Eight Eagles on preseason team
Football: First-team All-Big Sky Conference special teams standout Darriell Beaumonte is among a group of eight Eastern Washington University football players selected to the BSC Preseason All-Conference Football Team announced Monday.
Besides Beaumonte, EWU’s other returning first-team All-Big Sky selections named to the 29-person squad were center Chris Powers, wide receiver Brandon Kaufman, defensive tackle Renard Williams and safety Matt Johnson. Offensive tackle Gabe Jackson and linebacker Zach Johnson were selected after earning second-team All-BSC honors in the 2010 season. The eighth preseason pick was safety Jeff Minnerly, who was an honorable-mention pick following his first season on defense for the Eagles.
Minnerly and Kaufman will be juniors this season for the defending NCAA Division I Champions, while the other six players honored will be seniors.
Johnson and Williams are also on the 20-player preseason watch list for the 2011 Buck Buchanan Award given by The Sports Network to the top defensive player in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision.
Sponsored by Fathead.com, the Buchanan Award was won last year by Eagles linebacker J.C. Sherritt, and two years before that by his former Eagles teammate and current Edmonton Eskimos teammate, Greg Peach.
Cougars lose men’s golf coach
Golf: Washington State men’s golf coach Walt Williams has resigned to accept a position at Western Texas Junior College
Williams will be the head coach for both the men’s and women’s golf programs at the school in Snyder, Texas, his hometown.
Williams spent the past 13 years in Pullman, 11 with the both men’s and women’s teams and the last two exclusively with the men’s squad. He guided the women to seven NCAA regional appearances, including six straight (2002-07). His 2003 team qualified for the NCAA Championships.
In 2002, he led the men to an NCAA regional and was named Pac-10 Coach of the Year.