Recently in Athletics Category

Wolves forward Myles is GNAC's player of the week

Daniel Hare has been named athletic director at Western Oregon.

Hare, currently the director of athletic compliance at Central Oklahoma, will take over for Jon Carey by May 1.

Carey has served in the position since 1993, a period that included the shift of the Wolves' athletic programs from NAIA to NCAA Division II.

"Daniel Hare is familiar with virtually every aspect of the athletic director's job," WOU president John Minahan said. "He is smart, energetic and knows a major part of his time will be (spent) fundraising. He is ready to take on this job."

Hare has bachelor's and master's degrees in business administration from the University of Oklahoma and received a law degree from Baylor, where he served from 2003-06 as the athletic department's key fundraiser.

"I am humbled and honored to be chosen as the next director of athletics at Western Oregon University," Hare said.

"President Minahan, Jon Carey, the coaches and staff have done a tremendous job creating a competitive Division II program at WOU.

"My goal is to take that solid foundation and create opportunities for our student-athletes to reach new heights athletically, academically and in life."

Men's basketball: Wolves forward Rico Myles has been named Great Northwest Athletic Conference player of the week.

The 6-foot-8 senior forward from Los Angeles scored 42 points and grabbed 23 rebounds in the Wolves' wins against Saint Martin's and Central Washington.

Western Oregon (11-9 overall, 4-5 GNAC) visits Seattle Pacific on Thursday and hosts Montana State Billings at 7 p.m. Saturday.

Track and field: Erica Snawder ran a 5:12.38 mile, good for fifth on the all-time Wolves list to spark Western Oregon in an indoor meet Sunday at the University of Portland.

Four other WOU athletes also turned in top 10 performances:

-Amanda Wright now is sixth on the Wolves' list in the 3,000 meters after she ran 10:47.84.

-Jason Slowey moved into seventh place all-time at WOU in the shot put with a throw of 49-53/4.

-Karah Ambrose cleared 5-1 in the high jump, good for 10th on WOU's list.

-Tricia Morrison ran 5:18.16 in the same mile race as Snawder. Her mark is good for 10th all-time at WOU.

The Wolves return to action Saturday and Monday at meets in Seattle.

By James Day
Statesman Journal

Wolves' opportunity to face higher competition at home is a first since 1990-91 season

MONMOUTH -- The Western Oregon University women's basketball team hosts Weber State at 7:30 tonight in the first visit by a Division I team since the 1990-91 season.

It will be the third visit by a Division I team in the 34-year history of the Wolves' women's program. The two previous occasions were Portland State (1982-83) and Portland (1990-91).

"Having the opportunity to play a D-I team on your home court in this day and age is exciting," fourth-year Western Oregon coach Greg Bruce said.

"Since I've been here, we've played numerous D-I teams, all on the road, so it is nice to finally play one at home."

Western Oregon (4-4) played Nov. 16 at Portland State and lost 75-65.

Weber State, from Ogden, Utah, is 5-5 after falling 76-64 on Saturday night at Oregon State. The Wildcats also lost to Northwest Nazarene, which plays in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference with Western Oregon, in a Nov. 9 exhibition game.

"We already know that Northwest Nazarene beat them earlier this season, so we know they aren't going to be this amazing team that we can't play with," Wolves forward Katie Torland said.

Torland, a 5-10 senior forward from Burns, leads Western Oregon in scoring and rebounding with 17.4 and 6.9 per game averages, respectively.

Western Oregon has won three in a row and will be well-rested, having not played since a 55-44 win Dec. 4 against Simpson.

"I think we're going to be ready, especially after having a ton of practice time," said Wolves guard Sara Zahler, who averages 7.8 points per game and is second behind Torland in minutes played.

Bruce was impressed with Western Oregon's work on the boards -- a 37-22 edge -- against Simpson. Torland led the team with 12.

"This was our best game of the season in terms of aggressiveness in getting to our spots (for) rebounds," Bruce said.

Weber State, which is 0-5 on the road, has three players averaging in double figures in scoring, Caitlin Anderson (11.9), Tonya Schnibbe (11.0) and Sarah Conner (10.3).

Meanwhile, the Western Oregon men's team will host Northwest Christian of Eugene at 5:15 p.m.

The 9-3 Beacons are led by well-traveled point guard Ben Voogd, who went to high school at Siuslaw in Florence, before making Division I stops at LSU and Oregon.

Voogd, who played in a Final Four on the LSU team that included current NBA players Tyrus Thomas and Glen Davis, averages 17.3 points per game and leads Northwest Christian with 44 assists.

The Beacons had won nine in a row before falling Dec. 5 against Pacific Lutheran.

Western is 4-2 (3-1 at home) and is led by senior forward Matt Schmidt, a former McNary High School player, who is averaging 15.5 points per game.

jday@StatesmanJournal.com or (503) 399-6801