NW Briefs | Bennett takes reins at Central

YAKIMA — Blaine Bennett, who helped Western Oregon move from NAIA to NCAA Division II, has been chosen to help Central Washington's football program in a transition of its own.

But one thing won't change. Under Bennett, a former quarterback who was introduced Friday in Yakima as CWU's 22nd head coach, the Wildcats will still rely on a productive passing attack.

"We'll throw it first, run it second," said the 43-year-old Bennett, whose Wildcats return star quarterback Mike Reilly from a team that finished 11-2 and made it to the NCAA II quarterfinals.

Bennett, who lived in Ellensburg as a child, will be in charge as the team moves back to the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.

The son of Blaine "Shorty" Bennett, a well-known former Ellensburg High School and Whitworth College coach, replaces Beau Baldwin. Baldwin resigned this month after one season to become head coach at Eastern Washington.

The younger Bennett most recently was coach at Lafayette Jefferson (Ind.) High School after serving as an assistant coach at Michigan State and Purdue for seven years. Before that, he spent six years rebuilding Western Oregon as head coach, where he was 27-32.

McLaughlin signs

Jim McLaughlin, the highly successful Washington volleyball coach, has signed a five-year contract that extends through the 2012 season. McLaughlin, 47, is 170-49 in seven UW seasons and won the 2005 NCAA title.

Kandiss Anderson, a 5-foot-8 setter from Phoenix, will join Washington as a walk-on. She is expected to compete for time at libero.

UW gets cornerback

Cornerback Adam Long of St. Bernard High in Playa del Rey, Calif., has verbally committed to play football at Washington, according to RealDawg.com and Scout.com. Long also visited Oregon State and UCLA.

Notes

• Kim Jasmer won the 100, 500 and 1,000 freestyle as the Washington women's swim team (6-4, 1-4) beat Oregon State 143-111 in a Pac-10 dual meet.

• Haley Bogart won the balance beam and Kristen Linton was second on the bars and beam, but the Huskies (0-2, 0-1) lost their Pac-10 gymnastics opener to No. 16 Oregon State (2-1, 2-1), 195.625-191.425.

• Seattle Pacific (0-1) finished third in a four-team gymnastics meet behind San Jose State and host UC Davis.

• Speedskater Apolo Anton Ohno was named December Male Athlete of the Month by the U.S. Olympic Committee.

• Idaho's Matthew Wauters, a junior from Bainbridge, won the men's 35-pound weight throw at the WSU Open Indoor with a meet-record 68 feet, 10 inches.

• Former NFL quarterback Jake Plummer split two handball matches in the A Division of the WAC Classic at Washington Athletic Club.

Compiled from reports by

freelancer Terry Wood,

Yakima Herald-Republic,

The Associated Press, college sports information and other releases.