July 2009 ArchivesCourtney Thompson and her Team USA teammates lost their FIVB World Grand Prix Pool A opening match today against Germany by a 3-0 count. Thompson, a 2006 UW grad, came off the bench in the second set with the Americans trailing and then started the final set but Team USA was unable to turn things around against the Germans, falling 25-15, 25-15, 25-16. Thompson wound up leading the team in set attempts with 39 and had the second-most digs on the team with seven. Assist totals were not included in post-match results. The Americans will look to get their first win tomorrow against Puerto Rico. That match will be at 9 a.m. PT and fans can watch live online here.  Former Husky pitcher Nick Hagadone was a part of a last-minute deal today as the Cleveland Indians and the Boston Red Sox made a trade just before the deadline, which was 1:00 p.m. Pacific Time.Hagadone was the Sox' top draft pick following the 2007 season. After a hot start, he missed all of last year due to Tommy John elbow surgery. His return to action has been slow and steady, but also very successful (click his name above to view his minor-league stats). He was dealt by the Red Sox along with fellow minor-league pitchers Bryan Price and Justin Masterson for Cleveland's All-Star catcher Victor Martinez. Here's the story on mlb.com and in the Boston Herald.  Football coach Steve Sarkisian and senior linebacker Donald Butler, spent the last two days at Pac-10 Football Media Day in Los Angeles. Here's a brief rundown of their schedule:On Wednesday, Butler joined the other nine players in attendance for dinner at an Italian restaurant near Venice Beach. Each year, the players and the sports information directors from all the schools go to dinner on Wednesday night. Around the same time, Coach Sarkisian and the other Pac-10 coaches met for dinner with new Pac-10 Commissioner Larry Scott. Thursday morning started out with a rules session with Pac-10 director of football officiating Dave Cutaia. All 10 coaches, as well as several members of the media, were in attendance for the session, which went over rules changes and new areas of emphasis. The formal press conference followed, beginning at 9:30 with a brief address from Commissioner Scott. Sarkisian and Butler then followed WSU's coach and player on the stage. If you were watching on line and wondering why Butler wasn't present when Sarkisian started, it was because they started about 10 minutes early and Butler was still engaged in an interview elsewhere.  After their time in front of the writers, Sarkisian and Butler spent the next couple of hours going from room to room, conducting individual interviews with various TV and radio stations (in the photos here, Butler is talking with "Isaac and Big Suke" from 1080-AM in Portland. [Side note: "Big Suke" is really Jason Scukanec, who was a center at BYU. His freshman year was the season after Sarkisian's senior year. Jason explained to Coach Sark that he once snapped to him while Sark was working out following his senior season.]That portion of the day is a whirlwind. Player and coach both record sportsmanship messages that will be played on the HuskyTron, they recorded segments with FSN and Versus that will be used when the Dawgs have a game televised on those networks. ESPN's Joe Schad spoke to each for segments that will air on College Football Live and they spoke in person and on the phone with a number of sports radio stations up and down the West Coast. Here a few links to coverage of Pac-10 Football Media Day (a quick google news search will provide much more if you're interested): Tacoma News-Tribune Two from the Seattle Times, here and here A column in the Ventura County (Calif.) Star
Also, to watch the free live video, click here.  Fans can cast their vote now for former Husky standouts Hope Solo and Tina Ellertson (Frimpong) for the inaugural Women's Pro Soccer All-Star game, which takes place Sunday, August 30 and will pit
the WPS All-Stars against Swedish Champions Umeå IK. The match will be played at The Anheuser-Busch Soccer Park, Saint Louis Athletica's home field, in Fenton, Mo. Both Solo and Ellertson are members of the Athletic so go to the WPS website now to help them play in the first WPS All-Star game in front of their how crowd. Click here to vote for Solo as the goalkeeper and Ellertson as a defender. Solo and Ellertson have led the Athletica to an 8-6-3 record, good for second place in the league with just three regular season games remaining. Solo is second in the league in saves (69) and clean sheets (6) while Ellertson has played solid defense in front of Solo and is the only member of the St. Louis team to play in all 17 matches. The Athletica is on the verge of advancing to the playoffs. Should they remain in second place, they would earn an automatic berth in the Super Semifinal, the weekend of Aug. 18-19. The championship is Aug. 22 with the first-place Los Angeles Sol having already clinched a spot in the match. The All-Star game will be televised live nationally on Fox Soccer Channel and regionally on select Fox Sports Net affiliates (check local listings), starting at 5pm ET/2pm PT with a half-hour pre-game show prior to kick-off at 5:30pm ET/2:30pm PT.
Neither current Husky Nick Taylor nor former Dawg Troy Kelly made the cut at the RBC Canadian Open, the second round of which was completed a day late today, due to rain. The third and fourth rounds are both slated to be played tomorrow.
Here's the gohuskies.com recap of Taylor's second round, in which he shot a one-over 73. Several links regarding the Canadian Open, as well as some mentions of Taylor in the Canadian press: • PGA.com's leaderboard • A brief mention in this story from the National Post • This note from the Globe and Mail on the success of Canadian golfers in the Open • Finally, this blog from Canadian golf website scoregolf.com
Husky golfer Nick Taylor has finished the first nine holes of his second round at the RBC Canadian Open in Oakville, Ontario. Taylor, who shot a 7-over 79 in the first round (spread over Thursday and Friday due to lengthy rain delays both days) was even through his first nine, notching two bogeys, two birdies and the rest pars.
At 7-over for the tournament, it's unlikely that he'll make the cut, but in the event he rallies and does make it, his third round would begin later Saturday, barring more rain. Here's Taylor's scorecard and here's a live blog of the day's action from the PGA Tour's website. Check back here later today for more.
Husky All-America golfer Nick Taylor has an uphill battle ahead of himself heading into the second round at the RBC Canadian Open today in Oakville, Ontario.
Taylor, who has enjoyed great success this summer as the runner-up at the U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship and low amateur at the U.S. Open, posted a seven-over par 79 in the first round, which just came to a close just shy of 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time. Thursday, after a seven-plus hour delay due to rain, Taylor completed 14 holes and finished the day three-over, but a seven on the par-three seventh, added to his total (Taylor began his round on the 10th hole). It's unlikely that Taylor will complete his second round today as he's not schedule to tee off again until 6:50 p.m. Eastern Time, meaning he'll be lucky to get nine holes in before darkness. You can follow along on the the PGA Tour's website by clicking here. In other Husky-related news, former Dawg Troy Kelly posted a one-under 71 in the first round of the Canadian Open, putting him eight shots off the pace (four golfers share the lead at -9 at this moment). UPDATE (4:45 p.m. PDT): More rain fell in Ontario and Taylor won't begin his second round until Saturday morning at 7:30 a.m. EDT. Here's the brief recap of today's play from gohuskies.com. On a similar note, Kelly also did not begin his second round and will have to wait until Saturday morning.  H. Roger Morris, the last surviving member of Washington's legendary 1936 men's crew, has passed away at the age of 94, the Seattle Times reported today.The '36 Husky crew gained fame during the Berlin Olympic Games of that year, when it won the gold medal. The entire crew was inducted into the Husky Hall of Fame. Morris, who was born and raised in Seattle, is survived by daughters Joan Mullen and Susan Hanshaw, son, James Morris, seven grandchildren and eight great grandchildren. Here's a link to an excellent story in the Seattle Times, written by Bud Withers. Here's much more info on the 1936 crew, including photos, at huskycrew.org (scroll down to 1936). The entire UW athletics family sends its thoughts and sympathy to Mr. Morris' family.  Much like his trip to the U.S. Open last month at Bethpage Black in New York, Nick Taylor's opening round at the RBC Canadian Open was affected by rain. After teeing off seven and a half hours later than expected, he got in 14 holes before played ended for the day, and was sitting at three-over par at day's end.Taylor will tee off again tomorrow morning, completing four more holes in his first round before trying to squeeze in his second. Roughly 50 golfers have yet to begin their first round. Here's a little more detail from our story here at gohuskies.com. Follow along tomorrow on the PGA's website right here. The PGA also has a blog with a lot more info from today's action. And, here's a link to the tournament's official site. On the subject of Taylor, here are a few links to recent stories: Toronto Sun
Play has been suspended due to rain and unplayable course conditions at the RBC Canadian Open in Oakville, Ontario, on this, the first day of competition.
The suspension came early this morning after some of the golfers had teed off, but Washington's Nick Taylor, who was slated to open his round on the 10th tee at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time, had not begun before play was called. The PGA tour website states that the estimated restart time is 3:10 p.m. Eastern Time (12:10 p.m. Pacific Time). Obviously, so early in the morning, there's a good chance that action will resume later on today. Check back here or follow along on the tournament's official website.
Husky All-America golfer Nick Taylor will tee off at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time tomorrow (Thu., July 23) in the first round of the Canadian Open.
Taylor, a senior-to-be from Abbotsford, B.C., will play alongside fellow Canadian amateur star Matt Hill (North Carolina State) as well as 36-year old American professional Darron Stiles. The threesome will tee off on No. 10 at Glen Abbey Golf Club in Oakville, Ontario. You can follow the tournament's progress on its official website. Of course, you can also check back here at the Dawg Blawg and gohuskies.com.
The following is a transcript of an interview today from the Canadian Open, which is taking place this week in Oakville, Ontario. There were practice rounds today and a pro-am tomorrow before the field tees of for real on Thursday
GoHuskies.com and the Dawg Blawg will provide coverage as All-America UW golfer Nick Taylor takes part in another major touranment this summer. Taylor finished second at the U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship last week and was the top amateur at the U.S. Open last month. You can also follow along yourself on the tournament's official website. First, here's a link to a video of this interview, and here's the transcript, which features Taylor, as well as another top Canadian amateur Matt Hill (North Carolina State), being interviewed by Doug Milne of the PGA staff (transcript courtesy of the PGA): DOUG MILNE: We'd like to welcome two very distinguished young Canadian golfers here, Nick Taylor and Matt Hill. There's no real rhyme or reason as to who talks, who says what, so a couple of comments as you're heading into the week here, what it means to be given the sponsor exemptions and kind of assess the state of your games. MATT HILL: Yeah. I'm really looking forward to this week, especially being in Canada, just being on the Tour is a whole lot different, just getting my feet wet pretty much. Haven't really played this golf course before, but I'm really looking forward to Glen Abbey, with all the tradition and with it being the hundredth anniversary, that's pretty special as well. NICK TAYLOR: I'm very proud to be out here, having the experience on the PGA TOUR. Like Matt said, I have a few, it's cool to be in a PGA Tour event, but being back home in Canada with a bunch of people working and pulling for you, that's going to be fun. DOUG MILNE: Who are some of the guys you look up to, mentors, if you will, I'm sure Mike Weir is probably at the top of the list, but some of the guys out on Tour who you watch week in, week out, emulate, like their game, their swing, that kind of thing? MATT HILL: Obviously Tiger Woods is someone you look at and you idolize growing up and trying to do things like that, but also someone like Mike Weir, especially being from my hometown, and he really inspired me to keep getting better. And me and Nick got a chance to play with Ian Leggett today, and he's also done quite a bit for Canadian golf. And he really helped us out there on a few different shots on the course, so that was pretty nice today. NICK TAYLOR: Yeah. I've always looked up to Tiger, watching him in majors and stuff, but to Mike, following him and winning the Masters, and probably a lot of kids and us being one of them. It's just been not even Mike Weir, but younger guys that have been on the Nationwide, Ian Leggett committed this year, and John Mills, got to know him a little bit last year. And those kind of guys I like to follow them and see how they're doing throughout the year and it's fun to watch them. DOUG MILNE: We'll open it up for a few questions. Q. You guys have known each other for years, and I'm just wondering, when you guys each had great seasons in college this year, and how closely were you guys following one another? Nick, you were out on the West Coast and Matt's on the East Coast. You guys were kind of keeping track of one another through papers, weren't you? NICK TAYLOR: Yeah. I was following what he was doing. I was watching, and the last two events we got to play in the same field, got to play each other in one round, but it's nice to see that we're doing well, so it's fun to watch. MATT HILL: Yeah, the same thing. There's quite a few times where maybe I won an event on a Sunday and I saw Nick the next day on Live Scoring and then he'd end up shooting like 65 or something to win, and it's pretty cool seeing him right behind me. Q. Were there any trash Emails going back and forth? MATT HILL: Not so much. I'd say more support more than anything. We supported each other a lot and just kind of congratulated each other and rooted for each other. Q. You guys have been roommates during the tournament. Is there a lot of trash talk going on during the tournament? MATT HILL: We have different rooms. I sent some wake up calls to his room for about 3 in the morning. (Laughs) No. We're having fun. Q. Nick, you talked about some of the guys out on the Nationwide Tour. I'm just wondering if you guys have been following Graham Delaet at all and what you think of what he's doing this year? NICK TAYLOR: Yeah. For him to win two events this year, and to win last week, he's playing well, played with guys like Davis Love, and probably the best ball striking I've ever seen. I haven't played with Graham for a while, but it's cool to see him playing so well and coming in here. Q. How about you, Matt? MATT HILL: Yeah. I heard he played great at the World Cup and played really well in South Africa, and just everything he's done, and not a lot of Canadians here this year. He's been pretty phenomenal. I don't know if we've ever seen a Canadian do that, and that's pretty special. And hopefully he'll get on the Tour pretty soon because he's really good. Q. Maybe if you guys could talk about your recent play. Matt you won the Ontario Amateur, and Nick, you did really well scooting through the field until the last match at the Pub Links. I'm wondering how you look at your current play and how it might translate from amateur golf to here you guys have some experience at pro golf already obviously. NICK TAYLOR: You know, I think just playing in a tournament and being able to shoot low scores and win definitely builds up a lot of confidence coming into this week and making a lot of birdies. Obviously the course might not be set up quite as tough, but at the same time gives you a lot of confidence going in, good things should happen. And I think just playing a little bit more careful out here and smarter is just a little bit more of a challenge, and it's different than amateur golf. MATT HILL: For me, I played 6 days of golf and end up only losing to one guy, so leaving that event you have some confidence with how you were playing. It was a long week, so last few days I've been playing catchup and rest. So that's the biggest thing. But when you come to these events, you're not trying to change anything you're doing. The courses we play in college are tough out there, too. So you just come in and play your own game. Don't try to change anything for these guys because it's the same golf course. Q. Obviously during a week like this, you guys wearing the Canada logos and stuff are going to be recognized a bit more. I'm wondering in general, do you feel as though people are watching you and wondering if you guys will be the next big player, because it seems like in Canada we tend to be looking for one of those guys. MATT HILL: Yeah. I don't know if we necessarily think about that too much because we're not trying to put extra added pressure on ourselves, especially when we're playing there. We're just trying to get the ball in the hole the best we can and keep calm and not put too much pressure. So it's obviously really nice to play in front of the home crowd, in front of Canada, but we just gotta play our own games and not really worry too much about that stuff. Q. Nick, you touched on this about 2003 and Mike Weir and being inspired somewhat by that when you guys were younger. Could you both maybe offer a thought about what you remember, what you were doing, and you know, your observations about how you were more or suddenly motivated by golf after that event? NICK TAYLOR: Yeah. I grew up watching. I think it was kind of off and on in the morning, but I think when I first started watching he was making a bunch of birdies, and the last few holes Mike was stiffing it in on the par 5s, and he made that clutch putt on the last hole to get into the playoffs. And you've never really seen it before with a Canadian golfer out there, and I remember the Air Canada championship watching on TV, when Mike I think he holed out to win his event there. But being that kind of high profile event and win the Masters, it's just something you want to do, if you're a Canadian, you want to follow in his footsteps and have that kind of success. So it's kind of inspired us to I guess build dreams and want you to kind of follow up. MATT HILL: Yeah, I think pretty similar to what Nick said. I grew up in the same town as Mike, grew up around the corner from him, so I got a chance to go watch him clinic at the nearby golf course, when he just started to get in on Tour, and from there on, just watching how he conducted himself and how he hit the ball has inspired me a lot. And I think I was probably about eight or nine at the time, and just from there I just kind of dreamed that I wanted to be on Tour. And another, I guess, event was obviously him winning the Masters made it even better for that, and just the dreams and stuff like that you get from watching him is pretty good. Q. You both have had what I would call busy schedules this summer. How are you trying to marshall your energy or get yourself ready for this event, having that in mind? I mean you've had travel, you've had lots of tournaments. Are you prepared for this tournament given that? NICK TAYLOR: You know, I finished Saturday night, and it was a super long week with the heat and how many holes I was playing, but I had a few days in there. You come here and practice a bit and do your business, but we're not really doing much. We go back to the hotel and kind of hang out and watch TV and relax and go to bed at a pretty early time. So it takes a few days to kind of recharge your battery, but I think we'll be ready. MATT HILL: I feel like college golf has kind of helped prepare me for just playing a lot of weeks in a row in amateur golf. We've played probably 6 out of 7 weeks out there and traveled quite a bit, so I think that really helps prepare you, and helps you keep energized for a week like this. DOUG MILNE: All right. Nick, Matt, thanks, guys, for joining us and good luck this week.  Ashley Charters and Team USA will play for the championship in the World Cup of Softball presented by Six Flags Monday night at 6 p.m. PT on ESPN2.Charters has started at second base in all but one game in the World Cup after she made a successful debut with USA in last week's Canada Cup. The former Husky All-American and her USA teammates will take on Australia in the championship looking for their third World Cup title. Charters did not have to face former teammate Danielle Lawrie this week as Canada held her out of the USA-Canada match up to save Lawrie for a potential championship battle. But Canada dropped a 5-4 decision to Japan on Sunday, giving Australia the spot in the final game. Lawrie and current Husky Jenn Salling both played well for Canada all week and will face Japan again Monday for the bronze before heading to Venezuela for the Pan-Am games in two weeks. To follow Charters' progress with Team USA, go to usasoftball.com or the ASA's Facebook page. To follow Salling and Lawrie's progress, visit the Softball Canada website.
Adriene De Leuw and Victoria Nenchev won the Women's Intermediate 2- event Sunday at the 2009 USRowing Club Nationals, defeating the second place crew by open water. The pair clocked a 8:02.56 to win the race.
The 15 Huskies who made their national teams will compete in the U23 World Championships this weekend (July 23-26) in Racice, Czech Republic. For more information, click here.  Two brief updates on former Huskies currently toiling in the Minor Leagues.First, top Boston Red Sox prospect Nick Hagadone, the Sox' top pick in the 2007 draft, is continuing to progress in his comeback from "Tommy John" surgery. He's been making short starts for the Greenville (S.C.) Drive in the South Atlantic League and is continuing to attract attention. Next, Jake Rife has enjoyed a very quick rise up the ranks of the Los Angeles Angels' organization. A 48th-round draft pick, Rife, from Arlington, Wash., started his minor league career just a few weeks ago in Arizona at the lowest level of the system. He moved quickly to Orem (Utah) and now finds himself excelling in the advanced-A level California League with the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes. Here's a newspaper story from the San Bernardino Sun on his early success (6-for-7 with 3 RBI in two games with the Quakes). Through Minor League Baseball's website, you can also check in on of recent Husky signees Jorden Merry, Brian Pearl, Jason Erickson, and Kyle Conley by clicking on their names. Huskies Kerry Simmonds and Heather Young won the senior straight pair this morning in Oak Ridge, Tenn., dominating the second-place crew by nearly 14 seconds.
Adriene De Leuw and Victoria Nenchev will race Sunday in the Women's Intermediate 2-.
For complete results, visit row2k.com
NORMAN, Okla. -- Brad Benjamin took a 4 up lead over Husky golfer Nick Taylor in the first 18 of the 36-hole final round of match play at the 2009 U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship.
Taylor entered the final round having trailed for just a total of three holes during his first five matches, but Benjamin, a 2009 graduate of the University of Memphis, came out undaunted. Benjamin grabbed a 1 up lead on the par-3 No. 2 hole after Taylor bogeyed. He would extend his lead to 2-up on the other front-nine par-3 No. 6 with a birdie, while Taylor parred. Taylor would gain a hole back on the very next hole with a birdie to Benjamin's bogey, but he would hand it right back on the No. 8 with a bogey. Once again, the par 3's on the back nine would prove to be the difference for Benjamin, as he gained another hole on No. 12 with a birdie 2 and No. 15 when Taylor bogeyed. The second 18 will begin at 10:15 PT. Seattle is buzzing with the talk of Skyler Fancher chasing down and apprehending a purse snatcher a few days ago. Here is a YouTube clip of an interview Fancher conducted with local media today. NORMAN, Okla. -- Nick Taylor faced his toughest challenge yet against Wesley Bryan in the quarterfinals of match play at the U.S. Amateur Public Links Championships on Friday, but emerged unscathed with a 2 and 1 win to advance to the semifinals this afternoon.
The pair halved the first four holes before Taylor struck the first blow on the 621-yard, par-5 fifth hole with a birdie to Bryan's par. Taylor, the number one ranked amateur in the world, would increase his lead on No. 7 when Bryan bogeyed the 434-yard, par-4 hole, while Taylor scored par. Once again, the pair halved the next four holes to keep Bryan within striking distance of Taylor. But, on the par-3 12th hole, Bryan found trouble and bogeyed, while Taylor remained steady and scored par to extend his lead to 3 up. The next three holes were a see-saw battle back-and-forth. Bryan sliced into Taylor's lead when he scored a birdie on the par-5 No. 13, but gave it right back on No. 14 when he bogeyed. Taylor let Bryan back in the match on No. 15 when he bogeyed the par-3 hole to go 2 up with three holes left to play. Both Taylor and Bryan scored par on the next two holes to give Taylor the 2 and 1 win. Taylor will face Philip Bryan (no relation to Wesley) at 10:30 am PT today in the semifinals. Bryan should have the home course advantage at the Jimmie Austin OU Golf Club as he is currently the assistant coach of the University of Oklahoma and competed collegiately for the university.
 A few months ago, former UW football star, and current United States Secret Service officer, Dave Hoffmann spoke to the Husky football team. He talked about life as a Husky as well as his career path in law enforcement.
Apparently that talk had quite the impact on sophomore offensive lineman Skyler Fancher. While dining with a friend at Chipotle in the University District a few nights ago, Fancher noticed a woman screaming at a purse snatcher as they raced by. Along with a couple of other men, he jumped a small barrier and gave chase. After about 10 minutes and a mile or so chase, they apprehended the thief and police took over. Jerry Brewer of the Seattle Times wrote a great column about the event in today's newspaper. During the interview, Fancher was asked if he had any career aspirations in law enforcement. The Costa Mesa, Calif., native remarked that, after he listed to Hoffmann tell his story, he actually was interested in the Secret Service and was considering a similar career path. It is great to see former Husky stars have an impact on the current Dawgs both on and off the field! UPDATE: Here is a transcript of an interview Fancher conducted with local television stations.
UPDATE: SeattlePI.com columnist Art Thiel attended the ESPY Awards and wrote this great column on Lawrie and the event. Also, check out this photo gallery from the two-day experience.
Taylor, the No. 1 ranked amateur in the world, did not lose a hole in his match versus Munson and has in fact led for 24 of the 26 holes he has played in the first two rounds. "I'm fine with winning like this, but it's (tough matches) going to come sooner or later," Taylor would say after his match. "It could be this afternoon, it could be tomorrow morning, it could be whenever. But (if I) stick to my game plan of fairways and greens and making pars, if I do that, someone's going to have to shoot at least under par to win. To do that on this golf course you have to play solid so if I'm making pars it's putting pressure on them." In this morning's round, Taylor took the lead on No. 1 by carding a par, while Munson bogeyed. The early turning point came on the par-4 No. 3 where Taylor chipped in his second shot from 20-yards out to net an eagle to take a two-hole advantage. From there, Taylor went on to win holes 5 and 6 with birdies to take a four-hole lead, before halving the next two holes with Munson. Taylor then went on a four-hole roll, starting with No. 9, and never looked back. He eagled his second hole of the day on No. 10, a short 315-yard par 4. He nestled his ball within six feet of the cup off the tee and drained his putt to take all the wind out of Munson's sails. Taylor will face Todd Obergoenner in the Round of 16 of the Jimmie Austin OU Club in Norman, Okla., this afternoon. • For more Nick Taylor quotes, click here. • To follow live scoring, click here.
According to men's basketball strength coach Matt Ludwig, the incoming freshman class of Abdul Gaddy, Clarence Trent and C.J. Wilcox has been very impressive in initial workouts. Ludwig lauded the trio's work ethic and commitment and said each guy appears prepared, at least physically, to enter the season in top-notch condition. "I've seen a little more of Abdul and C.J. than Clarence, but I can tell you they are all very impressive from a strength and conditioning perspective," said Ludwig. "They are quick learners, they are respectful, follow the lead of the older guys and are off the charts in terms of testing. As far as Abdul and C.J. are concerned, they have great lower and upper body strength - particularly for guards, and are way more athletic than most people think. I think the new guys - and the entire team, for that matter - will all be in great shape once practice starts in the fall." Ludwig noted the team works out every day, Monday through Thursday, for about an hour-and-a-half and the focus is normally on speed and endurance. The team does speed work, generally in the Dempsey Indoor, then gathers for strength work in the weight room. Almost every afternoon, they play pickup games that also include several former players such as Spencer Hawes, Bobby Jones, Nate Robinson and others who happen to be in town. Nick Taylor has been fortunate the past two days in that he has had 7 a.m. tee times and been able to avoid the sweltering Oklahoma heat at the U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship. It also has helped that he has played stellar golf! This morning he beat Craig Cyr, 6 and 4, in the first round of match play. He now gets to rest up for the rest of the day and wait until the second round tomorrow morning. He will again tee off at 7:00 a.m. against the winner of today's match between David Johnson and Brett Munson. You can follow live scoring here. UPDATE: Taylor will face Munson, who won 1 up. With the start of the summer freshman LEAP program on Monday, 27 of the newest Husky student-athletes have gotten a head start on their first year of the college experience. All 13 of the scholarship signees from Steve Sarkisian's first football recruiting class are enrolled, as is incoming freshman men's hoops signee Clarence Trent (classmates Abdul Gaddy and C.J. Wilcox are already attending summer school at the UW). The football freshmen enrolled in LEAP (which stands for Learn + Experience + Archieve Program) are: Marlion Barnett, Talia Crichton, Nate Fellner, James Johnson, Kimo Makaula, Keith Price, Andru Pulu, Chris Robinson, Will Shamburger, Semisi Tokolahi, Desmond Trufant, Tim Rucker and Jordan Wallace. The summer LEAP program is a six college credit class that talks place five hours-per-day, Monday-Friday for four weeks. The class provides an opportunity for participants to become acclimated to the university experience without the pressures of athletic participation. The students also get an opportunity to bond with other student-athletes and become more acquainted with the University of Washington Former Pacific-10 Conference Commissioner Wiles Hallock passed away at his home Monday morning. He was 91. Hallock was Commissioner of the Conference from 1971-1983. Prior to joining the then-Pac-8 Conference, Hallock was Commissioner of the Western Athletic Conference and had held positions in college athletics at the NCAA, University of California and University of Wyoming.
Megan Kalmoe and her partner Ellen Tomek won gold yesterday in the double sculls at the World Cup in Lucerne, Switzerland. Kalmoe then turned around three hours later and subbed into the quadruple scull, helping the U.S. to a second gold medal.
Recent grad Katelin Snyder coxed the women's eight to a silver medal, finishing just a half a second back from the Germans. Brett Newlin and Giuseppe Lanzone picked up bronze in the four, closing out a very successful day for the Huskies. Complete results and recap can be found here. And last, not an alumnus yet, but here's a profile on Husky Rob Munn, member of the national champion and UNDEFEATED 2009 freshman eight:
The Sacramento Kings' official website - Kings.com - posted this YouTube clip the day after the NBA Draft last month.
Mary Lou Mulflur announced the hiring of former Florida Gator player Andrea VanderLende as an assistant coach last week. She officially starts at Washington on Aug. 1 and will be a guest blawgger for the UW throughout the season. She decided to get a jump start and submitted an entry on Monday! 
Life is truly an adventure and can be extremely exciting. That is how I feel about making one of the biggest moves in my life. I am trading in my blue and orange for purple and gold and coming to the Pac-10 which is the best conference in the country right now. Yes, you can say I am excited. Upon graduating from the University of Florida, I knew I wanted to stay in golf but was not sure where the industry would allow me to excel and make a difference. It was while working at Carmel Country Club in Charlotte, North Carolina with the Junior Program that I started to see myself coaching. With that in mind, I have spent the last few years trying to acquire the skills and insight it takes to build a strong foundation for coaching. I know I am ready and what could be better than being Coach Mulflur's assistant coach. Who wouldn't want to learn from the best! The University of Washington's golf program is outstanding and offers their student athletes every opportunity to excel on and off the course. I was thrilled to see the new indoor practice facility and what golfer wouldn't want to call Washington National their home course.
The last time I played Washington National was at the NCAA Championship my freshman year. The course and Seattle left a lasting impression and who would have known I would be calling it home eight years later.  Not surprisingly, former Husky Tim Lincecum has been named the National League' starting pitcher for the All-Star game tomorrow night in St. Louis.Lincecum, who last pitched for the Dawgs in 2006, when he won the Golden Spikes Award, will square off against American League starter Roy Halladay of the Toronto Blue Jays. The game air live tomorrow night (Tue., July 14) at 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time on Fox. Here's the Associated Press story on Lincecum being named the starter on gohuskies.com. And here's a brief story from the San Francisco Chronicle. Also, on the subject of Lincecum, here's a link to a terrific story in the Santa Rosa Press-Democrat, published on Saturday. Husky grad Alex Prugh finished tied with two others at 9-under 276 on the Nationwide Tour event being held in Clarkston, Ontario, Can., this weekend. Prugh struggled on Sunday and shot a 1-over 72 in the final round of the (quite a mouthful!) Ford Wayne Gretzky Classic Presented by Samsumg. Prugh entered the final round tied for 11th, but only managed two birdies on Sunday after hitting 13 of them during the first three rounds. Husky senior Chris Killmer manned the bag for Prugh during the weekend. Prugh entered the tournament No. 3 on the money list this season and Sunday's final result should not alter his status greatly. Former Husky Louise Friberg finished the LPGA's U.S. Open being held at the Saucon Valley Country Club in Bethlehem, Pa., tied for 34th. Friberg shot a 4-over 75 on Sunday and ended the tournament tied with five others at 11-over 295. Friberg had missed the cut in the previous 11 events she had entered. The 34th place finish was her best of the season and earned Friberg $20,702. Congrats to Friberg!!
This weekend, a couple of Husky pros are playing well on the LPGA and Nationwide Tours.
Louise Friberg is representing the Husky women at the LPGA's 2009 U.S. Open in Bethlehem, Pa., and is tied for 23rd at 7-over (75-72-73=220) after three rounds. Friberg, who lettered for Washington from 2000-2003, was 2-over on Saturday and is nine strokes behind leader Cristie Kerr (2-under overall) . On the Nationwide Tour, Alex Prugh has been making a steady climb all weekend long. On Saturday, he jumped into a tie for 11th place after he began the third round tied for 29th. Prugh, who lettered at Washington from 2004-07, shot a 4-under 67 for a second-consecutive day to move to 10-under overall at the Ford Wayne Gretzky Classic Presented by Samsung. Roger Tambellini leads the tournament at 18-under. Former Husky standout Louise Friberg is tied for 28th after two rounds of the LPGA U.S. Open at Saucon Valley Country Club in Bethlehem, Pa. Friberg is 5-over for the tournament and shot a 1-over 72 on Friday. Cristie Kerr tops the leaderboard at 3-under overall. After a stellar rookie season in 2008, Friberg has struggled to find her swing in 2009. She has missed the cut in her last 11 LPGA events this season, but hopefully this week's results from Pennsylvania will get her back on track. In other news, former Husky Kelli Kamimura will be named head coach at Washington State University. That makes three former Husky players [Mary Lou Mulflur, Kamimura and Nancy (Kessler) McDaniel at Cal] leading Pac-10 programs!! Darren Wallace lost a seesaw battle to Josh Anderson in match play in the semifinal round of the PNGA Amateur Championships on Friday. Wallace trailed Anderson by two strokes after 10 holes, but mounted a furious comeback. Anderson bogeyed No. 11 to allow Wallace to gain a stroke, but Wallace returned the favor by scoring bogey on the Par 3 No. 12. Wallace closed the gap back to 1 down on No. 13 when he scored par and Anderson bogeyed. He evened the match on No. 16 with a birdie, but immediately fell back down a hole on 17 when he scored bogey and Anderson scored a par. Needing a big finish on 18, Wallace birdied the Par 4 hole and Anderson scored a par to force extra holes. On the 19th hole, the Par 4 No. 1, Wallace bogeyed and Anderson scored a par to win the match and advance to the finals. Anderson will face No. 1 seed Tyler Mathews in Saturday's final.
Megan Kalmoe, UW alumna and member of the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team, once again teamed up with sculling partner Ellen Tomek to win their heat at the 2009 Rowing World Cup Regatta in Lucerne, Switzerland. The duo won their heat by almost three seconds to advance directly to the final, slated for Sunday.
Washington alumni Giuseppe Lanzone and Brett Newlin, also a members of the 2008 Olympic Team, raced to a second-place showing in their heat of the men's four, earning them a spot in the finals on Sunday. Lanzone also raced in the men's eight that finished third in its heat, giving them a chance to race again Saturday in the repechage. For more information, check out the US Rowing website press release. Sunday's event finals will be streamed live here.
He went on to become an important Seattle community activist in Latino issues and recalled his experience as a Husky football player frequently, citing the teamwork and principles of being a teammate under UW head coach Jim Owens. For more on the life of Ricardo Aguirre, the Seattle Times wrote an interesting obituary. Husky senior-to-be Darren Wallace is the lone UW athlete still competing in the PNGA Amateur Championships being held at the Home Course in Dupont, Wash. Wallace is currently battling former Washington State player David Fern for the right to play in the semifinals. You can get updates of the progress of the match by clicking here. The winner will face Pepperdine's Josh Anderson later this afternoon. Anderson beat incoming UW freshman Chris Williams, 2 and 1, earlier this morning. Williams, the No. 2 seed, advanced to the quarterfinals after beating former Seattle Mariners pitch Erik Hanson, 5 and 4, on Thursday. Meanwhile, on the Nationwide Tour, Alex Prugh made a huge move on the rest of the Ford Wayne Gretzky Classic Presented by Samsung field today, shooting 5-under par in the second round. He started the day tied for 70th and moved all the way up to 24th. Husky senior Chris Killmer is on the bag for Prugh this weekend. By the way, Prugh is third overall on the money list for the Tour. He has four top-10 finishes in 12 events he has played so far this year.
Slovic, who is the all-time winningest Husky with 184 combined singles and doubles wins, will face the No. 7-seed, Jiri Skoloudik of the Czech Republic in the quarters. Slovic has not dropped a set so far in three wins. In the third round he bageled Mori Valter of Brazil, 6-0, 6-0, and yesterday defeated Australia's Jon Smith, 6-4, 6-2. In his first match he had to face former Husky teammate Klaus Jank of Germany. The two played together in 2006 when UW last made the NCAA Round of 16. Slovic scored the 6-4, 6-4 win. Also still competing is current Husky junior-to-be Vanja Radunovic. The native of Montenegro is in the quarterfinals of the consolation singles draw. Radunovic dominated her first consolation match, 6-0, 6-0, then moved into the quarters via a walkover. Top Husky women's tennis player Venise Chan just wrapped up a quarterfinal run in a pro tourney near her Hong Kong home this week, which included an upset of the tournament's No. 1 seed. Chan, a junior-to-be who finished the 2009 season ranked 25th in the NCAA, went 2-1 this week in a 10,000 dollar level tourney in Shenzhen, Guangdong, China. In the first round she defeated Nan-Nan Zhang, 7-5, 6-4. Next she faced top-seeded Seiko Okamoto, a 31-year-old pro who has been ranked in the top-200 in both singles and doubles in her career. Chan earned a 6-2, 6-3 win over the veteran. In Thursday's quarterfinal, Chan faced a 15-year-old qualifier who has gone undefeated in junior play this year. Haochen Tang overcame Chan, 6-4, 6-2 to reach the semis. Former UW walk-on tight end Joel McHale, more well-known these days as the host of popular E! network comedy television show The Soup, appeared on the Late Show With David Letterman recently and he talked about his time as a Husky football player. The Husky men's golf team has several athletes -- both current, future and past -- participating in various events this week. At the 108th PNGA Men's Amateur Championships being held at the Home Course in DuPont, Wash., a handful of Huskies are alive in the match play-formatted tournament. In yesterday's action, the most interesting match pitted Husky versus Husky. Darren Wallace, the No. 11 seed, defeated teammate Richard Lee, 2 and 1, to advance. Jens Bracht, the No. 36 seed, defeated Curtis McCormack, 3 and 1, and incoming freshman Chris Williams, who is the No. 2 seed, downed Matt Epstein, 7 and 6. It has to be noted that match play was the downfall of the Huskies in the 2009 NCAA Championships. So, the more opportunities the players have to participate in that format, the better it will be for them down the road. In other action, former Husky Alex Prugh is playing in the Ford Wayne Gretzky Classic Presented by Samsung (definitely a mouthful) on the Nationswide Tour this weekend. There are over 200 competitors in the Toronto event. Current Husky Chris Killmer will be on the bag for Prugh this weekend.  Washington senior-to-be Veronica Perez played 60 minutes in helping the U-23 United States National Team to a 3-1 win over England on Tuesday just outside London. Perez has been traveling with the national team for the past week, playing a pair of exhibition games against the England National Team. After the English got the best of the U.S. on Sunday, Perez helped the team bounce back to even the series. "I started and played 60 minutes and it went really well," said Perez, who led the Huskies in goals, points and tied for the team lead in assists last season. "We had one mistake in the middle that was costly but other than that I think it went awesome." This was Perez's first experience with a U.S. National Team after she spent time with the Mexican National Team earlier this summer. As a youth player she is still eligible to do both. For updates on the U-23 National Team, go to ussocer.com.  UW's National Champion softball players Ashley Charters (Team USA), Danielle Lawrie and Jenn Salling (Team Canada) continue to represent the Huskies well at the Canada Cup international softball tournament in Surrey, B.C. Charters helped USA stay undefeated with a 10-0 win over Canada Monday. Lawrie did not pitch in the game in which Charters singled once and doubled, scoring both times and driving in a run. The USA has since improved to 5-0 in the tournament with a win over Australia last night. Lawrie, meanwhile, avenged her only loss of the tournament (a 1-0 extra-inning heartbreaker) by defeating Venezuela, 4-1. The senior-to-be allowed just four hits and one earned run and struck out 15 batters to give Canada a 3-2 record in the tournament. Salling helped Lawrie's cause by going 2-for-3 in the game while also going 1-for-3 with a run and an RBI in Canada's second win of the week over the Netherlands. Pool play in the Canada Cup wraps up Thursday with playoffs getting underway Friday. To follow all the action, click here. This Friday, July 10 at SAFECO Field is Husky Summer Celebration Night with the Seattle Mariners. UW alumni, faculty, staff and students can get tickets at a discounted price to see the M's and Texas play through this exclusive online ticket offer. Included with the purchase of these special tickets is a FREE purple Mariners baseball cap that can be picked up at the game. The first 20,000 fans through the Safeco Field gates shall receive a Seattle Mariners Classic Commercials DVD. That's two giveaways in one evening and a chance to cheer on the M's with your fellow Huskies. As an added bonus, a portion from every ticket goes toward UW student scholarships! For more info and to buy tickets, visit the UW Alumni Association website by clicking here.  Fresh off their NCAA Championship last month, a trio of Husky softball players are having continued success on National Teams in the prestigious Canada Cup competition in Surrey, B.C. The competition kicked off last weekend with recent graduate Ashley Charters making her debut with Team USA. Charters got off to a fast start, singling in her first ever at-bat in the Red, White & Blue and scoring the first run of the game in the USA's opening 7-0 win over the Netherlands. Hitting from the No. 2 spot in the lineup behind 2008 Olympian Caitlin Lowe, Charters reached base three times in the game and scored all three times. She also made contributions in the USA's 8-1 win Sunday over Venezuela, notching two singles in the game. Meanwhile, National Player of the Year and ESPY candidate Danielle Lawrie and UW shortstop Jenn Salling have led Canada to a 2-1 record including a big 5-2 win over Australia on Sunday. Lawrie earned the victory over the Aussies (who won the bronze medal in the 2008 Olympics), allowing two runs on six hits and two walks while fanning eight. Salling gave Lawrie plenty of support with a double, a walk, an RBI and a run scored after going 1-for-2 with a walk and two runs scored in Canada's 8-1 win over the Netherlands earlier in the day. Lawrie and Salling will now turn their attention to Charters and Team USA in a huge border battle tonight at 6:30 p.m. To follow Charters, Lawrie and Salling's progress throughout the tournament, go to USASoftball.com or SoftballCanada.com. Additionally, Morgan Stuart, Felecia Harris, Taylor Smith and Ashley Tuiasosopo are also playing in the Canada Cup with Stuart playing for the Washington Absolute Blast and the other three for the Washington Sidewinders. Stuart continued her hot hitting from the World Series, going 2-for-5 with two runs and an RBI in her first game of the tournament. Washington assistant coach Gina Carbonatto even put her uniform back on, playing for the California GoldRush. Carbonatto showed she still has game, going 2-for-3 in her return with a walk and two runs scored and 3-for-4 in her most recent game with a triple. Former Husky Kristen Rivera is also playing in the tournament for the Absolute Blast. To follow all the Canada Cup action, click here. Don't forget to vote for Danielle Lawrie for the ESPY for Female Collegiate Athlete of the Year by clicking here.  The last of the five Huskies taken in this year's Major League Baseball draft has signed with his pro team as former UW outfielder Kyle Conley has inked a deal with the St. Louis Cardinals.Conley, a two-time All-Pac-10 first-teamer from the Tri-Cities, will report to the Quad Cities River Bandits in Davenport, Iowa. The Bandits are on the road to face Cedar Rapids this evening. Here's a story (with video) from KEPR-TV in the Tri-Cities and another brief mention from a scout.com site that covers the Cards. Conley joins Brian Pearl (Reds), Jason Erickson (Pirates), Jorden Merry (Mariners) and Jake Rife (Angels) in this year's draft class. Check out this list of former Huskies in professional baseball to see where all the Dawgs are playing now. MORE INDEPENDENCE DAY BASEBALL NEWS: July 4 didn't only mean the annual national holiday in the baseball world Saturday, it was also the 70th anniversary of Lou Gehrig's famous "Luckiest Man on the Face of the Earth" speech, when the ailing Iron Horse bid New York fans farewell two years before succumbing to the illness that now bears his names.  Ceremonies in remembrance of the speech were held in San Francisco, and former Husky Tim Lincecum gave the 34,582 in attendance another terrific show as his Giants blanked Houston, 9-0. Lincecum, the 2006 Golden Spikes Award winner as a Husky, improved to 9-2 on the season with a seven-inning outing. He struck out nine, allowed only three hits and even scored a pair of runs for the Giants. He's now thrown 23 straight scoreless innings. As mentioned in this AP story, Tim has a good shot to start for the National League in the All-Star game. Congrats, Tim, and keep up the great work!  Everett Herald columnist Larry Henry wrote a cover story on longtime former Husky baseball coach Bob MacDonald, who came out of retirement to serve as hitting instructor for the Everett Aquasox, the Mariners' short-season, single-A affiliate.If you want to check in on Mac and the Sox, they'll be back in town for five straight vs. Yakima, starting tomorrow, July 4 (there will be post-game fireworks on the fourth). Here's Everett's full schedule.
The UW Softball team's road to the national championship was a memorable one. This Saturday, July 4, at 4:30 p.m. PT, on in In My Own Words on Fox Sports Northwest, head coach Heather Tarr and National Player of the Year Danielle Lawrie sit down with former Husky softball player Angie Mentink to share their thoughts on an incredible season. Lawrie, who pitched every inning for the Huskies in the College World Series, remembers what is was like to get that final out.
Click here for a preview. Nick Taylor and former Husky Derek Berg are part of a four-way tie atop the leaderboard at the Sahalee Players Championships after round two on Thursday. Both Taylor and Berg shot a 2-under 70 today and are 5-under overall for the tournament. Other current Huskies on the leaderboard are Darren Wallace (T-17th, +2), Richard Lee (T-27th, +4) and Chris Kilmer (T-40th, +6). This year will mark the 16th year of the Sahalee Players Championship and some notable past champions have included Daniel Summerhays, Kyle Stanley, Ryan Moore, Arron Oberholser, Jason Gore, and Casey Martin. Sahalee Country Club has played host to the 1998 PGA Championship, 2002 World Golf Championship - NEC Invitational, and will once again host a major professional event with the U.S. Senior Open coming to the club in 2010.
The teams have had a few days off between exhibition games and the real games, which start for the Americans on Friday, July 3. The USA will take on Finland at 11 a.m. PT in its opening game. The USA team will then face South Korea on the Fourth of July at 11 a.m. PT. Return here and we'll have a recap of how Pondexter did after each game. The photo here was sent to us by Caroline Williams, one of the PR directors for USA Basketball that is travelling with the team in Serbia. This photo was part of a gallery from the opening ceremonies posted on the official USA Basketball website. She explained that Quincy was really proud of all the pins he collected from other athletes participating in the games. It is a tradition for players to exchange their countries' pins with others.
For the complete release, visit www.Seahawks.com.
The Sporting News wrote this Q&A with Hansen that published on Monday. Hansen is succeeded by Larry Scott, who was named to the post in late March. IMPORTANT LINKSMOST RECENT POSTS
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