NW briefs: Mackenzie reaches quarterfinals

PINEHURST, N.C. — Washington senior Paige Mackenzie won twice in match play yesterday to advance to the quarterfinals of the 103rd North and South Amateur Golf Championship, being held at Pinehurst No. 2.

In the morning session, Mackenzie defeated Paige Haverly of Greenville, N.C., 4 and 2, then downed Lisa Tyler of Lighthouse Point, Fla., 3 and 1 in the afternoon.

Mackenzie will face Molly Birmingham of Cornelius, N.C., this morning, with the winner advancing to tomorrow's semifinals.

Other golf

• Jacqueline Olson of Sutherlin, Ore., defeated Natalie Weber of Bend, Ore., 2 and 1 in the championship match of the 50th PNGA Junior Girls Championship at Meadow Springs Country Club in Richland.

• Canterwood Golf and Country Club in Gig Harbor has been selected to host the 2006 Washington Open Invitational. The tournament is scheduled for May 20-24, 2006.

T-birds finalize schedule

The defending U.S. Division-champion Seattle Thunderbirds will open their 2005-06 season on the road against Prince George on Friday, Sept. 23, according to the finalized schedule released yesterday. The T-birds' home opener is against Kamloops on Saturday, Oct. 1, when they will raise their second division-championship banner in three years.

Other season highlights include six home games each against archrival Portland and I-5 foe Everett. All games will be broadcast on KKNW (1150 AM) and webcast live at www.whl.ca

Season ticket and group packages are now available by calling (206) 448-PUCK.

Notes

• The Chehalis Little League team will face Idaho in a Northwest Region semifinal game at 8 p.m. tomorrow in San Bernardino, Calif.

• Everett Silvertip Zach Hamill continued his hot scoring pace with two goals and one assist to help lead Canada to a 6-2 win over the Czech Republic at the Under-18 Junior World Cup in Breclav, Czech Republic. With the victory, Canada finished group play 3-0 and earned a spot tomorrow's semifinals.

Elsewhere, Michael Forney scored three times to help the U.S. team defeat Slovakia 7-4. Team USA (1-1-1) did not advance to the medal bracket, but will face Switzerland tomorrow in a consolation game.

• Western Washington ranked seventh on a list of the top academic and athletic colleges and universities in the country at the NCAA Division II level in the Collegiate Power Rankings, announced by The National Collegiate Scouting Association.

UC San Diego topped the D-II list. Western was the only Northwest school ranked in the top 10, with Seattle University 18th and Seattle Pacific 29th.

The NCSA's power rankings are calculated by averaging schools' U.S. News & World Report ranking of academic excellence, the U.S. Sports Academy Director's Cup rank of athletic departments and the student-athlete graduation rate of each school.

• The Free Flow Tour, a touring amateur skateboarding contest, is coming to Seattle. The event will take place from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. tomorrow at the SkateBarn Skatepark. Nearly 100 skaters are expected to compete for a trip to the Free Flow Tour Finals next weekend in Portland.

Compiled from sports-information reports and other sources.