Avondale. Tournament fees are $100 for a single and $375 for a foursome, and include golf, cart, NIC shirt and dinner provided

by Outback Steakhouse. Space is limited so sign up early. For more information contact the NIC athlet-ics department at (208) 769-3348 or go to the NIC website at www.nic.edu/athletics to register online.

SPECIAL DATESThe school year may be winding down but there

are several other events throughout the summer to keep you busy. Break out your Calendar and lock in these dates:

June 3- The HAGUE Cardinal Classic Golf Tournament at Avondale GC, 1 p.m.

August 14- Coeur d’Alene Crossing 2.4 Mile Swim- 7:00 a.m. departing from the Hagadone Event Center

August 27-28- Coeur d’Alene Shoot-Out spon-sored by ICCU 3-on-3 Basketball tournament, host-ed by North Idaho College.

September 7- Cruising with the Cardinals- double boat float on beautiful Lake Coeur d’Alene. 6:30pm

For more information on any of the events above or to volunteer, contact the NIC athletics department at (208) 769-3348 or go to the NIC website at www.nic.edu/athletics.

BOARD OFFICERS

PRESIDENT Jon Parson

VICE PRESIDENTRoger Stewart

TREASURERMark Hampe

SECRETARYRann Haight

BOARD MEMBERS

Robert CliffTom Messina

Frank DarlingtonPatty StewartRich Dussell

JJ JaegerAl Williams (ex-officio)

aawilliams@nic.edu

PHOTOGRAPHSTom Greene

Duane Rasmussen

CONTACTPatty: 208-769-3348

P.O. Box 492Coeur d’Alene, ID 83816patty_stewart@nic.edu

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The North Idaho College Booster Club is a nonprofit organization, committed to providing financial support to all recognized intercol-legiate athletic programs at NIC through various fund-raising and endowment activities for student athlete grant-in-aid and team ben-efits. Organized in the 1960s, the

Booster Club supports all NIC rec-ognized intercollegiate athletics as a lifelong learning experience that will enhance the value of sportsmanship and provide a positive experience for student athletes, students, and fans. The club also recognizes the commit-ment our athletes make to the young people of our community through

our athletic Cardinal Kids outreach programs. The Booster Club holds various fund-raising events through-out the year including an annual auction, awards banquet, 3-on-3 bas-ketball tournament, and golf tourna-ments. It also co-sponsors the Coeur d’Alene Crossing and operates a concession stand at all home events.

M I S S I O N S T A T E M E N T

Another school year nears completion, but there are still sports seasons underway. Don’t look now, but the women’s golf team is setting new standards with their sights set on the NWAC tournament champion-ship in Walla Walla, WA in late May. Also, Softball has some-thing to shoot for at the end of this regular season with the ex-piration of the probation period. Last year as you recall softball was excluded from post season in the NWAC due to differences in scholarships from the NJCAA to the NWAC. As one of the top teams in the NWAC East Re-gion, this year’s softball team is looking forward to the experience of the NWAC tournament. Next year NIC fans won’t have to travel far to see the NWAC softball region tournament as the tournament will be held in Spokane, Washington. In a partnership with NIC, the Community Colleges of Spokane and the Spokane Sports Commission, a bid was submitted to the NWAC to host the softball region championship in 2017-19. The NWAC Executive Board approved the Dwight Merkel Sports Complex in northwest Spokane as the venue, relocating the tournament from Portland, Oregon. We are looking forward to hosting the event with both CCS and SSC, and bring quality softball to the Coeur d’Alene region.

HAGUE MEMORIAL CARDINAL CLASSICOur NIC Athletics Department golf tournament at

Avondale Golf Club, on June 3rd, will again honor the Hague family. Previously named in honor of for-mer Booster Club board member Scott Hague, this year’s tournament will be named The HAGUE Me-morial Cardinal Classic Golf tournament after the recent passing of General Denny Hague to honor both. Denny was a former board member for the NIC

Tradition of Excellence

Athletic Director Al Williams

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JUNE 3 - 1 p.m.AVONDALE GOLF COURSE

HAGUE MEMORIAL GOLF

TOURNAMENT

May 7 5 p.m. Athletics Award Banquet- NIC Student Union Building

June 3 1 p.m. Hague Memorial Cardinal Classic Golf Tournament - Avondale Golf Course

Aug. 14 7 a.m. Cd'A Crossing 2.4 Mile Swim - Hagadone Event Center

Aug. 27-28 TBD Coeur d'Alene Shoot-Out 3-on-3 Tournament Sponsored by ICCU - NIC

Aug. 30 TBD Coaches Showcase / Media Day

Sept. 7 6 p.m. Crusing with the Cardinals - Lake Coeur d'Alene / Independence Point

SAVE THE DATE

The final Booster Club luncheon of the school year will be held on May 10 at a new location. Rivelle’s River Grill in the Riverstone Development (2360 N Old Mill Loop, next door to Starbucks) will host the NIC luncheon at noon, and it’s open to the public. The guest speaker will be Dr. Ryan Bones, the new owner of Beyond Bones Chi-ropractic care facility, also in Riverstone De-velopment. Dr. Bones’ insightful talk about the new innovation in chiropractic treatment related to sports injuries should be an inter-esting topic. Dr. Bones will also offer a free tour of the facility at the conclusion of the Booster Club luncheon. You’ll be amazed at the technology!

We hope you have enjoyed the outstanding

speakers for the Booster Club lunch series throughout the year. Special thanks to our re-cent speakers:

Darin Vaughan, PGA and Twin Lakes Golf Professional; Morgan Cathey, Whitworth Men’s Head Soccer Coach; and Bill Moos, Washington State University Athletics Director.

After listening to the dramatically differ-ently messages from these three presenters it’s no wonder their respective programs are all experiencing success. Plan your lunch sessions twice a month for the NIC Booster Club, usually on the second and last Tuesday of the month. It’s the best way to get firsthand updates from the NIC Coaching staff for ath-letic events and information on Booster Club functions.

BOOSTER CLUB LUNCHEON SPEAKER SERIES

NIKKI MILLER - Continued from Page 1 -

to end the regular season. Nikki was the medalist at Bellevue as the Cardinals fin-ished in second, three shots off the lead. In the following tournament at Yakima’s Ap-ple Tree Golf course the Cardinal’s again finished second, but individually Miller again finished first, including shooting 154 in Yakima for her personal best two-round score. She matched that score in the next tournament helping NIC win the Centra-lia League tournament, the first NWAC league win in women’s golf history! The Cardinals head into the NWAC tourna-ment in Walla Walla in second place over-all, three points behind Bellevue College. Great job Nikki! Good luck Cards!

Dr. Ryan Bones (center) and his staff members from Beyond Bones Chiropractic.

SOFTBALLSoftball is currently on an 11-game win-

ning streak with the sweep of Columbia Basin College and Yakima Valley.

The Cardinals pushed 5 runs across to de-feat the Hawks in game one with a score of 5-3. In game two of the series, the Cardinals were able to bundle hits to-gether to earn the vic-tory in the nightcap with a score of 9-1. After the weekends sweep, NIC moves 3 games ahead of CBC into to 1st place in the East Region.

Sophomore Chloe McIntosh is currently 2nd in the NWAC in batting average with .517, freshman, Abby Howard in currently 3rd in homeruns and 3rd in RBIs, and freshman Katie Barron is 7th in RBIs in the NWAC. NIC is currently 7th in overall RPI standings in the NWAC and the top ranked Eastern Region team.

With only 6 games left in the regular season the Cardinals are on track to finish strong. We defeated Yakima Valley 9-7 and 15-10 on May 6, finishing the homestand with Wenatchee Valley CC May 7 at noon. All games were played at Lake City High School due to con-struction at Memorial Field.

The NWAC Championships will be played at Delta Park in Portland, OR on May 20-23.

Current standings below:

NWAC East Region REC OVRNorth Idaho College 22-4 29-9Columbia Basin 18-8 28-14Walla Walla 16-8 20-18Spokane 17-9 26-14Wenatchee Valley 15-11 20-15Treasure Valley 15-11 19-25Big Bend 7-19 8-24Yakima Valley 3-23 5-33Blue Mountain 3-23 6-36

MEN'S SOCCERMen’s Soccer signed six guys from south-

ern Idaho this Spring, including Oscar Padilla and Jose Perez, members of the 3A state cham-pionship with Weiser High School in the fall. Over three years with the program, Padilla, a

central midfielder, tallied seventy-eight goals and forty-eight assists. Perez, a forward, tal-lied over 150 goals in his three years with the varsity program. Both are expected to push for starting positions with the Cardinals. Coach Thompson and Coach Laffoon signed both fu-ture Cardinals in a well-attended ceremony at Weiser High on National Signing Day.

Also on National Signing Day, NIC coach-es visited Nampa’s Hispanic Cultural Center in another well-at-tended ceremony as they signed defenders Damian Bautista and Victor Bustamonte, midfielder David Duran, and forward Irvin Angulo. Du-ran is expected to be one of the Cardinals’ most skillful players on the 2016 squad. Bustamonte, a center-back, is recovering from an ACL injury but is expected to be an impact player when he fully recovers. Bautista is expected to contribute on defense and midfield and will force teams to defend high with his ability to serve a ball. An-gulo, who was among the top wrestlers in the state, is a dynamic left-footed player and is ex-pected to convert from forward to left back for the Cardinals. The NIC coaching staff is ex-cited about the potential all six of these young men will bring to the program.

WOMEN'S SOCCERSpring is here which means I’m trying to

finish up recruiting for next fall. We are work-ing on placing players, doing a lot of strength and conditioning with our current players, and wrapping up our spring season.

We have six play-ers who have signed letters of intent, an-other player commit-ted to walk-on, and Women’s basketball Chris Carlson and I are working on sharing one of his current players, Jocelyn Cook-Cox. A little about the committed play-

ers: Kinzie Hunter is a 5-11 goal keeper from Reno, Nev. who started for her club team that finished 2nd in the nation; Chelsea Love is a defender who played at East Valley in Spo-kane; Madeline Walker is a tall center back from Logan, Utah who started for her state champion Logan High team; Sydney Grilley started on defense for Columbia Falls H.S.; Monique Queen played at Lake City and also played on the Region IV quarterfinalist Sting Premier club team; Sadie Schmeling started for that same Sting Premier club team at for-ward and also started for Post Falls High; and last Zoie Cloutier, another Sting player and starter for Lake City. We’ve had an injury and a couple of other freshmen who have decided to leave NIC so I’m still hunting for a couple more players to fill out our roster.

Lexi Smith, Cassy Van Der Mey, and Haley White have all had interest from mul-tiple schools, but none of them have made a decision at the time that I’m writing this ar-ticle. The most interest has been in Van Der Mey, our number 1 goal keeper, who has con-tact from six schools at the last count. Haley White has turned down offers from a couple of schools that were too far from her home in La Grande, Oregon, but is set to go on a visit to Colorado State – Mesa soon. Smith, the last time we talked, has offers from Southern Mis-souri State University and the University of Arkansas – Pine Bluff.

Lexi Smith has also been named to the Na-tional Soccer Coaches Association of Ameri-ca (NSCAA) All-Region team. So while the NWAC ignored her, a national association recognized her playing ability. Another post-season award from the NSCAA for Scholar-Athlete All-American went to Alex Rankin who maintained a 3.71 G.P.A. while taking required courses for a medical sonography program.

We had a good spring training season with competitive scrimmages against two NCAA Div. 1 schools, the University of Montana and University of Idaho. Enjoy the summer!

WRESTLINGThe Cardinals only sent two wrestlers to the

2016 NJCAA Wrestling National tournament in Council Bluffs, Iowa but both returned as All-Americans.

Sophomore Dajour Reece (Phoenix, AZ)

Coaches’ Reports

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KEN THOMPSON

DAN HOGAN

DON DON WILLIAMS

came back a National Champion at 165 pounds and received first team All-American honors (see page 1). Freshman Damian Trujillo from Roy, UT also earned All-American honors af-ter an outstanding tournament, getting to the quarter finals before suffering a tough loss. In true Cardinal fashion he bounced back after the loss to win two matches and finish 7th for the Cardinals. Damian used his conditioning and up-tempo pace to push other heavyweights who

could not maintain his pace. Damian put in a lot of extra work this year and made great strides throughout the season, winning an individual Region Champion award be-fore his outstanding national tournament performance.

The Wrestling staff has been extremely

busy since the conclusion of the NJCAA wres-tling national tournament. The Coaching staff split up to attend state high school tournaments in Virginia, Arizona, Hawaii, and Michigan. The signees are still on-going but the roster is developing nicely.

To date the following wrestlers are commit-ted for next season:

125 Bryson Beard, Spokane WA -State Champion;

133 Shandon Iialbon, Oahu, HI -State Champion

141 Zach Diamond, Oahu, HI -2X High School All-American

149 Thomas Stevenson, Maui, HI -State Champion 149 Tristen Perrallis, Lake Stevens, WA

-State Champion 157 Liam Corbet, Oahu, HI

-2X State Champion 157 Brent Evans, Yakima, WA

-State Champion174 Bonney Merryweather, Grandville, MI

-State Placer174 Hudson Mauseth, Moses Lake, WA

-State Runner Up184 Tragger Abbott, Challis, ID

-3X State Champion 197 Guy Patron, Harvey, LA

-State Champion

VOLLEYBALLThe Cardinals volleyball team has been

busy with recruits coming in and out of cam-pus the past couple months. We are excited to announce our first sign of the season, Ireland Mayfield. Ireland is a 5’7” setter from Pome-roy, Washington. She is a very talented setter who I believe can be one of the best in the con-ference.

The volleyball team had several scrimmag-es against quality competition this spring. Car-dinals had a tough scrimmage against Lewis-

Clark State College at home in Christianson gymnasium. It was nice to be able to play girls in differ-ent positions and see how they performed. Girls had a great time and we had an awe-some turn out for the night. LCSC went home winning all 4 matches.

The volleyball girls completed their annual pajama drive for the Post Falls Police depart-ment. At last count we were are on track to bring in over 300 plus sets of pajamas by the end of the month. The pajamas go to homes of the needy and families impacted by domestic violence. If you still wish to help donate a pair of new pajamas please feel free to drop them off in the gym or email me at kjstanley@nic.edu. We would appreciate any help!

MEN'S BASKETBALLThe Cardinals 2015-16 magical season

ended in disappointing fashion in the sec-ond round of the NJCAA national basketball tournament, as they were upset by Southwest Tennessee, 73-72. Despite leading most of the game, in the end the quicker SW Tennes-see team made the plays down the stretch and Cardinals did not. Of course this wasn’t the end we wanted, but regardless this team will still go down as one of the best in Cardinals history. The Cardinals won the first 31 games of the season to finish 31-2. This marks the fi-nal year in the NJCAA as the Cardinals will move to the Northwest Athletic Conference for the 2016-17 season. The season ends with and NJCAA national tournament Sweet 16 ap-

pearance, #3 ranking in the final NJCAA poll, SWAC Championship, an unprecedented 30-0 regular season, and the best record in school history.

Recruiting is currently underway and we have to replace the entire starting line-up that received all-conference honors. Region 18 Player of the year Braian Angola-Rodas is go-ing to Florida State, and fellow All-American

BJ Blake is headed to the University of Idaho. Second team SWAC selection Lu-cas Antunez signed with Toledo Uni-versity of the Mid-America Conference. SWAC honorable mention center Kyle Guice will be playing at University of Illi-

nois-Chicago of the Horizon League. Fresh-man Trey Burch-Manning made the Region 18 all-tournament team, and he will be play-ing for the University of South Dakota next season, giving the Cardinals five NCAA Divi-sion I signees. Starting forward Kaleb Warner, another SWAC honorable mention selection, is still undecided on where he will sign next year. Despite the losses a talented the roster returns with key role players: Haywood Irwin, Sam Dowd, Tony Scott, and Ziggy Satther-waite, ready to assume larger roles and several talented red-shirts in the mix.

Thanks to the community and our fans for the tremendous support this season! It’s defi-nitely one to remember! Go Cards!

WOMEN'S BASKETBALLIt’s an exciting time of year as we continue

recruiting and we have put together an excel-lent recruiting class so far. Starting locally, we

have added Lake City HS standouts Whit-ney Meier (guard) and Cierra Dvorak (guard). Whitney led the Timberwolves in scoring the past two seasons and was named 2nd team All-State at the 5A level after a great perfor-

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Coaches’ Reports

CHRIS CARLSON

COREY SYMONS

KELSEY STANLEY

PAT WHITCOMB

mance at the state tournament in which LCHS finished fourth. Cierra is perhaps one of the best athletes in North Idaho and is just begin-ning to hit her stride as a basketball player. We are also pleased to announce the signing of three fantastic players from the Tri-Cities, WA area. Gia Sorn (post) from Richland High School earned First Team All-Conference honors. Kassin Hopkins (guard) from Con-nell High School was MVP of her conference as well as an All-State selection, and Shae Logozzo (guard) was a major impact player for 4A powerhouse Chiawana High School. All three of them come in with a tremendous amount of experience at a high level. Round-ing out our recruiting class so far are two Montana commits. Shanna Floerchinger (for-ward) from Helena High School earned All-State recognition while being amongst state leaders in rebounding and steals. Lana Berg (forward) from Big Fork High School also earned All-State recognition for her efforts as a senior. Both Shanna and Lana are strong, versatile forwards possessing much versatility which fits into our system perfectly.

We would also like to congratulate sopho-more Maci Benedict who has been nominated for NIC Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year. In addition, sophomore Stormee Van Belle was nominated for NIC Female Athlete of the Year. Van Belle earned 1st team All-SWAC honors while Benedict earned 2nd team and sophomore Monica Landdeck earned Honor-able Mention recognition. Sophomore Shelby Cloninger performed well at the Region 18 Tournament and was an All-Tournament selection. We would like to wish the best of luck for our players moving on to four-year programs next year: Alyssa Case (College of Idaho), Cloninger (University of Alaska-Anchorage), Landdeck (Montana Tech University), Gracie Roberts (University of Detroit Mercy), and Van Belle (Eastern Oregon Uni-versity). We’d also like to wish the best of luck to those still in the recruiting process.

Go Cards!

GOLFThe Cardinal Men finished up their last

regular season conference tournament on April 25th at Riverside G.C. in Centralia, WA. The men hoped to finish the regular sea-son off with a win but fell three shots short to Olympic College and finished in a tie for third. The guys are getting close. We were in the lead part of the day and just failed to

close it out. Between this tourna-ment and the Yakima tournament the guys are right there and it’s only a matter of time before they win. Both Luke Logan and Bray-don Swapp had strong individual performances. Logan finished T2nd (one over par for the tour-nament) and Swapp finished T6th (two over par for the tournament). The Cardinals look to get over the hump and win the NWAC Confer-ence Championship on May 15th

and 16th in Walla Walla, WA. The tournament will be played at the Veterans Golf Course and the Walla Walla Country Club.

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Go Cardinals!

Good Luck NIC

Athletes!

RUSSELL GROVE

PAGE 7

WSU Athletic Director Bill Moos addresses the audience at the CDA Resort Booster Club luncheon.

Whitworth Men’s Soccer Coach- Morgan Cathey and Twin Lakes Golf Professional Darin Vaughan (pictured above) speak at a recent BC luncheon at Outback Steakhouse.

LUNCHEON SPEAKERS

ACADEMIC NOMINATIONS ATHLETE NOMINATIONS

Congratulations to the NIC student-athletes nominated for academic and athletic student ath-lete of the year awards at the Annual Athletics Department Awards Banquet on May 7, 2016 at the Student Union. Recognition for Booster Club Member of the Year, NIC Team of the Year, and Faculty and Staff Appreciation awards are also presented during the event.

NIC Awards Banquet Nominees

Volleyball Brenna Meehan Softball Lexi Courntney W. Basketball Maci Benedict W. Soccer Alex Rankin W. Golf Nicole MillerM. Soccer Tony Quesnell M. Golf Braydon SwappM.Basketball Scott Turner Wrestling Jordan Lacelle

Volleyball Brenna MeehanSoftball Chloe McintoshW. Basketball Stormee Van BelleW. Soccer Cassandra Van Der MayW. Golf Nicole MillerM. Soccer Tanner HortonM. Golf Braydon Swapp M. Basketball Braian Angola-RodasWrestling Dajour Reece

FOR THE MOST UP-TO-DATE INFO: NICATHLETICS.COM