Locally: Former Eastern Washington receiver Cooper Kupp named FCS Player of the Decade

Cooper Kupp continues to catch recognition for his record-breaking football career at Eastern Washington.

Three years after his career ended, the former Eagles wide receiver was named the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision Player of the Decade by STATS FCS Football.

The national sports technology, data and content company also selected Kupp to its All-Decade team for the 2010-19 period. Dante Olson, a Montana linebacker who completed his career this season, was the only other former Big Sky Conference player on the 31-man team.

Kupp established 15 FCS, 11 Big Sky Conference and 26 Eastern records during a 52-game career from 2013-16 during which his 428 receptions, 6,464 receiving yards, 73 touchdown catches and 124.3 receiving yards per game set all-time marks in the subdivision.

The Davis High (Yakima) product was a four-time first-team All-American and won two top FCS awards presented by STATS, the 2013 Jerry Rice Award as Freshman of the Year and the 2015 Walter Payton Award as Offensive Player of the Year.

He recently concluded his third season with the Los Angeles Rams, catching 94 passes for 1,161 yards and 10 touchdowns after an injury-shortened 2018 season. In his 39-game NFL career, he has caught 196 passes for 2,596 yards and 21 touchdowns.

College scene

Basketball players Bella Cravens and Mason Peatling have been named the Eastern Washington Scholar-Athletes for December.

Cravens, a 6-foot-3 sophomore, started all seven games during the month for the women’s team, averaging 11.3 points, 9.7 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game while shooting 48.7% from the field. Last week, she was leading the Big Sky and the team with 8.6 rebounds per game and was third in the conference with 1.6 blocked shots per contest.

Peatling, a 6-8 senior, helped the men to a 4-3 record in December, averaging 18.6 points, 7.9 rebounds and 1.3 blocks. He hit 56.3% of his shots from the field, and highlighted the month by setting school and Big Sky records with 54 points against Multnomah on Dec. 13 when the Eagles set school and conference records in a 146-89 victory.

• Boise State senior Riley Lupfer from Lewis and Clark High opened Mountain West Conference women’s basketball play on New Year’s Day with her 49th 3-pointer of the season in a 73-68 loss to Wyoming but dropped from second to a tie for fourth on the national list.

In games through Friday, six players had 48 or more; the top two had 63 and 53. Lupfer’s 3.27 per-game average ranks 11th.

Shooting

Kylie Delaney of the Spokane Junior Rifle Club finished 18th out of 561 shooters nationwide in the U.S. Army Junior National Air Rifle Championships sectional matches to qualify for the national championships in Fort Benning, Georgia, Jan. 23-25.

Delaney, 17, who attends Three Springs High School in Cheney, scored 611.7 out of a possible 654 in the standing-position event in which she took 60 shots from 33 feet. The winning score was 623.1.

Led by Delaney, the SJRC Gold team also qualified from its sectional shot in Walla Walla for the national championships, placing 11th out of 113 teams with a score of 2,408.9 out of a possible 2,616. The winning score was 2,454.

Joining Delaney will be Taylor Christian (Spokane Valley Tech), who shot 604.9 and placed 57th; Zach Pearsall (Mt. Spokane), 64rd, 603.8; and Ben Tafoya (Gonzaga Prep), 164th, 588.5. Anna Pearsall (Mt. Spokane), 296th, 566.9, is the alternate.

Volleyball

Ben Goodwin, a member of the Spokane Area Volleyball Referees Association who had officiated the first four rounds of the 2019 NCAA Division I Tournament, was also chosen to work the semifinals and finals last month in Pittsburgh.

Goodwin, 25, a former two-sport star at Ferris, served as a line judge in a semifinal between top-ranked Baylor and No. 4 Wisconsin and the final between No. 3 Stanford and Wisconsin. Stanford won in a three-set sweep. It was the second time Goodwin worked volleyball’s final four and his first championship match.

Margie Ray, also a member of SAVRA who was a referee in the first four rounds, also was selected for the finals and semifinals, but turned back the assignment.