Sports

Summer 2018

Athletic Director Pat Chun

“I will do my part to make sure we compete and act with integrity and class.”

As a kid growing up near Cleveland, sports and devoted sports fans surrounded Patrick Chun. He became one himself, rooting for the Cavaliers, Indians, and Browns, even when they weren’t winning. Chun’s passion led him to Ohio State University and eventually to leadership in their athletic department.

But as much as he loves sports, Chun gives credit to his parents for instilling a devotion to education and a powerful work ethic. It all came together as he took the mantle of athletic director, first at … » More …

Spring 2018

Running up the competition

If you want the facts about track and field records, ask a statistics junkie like E. Garry Hill ’69. But he might throw you with another fact, this one culled from long experience as editor of Track & Field News, announcer at the Olympics and World championships, and expert on the sport: Track and field as a spectator sport is struggling mightily.

Rows and rows of empty seats faced runners and field athletes competing at the Rio Olympics. And where can you watch big track events on TV? Hill calls it like he sees it, and he’s seen a lot since he competed for Washington … » More …

Spring 2018

WSU Track & Field favorites

I didn’t realize until I compiled this favorite-moments list just how much the dictum of “no cheering in the pressbox” has come to dominate how I watch/enjoy the sport. Unfortunately, I’ve done a good job—too good, in fact—of learning how to be dispassionate. It makes me a better journalist and broadcaster, but it saps some of the vitality out of being a fan. So as you’ll see, my list is very much front-loaded.

Chronologically, these self-centered moments stick with me (noting that I’ve restricted individuals to a single appearance apiece, or it would run the risk of being all Gerry Lindgren and Henry Rono):

… » More …

Fall 2017

The competitive world of WSU women’s golf

Playing in the most competitive collegiate conference for women’s golf has its challenges.

It also has its benefits.

“We get to play with some of the best golfers in the world,” says Kelli Kamimura, who is starting her ninth season as coach of Washington State’s women’s golf team. “The Pac-12 is tough. It’s definitely the powerhouse conference right now.”

Sixteen of the past 25 national championships have been won by Pac-12 schools, including current champ Arizona State, which in May set a Division I record with its eighth NCAA golf title. Two other Pac-12 teams also won trips to nationals last spring.

Washington … » More …

Summer 2017

Play across the big pond

The Washington State University women’s rugby players returned from their historic March trip to London with some bumps and bruises, but it’s the memories of competing against some of the world’s best club teams, seeing famous landmarks, and building camaraderie that they’ll remember the most.

After months of planning, fundraising, and training, the team—ranked seventh nationally in the most recent Division I poll—became the first WSU sport club in over 30 years to compete internationally.

During spring break, WSU took on the Blackheath Football Club at Rectory Field in Charlton, South London. Founded in 1858, Blackheath is the oldest open (without restricted membership) rugby club … » More …

The most prolific scorJeanne (Eggart) Helfer. Photo Bruce Andre

Spring 2017

How you play the game

It took a while for the guys to start passing her the ball during pickup games at the gym.

Jeanne (Eggart) Helfer ’82 stuck with it, spending much of her free time back in 1977 simply running the length of the basketball court waiting for a chance to show she knew her way around the paint. It was her first semester at Washington State, a few months before she would start setting school records, and Helfer patiently waited for the guys to discover what her older brother and his friends already had learned back in Walla Walla.

That girl can shoot. And pass. And rebound.

… » More …

Winter 2016

Surreal Rio

By making it to the Olympics, there comes the realization that you are one of a special few.

It was at the Closing Ceremony, among thousands of her fellow athletes and cheering spectators inside Maracanã Stadium, when the realization of her achievement after years of rigorous practice hit Lisa Roman ’12.

“When you’re there with all the athletes, you realize, ‘Wow, I am an Olympian.’”

Roman, who rowed for Washington State from 2010 to 2012, was a member of Team Canada’s women’s eight boat that finished fifth at the Olympics in Rio.

Speaking from London, Ontario, the site of the Canadian National Training … » More …

Fall 2016

Cougs behind the Seahawks

Nearly two weeks before the Seattle Seahawks won Super Bowl XLVIII, Cindy Kelley was arriving in New York to set up a temporary team headquarters that would become like a cross between a satellite office and a MASH unit.

Kelley ’81 and the rest of the advance crew scrambled to keep up with a schedule measured in hours, not days. Telephones, computers, office space, accommodations, meals, air and ground transportation, special events, family activities—all needing to be arranged immediately.

“The whole goal is to make sure there are no distractions for the players and coaches,” says Kelley, vice president for human resources for the » More …

Fall 2016

Staying a jump ahead

Long before he was elected to the New Zealand Parliament, served as immigration minister, and held other national cabinet positions, Tuariki “John” Delamere ’74 was a long jumper with an attention-grabbing technique.

Delamere, a fixture on Washington State’s track team in the early 1970s, didn’t invent The Flip. But he so excelled at the leaping mid-air forward somersault it sometimes seemed as if he had.

His style was so gravity-defyingly smooth that when Sports Illustrated wanted to learn more about The Flip, and the debate that would eventually lead to the technique’s prohibition, the magazine sent a crew to the 1974 national qualifiers to … » More …

Summer 2016

WSU Olympic competitors

More than 50 Washington State University athletes have competed in the Olympic Games over the past eight decades, representing 16 nations and winning medals in nine events. Most competed in track and field but Cougars also have boxed, swam, wrestled, rowed, ridden horses and played ball.

Dawn Allinger ’91; handball. 1996. USA.

John Avognan ’83; track. 1976. Ivory Coast.

Laslo Babits ’83; javelin. 1984. Canada.

Aron Baynes ’09; basketball. 2012. Australia.

Don Bertoia ’63; 800-meter run. 1964. Canada.

Chantal Brunner ’93; long jump. 1996, 2000. New Zealand.

Ian Campbell ’90; triple jump. 1980. Australia.

Gerald Conine x’62; wrestling. 1964. USA.

Francis Dodoo ’83, ’86 MA; … » More …