Locally: Josh Straughan named DII preseason All American
Former Colton standout Josh Straughan has been named to the USA College Football Division II Preseason All-American First Team and the 2016 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference All-Academic Team.
Straughan, entering his senior year as quarterback for Stillman College, has completed 470 passes for 5,412 yards and 53 touchdowns in his career at Stillman, which is located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
• Two Eastern Washington graduates have been selected as the EWU recipients of the Big Sky Conference Scholar-Athlete Award for the 2014-15 school year. Melissa Williams, a basketball starter, and track standout Jordan Arakawa received the awards.
Williams earned a 3.77 grade point average was named to All-Big Sky second team. Arakawa, a three-time conference champion, was the school’s first track and field athlete to be named to the Academic All-American team. He recently finished with a 3.93 GPA. Both Arakawa and Williams completed their degrees in biology.
• Washington State seniors Morgan Cathrea and Nicole Hare have been selected to represent Canada at the 2015 World Rowing Under-23 Championships.
Cathrea, a native of Victoria, British Columbia, and Hare, of Calgary, Alberta, were both chosen to compete in the women’s four crew at the championships in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, on July 22-26.
Hare is a three-year member of the WSU rowing team and was selected for the Collegiate Rowing Coaches’ Association Second Team All-America squad. Cathrea is a two-year member after transferring to Pullman from Michigan State.
• Gonzaga golfer Sean Walsh tied for sixth last Sunday at the 106th Texas Amateur Championship at the Bent Tree Country Club.
Walsh will play at the 115th Men’s North & South Amateur Championship today through Friday at Pinehurst Resort in Pinehurst, North Carolina.
• Washington State senior swimmer Presley Wetterstrom recently set a U.S. Olympic Team Trials qualifying time in the 200-meter breaststroke. The Colfax, California, native swam a time of 2 minutes 34.02 seconds to earn a spot in the 2016 USA Swimming Olympic Team Trials that started last Friday and continues through this Friday.
• Gonzaga track athlete Willie Milam has been named to the Capital One Academic All-American Division I third team. Milam graduated in May with a 3.98 GPA and earned a degree in business administration.
Letters of intent
• Montana has signed Mead’s Carrie Jacka, of Deer Park, to compete on the track team as a pole vaulter. She joins sister Bailee Jacka on the team. Carrie Jacka holds the Mead record with a vault of 12 feet, 6 inches. She won the State 4A title as a junior and finished second last month.
• Lewis-Clark State College has signed former Sandpoint sprinter Clayton Pell to its track and field program. Pell will attend Lewis-Clark after spending his freshman year at Montana. Since he did not compete in athletics, he still has four years of eligibility.
As a senior in 2014, Pell placed fifth in the 200 meters at the Class 4A District I/II meet and seventh in the 100 meters.