NW Briefs | Local golfers advance in U.S. Amateur match play

PINEHURST, N.C. — Kyle Stanley of Gig Harbor and Jake Koppenberg of Everett each won in the first round of match play Wednesday at the U.S. Amateur men's golf tournament.

The tournament continues through Sunday at the Pinehurst Resort and Country Club.

Stanley defeated Seung-Su Han of Irvine, Calif., 4 and 3, while Koppenberg topped Sam Smith from Turlock, Calif., 2 and 1.

Nick Taylor, the University of Washington star from Abbotsford, B.C., advanced by knocking out Trent Sanders of Scottsdale, Ariz., 3 and 2. Sanders will be a freshman this fall at Washington State.

Andrew Putnam of University Place was eliminated, falling 1 up to Skip Berkmeyer of St. Louis.

Thirty-two players remain in the tournament. Two separate rounds of match play are set for today. Eight players advance to Friday's quarterfinals. In all, six rounds of match play are scheduled over the five-day span that concludes Sunday.

Prosser's Moore

to start for BSU

BOISE, Idaho — Former Prosser High star Kellen Moore has been named the starting quarterback for the Boise State football team, marking the first time in school history a freshman will lead the Broncos offense.

Coach Chris Petersen's announcement ended months of speculation and a highly competitive duel for the job with fifth-year senior Bush Hamden.

"We've said that all along, we'll play a freshman, we'll play a senior, whoever we think we can win with right now, that's the guy we're going with," Petersen told a news conference.

Lightly recruited out of Prosser, Moore committed to Boise State weeks after attending the school's summer camp program in 2006.

As a senior, Moore earned Washington state Player of the Year honors and led his team to a 12-1 record and a spot in the state semifinals, completing 71.9 percent of his passes and throwing for 4,269 yards and 67 touchdowns. A three-year prep starter, Moore setting state marks for completions and touchdown passes and several season records.

"I'm pretty excited about the opportunity," said Moore, a redshirt freshman. "I'm very thankful that the coaches have the confidence in me and feel that I'm ready to take over and follow the long tradition of quarterbacks at this school."

Notes

• Top-seeded Brian Cheney of Chandler, Ariz., advanced to the men's singles quarterfinals of the National Senior Indoor Tennis Championships with a 6-0, 6-1 victory over No. 16 Dennis Bowers of Hemet, Calif., at Seattle Tennis Club.

In women's singles action, No. 1 seed Brenda Carter of Charleston, S.C., eliminated Seattle's Etsuko Adachi 6-1, 6-1 in the quarterfinals. Play continues through Saturday.

• The Western Washington men's soccer team was edged by Montana State Billings, three first-place votes to two, in preseason polling by Great Northwest Athletic Conference coaches. Seattle Pacific was slotted third, followed by Saint Martin's and conference newcomer Northwest Nazarene.

Compiled from wire and sports-information reports

and other sources.