Western QB hopes NFL calls his number in draft

BELLINGHAM — Scott Mitchell will wait for a phone call this weekend that few Western Washington football players ever receive.

The former WWU quarterback has a good chance of being the first Viking player selected in the NFL draft since defensive lineman Dave Weedman was a 12th-round pick of the Washington Redskins in 1968. Even Mitchell isn't picked, the phone is likely to ring with free-agent offers once the draft ends.

"I'm going to be at my parents' place in Kennewick," said Mitchell, a Kamiakin High School graduate. "I have friends flying home for it. Even if the phone doesn't ring, we'll have a party."

Mitchell, who threw for 2,778 and 25 touchdowns while completing 61.5 percent of his passes and was a finalist for the Harlon Hill Award given to the top player in NCAA Division II, has been ranked as one of the top 12 to 15 quarterbacks available by most draft analysts. Scouts have praised his mobility and decision-making.

Nearly every team has taken some sort of look, with Atlanta, Cincinnati and the New York Giants among the most interested. Mitchell went through the same testing players go through at the scouting combine.

"I've been surprised," Mitchell said. "My agent, Cameron Foster, said teams have drafted guys he's represented and never contacted them until the draft. About 90 percent of the evaluation is tape, and they also have all the testing numbers to compare."

Weedman lasted a season on the Washington taxi squad, but never played in a regular-season game. More recently, Western defensive back Orlondo Steinauer, who has played the last six years in the CFL, and wide receiver Ben Clampitt have been in NFL training camps but ended up being released.

The only player drafted from a non-NCAA Division I or I-AA school in the Northwest since 1992 was Western Oregon offensive lineman Brian Crawford, a seventh-round pick of Minnesota in 2000. Nine such players were drafted between 1987 and 1991, but the draft was 12 rounds then instead of the present seven.

Mitchell has participated in twice-weekly workouts at the University of Washington supervised by Steve Emtman, but mostly he's left to work out on his own — and wait.

"The hardest part is not knowing your future," said Mitchell. "This is the career I'm aiming for and I don't know if I have a job."

Other WWU sports

Track and field: Freshman Ashlee Vincent (Squalicum of Bellingham) has a provisional NCAA Division II qualifying time for the second time in as many weeks. She placed second in the women's 3,000 meters with a time of 10 minutes, 05.8 seconds at the Northwest Relays in Edmonds on Friday. She qualified in the 1,500 on April 6.

Softball: Junior outfielder Candace Adamo (Skyline of Issaquah) has had 10 hits in her last 16 at-bats (.625). The effort earned her Great Northwest Athletic Conference Player of the Week, as she helped the Vikings to four straight league wins. Adamo tops Western (6-2 GNAC, 15-11 overall) with a .368 batting average and is tied for the lead in runs (11) and runs batted in (10).

Seattle University

Softball: After batting just .294 in her first nine games, co-captain Annette Gaeth (Monroe) has hit .489 over the last 14 contests and trails only freshman teammate Krystal Duncan (Yoncalla, Ore.) for the league lead with a .407 batting average. Gaeth is 23 for 47 during the stretch. Duncan leads the GNAC with a .417 batting average.

Seattle Pacific

Track and field: Senior Dionna Anderson (Edmonds-Woodway) takes a three-meet win streak in the shot put into Saturday's Spike Arlt Invitational in Ellensburg. Anderson's throw of 46 feet, 6-1/4 inches last week was the first heave over 46 feet at SPU since 1978.

Crew: Freshman Sarah Zorn (Mercer Island) daughter of Seahawks assistant coach and former quarterback Jim Zorn, is the stroke for the unbeaten women's novice four. The Falcon women's light four is also undefeated heading into Saturday's Blue Heron Redwood Sprints in Eureka, Calif.

Washington

Crew: Senior stroke Lucas Ahlstrand (Oakland) leads the Washington men's varsity eight, ranked No. 3 coaches' poll, against Wisconsin Saturday at Montlake Cut. Ahlstrand rowed on the UW team that finished third last year at the collegiate national championships, then became one of five Huskies to earn a spot on the U.S. National team at the World Championships.

Men's tennis: Freshman Alex Vlaski (Belgrade, Yugoslavia), No. 45 nationally, has won his last four singles matches, all over ranked opponents. No. 33 UW (16-6) host its final regular-season meet Saturday against Oregon at 2 p.m.

Women's tennis: Senior Ilona Kordonskaya (Los Angeles) registered her 62nd career doubles victory last week to move into the No. 3 spot all-time at Washington. The No. 20 Huskies close out the regular season Saturday at No. 54 Oregon.

Golf: The men's golf team moved up to 11th in this week's national rankings by GolfWeek after a victory at the Western Intercollegiate. Sophomore Brock Mackenzie is ranked 21st among individuals with a 70.92 stroke average.

Washington State

Women's track and field: Cougars graduate Andrea Thornton (Shelton), now a volunteer assistant in track, broke her own Mooberry Stadium record in the hammer with a throw of 188-5 competing unattached last Saturday. Thornton's previous record was 187-9, thrown in 2000, but she owns the school record of 195-0 thrown at Stanford in 2001.

Men's track and field: The Cougars have the top three 100-meter times in the Pac-10. Sophomore Anthony Buchanan (University of Spokane) has a wind-aided 10.16 and non-wind-aided 10.24, senior Anson Henry (Pickering, Ontario) 10.31 and junior Bennie Chatman (Houston) 10.38.

Other colleges

Eastern Washington: Senior Jaime Martin (North Kitsap) set a meet record at the 31st annual Pelluer Invitational in Cheney on April 12 by winning the women's hammer throw with a mark of 177-7. The previous record of 172-9 was set by Julie Nielson of EWU in 2000.

Pacific Lutheran: The men's tennis team defeated first-place Linfield 4-3 Saturday, creating a three-team logjam atop the Northwest Conference standings. PLU, Linfield and Whitman all finished the conference regular season with 7-1 records and will take those marks into this weekend's conference tournament.

Whitman: Senior Tim Mullin (Salem, Ore.) extended his school-record victory total to 142 by winning twice in singles and twice in doubles in the Missionaries' 7-0 NWC tennis victories over the weekend. Mullin, last year's NWC Player of the Year, passed 1988 graduate Dave Olafsson, who had 138 victories.

Whitworth: The baseball team's top six pitchers average 6-4-½, 210 pounds. Three were on the Whitworth football team that tied for the NWC title last fall and is challenging for the conference baseball title at 10-5 NWC, 14-14 overall. Kurt Reese (Hayden Lake, Idaho), a 6-6, 254-pound junior, leads the team in wins (4-2) and was a backup QB. Ben McCracken (Shadle Park), a 6-4, 192-pound freshman, leads the team in wins (4-2) and was also a backup QB. Nick Newberry (Sunnyside), a 6-3, 175-pound freshman is 3-1 with two saves and was a backup receiver. Whitworth's starting QB? Scott Biglin (Pasco), NWC Offensive Player of the Year, is the first baseman and leads the team with 28 RBI.

Community colleges: Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges commissioners have voted 48-8 for a 5 percent reduction in athletic contests for the 2002-03 and 2003-04 school years. This means two less contests for basketball, baseball and softball, one less race for cross country and track; one less match for soccer, golf and tennis and one less tournament and nonleague match for volleyball.

Elsewhere: Freshman Emily Faurholt (Kennewick) will transfer from Seattle Pacific to Idaho to play women's basketball next season.

Compiled from submissions by college sports information directors around the state.

Conference standings, D 13