LOCAL NOTES: Priest River’s Stewart coaches Columbia Basin Volleyball to 27-6 season
Taylor Stewart, Columbia Basin College Head Volleyball Coach
A 2010 graduate of Priest River High, Stewart, in her second year as head coach of the Lady Hawks, led her team to a 27-6 record and an NWAC Elite 8 berth — the Hawks' third straight Elite 8 appearance. Stewart, who coached Columbia Basin to a 19-13 record in her first year, has an extensive background in both playing and coaching. The daughter of longtime Priest River High head girls basketball coach Gary Stewart, she was a part of the Lady Spartans 3A state title team in 2010, which was the first girls basketball title in school history. After being named the North Idaho Female Athlete of the Year in volleyball, basketball, and track, she went on to become a four-year volleyball starter at Eastern Oregon University from 2011-2014; she also played basketball for the Lady Mountaineers for a year. Stewart eventually coached for two years at Potlatch High, was a volunteer assistant for William Jewel College (NCAA Division II) in Liberty, Mo., and an assistant for three years at Whitman College (NCAA Division III) in Walla Walla, Wash. More recently, she served as the head coach of Spokane CC for two years, producing winning records in both years. As for this year the Lady Hawks, under Stewart, accumulated 27 wins, which is tied for the second most since 2017 (30-4 in 2022, 27-9 in 2017) and produced the NWAC East Region MVP and had at least one player named to the East Region First Team, Second Team and Third Team.
Adam Hall, Utah Valley University Head Wrestling Coach
A 2006 Bonners Ferry High graduate, Hall coached his Wolverines to a 20-14 home win over No. 23 ranked Oregon State. Utah Valley, which hasn't beat the Beavers since 2016, won four matches by decision and two by major decision to get the dual victory.
"We embodied grit tonight to take down a top 25, nationally ranked team," Hall said in an interview with the Utah Valley Sports Information Department. "It was definitely not the prettiest dual. Both teams had guys out, made mistakes, and had hard-fought wins, but we came out on top."
Hall also recently coached redshirt senior Terrell Barraclough, who's ranked fourth in the country and previously wreslted at Penn State, to a third-place finish at the 42nd annual Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational held Dec. 6-7 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Utah Valley (4-4) hosts California Baptist on Friday.
Adam Hall