Winners of the Inland
The Idaho women’s cross country team won their first meet Thursday in Moscow. The men’s team took second.
Five Vandals from the women’s team took spots in the top nine, earning Idaho 28 points. Eastern Washington finished second with 61 points.
Junior Sierra Speiker finished third in the 4k with a time of 14:12.9. Redshirt freshman Kara Story took fourth and graduate student Halie Raudenbush earned fifth, both with a time of 14:15.6
Sophomore Andrea Condie finished seventh and senior Ally Ginther took ninth.
Gonzaga took first in the men’s competition with 26 points. Idaho came in second with 40 points.
Freshman Grayson Ollar finished fourth with a time of 18:41.1 in his first collegiate race.
Scheduled up
The Idaho men’s basketball team announced their 2016-2017 schedule last week. The season opens Oct. 25 with an exhibition game against Carroll College and another exhibition Nov. 4 against Lewis-Clark State, both in Moscow.
The regular season kicks off Nov. 12 against Corban in the Memorial Gym.
Before starting conference play, Idaho will take on several NCAA teams. Little Rock played in the second round of the big dance last year. South Dakota State made the first round.
After playing Sam Houston State Nov. 25, Idaho plays San Jose State Nov. 29 and UC Davis Dec. 3.
Washington State will host the Battle of the Palouse Dec. 7 in Pullman. The Vandals will be playing for a third straight win in the longest continuous rivalry west of the Mississippi. The rivalry has lasted 112 seasons.
To close nonconference play, the Vandals play Northwest Nazarene Dec. 17 and Stanford Dec. 22.
The Vandals start their conference season at home Dec. 30 against Eastern Washington. Idaho will play Montana and Montana State before playing a series of road games.
The Big Sky Tournament runs March 7-11 in Reno.
Newly signed Scorcher
Former Vandal forward Nahshon George signed a professional contract with the Surrey Scorchers Aug. 30.
George started 16 games last season. He had the second best rebounding average with 4.1 boards per game.
The Scorchers are part of the British Basketball League, the top league in the United Kingdom. The team is a mix of college, local and international players. The Scorchers open their season Sept. 24 against the London Lions.
On the road again
The road to Reno will be filled with travel for the Idaho women’s basketball team. The 2016 Big Sky Champions announced their 2016-2017 schedule last week, which features 18 road games.
The Vandals will play an exhibition game against Multnomah Nov. 5 in the Memorial Gym.
Next, Idaho will play eight regular season games away from home.
Idaho women’s basketball coach Jon Newlee said he wished the Vandals had more home games.
“That is just how scheduling goes at times,” Newlee said in a news release. “We get a lot of home-and-home games. This is just one of those years where we have to return games and get out on the road.”
The first eight games include games against two of last year’s Final Four teams, Washington and Oregon State.
The Vandals are attending two tournaments, the Grand Canyon Thanksgiving Classic and the Maui Wahine Classic.
Idaho returns Dec. 17 to play Central Washington in the Memorial Gym. The Vandals will play Oregon Dec. 20 in Eugene before playing Lewis-Clark State Dec. 27 at home.
To start the conference season, Idaho plays Eastern Washington Dec. 31 in Cheney.
The Vandals play Montana, Montana State, Weber State, Idaho State, Southern Utah and Northern Arizona at home.