Grunenfelder out as Lewiston High baseball coach

LEWISTON - Tom Grunenfelder, who led the Lewiston High baseball team to 450 wins and three state championships in 22 seasons as its head coach, won't be back next spring, the Lewiston Tribune reported.

Like other high school coaches, Grunenfelder was on a year-to-year contract, and the school opted to not bring him back next year, Lewiston athletic director Corey Williams said.

Williams declined to say why Grunenfelder was dismissed because it's a "personnel issue."

Grunenfelder said he was "totally blindsided" by the school's decision, which he said he was informed of moments after walking into a meeting in June.

"Twenty-two years as the head coach and four others as the JV coach, and 10 seconds to kick me out the door," he said. "I thought it was handled unprofessionally and humiliating, and after as many years as I put in, I deserved more than that."

Grunenfelder said he wanted to appeal the decision, but was eventually told he couldn't appeal because he wasn't an employee of the school district.

Grunenfelder's first season as the Bengals' varsity coach was in 1994. He compiled an overall record of 450-161 and guided his team to the state tournament 19 times. Lewiston claimed the state championship in 1995, 2001 and 2006, and also finished runner-up in 1999, 2007 and this past spring.

The 2015 Bengals posted a record of 23-6 and lost 5-3 to Timberline of Boise in the state 5A title game in mid-May. Grunenfelder was named the 5A Inland Empire League Coach of the Year.

Grunenfelder also coached the Lewis-Clark Twins American Legion program from 2001-10, posting a 405-158 record and guiding L-C to second place in the nation in his first season. The Legion board dismissed him after the 2010 season.

Grunenfelder played one season at Lewis-Clark State, in 1985, and then worked as an assistant coach on the Warriors' staff.

He was hired as Lewiston High's varsity coach in December of 1993, replacing Bill Clouser, who was the Bengals' head man for four years after replacing Dwight Church.

Idaho linebacker Millan on Lombardi Award watch list

University of Idaho senior linebacker Marc Millan, the Vandals' leading tackler for the past two seasons, is among 115 players named to the Rotary Lombardi Award Watch List.

The award is given annually to down linemen, end-to-end, either on offense or defense, who set up no farther than 10 yards to the left or right of the ball; or linebackers who set up no farther than five yards deep from the line of scrimmage. The candidates earned a place on the preliminary Watch List by earning All-American honors, being named to their respective all-conference teams or receiving 2015 pre-season honors.

"Marc's biggest asset," coach Paul Petrino said, "is his motor. He plays 100 miles an hour; always gives great effort. He has a good nose for the football - he gets to the ball and makes plays."

Millan has 192 total tackles in two seasons as a Vandal. Of those 192, 141 are solo stops - which ranks third among active career average-per-game leaders. He ranked fourth in the Sun Belt Conference last year in both solo tackles and total tackles per game. Nationally, he was 24th in solo stops and 33rd in total tackles.

Millan joined the Vandals in 2013 from Santa Ana College. He had 90 tackles his first season and 102 last year. He also led Idaho in tackles for loss in 2014 with 15.5 for a total 36 yards in losses. He is a native of Mission Viejo, Calif., and a graduate of Mission Viejo High School.

Garcia, Cooper-Scott win at Hayden Triathlon

HAYDEN - Former Coeur d'Alene High athlete Derek Garcia won the fifth annual Hayden Triathlon last Saturday, an event which began and ended at Honeysuckle Beach.

Garcia, currently training out of San Diego, finished in 56 minutes, 51 seconds.

Hailey Cooper-Scott of Spokane was the top female finisher in 1:03:10.7.

The event consisted of a ?-mile swim, 12-mile bike and 3.1-mile run.

Results: haydentri.com

Adult men's, coed softball tourneys nearing in Spokane

SPOKANE - Spokane Parks and Recreation is putting on the inaugural "Summer Shakedown" softball tournament, July 24-26 at the Dwight Merkel and Franklin Park sports complexes. A tournament division will be offered for every skill level (men's B, C and D, and coed C and D divisions).

The tournament registration deadline is Friday. A registration packet is available at https://static.spokanecity.org/documents/recreation/sports/softball/2015-summer-shakedown-registration-packet.pdf.

For additional information visit https://my.spokanecity.org/recreation/sports/softball/.

Jensen returns to WSU as assistant women's coach

PULLMAN - Rod Jensen has been named assistant coach for the Washington State women's basketball team, head coach June Daugherty announced Tuesday.

Jensen replaces associate head coach Brian Holsinger on the WSU staff. Holsinger resigned from his position earlier this month to spend time with his family.

Jensen makes his return to Pullman after a one-year stint with the WSU men's basketball team under former head coach Ken Bone in 2013-14. Known as a defensive-minded coach, Jensen brings with him 30-plus years of coaching experience. Jensen originally came to WSU in June of 2013 as the director of player development and was promoted to assistant coach three months later, in September. He stepped away from coaching during the 2014-15 season to spend time with his family.

Jensen was head men's basketball coach at Boise State for seven seasons, and was head coach at College of Idaho from 2010-13.