Locally

Brink, Burduli earn Pac-10 honors

Washington State University football player Alex Brink and women’s tennis player Ekatarina Burduli each won Pacific-10 Conference medals – awarded annually to each school’s outstanding senior male and female student-athlete based on achievement in scholarship, athletics and leadership.

Brink, a native of Eugene, Ore., and recent NFL draft pick of the Houston Texans, is WSU’s all-time leader in career passing yardage (10,913), touchdowns (76), attempts (1,451) and completions (848).

He was named to the Pac-10 All-Academic Team and the CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District VII first team. Brink was also one of 15 recipients of the National Football Foundation (NFF) Scholar-Athlete Award.

Burduli, from Tel Aviv, Israel, is WSU’s all-time leader in singles wins with 91.

She was recently named the Arthur Ashe Jr. Sportsmanship and Leadership Award Northwest Region winner, is a three-time All-Pac-10 honoree and was WSU’s nominee for NCAA Woman of the Year.

College scene

Ashley Fargher, a freshman at Spokane Falls Community College from University High School, was picked as the Diamond Sports Catcher of the Year on the 2008 Louisville Slugger/NFCA Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges All-America Team.

Fargher led her team in every offensive category, batting .425 with 42 RBIs and 39 runs. She threw out 11 of 15 base runners.

“WSU track and field athletes Jon Jeffreys of West Valley High School and Kendall Mays of North Central High School were named to 2008 Pac-10 All-Academic Teams.

Jeffreys, a senior javelin thrower majoring in finance with a 3.49 grade point average, was named to the second team.

He finished third in the javelin at the 2008 Pac-10 Championships, fourth in the NCAA West Regional and competes in the NCAA Championships next week.

Mays, a sophomore pole vaulter with a 3.59 GPA, earned honorable mention.

“Local athletes from Washington State, University of Montana and Whitworth have been named to 2008 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District teams.

Jeffreys made the All-District VIII men’s track and field team.

Wilbur, Wash., native Baily Cox, a multisport athlete at Montana, was named to the women’s track and field All-District VII team.

Cox has a 4.0 GPA as a physical therapy graduate student. She finished second in the heptathlon at the Big Sky Conference Championships last month.

Ben Spaun and Cody Stelzer of Whitworth University made the men’s track and field All-District VIII team.

Stelzer, a biology major with a 3.63 GPA, won the high jump at last month’s NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field championships by clearing 6 feet, 11 1/2 inches to tie his school record.

Spaun, a physics and math major with a 3.99 GPA, won a pair of Northwest Conference titles in the 110- and 400-meter hurdles and was the 2008 NWC Outstanding Men’s Track and Field athlete.

“WSU rowers Hannah Rothstrom of Lewis and Clark and Amanda Kyle of Rogers earned Pac-10 Rowing All-Academic Honors.

Kyle is a junior with a 3.18 GPA in speech and hearing sciences. Rothstrom, a sophomore, has a 3.88 GPA and has not declared a major.