Athletics

Fall 2009

An interview with WSU men’s basketball coach Ken Bone

May 27, 2009

Q: Now that you’ve been here for a few weeks, what are your impressions of the team and the guys who are here and are coming?

KB: I like the culture of the program right now. It’s a good group of kids. I’m very impressed how they did academically this spring. I was also excited with the enthusiasm they brought to the court during our workouts. There were 6 workouts from the time I came until they had to leave for summer break. I thought they did a nice job. They were coachable, they worked hard on … » More …

Fall 2009

A new coach and a new game

Ken Bone knows his team is young, but the new Washington State University men’s basketball coach foresees a bright future and a different game.

Bone landed at WSU after four seasons as head coach of Portland State University, where he racked up two Big Sky Conference titles and back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances. Before PSU, Bone spent 12 seasons coaching at his alma mater Seattle Pacific University and three years as an assistant coach at the University of Washington.

Bone expresses confidence in his young team.

“I like the culture of the program right now. I’m very impressed with how the team did academically this … » More …

Fall 2009

A player to be reckoned with

On October 2, 1954, a day shy of his 21st birthday, fullback Carl Talmadge “Duke” Washington ’59 and his fellow Cougars played the University of Texas on a sweltering day at Memorial Stadium.

The result was a 40-14 Texas victory, a forgettable day in the annals of Cougar football; however, the day reaches far beyond the athletics history of Washington State and Texas.

Washington, the starting fullback for the Cougars, became the first African-American to play at Memorial Stadium. To the Texas players, however, Washington was not a player making history, but a player to be reckoned with.

“I’m sure it did make a difference … » More …

Fall 2007

Home-court advantage: Shelley Patterson

When Shelley Patterson graduated from Washington State University in 1984, she thought her basketball career was over. A guard for the Cougar women’s basketball team, she was among the state’s all-time leaders in assists and steals. But in 1984 there wasn’t much work for a woman in basketball. So she started a career in computers. That didn’t last long. In her free time she volunteered with a team at a local community college. That, and her persistence in applying for open positions with college teams, led to her first professional job in NCAA basketball in the mid-1980s. Since then, her coaching career has taken her … » More …

Fall 2007

Their place in history: WSU women athletes made their mark

One day in 1948 four Washington State College students tugged on their white rubber swim caps, adjusted their nose plugs, and plunged into a cold swimming pool. Three of them locked together head to foot to form a vertical underwater ring, and the fourth swam through it toward a photographer who captured the maneuver on film.

Last year Ryli Clark ’06 found that picture-one of a series of photos of the Fish Fans, WSC’s swimming club-and she was stunned. “At first I couldn’t tell what or where it was,” says the alumna who had just graduated from WSU with a degree in digital technology and … » More …

Fall 2007

A burning mystery

During spring break in April 1970 an arson fire destroyed the wood stands of Washington State University’s football stadium. The Cougars were forced to play off campus for two years while the University built a new stadium. To this day, the mystery of who started the fire and how they did it remains.

April 1970. Around 10 p.m. seven-year-old Joanna Law, asleep in her bed, is awakened by sounds in the living room. In her pajamas, she pads out of her bedroom to join her older brother and sister at a large picture window. Looking south over the Washington State University campus, they witness an … » More …

Winter 2007

Video: Apple Cup revisited

The state’s greatest rivalry hit a landmark November 2007, when the 100th game in 108 years was played between Washington State University and the University of Washington. For a glimpse of our history, we dipped into WSU’s archives and found photos, film, and colorful programs for this historic contest. See a touchdown from 1910 and film footage of a game in 1923. Check out the chilled cheerleaders of 1950 and the mustachioed players of 1970. And hear the Cougar fight song as you’ve never heard it before.

On the web

Read “One Hundred Apple Cups”

» More …

Winter 2007

One Hundred Apple Cups

The first contest between cross-state rivals Washington State and the University of Washington took place on a muddy field in Seattle in November 1900. The Washington Agricultural College “Farmers,” as we were known then, made the 290-mile trek from Pullman to Seattle to play the UW “Sun Dodgers” in the pouring rain. The match ended in a five-to-five tie.

Because the two teams will play their 100th game together this year, we thought we’d take a look back at the history of that long relationship.

Meeting up with the UW just after the turn of the century was a spotty endeavor. After the first five … » More …

Summer 2009

Rowing 101

So here I am, about to row with the Washington State women’s rowing team on the Snake River.

This is not the first time I have rowed. That occurred a week before when I took some strokes in the new indoor rowing facility at the Bohler Athletic Complex. This is, however, to be my maiden voyage on an actual body of water.

A benefit of the indoor facility is that it allows coaches to provide one-on-one instruction, rather than shouting commands from a distance at the river.

After my first few strokes of the oar, Head Coach Jane LaRiviere walked over and grabbed my … » More …

Summer 2009

A runner’s worlds

On a summer morning, the sun’s first rays peep through my bedroom window, warming the dry air when I hear a tentative knock on my door.

“Marisa,” my dad whispers.

It’s 5:45 a.m. at the Sandoval house in Los Alamos, New Mexico. The pink morning glow and the patter of running shoes mean only one thing: It’s time to run.

For me, every summer day begins with a family run on picturesque trails carved into the high desert canyons and mesas of northern New Mexico’s Jemez Mountains. With my dad, Anthony Sandoval, leading the way, I run with my brothers and sisters. On a good … » More …