March 2010 Archives
Reigning National Softball Player of the Year Danielle Lawrie took some time out of her day on Tuesday to appear on King 5's brand new morning show, New Day Northwest. It was just the second day of the show that debuted on Monday and is hosted by former NBC News/Dateline Correspondent Margaret Larson.
Lawrie appeared twice on the one-hour show, first with a UW psychology professor to discuss whether playing sports at a young age makes women more successful than those who do not. Later, Lawrie came back out to throw into a PitchBurst machine, which is similar to a dunk tank in which the pitcher was aiming to hit a target and trigger a water balloon to drop on a guest's head. To watch the first segment, click here and to see if Lawrie got anyone wet, click here.
These are busy times at the University of Washington's Athletic Communications' department with Spring Football getting underway. So it's helpful to have a few extra hands around the offices at Graves Hall.
 This week, two student-athletes in Kristi Kingma and Sarah Morton from the women's basketball team will be joining the department as interns. They'll be helping in all facets of Athletic Communications. Both are communications majors at UW and have an interest in building their resumes for media-related opportunities when they graduate. Student-athlete interns are not uncommon at Washington. Last quarter, we had Bart-Jan Caron from the crew team, as well as Anita Campbell from track. The year before, Michelle Augustavo joined us for the spring quarter, just to name a few.
Planning on attending a Husky football practice this week? Remember that, on both Thursday and Saturday, there are other events going on at the UW.
Thursday, the second practice of the spring is set for 4:00 p.m. It should end at about 6:00 p.m. That's the time that both the UW baseball and softball teams will be getting their Pac-10 seasons underway. The No. 1-ranked Husky softball team takes on No. 5 UCLA in the first game of a three-game series - the first conference series of the year for both teams. Also starting at 6:00 p.m. Thursday at Husky Ballpark is the first of three games between the Huskies and Washington State - also the first Pac-10 game of the season for both teams. On Saturday, football practice gets underway at 1:00 p.m. If you arrive early, you can catch a good portion of the softball game vs. UCLA, which begins at noon. And, on your way out, you could stop by Husky Ballpark for the last part of the UW-WSU game, which also begins at 1:00 p.m. Of course, don't forget, the UW-UCLA softball series and the UW-WSU baseball series also have games Friday at 6:00 p.m. (there's no football practice on Friday). For tickets, call the Husky Ticket Office at (206) 543-2200, or click here. Thursday, April 1 Football Practice, 4:00 p.m. UW Softball vs. UCLA, 6:00 p.m. UW Baseball vs. WSU, 6:00 p.m. Friday, April 2 UW Softball vs. UCLA, 6:00 p.m. UW Baseball vs. WSU, 6:00 p.m. Saturday, April 3 UW Softball vs. UCLA, 12:00 p.m. Football Practice, 1:00 p.m. UW Baseball vs. WSU, 1:00 p.m For the last several years, former University of Washington football coach Don James has been a part of a select group of former coaches who vote on a national poll of the top college football teams. The "Dawgfather" was joined yesterday by Bobby Ross, who won a national championship with Georgia Tech in 1990, as the newest coach to join the Legends Poll -- a top 25 poll voted on by legendary college football coaches. Ross becomes the 18th Legends Poll voting coach and joins an illustrious group that already boasts 13 College Football Hall of Fame members and six national championships.
With one day of spring practice in the books, the newspapers were full of content this morning. Here's a look at what the local media reported from Husky Stadium:
• Todd Milles of the News Tribune focuses on the arrival of basketball player Clarence Trent, and also has a collection of notes. • Scott Johnson sets his sites on Jake Locker's return to the practice field. • In the Seattle Times, Bob Condotta also leads off with Trent, but also has some info on other newcomers to debuted yesterday. • More Clarence Trent coverage in the UW Daily, which also has a few words on Greg Christine. • Tim Booth of the Associated Press writes that Locker is still happy with his decision to return for his senior season. • Finally, Coach Sark himself lists his daily "Top 5" on, where else?, coachsark.com.
SEATTLE - During his time off since last season ended, Keith Price had the luxury of working one-on-one with offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier.
The Compton, Calif., absorbed plenty of criticism and came away from the sessions with a lower throwing angle on his passes, along with some cleaned up footwork in the pocket. This is all part of the progression for the RS freshman, who is in the discussion as the backup to Jake Locker in the 2010 season after spending time last year with the scout team. After practice, Price spoke with members of the media about the extra work he put in to prepare himself for that role. Tell me about what you've been doing since the end of the football season to get better. Lifting. I've been doing a lot of time cleaning up my mechanics and going to my (personal) trainer. I went home for spring break so I was working on my arm and my feet, and now I'm started to get a hang of the offense. It's going to be a good ride. Who's helping you with your mechanics? Coach Nuss. He's like a technician. Every time I throw the ball he's critiquing something. What does he critique the most? At first it was my arm (slot), so now my release is down to regular. And it's my feet. Sometimes I have a tendency of opening up too much, and that will cause a bad ball. I won't be as accurate as I should. How do you fix it? Some balls you want your nose (of the ball) to dive a little bit, like on screens...I mean, it varies. Deep balls you want the ball to dive down, but on line drives you want your nose to stay up. Is that a mechanical thing to work on? Yeah, if I throw too much over the top then the ball tends to dive down. Washington basketball coach Lorenzo Romar is on the road recruiting. Here is his statement regarding Clarence Trent participating in Husky Spring Football. "Clarence approached me earlier in the year and expressed his interest in playing football at the University of Washington and I told him we'd revisit it after the season. I had some conversations with [head coach Steve Sarkisian] Sark about it and when they agreed to do it, Clarence was excited and we were excited for him. "He will still remain a part of our basketball team and it will be much like the situation when Nate Robinson played football at Washington and yet walked on for basketball that year. So, he is still very much a part of our basketball team and he will do both. "We'll be pulling for him and as interested as I already was in Husky Football, I'm even more interested now."
Earlier this year, men's crew coach Michael Callahan put the challenge to his rowers to match their success on the water with an equal effort in the classroom.
So it's no shock his team was up to the task. For the winter quarter, the men's crew team posted a 3.15 GPA, which gave them the top spot out of all varsity sports at the University of Washington. This bumped their overall GPA for the year to 3.05, another goal the program had set going into the new year.
Coach Sark's press conference Monday, ahead of the first day of spring practice, generated a fair amount of media coverage. Here are a selection of links to stories that appeared on various newspapers and websites yesterday and today:
• The Seattle Times' Jerry Brewer writes about the players' level of pride having taken a step in the right direction. • The Associated Press' Tim Booth has this roundup of news from the press conference. • The Tacoma News-Tribune's Todd Milles asks and answers five questions entering spring ball. • The Everett Herald's Scott Johnson focuses his coverage on how the Huskies have set up their spring practice schedule. • In the UW Daily, Taylor Soper has this report. • Finally, ESPN.com's Ted Miller offers this selection of notes from the press conference. When reached to comment about the possibility of still playing in the NABC All-Star game during the Final Four weekend, Quincy Pondexter put to rest any rumors by saying emphatically, "No. I'm on vacation. I would do the three-point contest, but no game and no dunk contest." He was half-kidding about the three-point contest, but from the tinge in his voice, he would jump on a plane and participate if asked to. Pondexter admitted his body is shot and his legs are tired and he is in need of some much needed rest. His mind could also use a vacation. He learned this past week that he is officially done with school and has earned a sociology degree. He is unsure what is next for him, except for training and preparing for the NBA Draft. Whether that is in Seattle or his hometown Fresno, it is yet to be determined. Pondexter will be heading on vacation later this week and be able to maintain a typical 22 year old's lifestyle -- recently graduated and temporarily unemployed!
Washington men's basketball coach Lorenzo Romar met with the media today at Hec Edmundson Pavilion to review the recently-concluded 2009-10 season that culminated with the Huskies' third trip to the NCAA Sweet 16 in the last six seasons. You can download a .mp3 audio file of the press conference here or visit the GoHuskies.com podcast page to subscribe in iTunes. Washington Husky head football coach Steve Sarkisian met with the media today to preview spring football practice, which begins tomorrow at approximately 4 p.m. in Husky Stadium. You can download a .mp3 audio file of the press conference by clicking here. Or, you can visit the GoHuskies.com iTunes page and subscribe to our podcasts. Spring football practices will take place each Tuesday & Thursday afternoons at 4 p.m. and Saturdays at 1 p.m. througout the month of April. All practices are open to the public. The entrance to Husky Stadium for practice is at the Southeast corner, next to Husky Softball Stadium. Guests are simply asked to register as they enter. Parking for all spring football practices is available in a variety of paid lots around the stadium. Due to Sound Transit's construction of a light rail station at the South side of the stadium, parking adjacent to the stadium is limited. In addition, there is no longer an attendant at the parking entrance. Visitors to practice are encouraged to park in the E-1 lot next to the soccer and baseball fields. There is also a pay station available for parking in E-12 with a limited number of spots available. When paying for a spot in any on-campus lot, please be sure to pay close attention to the designated spaces. If there are no designated spaces available, please park in E-1. Please note, on all Tuesday and Thursday practices there is NO free parking available. UW parking is available in designated lots on a pay basis until noon on Saturdays.
Here are a couple snippets from the interview. Click here for the full feature.
After being the runner-up indoors, is the ultimate goal a national championship? Well, definitely being the runner-up, I feel kind of hungry going towards outdoor nationals. The goal whenever you're at NCAAs is to win a national championship. To be right behind her and to see her throwing her hands up in the air and to know I was the next girl, definitely I'll be thinking about that and how that felt going into the outdoor season. I wasn't disappointed with my race. That's the best finish I've ever had. I felt like it was a good race for me. I guess we'll see. That's all you can say! I said that you get three days of the year to get to go for a national title and you just really hope that you're not injured and that you feel good on those days. The goal is to get to that day outdoor and just be feeling good. I felt pretty good indoors, so hopefully I can do that again.
What does it feel like to have been a huge part of Washington's distance success in the past four years? I've had a great experience here at Washington. I wouldn't change a thing. I've loved it here. I feel really blessed to have had great girls to train with and obviously there's Anita Campbell, Mel Lawrence, Kendra Schaaf, Kailey Campbell and Christine Babcock. I get to go to practice with these girls everyday. Multiple All Americans! They've done really great things and have a great attitude at practice and everyone wants to work hard. I feel like going to practice every day with them has made me a better distance runner than I could have been on my own training. Obviously Coach Metcalf is a big part of that. I love him as a coach. He's very enthusiastic and he really believes in each of us, in our potential and what we can accomplish. I think the combination of that with girls that I train with has just been awesome and a great experience.
Given the hard work associated with rowing, it's no surprise many student-athletes from the University of Washington are successful in their post-collegiate pursuits. Recently, the UW and president Mark Emmert bestowed two of the highest honors possible in recognizing its distinguished alumni.
Bruce Nordstrom, who is a retired president and chairman of the board of Nordstrom Inc., was given the Alumnus Summa Laude Dignatus. Nordstrom remains one of the iconic Seattle business. The award is one of the most prestigious the university hands to a graduate, and recognizes a lifetime of achievement in a person's field. The other nominee was Lex Gamble, who received the Alumni Association's Distinguished Service award, given to individuals "who make outstanding efforts on behalf of the UW Alumni Association."
After fulfilling the NCAA's postgame media obligations, the team, staff, band, cheerleaders and several supporters returned to the team headquarters (DoubleTree Syracuse) to change clothes and pack for the return trip home. At midnight (ET), the team bus departed for the airport and a return charter flight to Seattle. The flight made a scheduled landing in Minneapolis, Minn. to take on fuel. However, the flight crew and mechanics noticed a problem with the aircraft that prevented it from making the rest of the trip to Seattle. So, the entire travel party waited approximately five hours for two smaller replacement planes to arrive and bring them home. Most of the travelers remained on the airplane for the duration, chatting, sleeping, playing cards, watching movies, etc. Some of the party departed and waited inside the charter service holding area (since it was a charter, the plane did not use a normal gate at the Minneapolis airport). Once the first of the two smaller aircraft arrived, the team and staff boarded the new airplace and completed the rest of the journey. The travel-weary group arrived at Hec Edmundson Pavilion at approximately 9:30 a.m. (PT) to a waiting group of about 50 or so athletics staff members who cheered in support as the team departed the bus. Two local television stations were also present to grab a quick soundbite of the team's return. Kudos to the athletic staffers responsible for the travel logistics for dealing with a difficult situation and getting the team home in the middle of the night.
The class, although located in Big 10 country, is having a Purple and Gold spirit day in honor of their new favorite NCAA Tournament team. Hopefully the Puppy Pack from Hoosier country cheers on the Huskies loud this evening! With Washington heading into tonight's NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 game against West Virginia (TV: CBS, 4:27 p.m. PT), yesterday's media sessions with both teams have generated a great deal of media coverage. Here are a few links that might help you get a clearer picture of tonight's matchup. Live In Syracuse: Sweet 16! - GoHuskies.com Practice Day Blog & Links - GoHuskies.com (video included) Family comes first for Quincy Pondexter - Seattle Times Washington's Lorenzo Romar make the impossible somehow happen - Seattle Times Huskies' Isaiah Thomas blossoming as season progresses - Seattle Times West Virginia's loss probably not UW's gain - Tacoma News Tribune Size doesn't matter to Huskies - Tacoma News Tribune Glass slipper doesn't fit the Huskies - Everett Herald Pondexter Makes the Most of His Time at Washington - New York Times Bryan injury blown out of proportion? - Charleston Daily Mail WVU moving up the ladder toward elite - Charleston Daily Mail West Virginia aims to keep on 'Truck-in' without Bryant - New York Post West Virginia has experience advantage - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Quick hits on Thursday's tournament games - ESPN.com Mountaineers Loose, Huskies Jellin' - Syracuse Post-Standard Washington's talented rising junior receiver Jermaine Kearse was recently profiled by rivals.com football writer Matt Hinton. The story talked about his vast array of talents, his solid athletic ability and how he and star QB Jake Locker click. It's a good read, especially since UW spring football practice starts in less than a week!
The University of Washington's campus television station, UWTV, will be airing a special half-hour show about the 2009 softball team's national championship journey several times over the next week leading up to the first live game broadcast next Friday.
"Husky Softball: A Championship Journey" will air 13 times over the next week before next Friday's Pac-10 battle between the Huskies and UCLA. UWTV will broadcast eight Pac-10 games live this year, including the final two games of each series against UCLA, Arizona, Oregon State and Stanford. Below are dates and times for the half-hour show. Check back in to GoHuskies.com for information on live games and replays. For information on where you can find UWTV on your television, click here. "Husky Softball: A Championship Journey" Thursday, March 25 - 2:30 p.m. Friday, March 26 - 6 a.m. Friday, March 26 - 11:30 a.m. Saturday, March 27 - 9 p.m. Sunday, March 28 - 1:30 p.m. Monday, March 29 - 9 p.m. Tuesday, March 30 - 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, March 30 - 6 p.m. Wednesday, March 31 - 3:30 p.m. Thursday, April 1 - 12 a.m. Thursday, April 1 - 2:30 p.m. Friday, April 2 - 5:30 p.m. (prior to first live game) Saturday, April 3 - 11:30 a.m. (prior to second live game) One of the great things about winning in the NCAA Tournament is the national media coverage of the Huskies. Check out this great profile of Quincy Pondexter by the New York Times. Here's a brief excerpt: For a big man on campus -- one of the biggest men, really -- to sit in a makeup chair for nearly an hour, then put on a pair of ballet tights and take the stage for the Pacific Northwest Ballet's "Nutcracker" shows that Quincy Pondexter has a certain level of comfort in his own skin. So, too, does walking into the Washington locker room to hear about it from players who wondered why their teammate, the one with the least rhythm, was the one chosen to dance, and from trainers who turned him into a tutu-wearing ballerina with an assist from Photoshop. Pondexter smiles, but not at all sheepishly, about all of this. It is part of the ride, as much a part of the college experience as being one of the M.C.'s for a black-tie university fund-raiser; finishing his degree in sociology, which he will do this week; or hitting the last-second shot to win an N.C.A.A. tournament game, which he did last week.
The team, staff, band, cheerleaders and several supporters departed the UW campus at around 11 a.m. (PT) and arrived at Syracuse Hancock International Airport around 8 p.m. (ET). The weather was a little chilly, windy and a light rain fell as the team deplaned and went immediately to the waiting buses on the tarmac. The forcast in Syracuse for this evening calls for 33 degrees and a rain/snow mix. However, the weather reports predict a high of 51 tomorrow with sunny skies. The team enjoyed an excellent dinner of chicken, brisket, ribs, mashed potatos, corn, macaroni & cheese and cornbread at Dinosaur Bar-B-Que, a local favorite. While the downstairs dining area was packed with customers and a live band preparing to play, the team and a few supporters were ushered to a private upstairs dining room. Afterward, the team checked-in to its official headquarters for the next several days, the DoubleTree Hotel Syracuse. Following a film session, the team will turn in for the night to prepare for a day full of practices, media sessions and game preparation tomorrow. Keep up with the Huskies on this Dawg Blawg and several other daily entries on GoHuskies.com. There will also be occassional updates on the UWSportsNews Twitter page.  The bus that took the Washington men's basketball team to the airport for the trip to Syracuse left the UW campus at about 11:00 a.m. Tuesday. A crowd of fans and athletic department staff, plus a fair number of television and radio reporters, were there to see the team off. The Dawgs take on second-seeded West Virginia Thursday at 4:27 p.m. Pacific Time at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse. The winner advances to the quarterfinals to face the winner of the Kentucky-Cornell game. Check out a full photo gallery of the Huskies' send-off.
College basketball is a tight-knit world, so it's no surprise there are some Huskies connections with the four teams who played when Bank of America Arena the NCAA Tournament over the weekend. The current director of basketball operations, Wingate Smith, used to be a student-manager for Sylvia Hatchell at UNC. Smith greeted Hatchell during her team's open practice and said hello to a lot of his former coworkers.
Sarah Pfeifer, the current video coordinator for the women's team at UW, was recruited by and played for Texas A&M coach Gary Blair when he previously coached at Arkansas. Pfeifer was a volunteer at the Tournament, and was seated in the crowd for a Blair press conference when the Aggies coach noticed her. "The girl sitting right behind you used to play for me too. And I only got to coach her for one year. That was my miniature Rambo back there because she could make things happen back there. She'd run through brick walls, and she ran through too many, they couldn't keep her healthy after we got through with her that one year. She's doing a good job up here; she's teaching y'all how to say "y'all" and all that stuff." An insightful and in-depth Q&A with freshman mid-distance specialist Justine Johnson was posted recently on Flotrack.org. Johnson, a native of Victoria, B.C., redshirted the fall cross country season and then ran very well on the Dempsey oval during the indoor season. Sh Here is an excerpt from the piece, with Johnson considering her long-term goals: "My overall long-term goal would be having the opportunity to compete for my country (Canada) some day. I have dreamt about going to the Olympics since I was a freshman in high school. By my final year at UW, I would love to have helped the team to a XC NCAA title. I was excited coming into the cross-country season in the fall, watching the older girls on the team train and prepare for nationals. It has given me lots of motivation to try to get there myself someday, and be part of a NCAA championship team. Being able to train with such talented and hard working teammates like Katie Follett, I have seen a lot of improvement in myself already. I think a lot of big things could happen by senior year." Click here to read the rest of the interview. You may have noticed that the Husky players have been saluting the crowd and their teammates after hitting big shots in games recently. Check out KCPQ-13 Aaron Levine's report on the new Husky phenomenom:
Heading into Thursday's NCAA men's basketball Sweet 16 matchup against West Virginia, there is a ton of media coverage of the Washington men's basketball team. Here are a few links for your reading pleasure: Coaching makes strange bedfellows of Romar, Huggins - SeattlePI.com This Coug says: Bravo, UW, but enough already - SeattlePI.com Playing basketball was always the plan for Washington's Elston Turner - Seattle Times Quincy Pondexter to face former teammate De'Sean Butler - Seattle Times Romar gets another shot at his dream - Everett Herald Mountaineers and Huskies not strangers - Tacoma News Tribune Wash.: Win, repeat: Blue-collar Huskes are red-hot now - The Dominion Post WVU not celebrating yet - Pittsburgh Tribune Review Business As Usual - MSNSportsNET.com Red hot Huskies ready for regional semifinals - Associated Press
This really isn't a "media" article, but is worth reading: How "Sweet" It Is - Bobby Jones' Blog Most "Amazing" Fan Base Could Win $100,000 for Their School The college or university generating the most participation in the "Amazing 16" contest will win a contribution of $100,000 in cash and technology products for their school. ESPN Anchor Scott Van Pelt will offer his insights throughout the contest, which launches on March 23. Fans can participate in the contest at a custom web site hosted by ESPN.com that features an "Amazing 16" bracket based on the final 16 teams remaining. To prove what fan base is most amazing, supporters will be asked to contribute to a fan page that represents their school, and can earn points on behalf of that school by uploading fan photos, posting message, and answering poll questions. The program is a part of HP's "Let's Do Amazing" campaign, which celebrates the amazing things people do with technology in collaboration with the world's largest technology company. The top eight amazing fan bases will advance to a second round on March 27, regardless of the performance of their corresponding basketball team. The top four teams will be announced on March 29 and the two finalists will be named on April 4. Participants supporting those two teams will then compete to win the grand prize, a contribution valued at $100,000 to the final round school receiving the most participant points. The 16 Schools eligible for the "Amazing 16" contest include: Husky fans are encouraged to "show their team spirit" by participating in the ESPN challenge by visiting their website. The challenge begins at 12:00 p.m. EST. You can also find the links on our official Facebook page and Twitter account! Washington ISP Sports Network flagship station KJR 950 AM in Seattle will be broadcasting live from Syracuse this week at Tully's Erie Boulevard (2943 Erie Blvd., East Syracuse, New York 13224; 315.449.9339, www.tullysgoodtimes.com) at the following times: Wednesday, March 24: 1-4pm Thursday, March 25: 1-4pm Friday, March 26: 9am-1pm (if Huskies win Thursday)
Husky fans are encouraged to come by and enjoy the festivites and visit with Dave "Softy" Mahler. Coach Lorenzo Romar and senior Quincy Pondexter talked about their upcoming game against West Virginia and the team's performance in the NCAA Tournament today at a press conference in the Founder's Club at Hec Edmundson Pavilion. You can download the audio of the press conference here, or check out some other great content on the GoHuskies.com podcast page.
Follow the link below to check out Samantha Walior's bars routine last Friday at Seattle Pacific, for which the junior earned a score of 9.900 to win the event. That scored tied a season high for the Huskies on bars and a career-high for Walior.
Watch Samantha Walior's 9.900 The Huskies head down to Tucson, Ariz., this weekend for the Pac-10 Championships. UW is on a roll and will look to improve on last year's fourth-place conference finish, their highest in six years. Live results will be available for the meet on GoHuskies.com. Competition starts Saturday, March 27 at 3 p.m. PT. University of Washington campus television station UWTV will televise today's Lorenzo Romar and Husky men's basketball players' NCAA Tournament press conference live at 12:30 p.m. The Huskies travel to Syracuse, N.Y. to face second-seeded West Virginia Thursday at 4:27 p.m. UWTV is located on channel 27 on Comcast cable systems throughout the state of Washington. It is also available on Broadstripe Cable and Click! Network. Visit www.UWTV.org for availability in your area. In addition, UWTV will air the Feb. 4, 1999 victory over Arizona on its popular "Husky Classics" program, presented by FSN, tonight at 7 p.m. The second-seeded West Virginia Mountaineers defeated Missouri today by a score of 68-59 to advance to the NCAA Sweet 16 in Syracuse against the Washington Huskies. The game will be televised live by CBS-TV. The tipoff time will be announced as soon as we find out. The team is scheduled to practice at Hec-Ed on Monday and will travel via charter to Syracuse on Tuesday. Wednesday will be filled with media obligations, an open practice and, most likely, a closed practice session as well. For those of you who are looking for a little scouting information, here are a few helpful links: MSNsportsNet.com - West Virginia's official athletic website. ESPN.com - West Virginia's team page Scout.com - a West Virginia fan site. CBSSports.com - West Virginia's team page Rivals.com - a West Virginia fan site The Dominion-Post - Morgantown, WV newspaper website (subscription req.) The Times West Virginian - Fairrmont, WV newspaper West Virginia Metro News - WVU Coverage Pittsburgh Post-Gazette -WVU Coverage
The Husky men's golf team (ranked 4th by Golfstat/6th by Golfweek.com) is on the course right now against Arkansas in the first round of the Calloway Collegiate Golf Match Play. Head coach Matt Thurmond has a lineup of Nick Taylor, Richard Lee, Chris Williams, Charlie Hughes and Chris Killmer at Dove Mountain at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Course UW leads in three of the five matches through the first nine holes. You can follow along live on Golfstat.com and keep up with all the action from Marana, Arizona.
After a long travel day, the Huskies are in the middle of practice Texas A&M Corpus Christi's gym. It took Washington almost 15 hours from Seattle to South Texas, which included a flight up to Vancouver, B.C., a 3-hour wait, and then a long flight to Houston.
Director of Operations Wingate Smith filled us in on all the info this morning, and gave GoHuskies some insight into the travel schedule. "I mean it was long. Took forever to get here. Had to go through customs twice," Smith said. "Hung out in the Vancouver airport, one of the top 3 airports of all time." While in Canada, the Huskies took advantage of the free Wi-Fi in the airport to catch up on the NCAA Tournament, which CBS streams online for free. Other players took naps and made sure to rest adequately, knowing there would be a short turnaround time with the game today (2 p.m. PST). Once on the flight to Houston, the Dawgs watched their men's team thump New Mexico with Continental Airlines providing all passengers with personal DirecTV in their seats. When the team landed, it was time to gather luggage and jump on the bus to Corpus Christi, a four-hour ride. Smith said the team watched a couple of movies on the ride down, and then hit the hotel and went directly to bed. The Huskies game will be streamed online through KKNW. Fans can also follow on the women's basketball Twitter feed (@uw_wbb) and the feed for the local paper, The Corpus Christi Caller-Times (@callersports). With its convincing 82-64 victory over third-seeded New Mexico in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif., the Washington men's basketball team is headed to the Sweet 16 for the fourth time since 1998 and the third time under coach Lorenzo Romar. GoHuskies.com has a ton of game coverage, including a recap, stats, photos, postgame quotes, press conference audio and video highlights. It's about as comprehensive as it gets. For your reading pleasure, here are a few links to stories around the Internet about the game: Sweet! Huskies in round of 16 - Tacoma News Tribune No time for Pac-10 basketball to get cocky - Sacramento Bee Huskies' Thomas is red-hot - The Herald NCAA Tournament provides shock and chalk value - Los Angeles Times A time of redemption for Pac-10 - San Francisco Chronicle Defenses fuel NCAA upsets - San Jose Mercury News Washington and the West gain respect - RealClearSports.com Really? Surprising Washington continues improbable run - CBSSports.com Why can't the Huskies continue this run? - Seattle Times Huskies didn't panic, now are prospering - The Sporting News Packing a punch - Yahoo! Sports Washington's Resurgence Continues With Win Over New Mexico - New York Times Washington men rout New Mexico, reach Sweet 16 - Seattle Times
With today's NCAA second round game against New Mexico just minutes away, let's hope the Dawgs can pull off another "upset.". Washington is seeded 11th in the tournament, while New Mexico is the region's number three seed. The game is scheduled for about a 3 p.m. (PT) tipoff at HP Pavilion. Keep up with the game live on CBS-TV, GoHuskies.com, the Washington ISP Sports Network or the Westwood One Radio Network. We'll also have in-game updates on GoHuskies.com and through the UWSportsNews Twitter feed.
Practice was about 90 minutes long and the team spent the majority of the time working on preparing for New Mexico and getting a feel for the HP Pavilion rims and depth perception. The first 60 minutes were very focused and spirited, but the last 30 minutes were much lighter. The final 30 minutes was spent playing four-on-four with Romar splitting the groups into gold and purple teams. The purple team consisted of Darnell Gant, Justin Holiday, Elston Turner and C.J. Wilcox, while the gold team was Tyreese Breshers, Scott Suggs, Abdul Gaddy and Clarence Trent. The games were full court and were played to five. Quincy Pondexter, Matthew Bryan-Amaning and Venoy Overton watched from the sidelines. Overton even picked up one of the CBS headsets and called play-by-play, which drew plenty of laughs from players, coaches and NCAA Tournament staff members hanging around the arena. The purple team won the first game, but the gold team won the second game. Coach Romar tried to stop practice after that, but the players insisted on playing once more to determine the winner. Purple came out on op in the final game to take home the 4-on-4 crownd for the day. After practice, the team went to their dressing room and enjoyed a tasty lunch of In-N-Out burgers - always a favorite amongst the team (and staff too!). Pondexter, Bryan-Amaning and Overton had to scarf their food down quickly as they went to the podium for media interviews. It was rather crowded in the UW lockerroom, keeping the guys very busy and entertained.After 3:50, the Huskies boarded a bus and were given a police escort home. On the way to the bus, the players stopped and chatted with the two officers who were leading the players home. Clarence Trent even mounted the motorcycle and turned on the siren and flashed the lights! Make sure you check out the preview of tomorrow's game, where there are lots of useful links to quotes and audio from the day's events. The 11th-seeded Washington Huskies face 3rd-seeded New Mexico in the second round of the NCAA Tournament Saturday afternoon at approximately 2:50 p.m. (PT) at HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif. Here is a brief statistical analysis of the two teams:
What a magical night for the Huskies. By now, everyone knows the story... Down by just one at halftime of its NCAA Tournament first round game against Marquette in San Jose, Calif., Washington trailed by as many as 15 second half points before roaring back for an incredible finish. Quincy Pondexter had possession of the ball with time running down and the scored tied at 78-apiece. He waited at the top of the key until the final few seconds, spun and backed his way down the left side of the lane and banked a shot off the glass with just 1.7 seconds left to give the Huskies a hard-fought and well-earned 80-78 win. The Dawgs will get as much rest as possible this morning before waking for breakfast, a film session, lunch, practice (closed to the public), media interviews, dinner and more film. Tomorrow's second round game against New Mexico is scheduled to tipoff at approximately 2:50 p.m. (PT). It will follow approximately 30 minutes after the Butler/Murray State game scheduled for 12:20 p.m. at HP Pavilion. Here's a link to Stubhub if you are looking for tickets. As one would expect, there is a ton of media coverage of last night's game. GoHuskies.com has complete coverage of the game, including a recap, notes, quotes, postgame audio and an extensive photo gallery. Following are a few notable links: Quincy Pondexter's shot lifts Washington, 80-78 - Seattle Times Washington's Justin Holiday in right place for game's last shot - Seattle Times Quincy Pondexter makes the big play, as a senior leader should - Seattle Times Glove? Huskies' Thomas doesn't need a glove - Everett Herald Huskies' Pondexter steps up - Everett Herald Huskies rally for memorable finish against Marquette - Everett Herald Huge Huskies comeback stuns Marquette - Tacoma News Tribune Tourney Time: Darnell Gant and the anatomy of a comeback - SeattlePI.com Compelling story lines in San Jose - San Francisco Chronicle Golden Eagles suffer another heartbreaking loss - OnMilwaukee.com Golden Eagles eliminated in first round by Huskies - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Fear factor fueled Huskies comeback - Yahoo! Sports Matt Van Houten, Brad Keller, and Stephen Fung (Men's Soccer) created and produced this Hip Hop music video for CHID 250: It's Bigger than Hip Hop.
The assignment was to express who they are in the world through Hip Hop and since training and competition as Husky student athletes takes up so much of their time... they decided to show their UW pride through their lyrics! Check out their final project below:
Giuseppe Lanzone is already a household name in local, national and international rowing circles, but he's increasingly becoming famous for his off-the-water work in modeling as well.
A 2005 Washington alum, Lanzone currently lives and trains in Princeton as an Olympic rower. Today, Lanzone was featured in a Wall Street Journal photo shoot featuring Olympic athletes such as Ryan Lochte and Jason Rogers, a fencer. Lanzone is pictured in a J. Crew fine stripe jacket and button down shirt, sporting a pair of oars. In the caption, Lanzone discusses his fashion preferences and his racing mantra, which is to leave it all out on the water. The Peruvian-born Lanzone has also done previous modeling work for G.Q. and Polo, which currently sponsors all of the the U.S. Summer & Winter Olympic teams. The second Golf World/Nike Golf Division I Coaches' Poll of the spring season has been released, combining the resources of Golf World magazine, Nike Golf and the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) and Washington was third in the latest poll. Oklahoma State remained the number one team in the poll, earning 19 of the 24 first-place votes. In seven tournament starts in 2009-10, the Cowboys have two victories and six top-five finishes. Stanford, which received the remaining five first-place votes, and Washington, stayed in the No. 2 and 3 spots, while Texas jumped to No. 4 after winning the Puerto Rico Classic to start the spring. Florida rounds out the top-five. Oregon cracked the top-10 at No. 7, after having won the USC Invitational. Clemson (No. 17) and North Florida (No. 25) moved into the top-25. Visit Golf World Senior Writer Ryan Herrington's "Campus Insider" blog to find out the latest on collegiate golf: http://www.golfdigest.com/magazine/blogs/campusinsider. New singles and doubles rankings for men's and women's tennis were churned out this week by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, and three Husky singles players saw slight rises in the polls. Sophomore Denise Dy and her 20-3 singles record moved up one spot this week to No. 6 in the country. She has been as high as No. 3 this spring. Junior Venise Chan is still close behind Dy and also moved up one spot to 15th nationally. Last season, Chan won every match at No. 1 singles except for two close losses at Arizona and Arizona State. This season she started off conference play by sweeping the top players for the Arizona schools to exact some revenge. In the men's rankings, junior Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan stepped up two spots from 56th to 54th, just short of his season-high of 51st. Nedunchezhiyan has four wins in dual play over currently ranked players and will have many more chances when Pac-10 play begins. Dy and senior Joyce Ardies dropped just out of the Top-10 in the doubles rankings despite not having lost a match all year at No. 1 doubles. They are now ranked 11th and have been as high as sixth. For the men, UW's No. 3 doubles team of Tobi Obenaus and Alex Rosinski remains ranked at no. 69. Both teams remained in the Top-20 for the second straight week, with the men coming in at 19th and the women at 20th.
Perhaps this is more than a little biased, considering he's an alum, but Joel McHale of The Soup and Community fame has submitted a guest bracket to Sports Illustrated. He picks UW.
McHale graduated from Washington (where he also played tight end for the football team as a walk-on) in 1995. He also has a Masters degree from the UW. In his bracket, McHale has the Huskies breezing past Marquette and New Mexico in San Jose before meeting West Virginia in the Sweet 16 in Syracuse. No worries there, either. Washington also dispatches Kentucky before moving on to face Duke in the National Semifinals. Then, in the finale, McHale has UW winning over No. 1 Kansas. McHale was one of a handful of celebrities who submitted their picks to Sports Illustrated.
Once the bus arrived at Sea-Tac, the travel party cruised through the baggage check and an almost empty security line then went straight to gate S-5 to board the Sun Country Airlines Boeing 737-800 aircraft. The smooth flight provide the coaching staff another opportunity to watch film (provided by recently-dubbed "Team MVP" Trevor Wade, the team's excellent video coordinator) on Marquette and work on game-planning for the Golden Eagles. Several of the players studied for their last final exams, while others read books, listened to iPods and caught a few minutes of sleep. Before leaving campus, the team conducted a media session at Bank of America Arena, watched film and went through a short practice. Speaking of final exams, the team is accompanied by Faculty Athletics Representative Patrick Dobel and a staff academic coordinator. A couple of players will be taking supervised final exams from the road. Senior forward Quincy Pondexter will be taking the last final exam of his college career tomorrow morning. The Fresno, Calif. native has completed his degree requirements and technically graduates at the end of the quarter this week. With his degree in hand, Pondexter will be able to focus his entire attention to preparing for the next chapter of his career - as a professional basketball player, hopefully in the National Basketball Association. NOTES: » The Husky Ticket Office sold and distributed roughly 600 all-session tickets to the games in San Jose. Each team is allotted a total of 550 tickets to the regional, none of which are broken-up by session - every ticket provided to the schools are for all three sessions of the regional. The UW was able to secure a few additional tickets from other schools in the regional and those were made available to season ticket holders. Considering that the UW has a sizable alumni base in California, it is pretty safe to assume a lot of Husky fans have purchased tickets through HP Pavilion and/or local ticket brokers. » While on the subject of tickets, the Husky Ticket Office is accepting deposits for 2010-11 season tickets. A deposit of $100 ensures priority for tickets next season. In addition to a ticket for every game and a more attractive seat location, season ticket holders receive priority to purchase postseason tickets. For new season tickets, seat locations are determined by the order in which the deposit is placed. The Washington Husky men's basketball team is preparing for this evening's short airplane flight to San Jose. The Dawgs will conduct a brief media session prior to their afternoon practice in Bank of America Arena. The team is scheduled to depart the arena by bus at approximately 5:30 a.m. (fans are welcome to attend and see the team off!) and will take a charter flight to Mineta San Jose International Airport. The team hotel is the Crowne Plaza San Jose - Downtown. Below is a brief overview of a few notable events over the next few days. Note that all practices on Wednesday are held at HP Pavilion and are open to the public with no admission charges.
The official pre-game party/rally in San Jose has been set! Husky fans are invited to The Old Wagon Saloon and Grill, located at 73 N. San Pedro Street - just a short walk from HP Pavilion. 950 KJR AM host Dave "Softy" Mahler will be broadcasting live from the site and there is no admission charge. This video is from several weeks ago of the Washington players doing some impromptu dunking at the Marv Harshman Court after a practice. The players decided to use the gymnasium wall in the background to assist in their dunks.
The final Lorenzo Romar and Tia Jackson radio shows, which originated live from Anthony's at Shilshole last night, are now available for download via GoHuskies.com or iTunes. Click here to download the Lorenzo Romar Show Click here to download the Tia Jackson Show To check out other great podcasts from UW Athletics, visit GoHuskies.com.
It's NCAA Tournament time, and with March Madness about to gear up Nike has unveiled a new advertising campaign featuring Husky legend Brandon Roy.
 This time, B-Roy is featured in a purple warm-up top next to a Husky with the words "Release The Hounds ... Bleed Your Colors" displayed. The ad campaign will eventually feature six pros decked out in the colors of their respective universities. But there's nothing like the sight of the Huskies and purple to get us up here in Seattle even more pumped for the Tournament. Is it Thursday already?
Goethals, the 2009 Footlocker National Cross Country Champion who will join the Washington program in the fall, erased a 25-meter gap heading into the final lap to nip Emily Sisson at the line in a time of 10:10.14 compared to 10:10.21 for Sisson. Goethals had trailed by 40-50 meters just a few laps earlier. According to Runnersweb.com, Goethals was already thinking about putting forth her best effort for Husky head coach Greg Metcalf. "I did not want to tell Coach Metcalf, 'Oh yeah, I kind of fell behind a little and got third,'" she said. Goethals' winning time also broke the meet record, set just last year by Jordan Hasay, a current freshman All-American at Oregon. The win was amazingly similar to the finish at Footlocker Nationals in the fall, where Goethals came from seemingly nowhere to catch Chelsey Sveinsson at the finish to take the cross country title. Here is the full race video from Saturday: Goethals Wins National Indoor 2-Mile Run And here is the bio for Goethals from her UW signing: Megan Goethals Now that Washington's place in the Big Dance has been announced, it's time for... The Dancin' Dawgs! Lost in the shuffle of today was that the Huskies received some votes in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll released on Sunday. Washington received 10 votes on the heels of winning the Pac-10 Tournament championship and 12 of its last 14 games. Who was right behind the Dawgs in the voting? Marquette, the Huskies NCAA First Round opponent, with nine. • Click here for a look at the complete poll The Pac-10 Tournament champion Washington Husky men's basketball team travels to San Jose, Calif. to face the Marquette Golden Eagles in the first round of the NCAA Tournament Thursday. The game will be televised live by CBS-TV and streamed live by CBSSports.com. The game is scheduled be tip-off at approximately 4:20 p.m. You can see a complete bracket with times here. The Washington ISP Sports Network, buoyed by flagship station 950 KJR AM, will provide a live radio broadcast, which will also be streamed live via Dawg Channel All-Access on GoHuskies.com. CBSSports.com will also provide a live statistical Gametracker of every game of the tournament. You can find Marquette extensive basketball information on its offical athletic website. Below is a quick comparison of the two teams:
Join the team this afternoon at 3 p.m. in the Don James Center for the NCAA Selection Show. Doors open at 2:30. You can read more about it here. GoHuskies.com has the most complete coverage of the Pac-10 Tournament, including a game recap, quotes, notes, a photo gallery and downloadable audio of the post-game press conference. Here's a quick look of the various tournament-related media stories from around the West Coast: Now that they're in, Dawgs hope to stick close to home - Everett Herald Washington men win Pac-10 Tournament title - Seattle Times Huskies set sights on next challenge - Seattle Times UW wins one tourney, gets ticket to another - Tacoma News-Tribune Huskies win Pac-10 Tournament - Sports Washington Two NCAA bids likely after Cal's late gamble seals title for Huskies - Arizona Republic Now it's time to wait for Cal - San Francisco Chronicle Washington plays its way off the bubble and into the NCAA Tournament - Los Angeles Times Huskies can enjoy a carefree Sunday - Seattle Times Bears are down but not out - Oakland Tribune LOS ANGELES - The Huskies are in the Pac-10 Championship after a 79-64 win over Stanford, giving the Dawgs a chance to guarantee a place in the NCAA Tournament with a win over No. 1 seed Cal.
LOS ANGELES -- Washington signee Mercedes Wetmore already has three state titles on her resume. But now the point guard can add something even more impressive.
Earlier today, Wetmore was named the Gatorade Washington Girls Basketball Player of the Year, one of the most prestigious awards in the country for prep sports. The 5-8 guard from Auburn-Riverside led the Ravens to a state title this year, scoring 17 points in an overtime victory over Mead. Overall, she averaged 17.3 ppg in addition to the 3.97 GPA she pulled in the classroom. She also tallied almost six rebounds and four assists per game. Wetmore is one of three recruits the Huskies have signed for the 2010-11 season. With the annual Pac-10 Tournament getting off to an exciting start last night, with Oregon knocking-off Washington State in overtime to earn a date with top-seeded Cal, every team in the league enters the event with an added sense of urgency. For the last few months, scribes around the country have labeled the league as having a down year. Granted, the conference didn't register a sparkling non-conference record in the early-season months of November and December. Thus, it is hard to argue with the critics. However, take a look at the way the league has shaped-up. There are no "gimme" games in the Pac-10 this year. Every weekend, teams have had to compete at their highest levels just to maintain pace in a parity-filled league. So, it's hard to predict what will happen at the Pac-10 Tournament this weekend. Eight teams remain - each with a great chance to have its name called with the NCAA Tournament selection show takes place Sunday afternoon. Every game of the tournament will be televised by FSN, with the championship airing on CBS. So, watch but don't be surprised if there are a few "upsets" along the way... Just not for the Huskies, of course! Here is a quick roundup of media coverage headed into the tourney:
Thomas taking hold of the reins on offense After a season on the edge, Huskies built for NCAA run Huskies head to Pac-10 tournament trying to bubble to the surface Washington fans keeping an eye on other conference tournaments Huskies' 'season is on the line'
LOS ANGELES -- On road trips with the Huskies, there are a few certainties. For example, Christina Rozier will start singing and dancing at random times on the bus. Or trainer Jenn Ratcliff reads a book poolside when the sun peeks out.
But the one definitive guarantee is that student-manager Lars Phillips will put away a Kobayashi-esque amount of food at dinner. Unfortunately, GoHuskies did not have video available, but most of the coaches and staff were around at dinner tonight to witness the matchstick-thin Phillips finish off nearly every leftover plate after the players retired back to the hotel. Pasta, chicken, desert; it didn't matter, Lars spared nothing. "Man, that's impressive," the waiter said in awe. Outside of the circus eating, the Dawgs had a relaxing dinner at the Westin Bonaventure tonight, making for a relaxing night before the team plays Oregon State tomorrow at the Galen Center. Now the Huskies are buckling down with the books at study table. Upon arrival to the City of Angels, sunshine and clear skies greeted the Huskies as they exited LAX and took a charter bus towards downtown. After some rest, the team headed westward to Culver City, where a date with a basketball gym awaited. The team practiced for just 90 minutes, trying to keep things light with the Huskies set to potentially play four games this weekend. All Tournament participants are staying at the Los Angeles Marriott, which is decked out in signage promoting the tournament. A big "WELCOME" sign met the players when everyone checked in, and then the team was whisked away to their private dining room for lunch. In typical LA fashion, the hotel is surrounded by palm trees and skyscrapers, while the "Hollywood" sign is visible off in the distance as you drive in from the highway.  Later this evening, the rest of the teams started filtering in from their various home bases. Everything kicks off tomorrow; should be a lot of fun. The Sporting News handed out its postseason college basketball awards and the Huskies were well represented in their Pac-10 awards. Venoy Overton was named the publication's Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year, Quincy Pondexter was named to the first team all-conference squad and Isaiah Thomas was named to the second team. Cal's Jerome Randle was their Player of the Year, Mike Montgomery the Coach of the Year and Arizona's Derrick Williams was the Freshman of the Year. Sporting News named a five man team first team that also included Cal's Patrick Christopher, Stanford's Landry Fields, Williams, Pondexter and Randle. Thomas was joined on the second team by ASU's Derek Glasser, UCLA's Michael Roll, WSU's Klay Thompson and Cal's Theo Robertson. The Sporting News did not release an all-defensive team, just their top player. The craziness that is March Madness begins this week and there is tons of hoops on television for Husky fans! The annual men's and women's Pac-10 Tournaments take place tonight through Sunday and the NCAA Selection Show will air Sunday afternoon on CBS and, for the first time ever, will be streamed on NCAA.com. Here is a schedule of Husky-related hoops on television this week. As usual, check your local listings for the time and channels for FSN, FSN Northwest or CBS in your area.
Putting forth the best season of her career, Sami Whitcomb was named to the all-Pac-10 team by a select group of media who regularly cover women's basketball in the conference.
Whitcomb was one of 15 players selected to the group, which ranks the very best the Pac-10 has to offer. This season, Whitcomb led her team in points, rebounds and assists, averaging 13.0, 6.0 and 2.8 respectively. During her weekly press conference, Whitcomb said she was flattered by the award, but said there were plenty of other Huskies who were quite worthy of the selection. "It's definitely an honor, but really it could go to anyone on our team," Whitcomb said. "So many people during the year were stepping up in a lot of different ways." Here is the complete list as provided by the Pac-10 Conference: 2010 Pac-10 Media All-Pac-10 (Points): Nnemkadi Ogwumike, STANFORD (218); Jayne Appel, STANFORD (203); Alexis Gray-Lawson, CALIFORNIA (185); Kayla Pedersen, STANFORD (176); Ify Ibekwe, ARIZONA (153); Jasmine Dixon, UCLA (117); Ashley Corral, USC (106); Taylor Lilley, OREGON (106); Danielle Orsillo, ARIZONA STATE (85); Davellyn Whyte, ARIZONA (69); Jeanette Pohlen, STANFORD (58); Markel Walker, UCLA (56); Talisa Rhea, OREGON STATE (47); Sami Whitcomb, WASHINGTON (41); Briana Gilbreath, USC (32). 2010 Pac-10 Media All-Freshman Team (Points): Davellyn Whyte, ARIZONA (62); Markel Walker, UCLA (53); KiKi Moore, WASHINGTON STATE (40); DeNesha Stallworth, CALIFORNIA (27); Gennifer Brandon, CALIFORNIA (7). 2010 Media All-Defensive Team (Points): Ify Ibekwe, ARIZONA (50); KiKi Moore, WASHINGTON STATE (35); Rosalyn Gold-Onwude, STANFORD (33); Briana Gilbreath, USC (20); Carly Noyes, WASHINGTON STATE (12). The bracket for the evening session of the Pacific Life Pac-10 Tournament on Thursday, March 11, has been adjusted. The first game of the evening session will now feature No. 2 seed Arizona State vs. No. 7 seed Stanford at 6:18 p.m. PT, while the second game of the session pits No. 3 seed Washington vs. No. 6 seed Oregon State at approximately 8:40 p.m. PT. As the higher seed in the evening session, Arizona State earned the right to extra recover time should it advance to Friday's semifinal. With one less play-in game in this year's tournament, the Conference determined that the adjustment to the bracket was necessary for this year. The Pac-10 Tournament gets underway at Staples Center in Los Angeles on Wednesday, March 10 with No. 8 seed Oregon taking on No. 9 seed Washington state at 8:10 p.m. PT. FRESNO, Calif. - The Husky men's golf team has stormed ahead of Pepperdine in the second round of the Lexus Classic on Monday evening. Washington began its day slowly and was second place, eight strokes behind leader Pepperdine after the morning's first round. But, solid play that so far has four Huskies shooting 1-under through 15 holes and has them 4-under overall for the round. They passed by Pepperdine for a one shot lead. Check back later on GoHuskies.com for the final results. GoHuskies.com caught up with Quincy Pondexter and Isaiah Thomas and got their thoughts on the recognitions they received on Monday. Quincy Pondexter: "I'm honored to be the only player to win Pac-10 Player of the Week five times. When you think about who won it four times in the past, it's humbling to be in their company. I've said it before, but this has been a dream season that we hope to cap off with a strong Pac-10 Tournament and hopeful NCAA bid. "Congratulations to Jerome Randle on having a fantastic season and leading his team to a 21-9 record and securing what will probably be a spot in the NCAA Tournament. I'm real proud of him for turning into the player he is after four years and hopefully he has a long and successful career after this." Isaiah Thomas: "It's a blessing. I feel like I deserved it based on my play, but big ups to my teammates because without them, I would not have gotten the recognition." Former Washington Husky forward, and current member of the NBA's Sacramento Kings, Jon Brockman made a rather unorthodox appearance recently... He joined Kings cheerleaders and the team's mascot, Slamson, at KB Home's Riverbend development in north Stockton to help promote one of the home builders' newer housing developments. Numerous fans showed up simply to receive an autograph from the popular Kings forward, who has been donned the "Brockness Monster" by Shaquille O'Neal in a Twitter post earlier this year. Check out the complete story on Brockman's appearance in this article from the Stockton Record. Alex Prugh is even par after three rounds of the Honda Classic taking place at the Palm Beach Garden Club in Florida and is tied for 29th. He shot a 1-under 69 on Saturday and 11 strokes behind clubhouse leader Camilo Villegas. Prugh was 4-under after the first eight holes but was unable to maintain his momentum. He bogeyed holes nine, 12 and 15 to finish his day at -1. Fans can follow Prugh on PGATour.com as he tees off at 11:32 a.m. ET on Sunday. Washington is the No. 3 seed for the upcoming Pac-10 Conference Tournament and will play Oregon State in a re-match of Saturday night's game. The Huskies (21-9, 11-7 Pac-10) beat the Beavers (14-16, 8-10 Pac-10) in Corvallis 82-70 - their sixth-straight win over them. Washington has proven to be a tough matchup for the Beavers, who prefer to play a slower-paced game and a 1-3-1 defense. The Huskies punched holes in the 1-3-1 early and the Beavers switched to a 2-3 zone, which didn't prove to deter the Huskies. Washington hung 76 points on OSU in the first meeting on Dec. 31 and 82 on Saturday. Those two totals are the most points scored by any Pac-10 team on them. The Beavers gave up an average of 58 points per game in their other 16 Pac-10 games, while the Huskies averaged 79 points per game in their two contests against the Beavs. The Huskies will fly down to Los Angeles on Wednesday evening after practicing that afternoon. Fans can follow the Pac-10 Tournament on the conference's official website by clicking here. Once again, Alex Prugh will finish in the money for the sixth-consecutive time in a PGA Tour Event this year. The former Husky made the cut for the Honda Classic in Florida after shooting a 3-over par 73 on Friday. He is 1-over for the tournament and tied for 39th place. Prugh is nine strokes behind leaders Camilo Villegas and Anthony Kim, who are tied at 8-under. He will tee off for the third round at 10:24 a.m. local time. Fans can follow scoring live at PGATour.com. Since last night's 86-72 victory over Oregon was not on television locally, Comcast SportsNet is scheduled to show a replay of the game tonight (Friday) at 9 p.m. (PT). You can watch Pac-10 Player of the Year candidate Quincy Pondexter slice, dice and cut through the Oregon defense en route to 34 points, 10 rebounds and six assists. Check your local listings to find out how to watch Comcast SportsNet Northwest in your area.
In UW's 86-72 road win at Oregon last night, Quincy went 14-18 from the field, 2-of-3 from beyond the three-point arc and 4-for-4 from the free throw line. He scored on a vast array of dazzing dunks, layups and acrobatic shots that showed that he certainly has a chance to succeeed at the next level. After the game, Oregon's Tajuan Porter said, "Pac-10 player of the year, that's my vote. He dominates. He played hard and rallied his team to victory." Quincy has earned Pac-10 Player of the Week honors four times this year, a feat achieved only three times previously. Pondexter joins Oregon State's Gary Payton (1988-89), Arizona's Chris Mills (1992-93), UCLA's Ed O'Bannon (1994-95) and Arizona State's Eddie House (1999-2000) as the only four-time winners in a season. All four of those players went on to win at least a share of the Pac-10 Player of the Year award. He is second in the league in scoring (20.3 ppg), third in rebounding (7.9), sixth in field goal percentage (.546), 10th in steals (1.4), 5th in free throw percentage (8.6), 2nd in offensive rebounds (3.2) and fifth in defensive rebounds (4.7).
With more than a hundred years of tradition and more than a hundred athletes on the roster year-by-year, there are certainly a huge number of Among the alumni in attendance were 2006 NCAA 1,500m champion Amy Lia, 1976 Pac-10 shot put champion Russ Vincent, 2000 Pac-10 shot put champion Ben Lindsey, 2000 decathlon All-American Jacob Predmore, 1982 800-meter All-American Rob Webster with his son, current Husky Rob Webster Jr., plus many more. Also making an appearance was the legendary coach of many of the alums, Ken Shannon, who coached the men's team from 1968-97. Head Coach Greg Metcalf addressed the alumni, family and friends, and current UW All-Americans Katie Follett and Jeremy Taiwo both spoke about their experiences on the team. Taiwo talked about how foot surgery in high school led to his development as a decathlete. "I still wanted to score points for my team, so I thought I'd try shot put or discus, and I'd go out on crutches and then throw the discus, and I actually beat some people which was kind of sad," he said to a big laugh. "Senior year I thought maybe this injury was for a reason, so I tried a bit of the hurdles, and the javelin, and ... it took a while but a lot of things started clicking, and it's just the most fun thing I've ever done, I have fun every time I do a multi-event because there's ups and downs and you've just got to keep working to get that finished product." The
Follett then took the microphone from her coach and talked about her role in building the women's distance program into a national powerhouse. "I knew that (Coach Metcalf) believed in me, and he thought I could be great. I wanted that kind of positive atmosphere," Follett said. "At that point there were a few really good girls who had just come onto the team, and it was a young team. I wanted to help that get going and help the program. I just feel really blessed by the atmosphere that's on the team. All the girls when they come to practice every day, they bring their hard hats, they're excited to be here and they want to work hard. I've never been on another team that has that attitude, and it's why we've been able to experience so much success as a team the past few years." Metcalf then asked Follett to recount the feeling of being handed the NCAA Championship trophy for the first time after the Huskies took the 2008 cross country title in "I cried because every time I got to the state meet in high school, I thought that our team was going to win or that I was going to win and something terrible happened and I never won, ever. So when they handed me the trophy I just was like, 'We won? It actually came true?' Follett also credited her dad with turning her into a runner, saying how he would let her run with him on the last mile of his runs, and he would always let her win, until the point came where she could actually beat him. She ended her talk saying that although she has all her prerequisites finished for physical therapy school, she will hold off a few years before applying to continue running, and that Metcalf would continue as her coach as she tries to compete at the next level.
"I'm going to try and keep running, because this is what I really love to do and I'm passionate about it. I just want to ride it through until the end and see where it can take me," said Follett. The night was certainly a success, with old Dawgs hearing from the athletes they helped pave the way for, and the current Huskies seeing that UW track is a lifelong membership. Metcalf closed by urging those in attendance to try and round up more of their teammates to the next reunion, sooner rather than later. PALM BEACH GARDEN, Fla. - Alex Prugh continued his excellent run in his PGA Tour rookie season shooting a 2-under 68 in the first round of The Honda Classic on Thursday. His round put him in a 10-way tie for ninth, three strokes behind leaders Nathan Green and Michael Connell. Prugh started his round from the back nine of the PGA National Champion course and stayed even through the first 11 holes before back-to-back birdies on No. 3 and 4 got him 2-under. He went on to bogey the Par-3 seventh hole, but bounced back with a birdie on No. 8. Prugh will start the second round from No. 1 at 12:51 ET on Friday. Follow the tournamanet live at PGATour.com. The University of Oregon has been recognizing honorary captains for each team during their Pac-10 home games - the last conference contests at McArthur Court. Former Oregon coach Dick Harter and Husky great Brandon Roy will be recognized prior to tonight's game. Roy will be making the drive down this evening from Portland, where he may be the most popular Trail Blazer on the team. Although their is no official record, it may be safe to assume that tonight will be the most applause ever for a current of former Husky athlete! Oregon will play their non-conference games at Mac Court in 2010 before moving into the Mathew Knight Arena, which is under construction less than a mile away from their current arena. This afternoon the Sports & Entertainment Law Association (SELA) hosted members of the Seattle Seahawks, a sports agent, and a sports attorney. Some members of our marketing team dropped in on the event to see what the panel had to say. The panel offered law students an opportunity to learn about: 1) What it takes to be a sports agent, 2) Professional Athlete's expectations and experiences working with agents, and 3) The types of legal work sports attorneys perform. The group provided insight from different perspectives within the professional sports industry. Q13 Fox Sports Anchor Aaron Levine was host for the event. The general consensus among all panel members was that communication is key in navigating the athlete-agent relationship. As panelist Justin Forsett, Seattle Seahawks RB, remarked, "Choosing an agent is like choosing a mate. I look for many of the same qualities. I expect to communicate on a regular, almost daily basis with my agent and for him to be there no matter what time of day it is if I need him." It seems that many athletes are looking for a "one stop shopping" boutique agency that provides agency, marketing and legal in-house. They are also looking for a more intimate relationship, so agents who represent hundreds of individuals couldn't possibly provide the one on one that most athletes are looking for. Not that these mega-agencies don't exist. Panelist Brandon Mebane, Seattle Seahawks DT, added this, " I think when you are first coming out of college, you look toward the bigger agencies because of the superstars they may represent. For me, I wanted to know that I was one of a few. The relationship was more important to me." Panelist Noah E. Croom, Legal Counsel and Agent for Goodwin Sports Management (GSM), weighed in on the wide array of counsel an agent provides his clients. "I am not only dealing with the actual contract negotiation but also financial management, personal issues and beyond." That puts it into perspective on why it is a difficult industry to break into - you have to build trust among your clients and that takes a lot of time and networking. Panelist Jeff Miller, attorney at Foster Pepper, describes sports law as dealing with all areas of law, including hot topics such as land use, sponsorships, intellectual property, and copyright infringement among the more commonly known areas of drafting of contracts, licensing and defending players in litigation. All in all, the panel discussion was an interesting way to spend an hour in the classroom.
Check out the Oprah website for a few clips from today's show. Here is a link to the Seattle Times story about the accident, reflecting on the life of Cooper. He was among three people who died on a boat that capsized and was lost at sea off the coast of Florida on Feb. 28, 2009. The lone survivor will appear on The Oprah Show. After his career at Washington, Cooper played five seasons in the National Football League with Tampa Bay, Minnesota, Pittsburgh, Seattle, Jacksonville and Oakland. To find out where to watch the show, visit www.titantv.com for listings in your area. A couple of former Washington Husky baseball standouts recently reported for spring training in Peoria, Ariz. and were in the news today for somewhat offbeat reasons The Seattle Mariners went head-to-head against the San Francisco Giants yesterday in the first Cactus League game of the spring. Back-to-back National League Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum was clearly seeing his first action of the spring and pitched just one inning. But, it was a moment he experienced after he came out of the game that made the news. Popular Mariners veteran Ken Griffey, Jr. came over to the Giants dugout to have a brief meet-and-greet with Lincecum. Here's a couple of comments from Geoff Baker's story in the Seattle Times: "He's a Northwest guy," Griffey said with a shrug, in explaining the gesture. "He's a good kid. He does look like an extreme sports kid, I will say that." "Just to have a great like that come over just caught me off guard," (Lincecum) admitted with a laugh, adding that it was a little surreal. "The first time getting to face him ... I don't really know what to say." The Associated Press also noted the Griffey/Lincecum exchange in this story about the Husky still adjusting to life in the spotlight. The Everett Herald's Kirby Arnold had this note today about a prank played on former Husky Sean White in the Mariner's front office in Peoria: The long hallway leading from the players' parking lot to the clubhouse contains a gallery of 28 life-size posters of current Mariners. Sometime recently, two more appeared, although the new images certainly aren't in proportion with the others. Since Thursday's Husky men's basketball game at Oregon was not selected as part of the Pac-10 television package (USC at Arizona State at 5:30 p.m. PT / 6:30 p.m. MT and UCLA at Arizona at 7:30 p.m. PT / 8:30 p.m. MT were selected instead), there are a few ways to follow the game live on the radio and the Internet. Every Washington Husky game is broadcast live via the Washington ISP Sports Network. For a listing of affiliates, including Seattle-based flagship station 950 KJR AM, check out this link on GoHuskies.com. Bob Rondeau and Jason Hamilton will describe the action. You can also listen to the broadcast on the Internet through Dawg Channel All-Access, a subscription service provided by CBSSports.com College Network through GoHuskies.com. The University of Oregon, which is the only Pac-10 school not part of the CBSSports.com network of official athletic websites (noted here due to the fact there is no "Gametracker" coverage of the game), has a link to its live stats coverage here. Finally, the UW athletic communications staff provides in-game Twitter updates at www.twitter.com/UWSportsNews.
Every season ticket holder and Tyee Club member has received information through the mail, email, internet and, in many cases, by telephone regarding the significant impact the voter-approved Sound Transit project will have on Husky athletics for the next six years. The Reader's Digest version (for you younger generation folks, this means "condensed") is: A six acre construction zone for the next six years has eliminated approximately 600 spaces in parking lots E11, E12 and E17. The project to build a UW Sound Transit Station for light rail was approved by King County voters and has caused some major changes in the way the UW handles parking for major events on campus - most notably Husky football games.
Chris Fetters of Sports Washington wrote this piece in late November that described many of the changes. If you are looking for specific information regarding your season tickets or Tyee membership and how that affects your parking, please visit this website or call the Tyee Office at (206) 543-2234.
Former Husky men's soccer player and Seattle native Ellis McLoughlin, who played one season for UW in 2007, has been named to the Seattle Sounders training roster this week. McLoughlin, a former Crossfire star and U.S. U-17 national team player, also spent some time in Germany's Bundesliga as a teenager.
McLoughlin is only 19 but he is a seasoned player, having won multiple titles with Crossfire and played one year of Division I soccer before heading over to Germany to play for Hertha Berlin. For more on McLoughlin and the Sounders, click here.  The No. 1 ranked Washington softball team was featured on the front page of ESPN.com's College Sports section on Wednesday, with columnist Graham Hays blogging about reigning National Player of the Year Danielle Lawrie and her dominance of the game thus far this year. To read Hays blog, click here. The Huskies (12-1) travel to Hawai'i this week for the Hawai'i Invitational Tournament, which they won in 2008. Lawrie will look to keep her record unblemished as she is 9-0 this season with 102 strikeouts in 56 innings. Jenn Salling and Niki Williams lead the offense, both batting over .500 with Williams being named the USA Softball National Player of the Week this week. Lawrie has added eight home runs in 13 games, two short of her career high.
On Sunday March 7th, there is a great opportunity for you to celebrate National Girls and Women in Sports Day with the female athletes of UW! Spend time with women's volleyball, golf, gymnastics, track & field, fitness, and nutrition in mini-group clinics, and then finish the afternoon by cheering on our women's basketball team as they play their last home game of the season against Oregon. To make things even better, the mini-clinics event is completely FREE! All you have to do is RSVP because we have limited space.
The event starts at 10:15am and will end at 1:45pm. Your parents can drop you off in the morning then return at 1:45pm when you and your family are all invited to watch the Husky Women's basketball team take on the Oregon Ducks. Here is all of the information you will need: WHO: 4th-6th grade Girls WHAT: National Girls and Women in Sports Day Clinics with UW female athletes WHERE: Bank of America Arena - Please meet in the Don James Center for introductions and welcomes at 10:15am WHEN: Sunday March 7th, 2010 10:15am - 1:45pm (Lunch provided for participants) Basketball game starts at 2pm COST: FREE! But you MUST RSVP in order to secure your spot! The first 200 participants to return the attached participant waiver form will be secured their spot! For any questions, please contact Luke Lovell lovell31@u.washington.edu or Courtney Ioane courti@u.washington.edu Fax#: 206-685-4668 Please wear athletic gear as you will be running around. Come celebrate National Girls and Women in Sports Day with some of the best female athletes in College Athletics! GO DAWGS! With its extensive coverage of the Washington high school state basketball tournament, FSN Northwest will have just a bit less coverage of the Huskies this week. Here is a schedule of UW hoops events and Huskies All Access this week:
After a two week PGA Tour hiatus, Alex Prugh is back on the course this week. The former Husky is playing in the Honda Classic at the PGA National Resort and Spa course in Palm Beach, Fla., starting Thursday. The Spokane native will tee off at 8:11 a.m. on tee No. 10 of the National Course. Follow all his shots on PGATour.com.
From the Seattle Mariners public relations office: The Seattle Mariners will officially open Cactus League play tomorrow with a 1:05 p.m. MT/12:05 PT spring training game against the San Francisco Giants. Right-handed pitcher Doug Fister (3-4, 4.13 with Seattle in 2009) will make the start for the Mariners. The Giants will counter with two-time reigning National League Cy Young award winner (and Washington Husky) Tim Lincecum.
After the Huskies beat Washington State last Saturday, one of the first to offer a hug for Coach Tia Jackson was Auburn Riverside's Mercedes Wetmore, an incoming recruit to the UW.
This morning, the point guard was featured in the Seattle Times, where reporter Sandy Ringer writes about her development as a player, and her singular passion towards winning. If you have a few moments, give it a read. In the article, Wetmore's coach aptly summed up her competitive nature: "I don't think I've ever coached a player that has a greater desire to win" Wetmore is on the cusp of leading her undefeated Ravens' team to a third Washington state title in four years as the game prepare to get underway at the Tacoma Dome this week. In the same issue of Tuesday's paper, Wetmore was named to the Seattle Times' All-Area team, a prestigious honor when you consider the level of talent in the Puget Sound region. Last night's weekly Lorenzo Romar and Tia Jackson basketball radio shows are now available for download from either GoHuskies.com or iTunes. The shows are broadcast live via the Washington ISP Sports Network and Seattle-based flagship station 950 KJR AM every Monday night from Anthony's Homeport Shilshole Bay. The exclusive live streams of the shows are available through Dawg Channel All-Access on GoHuskies.com. To download last night's Romar Show, please click here. To download last night's Tia Jackson Show, please click here. To visit the official iTunes page for GoHuskies.com and Washington Athletics, please click here to launch iTunes or click here to read more about it on GoHuskies.com.
Three Husky softball players were named to ESPN's preseason All-American teams, with Danielle Lawrie and Jenn Salling being named to the First Team and Morgan Stuart being named to the Second Team.
Lawrie, the reigning National Player of the Year, was named one of three First Team pitchers while Salling was named the First Team shortstop. Stuart, a junior, was named the Second Team third baseman. All three are off to a strong start in 2010, with Salling leading the team with an incredible .559 average (19-for-34) through 13 games. Lawrie is 9-0 on the season with 102 strikeouts in 56 innings pitched while Stuart has come on strong lately, hitting safely in five of the last six games with four RBI. UW is off to a 12-1 start and is ranked No. 1 in both national polls. To view the interactive ESPN All-American presentation, click here. The Huskies were also featured in ESPN.com softball columnist Graham Hays' blog this week recapping the Cathedral City Classic. To read his thoughts on Danielle Lawrie, whom he names the tournament's most outstanding player, click here. Hays will have more on the Huskies later this week. IMPORTANT LINKSMOST RECENT POSTS
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