NW Briefs: UW ace a finalist for top award

Tim Lincecum finished this season with 12 wins, 199 strikeouts and a slew of broken school and Pac-10 baseball records. The Golden Spikes Award committee apparently took notice, naming Lincecum one of five finalists Thursday.

The Golden Spikes Award is one of the oldest and most prestigious in college baseball, given annually to the top amateur in the country.

Lincecum (12-4) had a 1.94 earned-run average this season. He is considered a potential top-10 selection in Tuesday's major-league draft.

"It's such a prestigious award," he said at a UW news conference. "It's just another one of those accolades that you have to be proud of, and you just want to hold it up in front of everybody and say, 'Hey, this is me.' To even be considered in that group of guys — you always hear about them — just to be in that mix is really great."

The other finalists are Andrew Miller (North Carolina pitcher), Evan Longoria (Long Beach State third baseman), David Price (Vanderbilt pitcher) and Drew Stubbs (Texas outfielder).

The award will be presented June 23.

UW crews advance

in IRA Regatta

CHERRY HILL, N.J. — Washington men's varsity eight posted the day's second-fastest time and the Huskies freshman eight and four-oared crews won their heats on the first day of the IRA Regatta.

The UW varsity eight was paired with Pac-10 champion Cal, which won the heat over the 2,000-meter course on the Cooper River in 5 minutes, 35.84 seconds. The Huskies were second by a deck, in 5:36.11, followed by Cornell, Boston University, Rutgers and Dartmouth.

Princeton and Harvard won the other varsity heats in the Intercollegiate Rowing Association championships.

Cal and the Huskies advance to today's semifinals.

The Huskies twice have lost to Cal by 8 seconds this season. Since losing to Cal on May 14 at the Pac-10 Championships, UW coach Bob Ernst has juggled his lineup. Every oarsman changed seats and a new sophomore stern pair, Toby Dankbaar and Tad McCrea, was put in the boat.

The UW open four's victory earned the Huskies a berth in Saturday's final. The heat victory by the frosh eight in 5:43.83 earned it a berth in today's semifinal.

The only UW boat that struggled was the second varsity eight, which was third in its heat. The Huskies must win their repechage heat this morning to advance.

Notes

• Chris Randolph, a senior from Lone Tree, Colo., who broke numerous school records, won two conference championships and his second straight NCAA Division II decathlon title, has been voted Seattle Pacific University's athlete of the year. He shared the award last year.

Randolph is among five SPU seniors to receive the Falcon Award for career excellence in academics, athletics and leadership. Joining him were volleyball's Katie Ralph, soccer's Allison Teague and basketball's Tony Binetti and Mandy Wood.

Randolph also was selected Great Northwest Athletic Conference male track-and-field athlete of the year for the third consecutive year. Javelin thrower Katie McMeel of Central Washington won the award for women.

• Libby Magnuson, a 5-foot-10 guard who played for Bradley University the past two seasons, has transferred to SPU and will play basketball for the women's team next season.

• The 34th annual Washington State Sports Collectors Association Convention will be Saturday and Sunday at the Rainier Room at the Seattle Center. Sports cards and memorabilia will be available for purchase from more than 30 dealers. Admission is $3 and free for children under age 7. Show hours are 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday.

Includes contributions from college sports-information directors and team reports.