Northwest -- Shoreline Soccer Coach Dies At 48

Paul Crossley, 48, men's soccer coach at Shoreline Community College, has died of a heart attack.

Mr. Crossley, who died Monday, was a former forward for the Seattle Sounders of the North American Soccer League and Baltimore Blast of the Major Indoor Soccer League, and hired to coach at Shoreline in 1991.

Mr. Crossley's career record was 46-30-17 overall at Shoreline, which was 37-27-14 in the league.

Under Mr. Crossley, Shoreline qualified for the Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges tournament twice. It won the NWAACC Northern Region championship in 1993, the year Mr. Crossley was named NWAACC North Coach of the Year.

Mr. Crossley also was boys soccer coach at Lynnwood High School from 1994-95.

Memorial services are pending, said Dan Pray, athletic coordinator at Shoreline.

10,000 expected for St. Patrick's Day Dash

A field of more than 10,000 runners and walkers is expected for Sunday's 3.8-mile St. Patrick's Day Dash.

Registration for the 12th annual race will continue through 6 p.m. tomorrow at Fast Lady Sports in downtown Kirkland and through 7 p.m. Saturday at Super Jock 'n Jill at Green Lake. There is no day-of-race registration.

Registration is $20 and includes a long-sleeved T-shirt. Organizers say they expect to run out of extra-large and large T-shirts tomorrow; the fee will drop to $10 for runners in those size categories who don't get one.

The race will start at 9 a.m. at T.S. McHugh's near Seattle Center and end at F.X. McRory's outside the Kingdome. Many runners participate in costumes.

Olympic hopeful Brad Barquist of Bainbridge Island is heavily favored to win the the men's division. Defending women's champion Leah Pells of Coquitlam, B.C., is injured and has not entered. Regina Joyce of Lynnwood and Gail Hall of Bothell are among the favorites.

Boxers to sign autographs

Oscar De La Hoya, an undefeated three-time boxing world champion and Olympic gold medalist, and super lightweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez will attend an autograph-signing session tomorrow after an 11 a.m. press conference at the Sheraton Seattle Hotel & Towers.

Admission is free.

The fighters are touring the country on a two-week, 23-city promotional campaign to generate interest for their June 7 bout. De La Hoya is challenging Chavez for his World Boxing Council super lightweight title.

Fight card salutes Francisco

Dick Francisco, founder of the Greenwood Boys Club boxing team 50 years ago, will be honored Saturday when amateur fighters from throughout the Northwest are matched in 10 bouts at the club, 8635 Fremont Ave. N.

Francisco, 73, has been credited for his work in developing community leaders through his boxing program. He directs the Christmas Forgotten Children's Fund.

Saturday's program, sponsored by the Boys Club Alumni, is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.

Ping gets academic honor

Seattle Pacific University junior Geoff Ping was named to the GTE Academic All-America men's basketball third team.

Ping, a biology major with a 3.84 grade-point average out of a possible 4.0, had earlier been named both academic all-conference and all-district by a vote of sports information directors. He broke the school record for three-point field goals (91) this season and twice tied the single-game mark of seven.

Ping, a Des Moines resident who prepped at Christian Faith, was the team's No. 2 scorer, averaging 14.1 points. Seattle Pacific posted a 23-6 record, was ranked No. 15 in the final NCAA Division II poll and advanced to the West Region final in Bakersfield, Ca., last Saturday.

The last SPU men's player to make the academic all-America team was Dave Holmer in 1967.

Notes

-- John Melchior, for the past five years the executive chef at the Washington Athletic Club, has been named executive chef at Emerald Downs, the new Thoroughbred track at Auburn. Melchior, 42, will oversee preparation of all food that will be available at the track, scheduled to open June 20.

-- Seattle Thunderbird center Patrick Marleau has been named the Western Hockey League's Western Division Rookie of the Year. He joins Price Albert defenseman Chris Phillips as a finalist for the league's rookie of the year award, which will be announced next Tuesday. Marleau leads the T-birds in scoring with 30 goals and 38 assists in 68 games.

-- Washington defeated California 8-2 in the national mixed curling championships at Highland Park, Ill.

-- The Russian national team and Yale University will compete in the 10th annual Windermere Cup crew races May 4. The University of Washington has won the past five men's titles and the past four women's titles in the season-opening meet.

-- Washington's Ryan Soules was named the Pac-10 Conference Northern Division Baseball Player of the Week for March 5-11 after batting .444 in five games as the Huskies lost to Navy and won four straight games in the Husky Classic. Soules scored three runs and drove in five, doubled and hit an inside-the-park home run. Portland State's Paco Garcia was named Pitcher of the Week, edging UW nominee Jeff Lynch.

-- Husky freshman Justin Miller shot a 5-under-par 211 to finish second in the Oregon Duck Invitational at Shadow Hills Country Club in Junction City, Ore. Miller was two strokes behind individual champion Brett Bingham of Nevada. UW's Chris Lohman and Washington State's David Putney were among five tied for eighth at 216. UW finished fifth at 875 in the 15-team field, and WSU was ninth at 885. San Jose State won in a playoff.