May 2010 ArchivesIt's been quite a year for Kentwood High's Max Manthou. The UW-bound senior was a captain on the Kentwood hoops team which won the state title this past winter. Manthou then concluded his historic prep tennis career with his fourth-consecutive Washington 4A State Singles Championship this past Saturday in Kennewick.
Manthou was never defeated in his local prep career, and went through this year's state tournament again without dropping a set. He defeated Kent Andreasen in the final, 6-2, 6-3. Here is the Seattle Times write-up on Manthou's final match for Kentwood. Manthou's success has come in an unorthodox fashion, as he has never devoted his life completely to tennis, as so many top juniors do that aspire to play professionally. Manthou was given the option to attend a private academy but declined, and continued to play basketball for the Conquerors all four years. This ESPN RISE feature is a great read on the future Husky, what has motivated him during his athletic career (including a legendary Husky on the hardwood), and what lies ahead for him at UW. Here is an excerpt: "When he was 11, his private coach nicknamed him Little Big Man because of the way he dismantled his older, often larger, opponents. Showing superior footwork and an advanced tennis IQ, he fearlessly piled up improbable victories. As mentioned in the previous track post, this weekend was a big one for a number of UW track and field recruits, and the local season culminated with the Washington state meet at Mt. Tahoma. Flotrack.org was on hand to cover the meet, filming all running events and a number of interviews. Here is the overall state meet coverage page with links to all the races and interviews. And here is an interview with triple-gold-medalist Kayla Stueckle in her U Dub sweatshirt.
The Husky softball team departed for Oklahoma City early Monday morning. The Dawgs will open play at the 2010 Women's College World Series Thursday with a 6:30 p.m. PT game vs. Georgia.
That game will air live on ESPN2-TV, ESPN3.com, KKNW AM-1150 radio and www.kknw1150.com (online radio). You can send your thoughts to the team by going to this page at gohuskies.com. Also have a look at the full bracket (click in the middle, on the eight WCWS teams for the Series bracket). High school state track meets continued around the country this weekend and future Huskies continued to post some jaw-dropping times. Megan Goethals, who has kept a relatively low profile at least on our "blawg" since her national indoor 2-mile victory, is back in the headlines, as she ran one of the greatest 3200-meter times in U.S. history Friday night at the Goethals, the Gatorade National Cross Country Athlete of the Year, was going after the 10-minute mark, a rarely-touched barrier for any high school girl. As a reference point, current UW sophomore Christine Babcock, herself one of the greatest prep runners in history, came to Washington with a PR of 10:04 in the 3200. Goethals came up just one stride short of the barrier, crossing in 10:00.15, and in an interesting twist she continued for another 18 meters to reach the 2-mile mark which she hit in 10:03.2. That 3200-meter time lifts her to the lead in the nation this year by a full seven seconds, and is the No. 7-mark in U.S. history. No surprise it's also a state record. The nearest finisher to Goethals was 55-seconds back. This ESPN RISE feature details Goethals' race plan, how her outdoor season has been structured, and how her U.S.-leading time came with a twinge of disappointment. (Photo by Dave McCauley) At the California D-I Southern Sectional Finals, Sean Krinik continued to roll in the 800-meters, as he won the finals in a U.S.-leading time of 1:49.18. The No. 10 mark in UW history is 1:48.84, so Krinik's prep marks are coming close to that with a few races still to go. At the same meet, Liberty Miller of Simi Valley posted the No. 6 mark in the girls 3,200 this year, running 10:21.72. Redondo's Chloe Curtis also won the D-II finals at 1,600-meters in 4:48.97. The dyestat.com results page has videos for all D-I races. Turning to the local products, the Washington State Meet wrapped up in the wind and rain at Mt. Tahoma High School on Saturday, with the 2A, 3A, and 4A levels all competing AJ Maricich out of Mead in Spokane took the boys 4A high jump title with an impressive 7-foot clearance that was just an inch off the 30 year old state record. Only one other competitor was within eight inches of the senior. Maricich's Mead teammate, Tasha Clark, got the victory in the girls pole vault, clearing 12-feet and winning the tiebreaker on fewest attempts. Hurdler extraordinaire Kayla Stueckle of Emerald Ridge swept the 100- and 300-meter hurdle titles, running a particularly dominant 42.34 in the 300 hurdles that won by more than a second. But she decided to do even more damage, also dominating the girls long jump with a best of 18-1, and taking third in the 200-meters in 25.60. This Tacoma News Tribune story talks about her busy day and also touches on Maricich. Right behind Stueckle in the 100-hurdles was fellow signee Tate Latimer of Tahoma, who took second in the 100 and fourth in the 300. At the 3A level, Michelle Fero of Holy Names took fourth in the 200-meter finals in 26.08 and was third at 400-meters in 56.86. A pair of incoming multi-eventers both had impressive overall weekends. Kale Schmidt of Stanwood was fourth in the 4A long jump at 22-5 ¼ while Shelby Williams was third in the 2A girls 100m dash (13.10) and third in the shot put (39-7 ½). Finally, down in Oregon at Hayward Field, where UW's NCAA finalists will soon be heading, Ontario's Matt Anthony repeated as 100-meter dash champ in 10.72 seconds. He complemented that with a repeat title at 200-meters in a state meet record of 21.90 seconds. In the 4A girls pole vault, Husky recruit Ashley Schnapp cleared 12-feet same as her future teammate Clark. That put her in a three-way tie for first; it's unclear if the tie was broken or if all their makes and misses matched up. FORT WORTH, Texas -- Alex Prugh ended his four-day run at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial Country Club with a fourth round 3-over-par 73 to finish at 2-under 278 overall and tied for 6tth. Prugh suffered through a tough round that saw him bogey six holes and convert three birdies. Here is a look at his scorecard. He earned $12,710 for his efforts this week.
Two of Golfweek.com's main college golf writers -- Lance Ringler and Ron Balicki -- made their picks for the NCAA Men's Golf Championships and each selected Washington as their winners. Balicki apologizes to Washington coach Matt Thurmond for picking his team in the article as typically that has been the kiss-of-death for that team. He claims to have picked the winner only three times in 25 years of predicting the college national champion. For those who want to read Balicki's analysis, you can visit Golfweek.com by clicking here. Ringler on the otherhand says that the Huskies have been the hottest team in the spring and based on recent trends, the numbers are good for Washington and Clemson. Hopefully, these two respected college golf experts are right and a week from today the Huskies will be celebrating their first-ever men's golf NCAA Championship.
Incoming Husky freshman football player James Atoe won the Oregon state 5A shotput title yesterday.
Atoe, from The Dalles-Wahtonka High near the Columbia River Gorge, won the title with a throw of 54 feet, 3 3/4 inches, more than a foot better than than second-place finisher, at the state meet, which was held at Hayward Field in Eugene.
Lots of coverage in the newspapers following the Husky softball team's pair of shutout wins Friday vs. Oklahoma. Those wins put the Dawgs back in the Women's College World Series, where they'll attempt to defend their 2009 national title, starting this Thursday.
• First, a wider view: the Vancouver Sun's Gary Kingston has this lengthy look at Langley, B.C., native Danielle Lawrie, the primary hero of Friday's victories. • Back to the on-field action, here's Howie Stalwick's gamer, as it appeared in the Kitsap Sun. • On SeattlePI.com, Christian Caple recounts the story of how Lawrie spent the evening after Thursday's loss to Oklahoma. • Scott Johnson has plenty to say about Lawrie's day in the Everett Herald. But he also focuses on freshman catcher Shawna Wright, who belted a big homer Friday. • Here's the recap from Associated Press writer Gregg Bell, as it appeared in USA Today. • Finally, coverage from the Seattle Times' Terry Wood, who harkens back to the series finale of Lost. Four of the eight teams have punched their tickets to Oklahoma City as the UW's side of the bracket is filled out. Washington will face Georgia in its first game of the tournament while Tennessee and Arizona fill out the other quarter of the field. Four more teams will fill out the field tomorrow.
One of the hardest jobs in coaching crew is driving the shell trailer from the home base to a regatta location. For many of our races on the West Coast, it's a one-day trip down I-5. But when it comes time for IRAs, transporting the boats becomes considerably more difficult.
Each year, a group of coaches drive the trailer from Seattle to Princeton, N.J., where the Huskies train before moving on to Camden, N.J., for the National Championships. The trip is 2,839 miles from door-to-door. And you can probably guess it's a competition each year to see who can make it there the fastest. Now, it's important to emphasize the team drives CAREFULLY across the country. Shells are expensive. But where the coaching staff competes is maximizing fuel efficiency and riding tail winds. A log is kept in the trailer, noting how many miles were in each tank, and how fast the trip took. The record is 46 hours and 41 minutes, and the top tank efficiency is 523.3 miles. Additional rules of the trip go as follows: a) each gas stop requires a driver switch, so everyone can take turns resting, and b) no speeding. It's believed the trailer has never received a speeding ticket, although it has been stopped twice (thankfully nowhere near Pullman, Wash., or Berkeley, Calif.). This week, a team of men's coach Michael Callahan, along with assistants Ben Fletcher and Steve Full, completed the trip in 48 hours and 45 minutes, throwing some cold water on some pretty boisterous comments made before the trip. Another assistant Coach, Colin Sykes, holds the top spot and believes he will for some time, having used an oft-discussed tail wind to speed through the Midwest. Callahan did send a reminder that he saved on a tank of gas.
On the way back, assistants Luke McGee and Sykes will handle driving duties. The return trip typically features a stiff headwind, making it impossible to challenge the record. Note: The Huskies will fly on Sunday from Seattle to Philadelphia, and then travel to Princeton to train for a week prior to the IRA Championships (June 3-5). FORT WORTH, Texas -- Alex Prugh shot a third round 1-under 69 in the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial Country Club and is tied for 48th at 5-under overall. He is 11 strokes back of leaders Brian Davis and Bryce Mulder. Prugh played a rather steady round on Saturday and was 1-over on the front nine with a bogey on No. 3 and followed up with a 2-under on the back nine with birdies on No. 11 and No. 16. Here is a look at Prugh's scorecard and a look at the entire PGATour.com leaderboard. Prugh will tee off at 7:06 a.m. PST on Sunday. Former UW standout Nate Robinson came alive for the Boston Celtics last night in Game 6 of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals. Robinson scored 13 points, all coming during an important stretch of the second quarter when he spelled a banged up Rajon Rondo. Robinson, who has been seldom-used in the playoffs, came over to the Celtics from New York in a late-season trade and patiently waited his turn. He had logged just 43 minutes throughout the postseason before Friday night's game. The Celtics won 96-84 to advance past the Orlando Magic and into the NBA Championship where they will face the winner of Los Angeles and Phoenix. Click here to read more from ESPN.com's Chris Forsberg about Nate's night and see a postgame video interview. Former University of Washington soccer standout Craig Waibel has played professional soccer since 1999, defying the critics to become one of the most respected veterans in Major League Soccer. He is currently in his eighth season with the Houston Dynamo (previously the San Jose Earthquakes, which moved to Houston in 2006). The Houston Chroncle ran this great story on Waibel today, which included these comments from longtime teammate Eddie Robinson: "A lot of people don't see the stuff that he does off the field. He's a selfless person off the field. Yeah, he's a Dynamo player, but I guarantee you that if you ask him how he wants to be remembered it's probably what he does for kids at Texas Children's Hospital. "The guy is tireless sometimes. I don't know how he does it. He puts in all the time over there and spends time with his kid. He's just a great guy, and he's good to have around. He's somebody that you're not just happy to call your friend, but proud to call your friend. He's somebody that you can take things from his character and put into your life and know that you're a better person."
GOLD RIVER, Calif. - All the Husky crews have filtered back to base camp at the Lake Natoma course. The semifinals are on tap today, and be prepared to see some of the toughest racing between the women's boats. With a finals berth on the line, it's hard to expect anything less.
The top three boats in each semifinal will advance to the Grand Final. All the others are headed to the Petite Finals. And for the Huskies to advance in the varsity eight, they'll need to beat a host of tough crews. The Huskies are seeded in Lane 6 and will face Yale, California, Virginia, UCLA and Michigan State. But with all the times recorded from yesterday's heats, the Huskies know the times and splits they'll need to hit. Going through the results sheet over at Jamco (the best place to follow the action), it's clear the Huskies need to ramp up the speed in the middle portion of the race (between the 500 and 1500-meter marks). This is the part of the race where crews have to be mentally strong. The Huskies have a reputation throughout the sport for being one of the strongest and fittest crews in the nation, so the fact that they rowed two races on Friday should not be a problem. Next up will be the J's - the second varsity. That crew is seeded in Lane 5 and has to battle with Virginia, Brown, Cal, Yale and Michigan State. Then the varsity four will cap the afternoon's racing with their semi. They're seeded in the coveted Lane 1 position (having won their heat), and will face Cal, Brown, Yale, Stanford and Michigan State.
You can also follow along on our Twitter feed. FORT WORTH, Texas -- After a first round 1-over 71 on Thursday at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, former Husky Alex Prugh bounced back with a 5-under 65 and is poised to make the cut. Prugh sits at 4-under and the cut line is 2-under. Bryce Mulder leads the field at -13 overall after posting an 8-under 62 on Friday. Colonial Country Club served as the site of a great moment for the Huskies earlier this week when Nick Taylor was announced as the winner of the 2010 Ben Hogan Award.
GOLD RIVER, Calif. - There's a few handful of crews making their way back to the course on Lake Natoma for the final varsity eight race of the afternoon - the repechage. This will be an all-out, seven-team sprint to see which three teams will make the semifinals.
The seeding is done based on finish, so it encourages crews to race hard until the end. Otherwise you risk being seeded on the outside lane feeling the brunt of the crosswinds here in the Sacramento region. The other two Husky crews are done racing for the day, having punched their tickets to the semifinals. The second varsity eight finished with a time of 6:40.53, which put them third in their heat. The varsity four had the best race of the afternoon for a Husky crew, dominating their heat for a wire-to-wire win, crossing the finish line with a time of 7:14.71. The heat the varsity eight raced in had a definite Pac-10 feel to it. Not only did the Huskies lineup against Cal, but Washington State and USC were also in their heat as well. Washington held off the Cougars the entire length of the course, but were never able to pull out to more than a length's lead at any given point. Times for the repechage this afternoon will be on Jamco and the team's official Twitter feed. GoHuskies will have a full recap afterwards as well.
RANCHO CORDOVA, Calif. - We're live and racing from Lake Natoma, where the Huskies are in a fight at the 2010 NCAA Championships.
 There are plenty of methods for Husky fans to keep track of all the action here at the course. We'll be tweeting all the results, so make sure you're following our feed at www.twitter.com/UWHuskyCrew. Jamco is also here, and will have instant results posted on the NCAA Championship page. After the day is over, cruise on over to GoHuskies.com for a full recap and more. The D-I heats are all finished, and the Huskies varsity eight is headed to the repechage. That means they'll race another heat this afternoon to force their way into Saturday's semifinals. UW finished fourth in their heat with a time of 6:29.29, nosing out Washington State at the end. The second varsity eight races are about to begin; Washington is set to compete at 10:00 a.m. (PST). The Washington 2A-3A-4A state track and field meet is underway at Mount Tahoma High School, with a number of future Huskies competing during the three-day competition which began on Thursday. Highlights of Thursday's action included the prelims of the women's 100m hurdles at the 4A level, where Kayla Stueckle of Emerald Ridge and Tate Latimer of Tahoma each won their qualifying heats with the two fastest times of the day. Stueckle went 14.48 and Latimer clocked 15.06 so the UW-bound pair will battle for the state title later this weekend. Also running well was Michelle Fero of Holy Names, who led off her 4x4 relay which advanced with the second-best time of the day at the 3A level. Also looking back and out of the region on some outstanding performances that have gone unmentioned on this site ... Kasen Covington was once again crowned Idaho State Champion in the long jump and triple jump last weekend. Covington's triple jump of 49-10 1/4 is off his 52-foot PR, but still broke his own state meet record, while he saved the PR for his winning long jump of 24-5 1/4, his first time over 23-feet ... meanwhile at the California Southern Sectional Finals, Sean Krinik of Valencia broke the 1:50 barrier in the 800-meters for the first time, running 1:49.77 to dominate the race by 3.5 seconds. At the same meet, Chloe Curtis was a double winner in Div. 2 in the 1,600m and 800m, and Liberty Miller took second in the Div. 1 1,600-meters and 3,200-meters. Lastly, here is a recent feature in the Del Mar Times on UW-bound senior Megan Morgan and one of her teammates.
• In case you missed it, the Seattle Times did an hour long chat with Lorenzo Romar on Thursday. • Tre Simmons' season came to an end in Israel. His team, Hapoel Jerusalem, lost 79-69 to Gilboa/Galil in the semifinals of the Israeli BSL championships. Simmons had 17 points and grabbed a team-high 11 rebounds. Here are a couple different recaps of the game: http://www.jpost.com/Sports/Article.aspx?id=176497
Washington quarterback Jake Locker and athletic trainer Pat Jenkins are featured in the latest issue of FUEL football, a national football publication published by A.E. Engine | Sports Marketing. According to its website, "the purpose of FUEL Football is to provide high school football players with a real-life examples and inspirations to help them achieve their potential. Our message will be communicated via traditional and digital publishing methods. FUEL Football is a free annual publication provided to more than 5,000 high schools in Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia. Additionally, FUEL Football was made available to customers at more than 400 Dick's Sporting Goods stores across the country in May 2009. FUELFootball.com was launched in May 2009 to support the print launch and is updated monthly by the staff of FUEL Football and its contributors."
If you weren't able to follow along as it happened, have a look at the Seattle Times live chat with Husky men's basketball coach Lorenzo Romar.
You can read the entire transcript by going to this link.
RANCHO CORDOVA, Calif. - As we segue into the Day 2 of the Huskies trip to the NCAA Championships, the emphasis for the team has been on not being afraid to go fast. It sounds easier in theory, because in order to become a true boat-mover in the sport of rowing, you have to take yourself to a very dark place full of pain, etc.
In fact, The Rowing News recently profiled UW men's rower Hans Struzyna, who provided some insight into what goes into the "kitchen-sink sprint" at the end of a 2K race. It's not for the weak, that is for sure.  This morning, the Huskies took to the water at 7 a.m. and went through a lot of their race prep. Early wake-up calls also led to the coaching staff making a quick Starbucks run (triple espresso, anyone?) before heading to the course. A few customers commented on our UW gear, including a former Husky student-athlete who played on the football team back in the Chris Chandler days. Once on the water, the sequences are varied, and the intensity is much harder than the paddle to team did upon arriving yesterday. After reconvening at the hotel for breakfast (a top-notch buffet of eggs, bacon, sausages and fruit), the crews rested in their rooms before the coxswains headed back to the Lake Natoma course for a meeting with the NCAA. These are relatively straight-forward, and the coxswains are instructed on such things as race protocol, etc. The weather has shifted a bit from the placid temperatures yesterday. A heavy rain storm pelted the Sacramento area last night, and more wet weather is expected today. Meanwhile the wind has also picked up considerably. Lake Natoma is infamous for some ferocious crosswinds, which can make racing difficult for those crews in the outside lanes. Then again, coming from Seattle, the Huskies are one of the best-prepped crews for rowing in sub-par conditions. Some good news, however, is that conditions should get much better this weekend. By the way, make sure to check out some pictures on our team's Facebook page. The Huskies grouped together by boats and took some snapshots in front of the race course, which is a small tradition for crews who make the NCAA Championships.
MLB.com has this interesting story on former Husky All-America closer Brett Merrick, who has spent he last couple of seasons as a batting practice pitcher for the Mariners.
One of the all-time Husky greats, Merrick was a key cog in the UW's 1994 team, which came within one game of the College World Series before losing to a Georgia Tech team that included Jason Varitek, Nomar Garciaparra and Jay Payton. Merrick saved a school-record 20 games in 1994 before playing in the Indians' organization.
RANCHO CORDOVA, Calif. - The NCAA women's rowing championships is quite a scene. To go along with the 16 Division I teams are numerous schools from the D-II and D-III ranks, from as far-flung as Maine (Bates) and Miami (Barry).
These make for exciting times in the sport, and as coach Bob Ernst put it, "Everyone has new life right now." No matter what happened in the regular season, any team is capable of walking away from here with a National Championship.  The Huskies arrived in Sacramento this afternoon and then caravanned over to nearby Folsom to relax at the team hotel, which they share with Michigan. Everyone then scattered for lunch, with the coaches and administrators heading over to a nearby taqueria to gobble down tostadas. There should be no complaints of boredom either, as the team hotel is located right next to a movie theater and a premium outlet shopping mall. After lunch, everyone headed over to the race course to rig the boats, put them on slings and then do a few practice laps on the course. The goal was to "shake off the cobwebs," according to Ernst, and loosen up after spending 90 minutes crammed into a seat on the flight down. Remember, you can continue following the Huskies trip to the NCAAs here on the Dawg Blawg, on GoHuskies.com, Twitter and Facebook. We'll have you covered. Husky men's basketball coach Lorenzo Romar will chat with the Seattle Times at noon tomorrow. Make sure to tune in and submit your questions! UW AD Scott Woodward participated in the Seattle Times live chat today. You can check out the transcript by clicking here.
The Washington women's basketball team will add a walk-on to its roster next season, and the name should be familiar with fans of the men's program.
Kassia Fortier, whose father Paul is an assistant coach with the men's basketball team, will be the fourth player to join the Huskies for the 2010-11 season. Fortier played her prep ball at Skyline High School, where she averaged 14 points and five rebounds per game. She also led her the Lady Spartans in steals with 64. The 5-10 wing player was selected first-team all KingCo in 2009 and was a team captain. In addition, Fortier ran track for Skyline, competing in the 4x100 and the 4x200, qualifying for states in both events. 
A lot has happened in the last week with Washington men's golf, so I've got a few news articles to share: • First off, congrats to Nick Taylor on winning the Ben Hogan Award. Here are a few news articles on that event: --The perspective from the Vancouver Sun, click here. --Here is what his hometown paper in Abbottsford had to say, read more. --Chuck Stark of the Kitsap Sun's perspective: Read More --Here's an on campus perspective from the UW Daily and Taylor Soper, read more. --And finally, from Golfweek.com you can get more of a national perspective. Click here. • Here is a story on the UW Golf Center by AP writer Tim Booth that was picked up by USA Today: Read more. • Finally, here are some of the stories about UW during the NCAA West Regional. --From Chuck Stark of the Kitsap Sun, here is his recap of the championship and some of his other stories: • Huskies Cruise to Easy Victory • Chris Williams' Hole-In-One Mangles the Eighth Hole • Talented Taylor Leads Husky Fun Bunch --Todd Milles of the Tacoma News Tribune writes that the Huskies turned the Regional into a laugher.
In Tuesday's Seattle Times, columnist Jerry Brewer writes a terrific piece on Husky senior Katie Follett and Seattle Pacific's Jessica Pixler, who each own the fastest times at Despite their proximity and shared skills, the two had never really spoken until Mt. SAC. Brewer looks at how the pair viewed each other leading up to that race, and how things have changed since. "At that moment, Jessica Pixler and Katie Follett had no idea this was a precursor to excellence, a little moment that would swell in significance, a hint they were about to be united even though they had spent four years dancing around each other." GoHuskies was at Gasworks Park when the Times set up the above photo. Check out the previous post for some behind the scenes shots.
Don't miss your chance to ask Husky athletic director Scott Woodward about whatever might be on your mind.
He'll take part in a live chat on the Seattle Times website Wednesday from 12:00 to 1:00 p.m. Pacific Time. Here's a link to the chat on the Seattle Times' site. Iowa's Katie Flood, heading to Washington this fall, cemented her legacy by dominating her final state championships, winning four titles while breaking her own state record in the 3,000-meters with a U.S.-leading time of 9:27.25. That 3k time would rank in UW's top-10 both indoors and outdoors. Here is an excerpt from the above article, in reference to her 3k time: "One thing was missing from her resume that really cements prep distance stars from the rest of the pack: a standout performance on the track, the kind that makes jaws drop around the country. That distinguishing mark has now been met, and she will undoubtedly go down in history as the greatest prep distance runner that the state of Iowa has ever produced." Flood's 3k time was 15 seconds under her previous PR which was already the fastest in state history. Later that same day she came back to anchor a win for Dowling Catholic in the 4x800m relay. Two days after that Flood surprised with a win in the open 800 with a big PR of 2:09.76, then she finished off the quadruple with a victory in the 1,500-meters in 4:31.33. The win in the 3,000-meters was the fourth in a row for Flood. Her lengthy list of achievements this year also includes a victory at Nike Cross Nationals in the fall and a few more individual titles at the Drake Relays earlier this season.
Another heroic performance from the U-Dub softball team Sunday in an eight-inning, 2-1 win over North Carolina. The win delivered a regional championship for the Huskies, who will now host Oklahoma Thursday and Friday in the Super Regionals (game times should be announced Monday). Here's a look at the news coverage of the Sunday win:
• In the Seattle P-I, Christian Caple focuses on the player who got the game-winning hit, Shawna Wright. • Not surprisingly, Wright is the focus of most of the stories. Here's Scott Johnson's take, from the Everett Herald. • Howie Stalwick, writing for the Kitsap Sun, shines a light on the late-game strategy, including walking Danielle Lawrie to get to Wright in the eighth. • The Seattle Times' story, from Terry Wood, includes a lengthy photo gallery. • The UW Daily's Taylor Soper has a thorough examination of Sunday's action. • Finally, there's much more here at gohuskies.com, with links to quotes, a photo gallery and video of the post-game press conference. DALLAS -- Former Husky All-American Alex Prugh finished tied for 59th in the HP Byron Nelson Championship on Sunday, 16 strokes behind first-time PGA Tour winner Jason Day. Prugh shot a 2-over-par 72 in the final round and was 6-over-par overall in the tournament. He won $14,495 for his week's worth of work. The Spokane native is ranked 41st in the Fed-Ex Cup standings and 53rd on the money list with $752,681 earned this year. Friday marked the end of spring practice for the Husky volleyball squad, but UW's coaching staff put in quite a long day Friday before getting around to that final practice. Washington The day involved some lectures for the group, followed by a number of drills on the main Hec-Ed floor, which was split into four courts. Finally the coaches were invited to take in the final Hus In the photo on the right, McLaughlin demonstrates some passing techniques, while the next photo shows the organized chaos of dozens of local coaches running through some drills that they will likely be soon putting their respective teams through. DALLAS -- After consecutive rounds in the 60's, Alex Prugh found the going tough in the third round of the Byron Nelson Championship on Saturday. Prugh shot an 8-over-par 78 at TPC Four Seasons Resort Las Colinas and dropped from 19th to 62nd in the standings. Prugh's round included seven bogeys, a double-bogey and just one birdie. He is +4 overall, 16 shots behind leader Jason Day. You can follow tomorrow's action on PGATour.com by clicking here.
All credit to the Seattle Times' Bob Condotta for digging these up, so hope he doesn't mind us passing along a few links on some accomplishments of incoming UW freshman football players:
• Over on the Islands, Lawrence Lagafuanina had a good time in the Hawai'i state track & field championships, winning the state title in the shot put, while taking second in the discus. • Future Husky cornerback Gregory Ducre of Crenshaw High ran a 48.89 in the 400 at the LA City Section track preliminaries. • Long Beach Jordan's Princeton Fuimaono has been selected to play in the 43rd Annual 605 All-Star Game. • Staying in Southern California, Redlands East Valley's Andrew Hudson was one of several honorees at the Ken Hubbs Awards banquet. IRVING, Texas -- Former Husky golfer Alex Prugh is giving the current group of UW duffers company in the news headlines this week, making the cut for the Byron Nelson Championship and sitting in 19th place after two rounds. Prugh turned in his second-consecutive round in the 60's, carding a 1-under par 69 at TPC Four Seasons Resort Las Colinas on Friday. He is at 4-under-par 136 and six shots behind leaders Cameron Beckman and Blake Adams. The story of the tournament so far has been 16-year-old Jordan Spieth who became the sixth-youngster player to ever make the cut of a PGA Tour event.
The NCAA News published a story today on the appointment of UW president Mark Emmert to the head position at the NCAA. The story, which you can read here, quotes Husky basketball coach Lorenzo Romar about his appreciation for the work that Dr. Emmert did during his time at Washington.
Romar lauded Emmert's accessibility and says that while the UW is losing a great leader, the NCAA is gaining one.
Lots of newpaper coverage of the Husky men's golf team today as the UW opened up play at the NCAA Regionals Thursday by shooting a two-under score of 286 to take the first-round lead at Gold Mountain in Bremerton.
Here's a rundown of links of the coverage: • First, a round-up of the action from gohuskies.com, including a photo gallery and complete results. • Todd Milles of the Tacoma News-Tribune has this story examining how the Huskies dealt with the elements on Thursday. • The Kitsap Sun's Chuck Stark focuses on Darren Wallace in his story today. • Scott Hanson provides this report in today's Seattle Times. • The focus is also on Wallace in Taylor Soper's report for the UW Daily. Look for more tomorrow after the second day Friday.
With the No. 1 ranked Washington softball team heading into the postseason looking even better than their national-championship winning team last year, the local and national media has caught on and chronicled the team and its hopes to repeat last year's success.
Below are some stories about the team as they head into NCAA Regionals. Seattle Times - Jerry Brewer: Washington Softball Star Lawrie is in Command Associated Press - Gregg Bell: Is Lawrie Greatest Husky Ever? Seattle PI - Art Thiel - UW Softball Team Feels Good and Will be Tough to Beat ESPN.com - Graham Hays: Defense Has Become a Valuable Asset Everett Herald - Scott Johnson: New and Improved Huskies Begin Postseason Play Everett Herald - Scott Johnson: New Team, New Uniform, New Focus Ahead for Alyson McWherter
A couple of changes have been made to the 2010 Husky baseball schedule -- a pair of time changes for next weekend's series at USC.
The Friday, May 28 game will now begin at 7:15 p.m. at Dedeaux Field, and the game on Saturday, May 29, will start at 2:00 p.m. The regular-season finale on Sunday, May 30, will still get underway at 1:00 p.m., as originally schedule. First up, of course, the Huskies take on Oregon this weekend at Husky Ballpark. Game times are 6:30 p.m. Friday, 2:00 p.m. Saturday and 1:00 p.m. on Sunday. Both Saturday and Sunday's games vs. the Ducks will air live on Comcast SportsNet. The Pac-10 Conference sent out an updated broadcast schedule for the Pac-10 Track & Field Championships on Wednesday and one of the changes included pushing back the first Seattle area broadcast to Friday. The Championships will now air tomorrow on FSN Northwest at 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. They will then play a second time on Saturday, May 22, as 12 noon.
Seattle Times columnist Jerry Brewer wrote a great feature story about the No. 1 Washington softball team and how they have dealt with the pressure of being the defending champions and top-ranked team all year.
To read this great column, which captures perfectly the personality of the team, click here.
The Seattle Department of Transportation will do some major work on the 45th Street viaduct, which connects the north end of the UW campus with the University Village area, and will be closing the viaduct virtually all summer.
Plans call for closure from June 14 through September 10. Here is a flyer with a map of the closure area and alternate route information. For more on the project, go to the SDOT's website. Since the lottery for the NBA Draft was determined this afternoon, naturally the mock drafts will soon follow. The big winners of the lottery drawing were the Washington Wizards, who drew the No. 1 pick. Most all mock drafts will have them selecting Kentucky's John Wall or Ohio State's Evan Turner, with the Huskies' lone senior Quincy Pondexter appearing later in the draft. ESPN.com's Chad Ford has Pondexter going 24th overall to the Atlanta Hawks, which would be an especially great opportunity for him. First off, his good friend and summer practice mate Jamal Crawford is there. It would be awesome for Q to have someone he is comfortable with like Crawford to take him under his wing in his early years. Secondly, the Hawks are a playoff team and would allow Q to develop in a winning situation. In another scenario, Hoopshype.com has Pondexter going 28th to the Memphis Grizzlies. Draftexpress.com also has Q in the first round, going 29th overall to Orlando, again, another great situation where he goes to a NBA Champion-caliber team. The NBADraft.net mock draft has Pondexter outside of the first round and going 34th to Washington. His status has not changed on this site's draft in several weeks, so it will be interesting to see if this changes in the next day or two.
Powered by a pair of wins, the No. 7-ranked Washington women's crew team took third at the Pac-10 Championships over the weekend. At 2 p.m. PST today, you can watch the NCAA selection show to see whether or not the Huskies will head back to Lake Natoma in Northern California for the NCAA Championships, held on May 28-30.
The selection show will be broadcast on the NCAA's rowing website. Just click the link at the bottom to access the All-Access player. And if you haven't checked it out, take a minute to see some of the photographs from the team's trip to Sacramento and Lake Natoma on the Husky Crew Facebook page. In the PGATour.com's latest Rookie Watch List, former Husky Alex Prugh is second with 29 points, trailing Ricky Fowler by one point. This is an unofficial account that takes into consideration the following point system - FINISH VALUES: Win (15 points); P-2 (9 points); 2nd-5th (8 points); 6th-10th (5 points); 11th-25th (3 points); 26th or higher/MDF (1 point); and MC/WD/DQ (0 points). It may not be an exact science, but it certainly gives you a great perspective of where the former Husky All-American ranks among his first-year peers on the PGA Tour. For the complete story, click here.
The examiner.com website has a great story on former Husky soccer player Steve Mohn, who now plays for the Kitsap Pumas (the UW played the Pumas during the spring season this year).
The story, click here to read it, includes a ton of links to other stories on Mohn, plus several videos. Check it out! LSU and men's basketball coach Trent Johnson announced on Monday that former Husky player and head coach Lynn Nance was joining his staff. Nance played for the Huskies in 1964 and 1965 and coached at Washington for four seasons from 1990-93. He led the 1965 squad in scoring (17.5) and rebounds (9.4) and was an honorable mention All-American. Nance served as an assistant coach at Washington (1967-70) under Mac Duckworth, his college coach, and Tex Winter. As head coach at Washington, Nance was 50-62 (.446) overall. Johnson served as an assistant under Nance and was at UW from 1989-92. Who says you can't wear your school colors every day of the year? The five women bloggers left in the Top College Fashionista contest will tell you that no day should be without a little school spirit. In fact, one of UW's very own Huskies is currently ranked 3rd in the contest. Becky Hesse, a freshman, wants your vote. By voting for the Universitychic.com blogger, you also enter a sweepstakes for a chance to win a trip to the BIG APPLE. Paint the town purple and gold! Or, as Becky suggests, at least make sure you have your Husky accessories! Click here to vote for Becky! Three-time Olympian Aretha Thurmond traveled to Doha, Qatar this past weekend to compete in the first meet of the 2010 Diamond League track & field series, which is a collection of 14 elite meets spanning the course of the summer. Thurmond took fourth in the discus throw with a season-best mark of 204-feet, 3-inches. She finished ahead of compatriot Stephanie Brown-Trafton, who won gold in the last Olympics in Beijing. Another former Husky who continues to make a name for herself on an international stage is Ingvill Makestad, a mid-distance letterwinner for UW in 2004 who left school early to return home to Norway. Makestad clocked a stellar career-best time of 4:06.08 in the 1,500-meter run, taking sixth overall. Her goal is the European Championships later this summer. Ingvill keeps a very detailed blog with photos and videos, but you may want to brush up on your Norwegian first.
In case you missed it, Seattle Times columnist Jerry Brewer wrote a great Sunday news feature on Husky All-American Nick Taylor. Check it out by clicking here.
Although the surprise of Ryan Vu winning the pole vault was spoiled by this very website, you can still tune in to watch for yourself when FSN airs the Pac-10 Track & Field Championships next week. The two-hour broadcast will first run on FSN Northwest this Friday, May 21, at 11 a.m. Pacific. The show will then re-air on Saturday, May 22, at 12 noon. Calling the meet down in Berkeley are Barry Tompkins and Olympic gold medalist Joanna Hayes, while color commentary will be provided by Tom Feuer.
Former Husky Tim Lincecum got back in the wins column Saturday as his San Francisco Giants beat the Astros, 2-1 at AT&T Park.
Lincecum, the 2006 Golden Spikes Award winner as a Husky junior and two-time NL Cy Young Award recipient, squared off against Roy Oswalt in a repeat of the season opener for both teams. The righty from Liberty High School had a somewhat unusual start in that he walked five and struck out only five, both the worst totals of the season for him. However, he gave up only one run on three hits over eight innings, and Brian Wilson pitched the ninth for the save. Lincecum had gone three straight starts without a decision after opening the year with victories in his first four starts. In each of those three straight no decisions, Lincecum had left the game with the lead. Saturday vs. Houston, the Giants almost squandered the lead in the ninth as the Astros loaded the bases and Kazuo Matsui fouled off a bunch of two-strike pitches before flying out to end the game. Lincecum is now 5-0 with a 1.76 earned run average and leads the league with 69 strikeouts.
While both the college and NFL seasons are still a long way from getting started, the Canadian Football League is less than a month from the start of its season as all eight CFL teams play their first games of the year on June 13.
Currently, there are three former UW players on CFL rosters. They are (click on name for CFL.ca bios): • Defensive end Kai Ellis will play for Warren Moon's old team, the Edmonton Eskimo. Ellis will be entering his ninth season in the CFL, having previously played for Calgary, Ottawa, Winnipeg and Montreal. This will be his second season with the Eskimos. • Linebacker Joe Lobendahn will play his third season for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. The Honolulu native notched 54 tackles for the Bombers last season. • Quarterback Cody Pickett is now with the Montreal Alouettes after three seasons on the Toronto Argonauts roster. The Huskies' all-time leader in passing yards (among many other records) played for the San Francisco 49ers out of the UW and has also spent time on the rosters of the Raiders, the Texans and the Rhein Fire of the now-defunct NFL Europe.
The Denver Post repirts that former Husky offensive lineman Stanley Daniels was picked up off of waivers by the Denver Broncos.
Daniels was most recently on the Green Bay Packers' practice squad. Here's his official team bio on the Broncos' web site. Good luck, Stanley!
Senior football player Gregory Christine and former high school teammate (and current QB at ASU) Samson Szakacsy have been creating music together since high school and the roughly 1600 miles that are currently between them hasn't stopped them from collaborating. The two just released their second album, The Asymmetry of Life. Their band name, Bent Twig, is fast becoming a regular mention on the Seattle Hip Hop scene. Their album is available for free download on their official website.
It sounds like Seattleites will have the chance to see Bent Twig in person this month when BMP records and The High Dive host an album launch party/show. Find out more by clicking here.
The June issue of Rowing News is littered with mentions of Washington crew, from the current to the past.
On Page 36, you will find a feature on current men's varsity eight 2-seat Hans Struzyna, who recalled the furious sprint the Huskies used to win the IRA National Championships last year. Famously, Washington made a final push to move from third and take down Cal, just barely edging their bow ball past the Golden Bears.  A lot of what is involved in a sprint, according to Struzyna, is trust in your teammates. You have to know the other seven rowers will have your back when it comes time to make a "kitchen-sink" sprint towards the finish. "You have to look inside yourself and realize how much you want it and what you're willing to give to get it," Struzyna said. "Just accept that it's going to hurt and throw the kitchen sink at it." As part of the cover story chronicling the beauty of rowing's female athletes, Husky fans can also see a photo shoot with the current members women's USA national team. Included in the tasteful shoot is Husky oarswoman Megan Kalmoe, who is shown pumping some serious iron and rowing in a double. The June issue should be on newsstands soon, so check it out.
Husky head football coach Steve Sarkisian joined 950 KJR Radio morning show host Mitch Levy this morning (Thu., May 13) to talk about off-season news and more.
You can listen to the entire interview, via KJR's website, by clicking here. The men's track squad moved up two more places on Tuesday when the newest team rankings were churned out by the USTFCCCA. Washington now comes in at No. 20 on the men's side, while the women are at No. 42 but could be in for a big jump with some good Pac-10 performances. The men's climb was thanks mostly to two performances. The first was Ryan Vu's clearance of 17-7 in the pole vault at the Ken Shannon Invite on Saturday. That sent him up the vault rankings to 12th to where he is now bringing in 9.65 points out of the men's 97.68 point total. Also factoring in was the new PR in the decathlon set by sophomore Jeremy Taiwo at the Pac-10 Multi-Event Championships. Taiwo scored 7,521 points, the best effort in 24 years by a Husky, and now ranks 10th in the nation. The Dawg Dish returned last Friday May, 7 with its debut on UWTV. The show will air on Fridays at 7:30 p.m. with new episodes scheduled for the first Friday of the month. This episode features guest host Quincy Pondexter. In case you missed it, we posted it on the official YouTube page of Husky Athletics. Check it out: Head track and cross country coach Greg Metcalf has previously been featured on Flotrack talking about "The Mental Edge" of track and field, and now the track website has another segment up with Coach Metcalf where he discusses his recruiting strategies and advises potential recruits to be proactive in their search. Coach Metcalf talks about finding diamonds in the rough such as 400-meter school record-holder Jordan Boase, as well as targeting the local prep stars like Norris Frederick. BELLEVUE, Wash. - Three current Huskies and a former Dawg were among eight golfers to advance from U.S. Open Local Qualifying at Overlake Golf and Country Club on Monday to Sectional Qualifying later on this month. Tze Huang Choo, Richard Lee and alum Derek Berg each shot a 2-under 69 to tie for second and Chris Williams was among six golfers tied for sixth at 1-under that advanced to a sudden-death playoff. Williams was able to survive and advance, while former Husky Corey Prugh earned an alternate spot. Nick Taylor had previously earned an automatic berth to Sectional Qualifying by being last year's low amateur at the 2009 U.S. Open at Bethpage Black. The 2010 U.S. Open will take place at Pebble Beach Golf Links from June 17-20.. PONTE VERDA BEACH, Fla. - Alex Prugh shot a 4-over-par 76 in Sunday's final round of The PLAYERS Championship and ended up tied for 47th. Prugh hit a birdie on No. 2 and was 1-under through six holes before five bogeys over the final 12 holes left him at 4-over-par for the round. His 78 left him at an even-par 288 overall for the tournament. He won $25,118 for his four-day effort. The former Husky All-American earned 22 FedEx Cup points and ranks 38th overall in the standings. He has earned $738,186 this season and is 48th on the money list. Tim Clark ended up at 16-under-overall after shooting a day's best 5-under 67.
If you haven't checked out the story in the Sunday Seattle Times on Husky assistant baseball coach Kevin Ticen, have a look here at the piece from Times columnist Jerry Brewer.
Ticen, a former catcher and third baseman for the Dawgs who belted 15 homers as a senior in 1999, has been battling cancer. He's now the UW's volunteer assistant coach after having served as the team's operations director the last few years. PONTE VERDA BEACH, Fla. - Alex Prugh shot a 2-under-par 70 in the third round of the PLAYERS Championship at TPC Sawgrass and is tied for 45th heading into Sunday's final round. Prugh is 4-under-par overall and one of the competitors that he is tied with is Tiger Woods. Prugh's round included four birdies and two bogeys. The Spokane-native will tee off at 10:50 a.m. local time on Sunday. You can follow Prugh several ways online at PGATour.com. The website has a live Shot tracker, which follows each player shot-by-shot, or you can follow him on the Leaderboard.
Two former Husky baseball teammates will reunited this summer to form part of the coaching staff of the new Willmar Stingrays in the Northwoods League.
Matt Hollod, who played outfield for the Dawgs, will manage the Stingrays, which are in their first season of existence while Tyler Shepple, a hard-throwing pitcher at the UW, will serve as his pitching coach. In his "regular" job, Hollod works as an assistant coach at Southern Utah, having previously worked at Portland and Willamette. The city of Willmar is west of Minneapolis, Minn. The Stingrays will play in the North Division of the Northwoods League, one of the better summer college leagues in the nation. The schedule gets underway on June 2. PONTE VERDA BEACH, Fla. - Alex Prugh just snuck into weekend play for THE PLAYERS Championship on Friday. He double-bogeyed the final hole of his round and ended up at -2 overall, which was the cutline. Prugh was 1-over-par on the day and enters Saturday's third round 10 strokes off the lead. Lee Westwood is 12-under-par for the tournament at TPC at Sawgrass. It was a beautiful day for a photo op at Seattle's picturesque Gasworks Park on Friday, but senior Katie Follett was tucked away among the heavy machinery along with Seattle Pacific's Jessica Pixler, rather than soaking up the sun. The Seattle Times will be featuring the two local stars sometime in the next two weeks, and brought them together at Gasworks, a nice middle ground between the two campuses. Check out a couple behind-the-scenes shots with Follett and Pixler taking direction from Times photographer John Lok Follett and Pixler have been blazing separate record-setting careers in Seattle over the past few years, with Follett leading the emergence of Washington's outstanding women's distance program, and Pixler collecting an armfull of national titles at the Division-II level. Recently, their paths have begun to cross more, and the last two times have resulted for school records for both in the mile and 1,500-meters. Follett was able to get the better of Pixler at the Mt. SAC Relays and posted an NCAA-leading time Now the two will focus on going after conference and national titles at their own level, and won't see each other on the starting line again until possibly the USA Championships in July. But each are hoping they could be friendly rivals at the professional level soon. GoHuskies will keep you updated on the status of the feature. The Daily talked to a couple Husky seniors in advance of the Ken Shannon Invitational this Saturday at Husky Stadium. One senior, Zack Midles, won't be competing this weekend as he rests up for Pac-10s, but senior pole vaulter Ryan Vu is set to go and very much looking forward to it. "It's a lot of fun," Vu said. "There's a lot more people that can come to this meet, because it's local. My high-school coaches and friends can come by and watch. The way it's set up is very cool, and you get a chance to jump in Husky Stadium where you watch the football games, which is a really cool feeling." Vu is a safe bet to make it to Austin for the first rounds of the NCAA Championships this season, but so far this year he's six inches off his PR which he vaulted at Husky Stadium nearly a year ago to the day. Look for Vu to chase 17-feet plus this Saturday with the men's vault starting at 1 p.m. on the East Field.
With Saturday and Sunday's softball games sold out for the final regular-season home series of the season, fans can still catch the game live on UWTV if they can't make it to the ballpark.
Saturday's game will air live at 4 p.m. while Sunday's game can be seen live at Noon. Below is also a re-air schedule if you can't catch the live broadcast, which features commentary from former UW All-American softball players Angie Mentink and Dena Tyson-Slye. UW vs. Stanford - May 8 Re-Air Schedule Monday, May 10 - 4:30 p.m. (UWTV) Tuesday, May 11 - 6 p.m. (UWTV2) Wednesday, May 12 - 1 p.m. (UWTV) UW vs. Stanford - May 9 Re-Air Schedule Tuesday, May 11 - 1 p.m. (UWTV) Thursday, May 13 - 6 p.m. (UWTV2) Friday, May 14 - 5 p.m. (UWTV)
In case you missed it last night, Detlef Schrempf made a guest appearance on NBC's Parks and Recreation and you can watch it on NBC.com by clicking here. Funny stuff!!
Courtesy Saint Louis Athletica
Saint Louis Athletica defender and former Husky All-American Tina Ellerston is ready for a big Mother's Day weekend, but before she can celebrate with her daughters MacKenzie and Mya she has the task of beating the Philadelphia Independence on Saturday night. Ellertson has established herself as one of the stalwart WPS center backs, not to mention being perhaps the single fastest player in the WPS. In her second year with Athletica Ellertson looks to help guide Athletica back to the top of the table, and take another run at a WPS Championship. Listen in as Ellertson talks about the current season, life as a professional soccer playing mom, and how to balance defense and offense in this one on one interview on the Saint Louis Athletica website.
If you were watching NBC's Parks and Recreation tonight, you might have heard a familiar name and saw a familiar face to Dawg fans. Detlef Schrempf made his debut on the episode titled "Telethon". The storyline is about how a former NBA star is coming back to fictional Pawnee, Indiana for a Parks and Recreation fundraiser. Detlef played for the Indiana Pacers from 1988-1993, so their casting director asked Detlef to appear in this episode...if you missed it, log onto the Parks and Recreation website.
PONTE VERDA BEACH, Fla. -- Alex Prugh shot a first round 3-under-par 69 in THE PLAYERS Championship on Thursday, an event long considered the fifth major on the PGA Tour. For much of the morning, Prugh led the field at 5-under, but a double-bogey on his 16th hole (No. 7) brought him back to where he ended his round at the famed TPC at Sawgrass. Prugh teed off from No. 10 and was -4 as he made the turn. He went to -5 after birdieing No. 2. He was in good shape until his tee shot on No. 7 found the water. TPC at Sawgrass is infamous for its Par-3 No. 17, a signature hole that is surrounded by water. Prugh was able to birdie the hole and explained to PGATour.com the secret to his success. "It's an easy hole," Prugh said with a laugh to the Tour's official website. "I ended up pulling a 9-iron, just a nice little chip 9-iron with wind hurting it a little, and you have a backstop there on that front pin. I hit it how I wanted to and it ended up just being pin high, however many feet to the right." "You kind of get a feel for it in Tiger Woods," said Prugh. "Some breaks, some places not to be. If you have a tough up-and-down on that game, you know not to be there in real life because it's even that much worse." The NBA announced it's All-NBA team today and former Husky and current Portland Trail Blazer Brandon Roy made the third team. Roy, in his fourth year, averaged 21.5 points, 4.4 rebounds and 4.7 assists for the Blazers. The All-NBA Teams were chosen by a panel of 122 sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada. There are now a bunch of websites out with their NBA Draft projections. Quincy Pondexter is all over the board right now, but it seems like he'll hear his name called at some point. Chad Ford of ESPN.com came out with his projections today and predicts that Pondexter will be selected 24th overall by the Atlanta Hawks. DraftExpress.com also has Quincy going in the first round as the 29th selection of the Orlando Magic. NBADraft.net has almost daily updates and today says that Pondexter is a second round pick, going 34th overall to the Washington Wizards. It will be fun to watch the June 24 NBA Draft and see where Pondexter lands. Until then, we'll have to be entertained with prediction from pundits everywhere.
ESPN.com has a "Rank 'Em" poll out asking fans to select the nation's No. 1 college quarterback. Not surprisingly, Jake Locker is on that list.
As of Thursday morning, he holds a comfortable lead on the rest of the field, with more than 1,500 first-place votes. The next-best total of first-place votes is around 250. You can have your say by checking out this link.
On the water, the 24th annual Windermere Cup was a huge success for the Huskies, who swept all four marquee races against Oxford and Syracuse. For the fans who weren't at the Montlake Cut on May 1, you can experience all the action on GoHuskies.com.
This year's edition of the Windermere Cup was broadcast on FSN NW as part of a one-hour special. The races aren't the only story as Tri-Films, which post-produced the special, explores the history of the regatta as well as rowing in Seattle. To watch the broadcast, click on the media player on the right-hand side of the page. The video is hosted on the GoHuskies.com main site, as well as the men's and women's crew sites. Enjoy! Two of Washington's most prominent track and field alumni have been working out in the Dempsey this week, both working their way into shape for the current outdoor season that is just starting to pick up steam. Ryan Brown, 2009 World Championships participant, is no stranger to the Dempsey as he trains full time with Coach Metcalf and serves as a volunteer assistant for the Huskies. Tuesday saw Brown doing some work down at the south end of the Dempsey, while down at the northeast corner, former World Champion pole vaulter Brad Walker was working through a series of fitness drills. Walker, the American record-holder and 2008 Olympian, is targeting the USA Championships (June 23-26 in Des Moines, Iowa) for his season-debut, after an injury cut his 2009 season short. Brown is planning a competitive run at the Occidental Invitational in Los Angeles next Saturday, May 8, before moving on to USA's and some meets in Europe later in the summer. The two men wracked up four NCAA titles and 13 All-America honors between them in their time at Washington. Just another day in the Dempsey!
The African American Ethnic Sports Hall of Fame (AAESHOF), which is dedicated to honoring black and other sports legends of all races, will induct five new members at its Annual Pacific Northwest Induction Ceremony at Fremont Studios, 155 N 35th Street, Seattle, WA 98080 on Sunday, June 13, 2010.
Among the honorees is former Husky football coach Don James. He'll be joined by Pro Football Hall of Famer Floyd Little, Seattle basketball legend Slick Watts, former Seattle Mariner Dave Henderson and pioneer Trish Millines Dziko. For more information on the honorees, on the ceremony and to buy tickets, check out www.afrosportshall.com.
Continue reading Don James To Be Inducted Into Ethnic Sports Hall of Fame.
Kaitlin Inglesby, who will join the No. 1-ranked Washington softball team in the fall of 2010, was announced today as one of 42 players 18-years-old or younger who have accepted invitations to the 2010 USA Softball Junior Women's National Team selection camp, June 10-13, at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista.
A Portland, Ore., native and the 2009 Oregon State Player of the Year, Inglesby signed a letter of intent with the Huskies back in November. Also a member of the Northwest Blaze club team, she has led Central Catholic High School to a pair of league titles and a second-place finish at state her freshman year. She has been named league MVP, Pitcher of the Year and all-state each of the last two seasons. Inglesby is also an accomplished racquetball player, competing for the ASA Junior Olympic Racquetball team and capturing 27 world or national championships. The 17 athletes selected for the 2010 USA Softball Junior Women's National Team will be announced on June 15. The team will compete later this year at the Pan American Softball Championship (18-and-under), Aug. 6-15, in Bogota, Colombia. The Husky men's and women's tennis teams will gather in the Nordstrom Tennis Center this afternoon to learn their NCAA Championships fates. The official selection show airs at some point between 2-3 p.m. Pacific time on ESPNNews. Both teams were ranked in the top-30 in last week's rankings and expect to be selected. It would mark the 16th-consecutive bid for the men's team, one for each of head coach Matt Anger's years with the program. The women will be looking for their third-straight bid under head coach Jill Hultquist. Last year the men were sent to Austin, Texas where they defeated Texas Tech before falling to Texas in the second round. The women traveled to Los Angeles, defeating San Diego State in the opener and then upsetting USC in the second round to reach the Round of 16 in College Station, Texas where they had their run ended by South Carolina.  Joe Toledo, who came to Washington as a tight end before eventually moving to offensive tackle, has signed with the Seattle Seahawks.Toledo, from Encinitas, Calif., earned four letters at the UW (2002-05). He was drafted in the fourth round by the Dolphins in the 2006 draft and has spent time with Miami, Green Bay and San Francisco prior to returning to Seattle. Here's a story from the Seahawks' official website on Joe's reunion with Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll, who recruited him out of high school. MORELIA, Mexico - Paige Mackenzie had a disappointing final round at the LPGA's Tres Marias Championship in Morelia, Mexico shooting a 3-over-par 75 on Sunday and falling all the way to 44th place. The former Husky All-American finished even overall at 292. Mackenzie won $5,544 for her efforts. She finished 19 shots behind Ai Miyazato, who won by one shot over Stacy Lewis. Lorena Ochoa was sixth in her last tournament as a professional. MORELIA, Mexico - Paige Mackenzie shot a 2-over-par 75 in Saturday's third round of the Tres Marias Championship but remains in contention at -3 overall and tied for 17th. Mackenzie is 10 strokes back of leader Ai Miyazato. Mackenzie shot a 35 on the front nine and a 40 on the back nine. Saturday proved to be the toughest day of the tourney as just 18 of the 69 remaining competitors were under par. The Husky grad will tee off at 10:36 local time for Sunday's final round. WIth the Husky track squad in Pullman to battle the Cougars today, it marks a homecoming of sorts for a number of Huskies who hail from the Spokane area. One such Husky is freshman Joe Zimmerman, who has had a fantastic start to his UW career as he ranks 15th in the NCAA in the javelin throw. John Blanchette of the Spokane Spokesman-Review talked to Zimmerman this week and submitted the following piece: Zimmerman Threw In With Dawgs. A subscription is required, however, to read the full article.
A month of Husky spring football is now in the books. After 14 practices plus a spring game, it's now time for the long wait for the proper season to being in September.
Here's a roundup of news from Friday's Spring Game: • Start right here at GoHuskies.com, where there's a story on the game, which also includes a photo gallery, stats and quotes. • The Seattle Times' Bob Condotta focuses his story on the end of the game. • Christian Caple, covering for the Seattle P-I, had a couple of blog entries on the game: this one on the game, and this one, which focuses on Anthony Boyles • Todd Milles of the News-Tribune took the Nick Montana angle in his coverage of the game. • In the Everett Herald, Scott Johnson shines the light on the end of the game, which featured a few "do-overs." Plenty more to do today with the Windermere Cup, Husky softball and the Husky baseball game at Safeco Field. See you there! IMPORTANT LINKSMOST RECENT POSTS
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