Freshman Amanda Basham started her college cross-country career for Pacific University of Oregon at the Whitman Invitational in Walla Walla, Wash., on Sept. 6, placing 18th over the 4000-meter course in 15:48.68, just over a minute behind senior teammate (and 2008 track all-American) Kelsey Owens (14:40.17), who finished second. The Boxers will next run at the Willamette Invitational on Sept. 20 at Bush Park in Salem.
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At Whitworth College in Spokane, Wash., junior defensive tackle Brandon Martin, a 2005 Sweet Home graduate, led the Pirates with 10 tackles in their football opener against the University of La Verne Saturday. Martin (5-10, 250), an all-Northwest Conference first-team choice last year as Whitworth rolled to its second straight NWC title, is serving as a team captain this year for the Pirates. It was old home week, in a way, for Martin as La Verne graduate assistant coach Aaron Cloud was one of Martin’s old high school coaches from Sweet Home. Cloud also played for Whitworth. The Pirates play again Saturday, Sept. 20, at the University of Redlands in Redlands, Calif.
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Matt Slauson, who didn’t graduate from Sweet Home but certainly left his mark here in the record books before moving to Colorado to finish his last year of high school, is starting his senior season as an offensive lineman for the Nebraska Cornhuskers. Slauson (6-5, 320) is likely to play both guard and tackle this year after playing three different starting positions as a junior and earning honorable-mention all-Big 12 honors in the process. Nebraska is 3-0 after stuffing New Mexico State 38-7 on Saturday. The Huskers are off this week and then will play Virginia Tech on Sept. 27, a game to be televised on ABC.