The University of Idaho Argonaut

Only two Idaho athletes move to NCAA championship

The Husky Last Chance meet in Seattle was just what sophomore Jeremy Klas needed. A group of about 10 athletes went to the meet in order to get one more attempt at NCAA qualifying marks — Klas was the one who succeeded.

Qualifying for the NCAA meet is a daunting task. The meet only takes the top athletes across the nation. Very few athletes meet the automatic standard to get into nationals, and there is a broad field of athletes competing for approximately 20 positions.

Klas was able to overcome the difficult task and put up a vault of 17 feet, 7.75 inches. Although this vault doesn’t meet the automatic mark, it puts him in 10th place and essentially secures his spot to nationals.

The idea of letting one’s children play rugby may be frightening to some parents, but the Idaho, Washington State and Blue Mountain rugby clubs plan to bring youth rugby to the Palouse.

“It hurts to play rugby but you are not likely to get hurt playing rugby,” WSU coach Matt Hudson said. “There is a reason kids of all ages are allowed to play rugby all over the world.”

Hudson said the goal is to set up U-14 and U-19 clubs for kids in the surrounding region and build a foundation from there.

Record numbers for Snake River Canyon Run

Runners and walkers came together from all around Idaho to participate in the 31st Annual Snake River Canyon Half-Marathon Saturday. Steven Devine/Argonaut

The Palouse Road Runners invited runners from all over the region to help break in spring with their 31st Annual Snake River Canyon Half-Marathon.

It was a sunny, cloudless warm day and runners came out in droves.

An astounding 688 runners, walkers and joggers crossed the finish line and welcomed in springtime weather on the Palouse. That number dwarfs last year’s record-setting amount by 265 runners.

Idaho coach Jon Newlee and the women’s basketball team are looking to do something no Idaho basketball team has ever done -- advance out of the first round of the WAC tournament.

The Vandals rebounded from a senior night loss to Louisiana Tech to close out the season with a win over the Nevada Wolfpack in Reno, and will face New Mexico State in the first round of the WAC tournament Wednesday afternoon.

After selfish play doomed the Vandals’ senior night hopes, Idaho came out strong and shared the ball in the win over Nevada, which Newlee called a complete game.

“We didn’t have that typical some-part-of-the-game slump where it all goes bad,” Newlee said. “We shared the basketball and everyone was trusting each other with the ball.”

The win put Idaho at a perfect .500 with an 8-8 conference record and gives them the No. 4 seed in the tournament. The Vandals’ reward is a draw against a potent New Mexico State, which earned the No. 5 seed with a win over San Jose State last weekend.

Idaho has defeated New Mexico State in both meetings this season, although Newlee said he doesn’t think the Aggies will be a pushover team. In both games earlier this season, the Aggies pushed Idaho to the brink, losing by three points in the first game and one point in the next.

Saturday night, the Idaho men’s basketball team tipped off its last home game against Hawaii without one of its key starters, senior guard Kashif Watson.

Waston has been suspended indefinitely for inappropriate tweets on his Twitter account.  Idaho coach Don Verlin said the conduct was detrimental to the program and his suspension was announced Friday.

“Kashif’s suspension is a matter that he must work through in order to be reinstated for practice and play,” Verlin said Friday. “The matter will be revisited prior to the WAC tournament next week.”

Watson sat in street clothes in the stands watching his team beat Hawaii on its last home game. 

Watson has started every game for the Vandals this season, earning a spot as No. 2 on the team with a 10.7 scoring average.

Junior guard Shawn Henderson started in place of Watson and was able to satisfy the role, filling the open space that was left behind.

Going into the tournament, it is still questionable whether Watson will play.

Verlin declined to comment further on his suspension.

Vandal guard Mac Hopson drives past Hawaii defenders Brandon Adams, left, and Paul Campbell to the basket during the first half of play in Cowan Spectrum. The Vandals won the contest 78-69 with a season best effort from 3-point range, knocking down 14 from distance. Nick Groff/Argonaut

After a hard-fought year of up-and-down basketball, the Idaho men’s basketball team has finally earned the chance to put the bad games behind and start fresh with everything on the line. Idaho will travel to Reno this week to compete in the WAC basketball tournament. The winner of the WAC tournament will move  to the NCAA tournament, also known as “March Madness.”

The tournament is single-elimination, so the season comes down to one game. There has been inconsistent play in the WAC this year, which opens the door for any team to take the winning spot.

Going into the tournament, Idaho has won the last two of its games with home wins over San Jose State and Hawaii.