Apr. 2—Following an 11-year NFL career, former Idaho standout Mike Iupati is now getting his call to an area hall.
Iupati is one of five former coaches and athletes that will be inducted into the North Idaho Hall of Fame on April 12 at the Coeur d’Alene Resport, the organization announced last month.
Also set to be inducted are former Lake City and Coeur d’Alene High School basketball coach Jim Winger, track throwing coach Bart Templeman, former University of Idaho volleyball coach Debbie Buchanan and former Coeur d’Alene High School and University of Montana football athlete and community booster Rick Rasmussen.
The event will also play host to the 62nd annual North Idaho Athletic Hall of Fame awards, which honor area high school and college athletes, coaches and teams from the past year. The awards cover the 2024 academic spring season and the 2024-25 academic fall and winter seasons.
Nominations for each category are reviewed by the NIHOF committee, which selects the finalists and the winners.
During the event, a male and female athlete from each school will be honored with Hagadone High Character Award and Newly-hired Idaho football coach Thomas Ford will be the event’s featured speaker.
Tickets for the event are $40 and can be purchased online at www.nihof.org. The event will be livestreamed on www.IdahoSports.com as well as the North Idaho Athletic Hall of Fame website, www.nihof.com. A social hour where nominees can pick up their certificates and pose for photos begins at 5:30 p.m., with the banquet room doors opening at 6:30 p.m.
College football
Whitworth football has hired Jimmy Cerf to be its new offensive coordinator, the team announced last week.
Cerf comes from Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, a member of the New England Small College Athletics Conference, where he was the offensive coordinator for three seasons. Prior to Bowdoin, Cerf was the OC at St. Lawrence University, a member of the NCAA Division III Liberty League in New York.
“Jimmy was our top target from the very beginning and we feel like we are very blessed that he is coming to join us,” said Whitworth head coach Rod Sandberg. “He is going to make us better and elevate our program and we are excited for him to lead our offense and mentor our quarterbacks.”
College volleyball
Eastern Washington volleyball coach Jon Haruguchi announced Tuesday that Adrian Leiser has been hired as an assistant coach.
Leiser comes from Seattle University after doing stints at Gonzaga and Weber State.
College tennis
Gonzaga picked up its first West Coast Conference weekly award as Emily Robertson won women’s tennis singles player of the week award, the conference announced Tuesday.
The Bulldogs went 2-0 last week thanks to the efforts of Robertson. She beat Megan Carmichael of Pacific 6-3, 6-0 and then Iman Khan of Saint Mary’s, 6-0, 6-2.