NW Briefs | Falcons men's soccer shut out

BILLINGS, Mont. — Sam Charles scored one goal and assisted on a second as Montana State Billings beat Seattle Pacific 2-0 in men's soccer action Monday afternoon.

The Falcons offense was held to eight shots, just three of which were on goal. It was just the third time this season that SPU (7-3-6, 1-1-2 Great Northwest Athletic Conference) was held scoreless.

Golf

The Washington men posted a final-round score of 12-over 300 to finish sixth in the Big Ten/Pac-10 Challenge, played at Chambers Bay Golf Course in University Place.

The Huskies ended the two-day event at 34-over 898. Washington's Zach Bixler finished tied for eighth at 5-over 221.

The Challenge was won by the Pac-10, which ended with a 30 ½ to 29 ½ advantage in match play.

• Washington State's Nick Ellis shot a two-round score of 5-over 149 to stand tied for 10th, and the Cougars is 11th at 40-over 616 after the first day of the Sycuan Invitational in El Cajon, Calif.

• Kaitlin Parker (3-over 76) is tied for first place, and the Western Washington women (21-over 313) lead by 11 shots entering the final round of the Sonoma State Invitational in Santa Rosa, Calif.

The Vikings men are third after a opening-day 11-under 565. Western's Jake Koppenberg is tied for fifth at 5-under 139.

• Gonzaga posted a first-day 585 to stand sixth in the SCU Invitational in San Jose, Calif. The Bulldogs' Brandon Crick is seventh at 6-under 138.

• Former Tacoma resident Andrew Yun, 16, was named an honorable mention Rolex Junior All-American by the American Junior Golf Association. The junior at Hamilton High School in Chandler, Ariz., has four top-10 finishes in national junior tournaments in 2007.

• Seattle's Jeff Shelley, whose writings include the third edition of "Golf Courses of the Northwest," was awarded the 2007 Distinguished Service Award by the Northwest Golf Media Association.

Shelley, editorial director of www.cybergolf.com and www.golfconstructionnews.com, was co-founder of the NWGMA in 1996. The past two winners of the award were Bill Yeend of KOMO-AM and Seattle Times columnist Blaine Newnham.

Women's basketball

Washington was picked to finish sixth and Washington State 10th in the Pac-10 preseason coaches' poll. Stanford was voted to win the league.

Conference honors

Seattle Pacific's Jessica Pixler and Saint Martin's John Riak collected GNAC cross-country athlete-of-the-year honors after finishing first at the conference meet.

Western Washington's Daniel Phillips and Sarah Porter took freshman-of-the-year honors.

• Seattle University's Madison Collins has been named GNAC women's soccer player of the week.

• Eastern Washington's Hayley Hills has been named Big Sky volleyball co-player of the week.

Notes

• Each team in the NIT Men's Basketball Season Tip-Off will play four games next year under a new format that includes third- and fourth-round games at campus sites. Currently, first- and second-round games are played at neutral sites. Washington is in this season's 16-team field.

• Tacoma Community College is hosting its inaugural Hall of Fame dinner and auction from 6 to 10 p.m. Nov. 3. Highlighting the class of inductees is former Mariner Mike Blowers, who was at TCC from 1983-85. For information, call 1-253-566-5097.

Compiled from sports-information reports and other sources.