Fast Break
College tennis
NCAA calls EWU, WSU
For the first time in its history, the Eastern Washington men’s team has earned a berth in the NCAA tournament. Eighty miles south, the Washington State women celebrated as they were selected as one of 64 teams in the women’s tournament.
The Eagles will take on Pac-10 champion UCLA on May 10 at the Bruins’ home court in Los Angeles.
The Eastern Washington men (18-6) are in the middle of the best season in school history.
In the Big Sky championship match Sunday, the Eagles secured their tournament appearance with a 4-3 victory over Sacramento State. In the Bruins, they will face the five-time defending Pac-10 champions and the No. 3 team in the nation.
Rounding out Eastern Washington’s bracket are Washington and Wisconsin.
In the first round, WSU’s women (16-9) will face No. 27 Louisiana State on May 9 in Berkeley, Calif. Army and California are also in the bracket.
The Cougars, ranked 42nd nationally, are one of seven Pac-10 teams in the tournament.
Others are No. 4 Stanford, No. 7 UCLA, No. 8 Cal, No. 10 USC, No. 21 Arizona State and No. 38 Washington.
The men’s and women’s NCAA finals are May 15-20 in Tulsa, Okla.
College golf
EWU’s Hughes coach of year
Marc Hughes, the head coach of the Eastern Washington University women, was named the Big Sky Conference coach of the year.
The Eagles were 81-67 overall and accumulated a 33-5 (.868 winning percentage) record against Big Sky opposition.
At the Big Sky Championship, the Eagles stormed back from a 14-stroke deficit on the back nine of the final round of play to close to within three before falling by that margin to Portland State, finishing third.
Auto racing
Schrader takes Ganassi wheel
Ken Schrader acknowledged Tuesday he has agreed to drive the No. 40 Chip Ganassi Racing Dodge in Saturday night’s Crown Royal presents the Dan Lowry 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Richmond International Raceway.
Schrader replaces injured Dario Franchitti, who is sidelined with a broken ankle from a violent wreck during last Saturday’s Nationwide Series race at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.
Ganassi Racing confirmed Schrader’s status in the afternoon.