Arena proposal presented to SBOE
Idaho Athletic Director Rob Spear presented plans to initiate a leadership phase of fundraising for a new multi-use arena on the Moscow campus to the State Board of Education Thursday in Boise. The proposal includes the $30 million projected cost for the arena. The proposed Idaho arena would serve as a venue for court sports, provide additional office space for athletics staff and include a practice court, locker rooms, convention space and offices in addition to the main court. The capacity would be between 4,600 and 5,000.
“Informing the Board of our intention is a sign that this project is a university priority and allows us to aggressively move into the leadership phase,” Spear said. “The goal is to fully fund the Arena with private dollars.”
Hill, Scott in national basketball rankings
Idaho men’s basketball players Connor Hill and Mike Scott were statistically among the best in the nation at their respective positions heading into Thursday’s game against Northern Arizona. Hill, a senior shooting guard from Post Falls, Idaho, is second in the nation in active 3-pointers made with 314 in his career. He is also second in the nation in 3-point field-goal percentage at 47.9 percent and is second in total 3-point goals made (82), 3-point goals per game (3.57) and 3-point attempts (175).
Scott, a senior from Los Angeles, leads the Big Sky in assist-to-turnover ratio with the nation’s second-best number at 3.54. He also is the Big Sky leader in assists per game (5.7) and total assists (131), while maintaining the Vandals’ second-best scoring average of 14.4 behind Hill’s 15.8.
Kim receives golf honor
Leilanie Kim, a senior from Surrey, B.C., earned Big Sky Conference Women’s Golfer of the Week after tying for fourth place Monday at the Delta Gamma Challenge hosted by Texas State. Her efforts helped Idaho to a first-place finish at the tournament. Kim opened play with a collegiate-low round of 67. Her 4-under-par score was the low round of the tournament. She followed with a 3-over-par 74 to finish with a 1-under-par 141. The tournament was shortened to 36 holes because of high winds and cool temperatures in New Braunfels, Texas. Kim was the 2014 WAC individual champion. The honor is Kim’s second career Big Sky Golfer of the Week honor.
Women’s basketball adds Cancun to schedule
The Idaho women’s basketball team was announced Wednesday as part of a 10-team field slated to participate in the 2015 Women’s Cancun Challenge. The tournament will take place during the 2015-2016 season Nov. 26-28 at the Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya near Cancun, Mexico. Other teams scheduled to play in the tournament include Duke, Georgia Tech, High Point, Iowa State, NC State, Northern Iowa, Seton Hall, Texas State and UAB.
“This is a tremendous opportunity for us,” Idaho coach Jon Newlee said. “To be invited to play in a tournament with as much national prestige as the Cancun Challenge is a direct reflection of all the hard work we have put in as a team over the last few seasons. I would like to thank Rob Spear and our administration for allowing us to have this experience.”
Cawley adds prestigious distance runner
Tim Cawley, Idaho director of track and field and cross country, announced the signing of distance runner Kinsey Gomez to the Vandals Wednesday. Gomez, a Coeur d’Alene native, recently transferred to Idaho for the spring semester from Oregon State. She was a four-year letter winner in high school in cross country and track and field and she was also the Idaho Gatorade Athlete of the Year in 2010 and 2011. Gomez was a seven-time Idaho State Champion in cross country and track and field, making her one of the most decorated runners in the state of Idaho’s high school history.
In college, Gomez broke the 6K school record at OSU during the 2013 cross country season and also holds the 10K outdoor record, which she set in 2014. She competed at the NCAA Track and Field West Preliminary Championships during the 2013 and 2014 seasons.