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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Fast Break

Junior hockey

McCrae named Chiefs captain

The Spokane Chiefs have named 20-year-old Justin McCrae team captain.

McCrae is in his fifth season in the WHL and is a captain for the second time in his career. The Cochrane, Alberta, native filled the same role for the Saskatoon Blades last season when the Chiefs acquired him at the trade deadline.

The Chiefs also announced that 20-year-old Seth Compton and 19-year-olds Jared Spurgeon and Drayson Bowman will wear A’s as alternate captains.

“I think there are a lot of guys on the team who I consider to be good leaders, so it feels pretty good to be named the captain,” McCrae said.

McCrae returned to action Friday after missing 23 games with a knee injury suffered in his first game of the year on Sept. 27. He has one assist in three games.

McCrae was selected by the Carolina Hurricanes in the fourth round of the 2007 NHL entry draft.

College basketball

Cougars back at Friel tonight

After their first road trip, and first defeat, Washington State returns to Beasley Coliseum tonight to face hard-luck Idaho State in a nonconference game at 7.

The Big Sky Conference’s Bengals are 1-4, with three of the losses coming in overtime or double overtime. Amorrow Morgan, a 6-foot-5 forward, leads ISU in scoring at 19.2 points per game, including a career-high 31 in last week’s double-overtime defeat at Boise State.

The Cougars (5-1) are coming off a 57-43 loss to No. 3 Pitt in the final of the Legends Classic. Freshman Klay Thompson, coming off his first career double-double in Friday’s win over Mississippi State, paces WSU in scoring at 12.5 points per game.

Cycling

Armstrong will race in Tour

Lance Armstrong will ride in the 2009 Tour de France, marking the first time he will compete in that race and the Giro d’Italia in the same year.

“I’m committed to riding for the best guy,” Armstrong said Monday, acknowledging the taxing schedule could leave him riding in a supporting role in France.

The Giro runs May 9-31, and the Tour begins July 4.

With such a quick turnaround between two grueling races, the seven-time Tour champion acknowledged his body might not perform at the same level it did when he won his last Tour in 2005.

“If you’ve been away for three or four years, it would be silly for anybody to think I could pick up where I left off,” Armstrong told the Associated Press in a telephone interview from Tenerife in the Canary Islands, where Astana is training. “I can tell you I feel better than ever, I feel stronger than ever on Dec. 1. How that translates to racing, we’ll have to see. Mentally, in terms of motivation, this feels like 1998-1999 to me.”

Vince Grippi Associated Press