Griffith signs with Central Washington
Sumner’s Alex Griffith signed a national letter of intent Feb. 3 to play football at Central Washington University.
The 6-foot-2, 260-pound defensive lineman finished his senior season with 90 total tackles and two sacks. He was a second-team All-South Puget Sound League 3A selection his senior season.
“He is truly a tough kid who wants to smash you in the face,” Sumner coach Keith Ross said. “He pursues the ball with great pride and arrives angry. He has all the tools to become a great college player.”
Griffith, who also played running back, was an honorable mention in 2008 and also participated in track.
The senior joins six other SPSL 3A players who signed with the Wildcats – quarterback Tyler Rogers, running back Teddy Cotton and defensive lineman Martin Smitherman of Lakes, quarterback J.R. Grosshans and linebacker Darrin Creamer of Peninsula, and linebacker David Eargle from Clover Park.
Central Washington is the only NCAA Division II institution in the state to sponsor football. The Wildcats finished the 2009 season with a 12-1 overall record, including the only undefeated regular-season record in Division II.
The Wildcats, under head coach Blaine Bennet, finished third in the final Division II national poll of 2009 and claimed the 32nd conference championship in the program’s history.
WIAA presents its proposed changes
The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association released a list of proposed amendments members of the Representative Assembly will vote on in April.
The first amendment would return the WIAA to five classifications and combine 1B and 2B into a single classifications. Each classification would consist of 20 percent of the state’s high schools.
Currently their are six classifications, four with 17 percent of the schools and the two smallest divisions having 16 percent each.
Under the second, third and fourth proposed amendments, alternative and homeschool students would be counted if they participate in sports.
The fifth amendment, defines out-of-season from Aug. 1 until the first day of the specific sport turnouts until the final day of the state tournament. The Aug. 1 cutoff date would be waived for coaches who coach during the summer in nonschool programs if their team qualifies for the next level of competition like a national championship or World Series.
A group of middle schools submitted an amendment dealing with the use of nonregistered officials in all sports except football and wrestling.
Another amendment would allow middle school basketball players to play two games a day, four times in a season.
The eighth amendment would implement a running clock in the second half where the margin is 40 points or more in middle and high school basketball games.
The 10th amendment would allow a fifth quarter after a regular season freshman football game for players who were not starters and played in three quarters or less in the contest.
The 11th and 12th amendments would add boys and girls lacrosse to WIAA sanctioned sports.
