NW Briefs | Seattle U.'s Jiracek swims to NCAA crown in 200 fly

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Jakub Jiracek earned the second Division II individual national title in Seattle University swimming history on Saturday, winning the 200 breaststroke on the final night of the NCAA swimming and diving championships.

Jiracek finished in 1 minute, 58.55 seconds, almost four-tenths of a second faster than runner-up Zlatan Hamzic of Missouri Science and Technology. Jiracek joins Chris Coley (100 butterfly, 2006) as Redhawks national champions.

The Seattle University men posted their best-ever national performance, finishing eighth.

In women's results, Samantha Kephart (200 butterfly, 2:02.98, third) and Natalie Turner (1,650 freestyle, 17:14.37, sixth) helped Whitworth finish 10th.

UW baseball sweeps

The Washington baseball team held off a rally in one game, then used home runs from Sean Meehan and Troy Scott to win easily in another in taking a doubleheader from Holy Cross, 7-5 and 4-1, on Saturday at Husky Ballpark.

Huskies starter Nick Haughian (2-1) got the opening win, allowing four earned runs on six hits in 5-1/3 innings. Jason Erickson (3-1) got the win in Game 2, giving up one run on six hits with seven strikeouts in seven innings.

Softball

Washington's game against Mississippi Valley State in Portland was rained out. The Huskies (17-6-1) will continue play in the Cascade Clash against Utah State today.

• Seattle University (17-2, 3-1 Great Northwest Athletic Conference) split a doubleheader with Northwest Nazarene in Nampa, Idaho, losing the opener 6-3 and winning the nightcap 10-0.

• After allowing 10 hits in 2-1/3 innings in a doubleheader opener, Western Washington ace Jessica Rosencrants threw a two-hitter as the Vikings beat Central Washington 5-1 in Game 2 in Ellensburg.

The Vikings (15-6, 5-1) gave up a season-high 14 hits in a 9-1, five-inning loss in the opener. Central (7-11, 4-2) has won seven of its last 12 games after a 0-6 start.

Other baseball

Washington State (13-4) racked up 25 hits and swept a doubleheader at No. 25 Oklahoma, 4-3 and 8-5.

• Grant Kveder was 3 for 5 as Gonzaga beat Utah 10-7 in the title game of the Pepsi/Johnny Quick Classic in Fresno, Calif. Kveder collected tournament MVP honors by hitting .500 with 10 hits and five runs batted in for the Bulldogs (10-7) in the six-game event.

Track and field

Washington's Jordan Boase placed third in the 400-meter dash in a school-record 46.34 at the NCAA indoor championships in Fayetteville, Ark. The Washington men tied for 10th place and the women tied for 22nd in the team standings.

Also collecting All-America honors were Norris Frederick (men's high jump, sixth, 7 feet, 2 ¼ inches); Amanda Miller (mile, fifth, 4:41.56); Katie Follett (mile, sixth, 4:41.88); Michelle Turner (mile, ninth, 4:48.24); and Kelley DiVesta (pole vault, seventh, 13-9 ¼).

Arizona State's Jacquelyn Johnson set a collegiate record with 4,496 points in the pentathlon, and the Sun Devils won both the men's and women's overall titles.

• Whitworth's Cody Stelzer finished second in the high jump with a leap of 6 feet, 9 ¾ inches at the NCAA Division III indoor championships in Ada, Ohio.

Lakeside graduate Morgen Leonard-Fleckman, competing for Washington University in St. Louis, won the women's pole-vault title with a school-record height of 12-8.

Men's golf

Washington State finished 10th at the Border Olympics in Laredo, Texas, ending the three-round event at 34-over 898.

• Gonzaga's Brandon Crick posted a 2-under 214 to finish tied for second at the Kaua'i Collegiate Cup in Lihue, Hawaii. The Bulldogs shot a three-round 892 to finish third.

Men's tennis

Gonzaga dropped a 5-2 decision to Loyola Marymount.

Curling

The Brady Clark rink (Brady Clark, Cristin Clark, Darren Lehto and Bev Walter) from Seattle's Granite Curling Club posted an 11-2 win over Team Michigan in the opening draw of the Mixed Curling National Championship in Ferndale, Mich.

Basketball

The Snohomish County Explosion extended its International Basketball League win streak to three games with a 129-115 victory over the Vancouver Volcanoes in Monroe.

Compiled from sports-information reports and other sources.