Fast Break: SPU coach joins Cougars
Men’s basketball
SPU coach joins Cougars
Ken Bone filled out his Washington State University coaching staff Wednesday with the hiring of Jeff Hironaka as an assistant.
Hironaka, who replaced Bone as Seattle Pacific University’s head coach seven years ago, is the third assistant Bone has hired since replacing Tony Bennett two weeks ago, joining holdover Ben Johnson and former Portland State assistant Curtis Allen.
“Jeff will be an outstanding addition to our staff here at Washington State,” Bone said. “Jeff brings a wealth of coaching experience as both an assistant and head coach.
“His energy and passion for the game are second to none.”
Hironaka was an assistant to Bone at SPU for 11 years, rising to the head coaching position when Bone moved on to the University of Washington. In seven years as the Falcons’ head coach, Hironaka’s teams were 134-67, qualifying for the NCAA Division II tournament the past five years.
Seattle Pacific was 19-10 last season, finishing third in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference with an 11-5 record. The Falcons received an at-large berth in the NCAA tourney, losing in the second round.
Baseball
All-Star ticket prices drop
Moving from a major market to a smaller one and from an economic boom to a bust, tickets for the All-Star game will be cheaper this year.
Busch Stadium will be the site of the first All-Star game in St. Louis since 1966. The game itself on July 14 is only part of the celebration. There’s also the Home Run Derby, a celebrity softball game, a fan fest, and a futures game. Details of the festivities were announced Wednesday.
Tickets to the game will cost from $100 up to $360. Last year at Yankee Stadium, tickets ranged from $150 to $725.
Colleges
GU, EWU teams honored
Four Gonzaga University programs and one from Eastern Washington were recognized by the NCAA for top academic performance as judged by multiyear Academic Progress Rates (APR).
Men’s soccer, men’s tennis, men’s track and women’s golf earned Public Recognition Awards as did Eastern Washington’s men’s cross country program.
Awards are given to teams scoring in the top 10 percent in each sport with their APRs. The current ARPs are based on scores from the 2004-05, 2005-06, 2006-07 and 2007-08 academic years.
The APR scores for all Division I teams will be announced May 6, which will also include penalties for low-performing teams. Penalties can include loss of scholarships.
A total of 767 teams received recognition this year out of 6,484 Division I teams. A total of 205 schools out of 331 placed at last one team on the top APR list.
Washington State did not have a team in the top 10 percent.