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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Halliday, Johnson top SWABS list

Home-grown products headline the 2014 athletes, teams and coach recognized for their accomplishments by Inland Northwest Sportswriters and Broadcasters.

Washington State University quarterback, and former Ferris High star, Connor Halliday is the Amateur Male Athlete of the Year. Tampa Bay Lightning hockey player Tyler Johnson, by way of Central Valley and the Spokane Chiefs was voted Professional Athlete of the Year.

Gonzaga University basketball guard Haiden Palmer was voted SWABS Female Athlete of the Year.

Eastern Washington University garnered two awards, Beau Baldwin repeating as Coach of the Year and the Eagles football as the Team of the Year.

Despite a broken ankle in the 10th game of the season that ended his career prematurely, Halliday became the most prolific quarterback in WSU history. He completed 354 passes in 526 attempts for 3,873 yards (ninth in the nation) and 32 touchdowns.

Among his other numbers were an FBS record 734-yard game, career total 11,304 yards and 90 TDs and average 430.3 passing yards per game.

Professional Athlete of the Year Johnson proved doubters wrong throughout his hockey career when they said he was too small at 5-foot-9 to make professional hockey a career.

What did he do? Star for the Chiefs, work his way to the NHL and last year set a Tampa Bay rookie record of 24 goals. He tied a league record for short-handed goals and led the United States in the World International Cup Tournament among other honors.

Female athlete Palmer capped her career with her second West Coast Conference All-Conference selection and was an honorable mention All-American. She averaged 16.1 points per game, led the Bulldogs in rebounds, steals (finishing second at GU for her career) and was second in assists.

Eastern Washington’s Beau Baldwin was the SWABs Coach of the Year for the fourth time in five years after guiding the Eagles to the quarterfinals of the FCS playoffs and the Eagles were voted Team of the Year after compiling an 11-3 record and ranking fourth nationally.

The SWABS, made up of 50 media members from Washington and Idaho, have been honoring outstanding performances of area athletics since 1948.