Kowatsch to cover athletics

COLFAX – The Gazette has hired a Moscow, Idaho, native to cover sports countywide.

Teren Kowatsch, 23, of Pullman, joined the Colfax-based staff Monday, Aug. 29.

Kowatsch graduated from University of Idaho in May with a bachelor of science degree in journalism.

"I'm excited and honored that I get a chance to work for a paper with such a long and storied history in the region," Kowatsch said. "I'm excited that I get to bring sports coverage to the area along with the rest of our family newspapers with Free Press Publishing."

Kowatsch will focus on sports in the county's rural high schools, hunting and fishing, rodeo and racing, and other sports.

"Teren will be a great asset at The Gazette," Publisher/Owner Roger Harnack said. "In many of our rural towns, life revolves around high school athletics. It's great to have someone excited about local athletes."

Kowatsch previously worked as a sports writer and editor at the University of Idaho student newspaper, the Argonaut.

And for the past six months, he has worked as a part-time sports writer for the Lewiston Tribune and Moscow-Pullman

Daily News, covering high school sports such as baseball, softball, boys and girls soccer, football, and boys and girls basketball.

He also covered college teams and events like the NAIA World Series, Vandal football team and other local stories and features.

His obsession with sports began at a young age, with his father being a high school basketball and tennis coach.

Kowatsch said he and his siblings were always around sports.

He also comes from a family of storytellers, with his father doubling as a high school English and history teacher and his aunt and uncle being college English professors and published authors.

Kowatsch and a lot of his family have been tied to the Palouse and Eastern Washington area for a long time, and this area means a lot to him.

"I hope the residents of Whitman County will be just as excited to follow my stories as I will be covering them," he said.

Email story ideas, tips and scores to Kowatsch at sports@wcgazette.com or call him at 509-397-4333 (office) or 208-305-1814 (cell).

Readers can also follow him on Twitter at @tkseahawk13.