NW Briefs | MLS club hires tech director

For years, Chris Henderson and his family have come back to his native Snohomish County for visits over holidays. But the 37-year-old Henderson now is home on a more permanent basis, taking he calls his "dream job" as technical director of Seattle's Major League Soccer franchise.

MLS Seattle announced Henderson's hiring Thursday. He will work with general manager Adrian Hanauer in all areas of soccer operations, including player acquisitions; scouting; operating the team's training facility; and the development and operation of the team's youth development system.

"The commitment of this ownership group is one of the best in this league," Henderson said. "It's great to be able to be in on the ground floor. Not a lot of people get to be in something from the very beginning, and that's exciting."

MLS Seattle begins play in 2009 as one of the league's expansion teams.

Henderson, an Everett native, played professionally for 15 years. He retired in 2006 after 11 season in the MLS, having played for Kansas City, Columbus and New York.

At age 19, Henderson was the youngest player on the U.S. national team that played in the 1990 World Cup in Italy. He won a national championship at UCLA, and he went on to play for the U.S. in the 1992 Olympics as well as being an alternate on the 1994 and 1998 World Cup teams.

Other soccer

Washington forward Kevin Forrest was selected third overall by the Colorado Rapids in the 2008 Major League Soccer Supplemental Draft. The Edmonds native is the second Husky to be drafted this year — Ely Allen was drafted by the Los Angeles Galaxy in the second round of last week's MLS Super Draft.

Women's basketball

Jackie Hollands hit three free throws with less than a minute remaining, and Kelsey Hill rejected Dani Henderson's jumper with 10 seconds left, giving third-ranked Seattle Pacific a 78-74 victory over visiting Montana State Billings.

Hollands had a game-high 23 points and Hill added 22 for the Falcons (16-0, 7-0 Great Northwest Athletic Conference).

• Claire Pallansch had 18 points, six rebounds, four assists and two blocked shots for Western Washington, which snapped a school-record eight-game losing streak with a 76-72 victory over Western Oregon in Monmouth, Ore.

The Vikings (4-14, 1-5 GNAC) also got 16 points from Amanda Dunbar.

• Chelsie Morrison had 17 points and 10 rebounds for Seattle University, but the Redhawks (12-3, 3-3 GNAC) fell 73-62 to Northwest Nazarene in Nampa, Idaho.

• Hanna Hull scored 14 of her game-high 20 points in the second half, and Central Washington (10-4, 2-4 GNAC) overcame a 15-point halftime deficit for a 59-56 victory over Saint Martin's in Lacey.

Men's basketball

Rob Diederichs scored 10 of the last 17 points for Seattle Pacific, and the Falcons (12-3, 4-2 GNAC) rallied from an 11-point second-half deficit to edge Western Oregon 62-60 at Brougham Pavilion.

• Alaska Anchorage scored eight unanswered points midway through the second half on the way to a 45-38 victory over Seattle University at the Connolly Center. Ryan Coldren led the Redhawks (9-6, 2-4 GNAC) with 13 points.

Men's tennis

Washington did not drop a set in opening its season with a 7-0 sweep of Gonzaga at Nordstrom Tennis Center. Andy Kuharszky won his debut at No. 1 singles, posting a 6-0, 6-1 victory over Roman Dojcak.

Compiled from sports-information reports and other sources.