Eastern, Montana State top Big Sky Conference polls

It may not count in the league standings, but Sept. 19 will be an intriguing day in the Big Sky Conference football race.

Eastern Washington and Montana State are the split-vote favorites to win the league title in 2015, and will play each other in a nonconference game at Roos Field on Sept. 19 in Cheney on a game televised by ROOT Sports.

The three-time defending league champion Eagles were selected to win the league title by the media, and the league's head coaches picked Montana State.

The picks were announced Tuesday at the Big Sky Conference Football Kickoff in Park City, Utah.

There was a difference of just 12 points in the media poll and one in the coaches poll.

Eastern received 17 first-place votes and 553 total points in the media poll, while Montana State also received 17 No. 1 votes and had 541 total points. Montana and Idaho State were a distant third with five first-place votes and 446 votes apiece.

The coaches gave both the Eagles and Bobcats six first-place votes, but Montana State had a 134-133 edge in total points. Montana received one first-place nod and 121 points.

Eastern swept the Montana schools for the second straight season last year, beating Montana State 52-51 on a touchdown and two-point conversion with 27 seconds left. They beat Montana at home in both the regular season (36-26) and the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision Playoffs (37-20).

2015 BIG SKY CONFERENCE PRESEASON POLLS

First-place votes in parentheses

1, Eastern Washington (17), 553 points. 2, Montana State (17), 541. 3 (tie), Montana (5), Idaho State (5), 446. 5, Cal Poly (1), 433. 6, Northern Arizona (1), 399. 7, Sacramento State, 278. 8, Southern Utah, 255. 9, North Dakota, 226. 10, Weber State, 160. 11, UC Davis, 145. 12, Portland State, 133. 13, Northern Colorado, 127.

Coaches

1, Montana State (6), 134 points. 2, Eastern Washington (6), 133. 3, Montana (1), 121. 4, Cal Poly, 111. 5, Northern Arizona, 95. 6, Idaho State, 90. 7, Sacramento State, 66. 8, Southern Utah, 66. 8, Southern Utah, 64. 9 (tie), Portland State, North Dakota, 51. 11, Weber State, 43. 12, UC Davis, 33. 13, Northern Colorado, 22.

EWU wins Big Sky athletic/academic honor

Five years after winning the award for the first time, Eastern Washington won the Big Sky Conference Presidents' Cup presented by Red Lions Hotels for the 2014-15 school year, the league office announced.

The Cup was presented during the Big Sky Summer Football Kickoff in Park City, Utah. The Eagles won a tiebreaker over runner-up Montana State, while two-time defending champion Northern Arizona was third.

The Eagles jumped to the top of the Presidents' Cup standings with a first-place finish in academics. Eastern had the league's second-best grade point average (3.336), was second in the NCAA's Academic Progress Rate (APR) and had 34 All-Conference student athletes with a 3.0 GPA or better to also rank second.

Four of Eastern's athletic programs all had 3.48 team grade point averages - women's basketball, women's cross country, men's indoor track and field and men's outdoor track and field. Men's outdoor track and field and men's basketball (3.27) had the best team GPAs in the league in their respective sports.

Martinek, Cooper-Scott win at Race the River

COEUR d'ALENE - Alex Martinek won the annual Race the River triathlon on Sunday, finishing in 54 minutes, 18.1 seconds.

Martinek finished the swim in 9:56, the bike in 24:44 and the run in 18:04.

Haley Cooper-Scott was the top female finisher in 1:00.21.

The event is a 1/2 mile swim, a 10-mile bike and 3.01-mile run.

Full results can be found at www.racetheriver.com