Thursday, July 2

Basketball: Trueman To Play Pro Ball Down Under

Trueman

Former Alaska Anchorage standout Jeremiah Trueman has signed a professional contract with the New Zealand Breakers of the Australian National Basketball League.

A 6-9 center originally from Stratford, New Zealand, Trueman was the Seawolves' 2008-09 MVP after averaging 15.8 points, 5.5 rebounds and 1.0 blocks per game.

“We're thrilled at this opportunity for Jeremiah,” said UAA head coach Rusty Osborne . “When he transferred here two years ago, his goals were the win a championship, graduate, and go on to a professional career. Now he has done all three, and that speaks to his determined nature and high character.”

As a senior last year, Trueman was the only player in NCAA Division II to rank in the Top 25 in the national stats in both field goal (.597) and free throw (.870) percentage.

He was an GNAC honorable mention all-star and claimed UAA's Most Inspirational Player and Jim Hajdukovich (physical toughness, endurance, court awareness) team awards.

“(Trueman is) another young New Zealander who I'm really looking forward to seeing grow,” said Breakers head coach Andrej Lemanis in the team's press release.

“Whilst I have watched plenty of tape, you never truly know what a returning college player will give until you see him in your environment. What I am certain of is his work ethic and personal qualities fit perfectly with our values and this is a great place to start.

"Given these attributes, what I have seen of him play, and the experience he has on the team from which to learn, I'm confident Jeremiah will grow into a quality player and another long-term Breaker.”

At 22, Trueman is the youngest of the 10 players currently on the Breakers' veteran roster.

The Breakers play in the eight-team Australian National Basketball League, the region's top league. They finished third in the 2008-09 regular-season standings, losing in the semifinal round.

The 28-game NBL regular season begins in late September and runs through mid-February.

Rowing: Viking Highlights on NCAA Show Saturday

Highlights of Western Washington University's fifth consecutive NCAA Division II national championship in women's rowing can be seen Saturday at 11 a.m. as CBS presents the 2009 NCAA Championships Spring Highlight Show. (KIRO TV in the Seattle area).

The program includes footage of the national championship rowing races held May 31 at Cherry Hill , New Jersey, on the Cooper River .   

Western's accomplishment was the first time that a team in any NCAA rowing division has won five straight titles since the NCAA began a rowing championship in 1997.

The Vikings' eight, which completed a perfect season with 10 wins in 10 races, won its 2,000-meter grand final in a time of 6:52.60, over a boat length ahead of second-place Mercyhurst.

Western, coached by John Fuchs, was second in the fours grand final, edging third-place Mercyhurst by just two seats on the last two strokes.  Nova Southeastern won that race in 7:53.64.  The Vikings were clocked in 7:57.34 and Mercyhurst in 7:57.70.

Western took the team title with 18 points, followed by Mercyhurst 13, Nova Southeastern 11 and Philadelphia 3.

Western has not lost to a non-Division I school in varsity eight competition since 2004.

Football: Tickets on Sale For CWU/WOU Qwest Game

Tickets for the Battle in Seattle VII are now available through Ticketmaster and will soon be available at the Wildcat Shop on the Central Washington University campus.

The seventh annual football game will be played on Oct. 17 at 6 p.m. at Qwest Field in Seattle. Central will take on Western Oregon for the first time at Qwest Field.

The Wildcats have won the last 10 meetings between the two schools on the gridiron, dating back to 2002, and lead the all-time series 25-16. It will also be the first neutral-site meeting between CWU and WOU since 1937 when Central won 9-7 at Yakima.

Central has won five of the first six Battle in Seattle games, all of which were played against Western Washington. The average attendance for those six contests was 12,392, including a record crowd of 16,392 in the inaugural game in 2003.