Straughan piles up numbers for Stillman

Josh Straughan appears to have picked up where he left off a year ago for the Stillman College football team.

Straughan, the former Colton High School quarterback who threw for 1,849 yards and 14 touchdowns while completing 59.4 percent of his passes a year ago as a freshman, has compiled a 147.25 quarterback efficiency rating while leading the NCAA Division II school in Tuscaloosa, Ala., to a 3-1 start.

A week ago, Straughan lifted the Tigers from a 14-point halftime deficit to a 26-21 victory at Kentucky State with a performance that earned him Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Week honors. He completed 19 of 32 passes for 326 yards and four touchdowns, getting the winner with 36 seconds remaining.

He has had two 300-plus-yard games while completing 67 of 111 passes for 897 yards and seven touchdowns in the first four games.

Younger brother Jake is carrying on the family tradition at Colton. The night before Josh’s recent big game, Jake passed for five touchdowns and ran for two in a 64-22 victory over Garfield-Palouse.

College scene

Soccer player Cassie Black and football wide receiver Ashton Clark have been selected by the Eastern Washington athletic department to receive the school year’s first Scholar-Athlete of the Month honors for October.

Black, a junior from Battle Ground, Wash., scored three goals during September to contribute to Eagles wins and has a 3.86 grade-point average as a biology major.

Clark, a senior from Heritage of Vancouver, Wash., caught a team-leading 23 passes for 403 yards and three touchdowns in EWU’s 2-2 start to the season. He is a recreation management major with a 3.28 GPA.

The award recognizes athletic and academic success based primarily on performances during the prior month.

• Kaely Kight, Central Washington’s junior volleyball libero from Mead, ranks 13th nationally in digs at the NCAA Division II level, averaging 5.72 per set.

• Kristen Hansen , a sophomore at Western Washington from Mead, was named the Red Lion/Great Northwest Athletic Conference Women’s Golfer of the Week for Sept. 22-30 after finishing third, a shot back of the co-leaders, at the Western New Mexico Invitational.

Hansen, who opened with a 2-under-par 70, finished with a 36-hole total of 148. The weekly honor is the second of Hansen’s two-year career.

Basketball

Registration is underway for the Spokane Elks Lodge No. 228 2013 Elks’ Hoop Shoot contest.  Interested school officials need to contact Doug Holland, the Lodge leader, at (509) 496-5847, or Phil Crabb, regional director, at (509) 701-4674, event coordinators, to obtain rules and registration packets. Registration is on a first-come, first-served basis. 

The contest is for 8- to 13-year-old boys and girls. Competition is held in three age-specific divisions for each gender with the local finals scheduled for Dec. 7 at the Valley Christian High School gym, 10212 E. Ninth, in Spokane Valley.

Golf

Corey Prugh of Manito tied for fifth in the Pacific Northwest PGA Professional Championship last week at Meadow Springs Country Club in Richland.

Prugh shot 2-over 218 for 54 holes, four shots back of champion Tim Feenstra of Seattle, to earn $2,500.

Mark Gardner of The Creek at Qualchan tied for 23rd at 226. Gardner earned $862.50

The top eight qualified for the National PGA Club Professional Championship next June in Myrtle Beach, S.C. Prugh had already qualified by tying for 18th in the tournament last June.