Vandal football team starts spring practice on Friday

MOSCOW — University of Idaho football coach Paul Petrino announced Monday that Kris Cinkovich is adding assistant head coach to his roles as offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach.

“It is a great thing because he has been around the exact same systems as I have,” Petrino said. “He knows everything I believe in.”

That familiarity stems from their Carroll College days where both played and coached for Petrino’s father — Cinkovich played from 1981-82 and Petrino from 1985-88. Cinkovich was Carroll’s offensive coordinator from 1987-89 when Petrino was the school’s record-setting quarterback and the 1988 NAIA Player of the Year.

“He knows how to run things exactly the same as I do,” Petrino said.

While they stayed in touch over the intervening years, they were reunited as coaching colleagues when Petrino rejoined the Arkansas staff in 2012 as the offensive coordinator with Cinkovich the Razorbacks’ receivers coach. Cinkovich, a long-time coach at UNLV, was hired at Arkansas in 2010. Both coached on Arkansas’ Cotton Bowl Championship team following the 2011 season.

In addition, practice dates for spring football have been announced, beginning on Friday at 4 p.m. on the outdoor practice field.

SPRING PRACTICE SCHEDULE

Will be held on outdoor practice field unless otherwise noted.

March 22 — 4 p.m. March 26 — 4 p.m. March 27 — 4 p.m. March 29 — 4 p.m. March 30 — 10 a.m. (scrimmage). April 2 — 4 p.m. April 3 — 4 p.m. April 5 — 4 p.m. (scrimmage). April 9 — 4 p.m. April 10 — 4 p.m. April 12 — 4 p.m. April 13 — 10 a.m. (scrimmage). April 16 — 4 p.m. April 18 — 4 p.m. April 19 — Spring game, 6 p.m. (Kibbie Dome).

Cougars begin spring practice on Thursday

PULLMAN — The Washington State University football team will begin its spring practice schedule on Thursday, the first of 15 practice dates that conclude April 23. The annual Crimson and Gray Game will be held April 20 at Joe Albi Stadium in Spokane at 2 p.m. and will be televised by the Pac-12 Networks.

In addition to the spring practice schedule, WSU Athletics will again host a series of events in Spokane leading up to the Crimson and Gray Game. Spokane Week, as it has come to be known, will include the Cougar Club coaches luncheon, a pair of events at Northern Quest Resort & Casino featuring Cougar greats from the past, the Cougar baseball game at Gonzaga (April 16) and much more. A complete Spokane Week schedule of events will be released in the near future.

Under second-year head coach Mike Leach, WSU enters spring ball with 43 returning lettermen from last year’s squad, which ended the 2012 campaign with a 31-28 overtime victory against Washington in the Apple Cup.

Offensively, the Cougars return eight starters from last season including All-Pac-12 honorable mention selections, center Elliott Bosch and wide receiver Brett Bartolone. Four starters off the offensive line return along with all four wideouts who started the Apple Cup.

Defensively, WSU returns eight starters from the 2012 team that finished the season No. 11 in the country in sacks per game and saw All-Pac-12 second team safety Deone Bucannon post the first 100-tackle season since 2006. Defensive lineman Xavier Cooper and linebackers Cyrus Coen and Darryl Monroe all return after earning All-Pac-12 honorable mention accolades last season.

The Cougars will practice Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays at Martin Stadium and Rogers Field with the Crimson and Gray Game set for Saturday, April 20 at Joe Albi Stadium.

SPRING PRACTICE SCHEDULE

Thursday — 3 p.m. Saturday — TBD. Tuesday, March 26 — 3 p.m. Thursday, March 28 — 3 p.m. Saturday, March 30 — TBD. Tuesday, April 2 — 3 p.m. Thursday, April 4 — 3 p.m. Saturday, April 6 — TBD. Tuesday, April 9 — 3 p.m. Thursday, April 11 — 3 p.m. Saturday, April 13 — TBD. Tuesday, April 16 — 3 p.m. Thursday, April 18 — 3 p.m. Saturday, April 20 — 2 p.m. (Crimson and Gray game, Joe Albi Stadium, Spokane). Tuesday, April 23 — 3 p.m.

Eastern women begin WNIT tourney against UW Friday night

For the second time in four years under coach Wendy Schuller, the Eastern Washington women’s basketball team will play in a national postseason tournament, earning an at-large bid to the National Invitational Tournament.

Eastern Washington (19-12) will travel to Washington (20-11) on Friday at the Alaska Airlines Arena. Game time has not been announced yet.

The complete bracket is available at www.womensnit.com.

It will be Eastern’s second time competing in the WNIT, and third postseason appearance in history for the program. The teams have met 22 times, with Washington winning 21 of those games.

Eastern is one of three Big Sky schools to earn a spot in the tournament, with Northern Colorado and Idaho State also in the field.

Shock announce opening day roster

The Spokane Shock have announced their opening day roster. Spokane opens the Arena Football League season Sunday at Cleveland.

The defensive secondary is comprised of three Shock returners in Paul Stephens, Terrance Sanders, and Patrick Stoudamire. Cameron McGlenn will join the Shock for his third AFL season after spending 2011 and 2012 with the Iowa Barnstormers.

The defensive front will comprise of returning Shock defensive lineman James Ruffin with the addition of AFL rookie Chase Vaughn and four-year AFL veteran Terrance Taylor who spent last season with the Pittsburgh Power. Terence Moore returns to the jack-linebacker position and will be complimented by mac-linebacker Beau Bell and Marc Schiechl whom each possess the versatility to play on the defensive line.

2012 AFL Kicker of the Year Kenny Spencer returns for his second season with the Shock. Last year, Spencer set a new AFL record with 138 converted PATs on the season (94.5 percent conversion percentage) and was 4 of 4 on field goals within 39 yards.

The offensive unit will be led by the passing attack of quarterbacks Erik Meyer and Arvell Nelson. Last season, Meyer suffered a season ending injury in the home opener and returns to the Shock with plans to lead the offense into 2013. Nelson joins the Shock for his first AFL season and plans to contend for the starting role having indoor experience through the PIFL.

The wide receiver core, which was arguably the most competitive position battles in training camp, showcases 2012 Shock returners Adron Tennell, Steven Black, and Jeffery Solomon. They will be joined by AFL rookie Kamar Jorden and former IFL Tri-Cities Fever receiver Oliver “Tre” Young.

The offensive line unit will open with returners Ryan Cave, Samuel Tupua, and Palauni Ma Sun. Will Falakiseni joins the Shock after spending 2012 with the IFL’s Tri-Cities Fever along with AFL rookie Tyrone Novikoff, the former Idaho Vandal. The Shock have placed B.J. Cabbell, Andrew Nierman, and Chris Pino on the injured reserve list which as a part of the new CBA renders them inactive for the 2013 season.

Bruins advance to set up rematch with Cen. Arizona

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The 11th-seeded Salt Lake Bruins (29-4) defeated Eastern Oklahoma State 86-82 in their opening round game of the men’s NJCAA tournament on Tuesday to advance to the second round.

Salt Lake will face sixth-seeded Central Arizona (29-4) in the late game tonight.

Central Arizona beat Salt Lake 88-78 in the District I championship in Coolidge, Ariz., to advance to nationals, with the Bruins receiving an at-large bid.

Statistics for the contest were not available as the stats computer crashed and paper copies were not made available.