TRACK
& FIELD: Cougars Have Strong Performances at Wet and Windy Oregon Pepsi
Team Invitational
From WSU
Sports Info
EUGENE,
Ore. -- The Washington State track and field teams had many notable
performances in spite of the less than favorable conditions of rain and
blustery winds that caused the meet to operate nearly an hour late Saturday at
the Oregon Pepsi Team Invitational at Hayward Field in Eugene.
In the
team scoring, the No. 2 Oregon women won with 185 points as the WSU and BYU
teams finished tied for second at 152 points, and Washington fourth at 112. The
No. 4 Oregon men's team won with 171 points followed by No. 24 BYU's 160, WSU's
157 and Washington's 153.
WSU men's
hammer throwers Brock Eager and Amani Brown finished one-two in the opening
event of the meet. Eager threw 214-feet 4 inches (65.33m) and Brown threw a PR
of 206-11 (63.07m).
Crimson-clad
Cougars won the javelin competitions. Atina Kamasi won the women's javelin with
a distance of 148-6 (45.27m) and Cole Smith won the men's evnet with a throw of
206-7 (62.98m).
The
driving rain and gusting winds forced the pole vault competition to move from
the open infield to an area under the wooden grandstands but the move seemed
advantageous for the Cougs. Molly Scharmann won the women's pole vault with a
final height of 12-11 (3.94m) and Emily Coombs was fourth with a PR height of
12-5 1/4 (3.79m). Sander Moldau won the men's vault with a season-best
clearance at 16-10 3/4 (5.15m) while Tucker Mjelde was fifth with a PR at 15-9
(4.80m).
Peyton
Fredrickson won the men's high jump with a best height of 6-7 (2.01m) and
Keelan Halligan with third with a season-best of 6-6 3/4 (2.00m).
Aoife
Martin threw a PR and the sixth-best women's hammer mark in WSU all-time of
180-4 (54.98m) for second place and Stacia Bell had PR toss of 159-7 (48.64m)
for seventh.
Vallery
Korir claimed the lone WSU win on the track, and it was a decisive victory in
the women's 3000m race in a time of 9 minutes 51.38 seconds.
:::::::::::::
BASEBALL:
WSU Cougs play today/Sunday in Eugene vs UO starting at noon. Final game of
three game series originally scheduled for Saturday, but high winds and rain
caused move to today/Sunday.
:::::::::::::::::
FOOTBALL:
Plenty of
touchdowns, takeaways during first Washington State scrimmage
UPDATED:
Sat., April 7, 2018, 7:37 p.m.
PULLMAN –
Strong wind gusts and persistent rain showers accompanied, but did not deter,
the Washington State football team from making plays – and more important,
making progress – on both sides of the ball during the Cougars’ first mock
scrimmage at Martin Stadium.
Five young
WSU quarterbacks weathered the storm by combining to toss five touchdowns and
complete 55 percent of their attempts for 375 yards. But their defensive
counterparts jumped on every small miscue, recording four interceptions, and
the defensive line perhaps had the strongest afternoon of any position group,
piling up 10 quarterback sacks.
“I thought
that we did a good job of coming upfield and were playing pretty fast up
front,” coach Mike Leach said. “I think our front’s playing pretty fast.
Obviously, we’ll go look at the film on both sides and find plenty of work to
do, but I thought we had good energy and guys flying upfield.”
Because
the Cougars don’t make their signal-callers “live” during spring practices,
defensive players only need to tap the quarterback to notch a sack. Redshirt
freshman Dallas Hobbs busted through for two of the eight sacks accumulated by
the D-line. Taylor Comfort and Nnamdi Oguayo each added one to the tally.
“I thought
they played awfully fast and played in the backfield quite a bit,” defensive
coordinator Tracy Claeys said. “And that’s where it all starts, so I’m pleased
with those guys up front.”
The pass
rush was effective even when it didn’t conclude with a “tap sack,” often
forcing the ball out of the QB’s hand prematurely, leading to defensive
takeaways.
“The
faster the ball comes out, the easier it is to defend,” Claeys said. “So it
throws off timing and without a doubt, if you can get there and put pressure on
the quarterback, that’s the best defense for the passing game.”
WSU’s
starters in the defensive backfield are relatively experienced, but as a
collective, the defensive secondary is the group most in need of fine tuning,
according to Claeys. So the four interceptions during Saturday’s scrimmage
should be encouraging, especially considering three came from defensive backs
who didn’t contribute to WSU’s interception tally last fall.
Armani
Marsh, Hayden Schmidt and Skyler Thomas each had one, as did linebacker Fa’avae
Fa’avae. Thomas’ pick was returned the other way for a defensive touchdown.
“Back
there, if you haven’t played back there, there’s a hell of a lot of space to
cover,” Claeys said. “And it’s not easy.”
Early
enrollee Cammon Cooper was the only quarterback to exceed 100 yards in the air
– he threw for 160 on 8-of-20 passing – accounting for two of the five
touchdowns, in addition to two interceptions. Anthony Gordon was efficient,
completing 12 of 17 passes for two TDs and 98 yards, while Trey Tinsley was 10
of 13 with 68 yards and one score.
“As you
can imagine, balls are a little heavy, a little slippery,” Gordon said. “But
Coach did a good job of getting us in some plays where we can kind of get a
little good feel in the beginning, get the running backs involved, check to the
run a little bit. Then getting the ball downfield was a little bit easier.”
John
Bledsoe (3 of 7, 26 yards) and Connor Neville (2 of 7, 23 yards, two
interceptions) also saw brief playing time.
Junior
inside receiver Kyle Sweet led the WSU pass-catchers with three touchdowns,
catching five for 62 yards. Freshman running back Max Borghi, another early
enrollee, accumulated 73 yards on four catches, and tailback Keith Harrington
added five catches for 45 yards. Spokane’s Rodrick Fisher, an East Valley
graduate, scored on his only reception of the scrimmage – a 9-yarder.
James
Williams led the effort on the ground, with five carries for 45 yards.
/////////////////////
Story
below is NOT about WSU. It’s about the other land-grant university on the
Palouse, the University of Idaho in Moscow. Nonetheless, it might be of
interest to some.
………
Three UI
sports could be cut; Staben proposes way to keep them
State
Board expected to review Idaho president's proposal at meeting at Moscow later
this month
By Dave
Southorn
Idaho
Statesman, Boise, from the Lewiston Trib website
The
University of Idaho would like to add sports but might be forced to cut up to
three existing sports immediately as it tries to deal with a budget deficit for
the second straight year. Which route the Vandals go could be determined at a
State Board of Education meeting in two weeks.
Idaho will
ask the State Board at its April 18-19 meeting in Moscow for additional time in
dealing with athletics deficits. The State Board gives universities two years
to erase those deficits if a waiver isn't granted.
Idaho
presented two plans Friday at a State Board committee meeting in Boise: Change
the way athletics expenses and revenue are calculated to recognize the student
revenue the department brings to campus, or slash expenses by eliminating
sports.
If the
waiver is not granted, the school must act quickly to eliminate the deficit.
"Your
only strategy is cost reduction, and I'd have to cut costs as fast as I
can," Idaho President Chuck Staben said.
That
likely would involve cutting three sports: women's soccer, men's golf and
women's swimming and diving, Staben said. Those are the three sports Idaho has
that are not required by the Big Sky Conference, the Vandals' athletics home.
Sand volleyball and women's triathlon likely would be added for Idaho to remain
Title IX compliant and get back above the Football Championship Subdivision
minimum of 14 sports. Idaho asked the Big Sky for a waiver from its sports
requirements but that was denied in March, the university said.
"If
we don't act, we're just going to continue to have deficits, and there's no way
I can bring us back into balance," Staben said.
However,
if the waiver is granted, Staben will pursue a change in State Board policy
that would transform the way athletics revenue and expenses are calculated. The
board currently places strict caps on institutional spending on athletics and
doesn't consider the revenue produced for the university by nonscholarship
athletes. Those athletes pay tuition and fees, buy books and spend money on
room and board.
That
process likely would take months, but the Vandals' plan, developed by athletic
director Rob Spear and refined by Staben and others, includes the potential
additions of three limited-scholarship sports: men's swimming, women's
triathlon and co-ed rifle. Those would be inexpensive to add and wouldn't use
athletics scholarships. Instead, athletes could get academic scholarships and
would receive out-of-state tuition waivers. Staben estimates those three sports
would cost about $115,000 annually combined and bring in approximately $1.1
million in revenue for the university.
"We
could have some leisure to examine whether or not we wish to add some other
sports, and I think there is rationale for doing that," Staben said.
The three
teams that are at risk of being cut were informed last week. Staben said he was
surprised at the lack of communication with the teams, that "they have had
little discussion with athletics."
Spear was
placed on administrative leave Tuesday while the university investigates the
department's handling of sexual assault and harassment complaints.
Adding
three teams would bring in more revenue for the athletics program through the
NCAA and increase enrollment. Women's swimming likely would transition to the
academic scholarship model, and the roster size would increase from 32 to 38.
The NCAA considers out-of-state tuition waivers as partial scholarships.
"What
I'm proposing in those equivalency sports (that offer partial scholarships)
where you can do this most readily is take a little different approach, and
optimize revenue, do the best you can on the performance side, but decrease the
actual dollar investment the university is making," Staben said.
Idaho
currently sponsors 16 sports. Its football program would be a break-even
proposition if the athletic department were credited for the tuition and other
revenue generated by the team, according to the university presentation.
The
football program will become less expensive at the FCS level, with scholarships
dropping from 85 to 63, lower travel costs and eventual regression in coaching
salaries. The program also will produce less revenue when it makes that move
this fall.
For
2017-18, the athletic department will produce about $6.4 million in tuition,
fees, books, room and board for the university. That's roughly $1 million more
than the institutional support.
One factor
helping push Idaho's plan: Enrollment has decreased. Eliminating three sports
would remove an estimated 65 students from school. Adding sports would bring in
60.
Idaho also
reported at the meeting that it plans to ask for a tuition increase this year
at a time when it has fewer students to pay the bills. Cutting sports could
result in more lost revenue for the university.
"(Eliminating
sports) takes the million-dollar problem in the athletic fund and hands it to
me and to the auxiliaries," Vice President for Finance Brian Foisy said.
"If they transfer that deficit problem to me ... then I go out to all the
deans and support units and we have conversations about cutting those budgets.
It simply hands the hot potato to somebody else."
According
to the department's calculations, its current revenues - including tuition and
other student expenses - of $6.3 million would be reduced to less than $5
million if teams were cut. They'd be raised to about $7.2 million if sports
were added.
The new
teams wouldn't start competition until at least 2019-20, but women's swimming
coach Mark Sowa has expressed interest in coaching a men's team, too. He also
could coach the triathlon swimmers, while track coaches could help the
triathlon runners. Staben noted that Vandal graduate Kristin Armstrong, the
three-time gold medal cyclist, is likely to be excited about potentially adding
the team. He also said one of the strength coaches could coach rifle, as he's a
former Army marksman.
"I
think what we want to do is to take a more creative approach to thinking about
what athletics does for your students and for your university," Staben
said.
