New University of Washington baseball coach Lindsay Meggs and softball coach Heather Tarr recently got together at Husky Softball Field to shoot a cover photo for the upcoming issue of Dawgs Digest.

Meggs joined the UW athletics program in July and has been tirelessly working to get the UW baseball team ready for the upcoming season.  The team started practice recently and opens the regular season on Feb 19 against New Mexico State in the Cactus Classic in Tucson, Ariz.  The Diamond Dawgs will play their first home game on Feb. 26 in the first of a three-game series against Fresno State.

Tarr led the Washington softball team to its first-ever national title last spring.  The Huskies were picked as the favorites to win the Pac-10 title and are ranked No. 1 in both national polls. The UW, which returns 2009 National Player of the Year Danielle Lawrieand five other starters in 2010, begins its title defense on Feb. 11 at the Kajikawa Classic in Tempe, Ariz.  

UW softball stars Danielle Lawrie, Alyson McWherter and Morgan Stuart, along with head coach Heather Tarr paid a visit to local students yesterday as guests of the Kitsap County Bremerton Athletic Roundtable at The Forum at Olympic High School.

The group gave inspirational talks to those in attendance and also stuck around to sign autographs. To read about the event in the Kitsap Sun, click here.

UW Softball Night at Everett Silvertips!

"Hockey and Softball usually don't mix but for one great night they will. On Friday, January 29th, The Everett Silvertips will honor the University of Washington Softball team for their fantastic achievement of winning the 2009 Division I National Championship.

Join the Husky Softball team to watch the Silvertips face their rivals the Portland Winterhawks. Canadians Jenn Salling and Danielle Lawrie will drop the ceremonial first puck and the team will be recognized during the first intermission.

A special ticket price for all Husky Softball fans is being offered with lower level tickets available for only $14. To purchase your tickets at this special price and be a part of this fun event contact, Devon Wold at the Silvertips offices at 425 609-2804 or via email at devonw@everettsilvertips.com.

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Husky Softball Hour at Mariners FanFest!

Join the 2010 Washington Softball team at Mariners FanFest! Coach Heather Tarr, the UW coaching staff, and the defending NCAA Division I Champion Husky Softball team will be on hand to meet fans and share tips on the field at the interactive activities at Safeco Field, January 30th and 31st. "Husky Softball Hour" featuring Coach Tarr, the coaching staff and team will be 12 p.m. - 1 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 30 & 31.

The 12th annual Mariners FanFest will feature interactive baseball experiences, autographs from Mariners players, clubhouse tours, opportunities to catch a pop-fly in left field or hit a home run over the centerfield wall, and more.

Tickets are on sale now and are only $10 for adults, $5 for kids, and children five and under are free! For tickets and more information, visit mariners.com/fanfest.

Make sure to get your votes cast for the annual Sports Star of the Year Awards.  The deadline to vote is by 5 p.m. today

Visit http://www.seattlesports.org/site446.php to cast your vote.

The voter-approved Sound Transit project to construct a light rail station outside Husky Stadium jumped quickly into its first phase recently.  A quick look at the E-11 and E-12 parking lots just to the South of Husky Stadium shows a flurry of construction activity. (Click on the photo to the right for a larger version).

GoHuskies.com has setup a great website that provides in-depth information on the project and its six-year impact on Husky athletics.

Also, Chris Fetters of Sports Washington wrote a good explanation of the project and its impact on Husky football parking  in November.

We'll have more updates throughout the spring, leading into next year's 2010 Husky football season.  So, keep tuned to GoHuskies.com.

With the demise of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer last winter, many wondered about the future of the annual Sports Star of the Year Awards.  After all, the event had been around since former P-I sports editor Royal Brougham started the awards in 1935.

However, the Sports Star of the Year Awards are alive and well and now is in its 75th year.

The Seattle Sports Commission and Seattle Children's Hospital have teamed up to continue the awards, which will take place on Jan. 19 at Benaroya Hall in downtown Seattle.

For the first time voting will take place online. Visit www.seattlesports.org until Jan. 15 to vote. Winners will be announced at the event on Jan. 19. Tickets can be ordered here.

The UW's Jake Locker, Nick Taylor, Lorenzo Romar and the IRA national champion men's crew are nominees for the Male Sports Athlete of the Year.

On the women's side, Washington's Tamari Miyashiro, Kendra Schaaf and the NCAA national champion softball team are among the nominees.

Todd Dybas with SeattlePI.com wrote this great summary of this year's event.

Did you miss today's entertaining chat on the Seattle Times website with 2009 USA Softball National Player of the Year Danielle Lawrie? No problem, you can read the transcript on the Seattle Times' website by clicking here.

Lawrie covered topics ranging from the 2009 National Championship game, the team's chances of repeating in 2010 and, yes, her relationship status. Sometimes funny, sometimes deeply thoughtful and always entertaining, Lawrie will look to lead the Huskies back to the Women's College World Series when they begin their title defense on Feb. 11 in Tempe, Ariz. at the Kajikawa Classic. The Huskies' home opener - which will also be the first night game in Husky Softball Stadium is history - is on March 11 at 6 p.m.

Site preparation for Sound Transit's UW Station construction will start at the E11 parking lot (SW parking lot adjacent to the Husky Stadium) on January 4, 2010 at 7 a.m.

Here is a quick look at the work activities scheduled for January 2010:

• Fencing off a portion of the southwest parking lot of Husky Stadium;
• Ensuring pedestrian and vehicle access around the new 4-acre construction site;
• Clearing trees, removing asphalt and grading the construction site; and
• Utility relocations.

Visit the Tyee website for more information.

You can also visit http://www.soundtransit.org/UWstation for specific project information.

The NCAA released its annual report of graduation success rates among Division I instititions and, once again, the University of Washington showed it ranks second in the Pac-10 and second among all public institutions on the West Coast.  Washington's football federal graduation rate is just two percent shy of the rate for all Division I student-athletes.  For the complete story and links to the NCAA reports, visit this piece posted yesterday on GoHuskies.com.  The Associated Press also wrote a good story on the topic, which you can find here.

A couple of facts that were not widely reported included the graduation success rate (GSR) among football programs in the Pac-10.  Among scholarship athletes, the Huskies rate second in the league in both graduation success rate and the four-year rolling federal graduation rate average.  Below is a chart showing how the UW fares against league rivals.

School	GSR	Fed Rate
Stanford	89	85
Washington	69	61
California	64	57
Washington State	62	58
Arizona State	58	49
USC	58	52
Oregon State	57	43
UCLA	51	40
Oregon	49	45
Arizona	41	35

A couple of other key facts that the report revealed about the academic success of various UW sports programs:

 

• The graduation rate for UW scholarship student-athletes who exhausted their eligibility at the school during this reporting period was an impressive 90 percent.  A total of 503 student-athletes fit into this category.
• Six UW sports achieved a GSR of 100 percent:  Men's golf, women's basketball, women's golf, women's soccer, softball and women's tennis.
• 10 of the 18 sports calculated (men's crew is not a NCAA sport and track/cross country are counted as one sport. The discontinued swimming program is also included), achieved a GSR of 90 percent or better.

Recently, Washington Husky athletic department officials and student-athletes showed their appreciation to its scholarship donors at its annual luncheon in the Don James Center.  Husky student-athletes Victor Aiyewa and Danielle Lawrie presented thanks to the benefactors on behalf of all of the UW's scholarship student-athletes. 

Check out this great photo gallery from the event.

Women's soccer coach Lesle Gallimore gave a passionate speech that outlined the tremendous responsibility each coach accepts as they makes decisions on who and when to award athletic scholarships.

"As a coach I am entrusted with the task of awarding scholarships to young women whom my staff and I determine are worthy of your generosity," said Gallimore. "This is a responsibility that I do not take lightly. I have done nothing for the dollars that I am doling out. It is not my hard work that has made these scholarships possible and yet it is my duty to select people that will live up to their commitment of striving for athletic and academic excellence.