NWAACC HEADLINES

Former NWAACC Athletes making headlines

Former BC player goes from Africa to the pros
By JOSH SUMAN - Bellevue Reporter Staff Writer
March 13, 2012 · 10:26 AM
It was a long journey from The Gambia, West Africa, to the USL's Los Angeles Blues, but for former Bellevue College soccer player Ebrima "EJ" Jatta, the journey has been well worth it.

Jatta was the first player from his village to be named to the country's men's national soccer team and would later come to the United States to continue his career and education.

At Bellevue College, he scored four goals in seven games, including a two-goal, one assist effort against Trinity Lutheran.

Jatta recently signed with the Blues after a quick tryout and took some time with the Reporter to talk about his youth in The Gambia and his continued humanitarian efforts there, his time in Bellevue and what the future holds in professional American soccer. Read more here& here

Yakima Valley alumni Earlysia "Anna" Marchbanks  was a women's basketball All-PAC 12 First-Team selection for Oregon State University. Anna was on Yakima Valley's 2010 NWAACC championship runner-up team and was a all-tournament first-team selection as well as being an Eastern Region first-team selection.

Sarah Brolsma Whitfield and Florida Gulf Coast University got a 12 seed in the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament.  While at Lane, Sarah set a school record as a sophomore with 69 three-pointers made, while averaging 15.0 points and 5.0 rebounds a game in route to earning first team NWAACC All-Southern Region honors.  She also shot 43-percent from three-point range and 80-percent from the foul line.  She was a member of the NWAACC Championship squad in 2008-09, in which she earned second team NWAACC All-Tournament and third team All-Southern Region.  Please see the link for the complete article.

Ashley (AJ) Smith and the Pacific Tigers to host Arizona State in WNIT opener.  In 30 games as a sophomore at Lane, Smith averaged 23.5 points per game, while shooting 47 percent from the field. She also grabbed 11.0 rebounds per game while recording 66 steals and rejecting 28 shots. While playing for the Lady Titans, she led the NWAACC in scoring and was second in rebounding and helped lead the team to a fourth-place finish in the playoffs.  Please see the link for complete article.

Former Titan forward, Kyle Warner, was given Midwest Collegiate Conference Honorable Mention this past season at Iowa Wesleyan College. Warner played two years at Lane, and as a sophomore averaged 15.5 points, 6.0 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.8 steals per game.  That season he led the team in scoring, assists and steals and was named first team all-conference.  For the full article please visit the link.

Junior forward, Ethan Guiles, and his California Maritime Academy teammates won the California Pacific Conference and are now headed to the NAIA National Tournament.  Guiles played at Lane the last two years.  Please see the link for the full story.

The men's and women's basketball teams at Eastern Oregon University made the NAIA DIV II national tournament employing a total of 10 former NWAACC standout basketball players. The men's team has former NWAACC players Trent Roos (Chemeketa), John Buhler (Big Bend), Jamar Johnson (Mt. Hood), Jeff Ranstrom (Big Bend) and Jason Mumm (Treasure Valley). The women's roster includes Tina Miller (Columbia Basin), Jorie Freeman (Columbia Basin), Korrie Bourn (Spokane), Brooke Randall (Spokane) and Lynette Minthorn (Lane).  The women made the tournament quarterfinals where they were knocked out by top seeded College of the Ozarks (Mo.) 74-55.  The men didn't fare as well being eliminated in their opener to Cardinal Stritch (Wis.) 63-60.

Western Washington University features a pair of former women NWAACC region MVPs in Trishi Williams (Columbia Basin) and Brandi Benner (Skagit Valley). The Vikings made it to the NCAA DIV II tournament where they were eliminated by UC San Diego 81-66 in the West Regional semifinal.