Prep Beat -- Benefit Basketball Game To Draw Wesco Seniors

A scholarship benefit basketball game featuring the top senior players from the Western Conference has been organized by the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU).

The Senior High School Classic has been scheduled for March 25, tentatively at Shorewood High School. The games, sponsored by Nike and the Northwest AAU, have been set for 5:30 p.m. for the girls, and 8 p.m. for the boys.

The format calls for the top senior basketball players from WesCo AAA to take on their counterparts in WesCo AA.

A $500 college scholarship will be awarded to a boy and girl player who participate in the game. Scholarship criteria include grade average, school activities and community involvement.

Players will be selected later by the tournament committee. The games have been approved by the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association, Anderson said.

Tickets are $4 for adults, $3 for students with an ASB card, and $3 for senior citizens.

Gray off to nationals

D.J. Gray, a senior at Kamiak High School, will compete in the United States Figure Skating Association national championships next month in Providence, R.I.

Gray, with skating partner Stephanie Crawford, will compete in the junior ice-dancing competition. Gray and Crawford train at the OlympicView Arena in Mountlake Terrace and are scheduled to leave for Rhode Island on Friday.

Gray, 18, said the ice-dancing competition will be Feb. 7-10. The national championships run from Feb. 3-12. It's the third time at nationals for Gray, who competed in 1992 and 1994.

The competition consists of three stages - compulsory competition, a two-minute original dance routine, and a three-minute free dance routine.

"I think we're going to skate well," Gray said. "As far as where our placement is, we're hoping for the top half (out of 12 pairs)."

Edmonds District swimming

The Edmonds District boys swimming meet will be Friday at the Lynnwood City Pool. Teams competing will be Meadowdale, Lynnwood, Edmonds-Woodway and Mountlake Terrace. Diving preliminaries start at 3 p.m. Swimming and diving finals are at 5 p.m.

Boxing

The Battle of Seattle, an Olympic-style youth boxing tournament, has been set for Feb. 18-19 at the Greenwood Boys Club, N. 87th St. and Fremont Avenue.

Boxers, high-school-aged and under from Washington, Oregon, California and Canada, will compete in eight weight classes. Tickets are tentatively set for $15 for the two days. For information, contact the Greenwood Boys Club, 784-5396.

Notes

-- The postseason is here for wrestlers in the Western AAA and AA Conferences. The WesCo AAA district tournament is Friday and Saturday at Cascade High School - Friday at 5:30 p.m., Saturday at 10 a.m.

The WesCo AA subregional tournament is Friday (5 p.m.) and Saturday (10:30 a.m.) at Monroe High School.

-- The second round of district qualifying for boys diving will be today starting at 6 p.m., at Mariner High School for WesCo AAA and Kamiak High School for WesCo AA.

-- The WesCo gymnastics meet is Thursday at Shorewood High School, starting at 7 p.m. Bainbridge, Everett School District and Shorewood will compete.

-- Michele Smith, regarded as one of the top fastpitch pitchers in the nation, will give a talk and demonstration Feb. 9 from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Edmonds Community College gymnasium. The lecture is aimed for players up to high school age. Cost is $5. For information, call the Edmonds CC softball department at 640-1754.

-- Western Washington University's Bill Christensen was voted to the NAIA All-America football team, the third Viking in school history to earn such an honor. Christensen, a 6-foot, 210-pound rover, graduated from Shorewood High School.

Voted honorable-mention All-American from WWU was junior offensive tackle Travis Cruse, a graduate of Cascade High School.

-- Bob Bourgette's patience has finally paid off at Kennedy High School. He was named head football coach at the Class AA Seamount League school last week after 23 years as an assistant at Kennedy under Tom Merrill.

Merrill, the Lancers' head coach for 23 years (146-80 record), resigned last week, citing his desire to return to coaching at the Class AAA level. There are football vacancies at 10 Class AAA schools - Snohomish, Everett, Shorewood, Shadle Park (Spokane), Ferris (Spokane), Issaquah, Battle Ground (Vancouver), Prairie (near Vancouver) and Davis (Yakima), plus the new high school in Auburn (Auburn Riverside).

-- Nick Woods, a 6-foot-1 sophomore starting guard on the River Ridge High School boys basketball team in Lacey, died last Thursday night. The cause of death was linked to complications from a hernia operation on Monday, but the coroner's report is expected in about one week. Woods, 15, who started for River Ridge as a freshman, was averaging 19 points a game.