After signing with the Patriots, Efton Chism III will get an NFL audition.

Though he didn’t get a call on draft day, Efton Chism III, the superstar receiver whose senior season rewrote the Eagle record books, is ready to make his mark at the next level.

Just a day after the National Football League draft concluded, Chism ’24 signed as an undrafted free agent with the New England Patriots. There he will compete to join former EWU wide receiver Kendrick Bourne, a seven-year NFL veteran who is currently on New England’s roster.

Because only a fraction of the nation’s most talented players can secure a spot in each year’s seven-round NFL draft, the league’s teams often rely on undrafted players to fill spots on their 54-man rosters. In 2018, Bourne himself entered the league as an undrafted free agent.

Chism’s move to Boston comes on the heels of his remarkable 2024 senior campaign, one that saw him surpass Cooper Kupp’s single season reception record with 120 catches — an eye-popping total which led both the Big Sky Conference and the entire FCS. During his final Eagle appearance at Northern Arizona, Chism notched his 53rd consecutive game with a reception, topping Kupp’s previous record of 52. “While the catch numbers might stand out, the real eye-opener is Chism’s blend of play strength and competitiveness,” wrote NFL.com analyst Lance Zierlein before the draft. “He can make the first tackler miss, and will do whatever it takes to pick up yardage.”

That combination of power and determination was a Chism trademark during each of his five years on the Eagle’s roster. It was also a big reason why, over the course of that career, Chism earned 10 All-American awards and four All-Big Sky honors, two of them first-team selections. 

The Patriots begin mandatory mini-camp for rookies in June, with their full-squad training camp in Foxborough, Massachusetts scheduled for July.

Calling All Eagle Fans!

ewu.edu/buildourfuture/stadium/

Roos Field, Eastern’s cherished football stadium, was built in 1967 and is today in need of substantial updates. The goal of our planned improvements? To create a more welcoming experience for students, alumni and fans. Thanks to the support of the Eagle faithful, EWU’s Stadium Renovation Fund is almost halfway to achieving its goal of $13 million. Now, as we look forward to a winning season this fall, is the perfect time to share your pride in the home of Eagle Football. Donate today!

For EWU’s new men’s basketball coach, Cheney is familiar ground.

Eastern’s new men’s head basketball coach, Dan Monson, was the talk of the basketball world earlier this year when, after being fired as the head coach of Long Beach State, he led his team to a Big West Conference Tournament title and a NCAA Tournament berth.

He described the lame-duck post-season coaching experience as “surreal,” later telling ESPN that the conference tournament win and Big Dance appearance was “a life-changing week — in a good way.”

Over his career, Monson has led his programs to 13 postseason appearances, including four NCAA Tournament bids and nine NIT appearances, winning seven games. He’s also chalked up nine conference championships and earned five Coach of the Year awards.

That “good way” change soon extended to Eagle fans, when, following Long Beach’s exit from the NCAA Tournament, Monson accepted Eastern’s head coaching job. The position was open after the Eagle’s previous leader, David Riley, accepted the top job at Washington State.

Over his career, Monson has led his programs to 13 postseason appearances, including four NCAA Tournament bids and nine NIT appearances, winning seven games. He’s also chalked up nine conference championships and earned five Coach of the Year awards.

The move to Eastern has been a homecoming of sorts for Monson, 62, who spent part of his childhood in Cheney while his dad coached basketball at Cheney High. And the regional ties don’t stop there.

In the late 1990s, Monson coached up the road at Gonzaga, where, under his leadership, the ’Zags advanced to the 1999 Elite Eight, winning both the WCC regular season and conference tournament championships that season.

After leaving the Inland Northwest, he served an eight-season stint at the University of Minnesota. Next came Long Beach State, where Monson led “the Beach” for 17 years, becoming the program’s all-time winningest coach.

The return to the PNW, Monson says, brings things full circle. “This is a part of my legacy,” he told The Spokesman Review earlier this spring. “It started at Gonzaga. I’d like to make it grow more by sustaining what the last three coaches at Eastern started. That’s really important to me.”

Big Sky MVP Jamie Loera reflects on a spectacular season for Eastern women’s basketball.

In a year that saw a certain shooting guard from Iowa create an extraordinary surge in the popularity of women’s college basketball, Eastern’s hoop stars also completed a season for the history books. Led by their own front-court sensation, Jamie Loera, the Eagle women earned both regular-season and tournament championships in the Big Sky Conference, scoring their first NCAA Tournament berth in 34 years. For her part, Loera, a recent master’s degree graduate in EWU’s organizational leadership program, was the unanimous MVP choice of conference coaches, while also earning her second straight Defensive Player of the Year award and a first team All-Big Sky selection. Loera, a Moses Lake native who transferred to EWU from Arizona State in 2022, announced this spring that she will forgo her final year of eligibility. Before moving on, she spoke with Eastern magazine about her role as the anchor of what many are calling the greatest-ever EWU women’s basketball team.

Thanks for taking time out to talk with us! Congratulations on an amazing season. At what point did you realize that this team was something special?

When I first arrived at Eastern [before the beginning of the 2022 season], I saw that this was a group of girls that really showed up for each other. It was a true sisterhood. And with the success we had that first year, I was like, ‘Wow!’ This team has great potential.

So knowing that —  just how good we could be —I prepared for this season trusting that we were going to be Big Sky champions. I just strongly believed that we were great, and I showed up every day with that belief.

There were a lot of us who believed, actually, and we talked about it every day. We set big goals, we set process goals. And we worked hard; we grinded all offseason and in the preseason as well. I think that was our strength: We were able to just focus on who we were as a team and focus on our preparation.

And the work paid off, for sure. Still, you and your teammates had a couple of tough defeats early on. I’m thinking of the two-point loss to Gonzaga at home, and the loss on the road to Cal — a game that you led most of the way. Two things I wanted to ask: What did Coach [Joddie] Gleason talk about after those early defeats, and what was it about you and your teammates that helped you move on to the success you enjoyed in conference play?

One of the things Coach Joddie talked about was how we had to not let [the losses] define our season; to not let them define who we are. I think that statement was just so powerful in creating a positive environment, keeping spirits up, keeping our mindset level…

When we watched the film, Coach Joddie — and all the coaching staff — made a point of highlighting the areas that we did well in. It was super beneficial for them to take some time and say, ‘Okay, what did we do well in this game?’ But also to look at those areas where we needed to grow. Like rebounding, turnovers, getting stops on defense. Those were areas that we definitely needed to improve on.

But I think it was just super reassuring for our coaches to talk about how setbacks like these were going to prepare us for much tougher moments in the future — moments in the middle of the season and at its end. So I think they were reassuring and very positive after those losses. And, you know, we actually didn’t let the losses define us. We kept moving forward.

During that first season with the Eagles, you quickly emerged as a real force on defense, something you’ve obviously carried forward and taken to new heights. Was defense always a big part of your game? Or did it become a particular focus here at Eastern?

I want to say defense was always my strength. But I definitely give a lot of credit, especially for the knowledge that I’ve developed about defense, to my previous school, Arizona State. We were very defense oriented, and our coach took a lot of pride in emphasizing the defensive side of our system.

When it came to my own game, I really wanted to develop into a player that could make an impact on both sides of the ball. To know that, if my shot wasn’t falling or I couldn’t get a good look on offense, I could make an impact on defense. I took a lot of pride in that. So yeah, I just really focused on all of the areas I could make an impact in the game, not just on offense. But I take a lot of pride in defense, and it’s definitely elevated my game.

I think a lot of basketball fans — especially casual fans — don’t always appreciate how critical the defensive side of the game can be. Can you talk a little bit about the role defense played in this year’s historic season?

It plays such a significant role! Defense has kind of been getting a little bit lost in the process of, you know, the game changing: the shift to a greater emphasis on scoring and offense.

But on our team, we really took a lot of pride in understanding our opponents’ offensive systems so that we could get stops, force turnovers and limit them to one shot per possession… When you do that, you’re forcing people to change their pace on offense; forcing them to change ball movement. They’re just not going to run their offense as smoothly or as comfortably as they want to.

For us at Eastern, we scored a lot of points off turnovers. So that defensive game really pushed our momentum on offense.

Personally, as a player, I thrive off the defensive stops and big plays by my teammates. When Jaydia [Jaydia Martin, junior small forward] takes a charge, or when Jacinta [Jacinta Buckley, senior guard] blocks a shot, I get high from that! I’m like, ‘All right, let’s go! Let’s go score!’ There’s a lot of energy that comes from playing good defense.

And a lot of negative mental energy for your opponents, too. It seemed like there were so many times this year that you guys really disrupted other teams — got them rattled. Am I right?

Oh yeah. That was the goal.

As a graduate student, I’m guessing you are a little bit older than many of your teammates. Did age and experience help you take on the leadership role that you assumed with this team? Is that something you and your coaches talked about going into this year?

When I first got to Eastern, I definitely held back. Just being a new face on the roster and coming into a group that had really strong chemistry, I didn’t want to say too much. I was focused on developing relationships. Of course I think that’s part of leadership, too: building trust, building relationships on the team.

This season Coach Joddie encouraged me to take charge a little more, at least on the basketball court. And I think that was a difference between my first and second years — really taking on that role as a leader; taking more shots on offense and pushing the ball, being a little more selfish on the court.

I definitely got more comfortable having a year under my belt, after building relationships and people getting to know me. But leadership was definitely one of the key roles I had to take on, really from the time I first got to Eastern. Because our coaches believed in my experience, they believed in my abilities… they were amazing. And the girls, too: I think the girls knew that I really loved the leadership role, and loved being the sort of impact player who would do whatever I could for them.

After you and your teammates won both the Big Sky regular season and tournament championships, you came back to Cheney to prepare for a tough draw in the NCAA Tournament. But first, there was some celebrating, right? A big greeting when your bus rolled in?

My goodness, it was so cool! All of us were just so happy and excited to see everybody. The love that we got from campus was just so amazing. We were very, very happy to represent Eastern.

Then you had to go back on the road for the first round of the Big Dance. It must have been really exciting, but also incredibly daunting, to play Oregon State, a highly ranked team on their home court.

Just the idea of being in March Madness itself, you know, it’s a bit overwhelming. It had been 30 years since [Eastern women’s basketball] had been there, a long time. That just adds pressure…

Our coaches reminded us to embrace the moment, to embrace the opportunity and to have the confidence that we could win. We had played really well — matched up really well — against them last year. So we had those conversations about going out there and having fun while staying confident in our team and in our play. We absolutely thought we could make it to the second round. We’d proven ourselves, we’d been through every situation that you can think of.

We were a bit disappointed about the outcome. But, all in all, super proud, too. Just to get there, and in how we were able to represent EWU.

You were the unanimous choice for the Big Sky’s MVP, were the conference’s defensive player of the year, and a first team All-Big Sky selection.  What were you thinking and feeling when the accolades started rolling in?

Wow, I don’t know. On the day when it came out, I was just really grateful. Honestly, awards and accolades just weren’t really something that I thought about. I try to be an impact player. You know? To control what I can control. That’s how I was going to impact this team, and to help us win.

Sure, I’m definitely, selfishly, proud of myself. It’s been a tough journey for me. But mostly I’m just super grateful that I could play the way I played for our team. The accolades, as I said, were never a goal for me. The goal was for our team to win, and to be the best that we could be.

Still, it must have been amazing to experience the outpouring of support you received… 

That’s all I could really focus on! I was just overwhelmed with love and gratitude, Yeah, just super, super grateful. It was a humbling experience. But like everything else, I was just trying to stay present in each moment, and to focus on not getting too high or getting too low.

Speaking of lows — at least for your many fans here at EWU —  I’m told you are not planning to exercise your remaining year of eligibility? Is that a done deal, or might you reconsider?

I definitely made the decision not to take it right now, and I’m just looking to move forward to a position where I can continue to make an impact on the game.  I am very excited for what’s to come. And I know that EWU has my back, always!

— Interview by Charles E. Reineke. Photos by Braeden Harlow. Questions and responses have been edited for length and clarity.

After a disappointing 2023, Eagle Football appears poised to bounce back big next year.

It didn’t start out like a season to forget. Yes, there were a couple of tough losses on the road; one to perennial FCS powerhouse North Dakota State, another to FBS mid-major stalwart Fresno State. But the home campaign began with real promise: a decisive win over 19th-ranked Southeastern Louisiana, followed by a 3-point triumph over Big Sky Conference rival UC-Davis — a victory that saw Coach Aaron Best’s squad return to the familiar territory of an FCS Top-25 ranking.

Sadly, that week-four ranking marked the high point of an autumn that saw an Eagle team play hard, play close, but too often come up short. By the time the Eagles dropped their home finale to Northern Arizona, the win-loss tally stood at a dismal 4-7 overall, 10th in the Big Sky Conference.

Still, there were high points, among them a big win over Weber State that put an exclamation point on an inspiring 100th Homecoming celebration. Perhaps more to the point for Eagle fans, the team’s gritty play showed plenty of reasons for optimism as it retools for next year.

“I would challenge people to say we didn’t show improvement from last year,” Collins said, adding that “especially next year, I think we’re set up for success.”

Athletics director Tim Collins perhaps summed it up best in a post-season interview with The Spokesman-Review. “I would challenge people to say we didn’t show improvement from last year,” Collins said, adding that “especially next year, I think we’re set up for success.”

One reason for Collins’ optimism was the play of Efton Chism III, a junior wide receiver who racked up stats not seen since the days of Eastern superstar Cooper Kupp.

Chism spent the 2023 season ranked among conference and national leaders in just about every receiving category. He ended on a particularly high note, with a 3-touchdown effort against Northern Arizona, a performance that anchored a season with 84 catches for 934 yards and 8 touchdowns. Chism now ranks third on EWU’s all-time career receptions list. His achievements made him a unanimous choice for first team All Big Sky Conference honors. Chism was joined on the first team All-Conference honor list by redshirt senior Marlon Jones Jr., a standout defensive back who wraps up his EWU career with 40 career games played, 158 total tackles and 9 interceptions. Redshirt senior tight end Blake Gobel and junior kick returner Michael Wortham, meanwhile, were named to the All-Conference second team, while starting quarterback Kekoa Visperas, a redshirt sophomore, snagged an honorable mention.

Conference honors aside, Head Coach Aaron Best told Learfield’s
Eagle Flight podcast that the lack of wins was difficult to take — as was a season where, despite his team’s very real effort, the Eagles just couldn’t seem to turn the corner. “There were a lot of close games, a lot of tough moments, throughout the course of the season,” Best said. “We overcame some of them, but not enough of them. But I was proud of those guys — especially the way they ended the season — even without the win.”

On May 1, after a two-year pandemic hiatus, the Bloomsday road race made its triumphant return to the streets of Spokane. Much to the chagrin of their competition, EWU’s Red team, a running force that has dominated the race’s “Corporate Cup” competition for 23 straight years, were also back.

By race’s end, to the surprise of pretty much no one, team Red had once again finished with the title, racking up a perfect 3,000-point score.

“We’re the most successful athletic team that Eastern has ever produced,” quipped team member Grant Smith, a professor emeritus of English at EWU who, at age 84, has for four-decades been the team’s leader and lead recruiter.

Eagle football, of course, has won a national title. But EWU Red’s now 24-year-long streak gives that moment of glory a run (so-to-speak) for its money.

Bloomsday’s Corporate Cup is sort of a race within a race, with runners representing a business or organization competing for top places and times within 13 different age groups for men and women. The first-place finisher in each group contributes 1,000 points to the team total, with subsequent finishers receiving points based on their proximity to the winner’s time.

Teams are limited to five runners. Three of these earn scores, while the remaining two stand in for tie-breaking purposes.

“It is cool when we hit 3,000, and it’s cool when we are all perfect across the board,” said team Red’s David Millet, director of EWU’s Veterans Resource Center. “It doesn’t happen very often.”

But often enough, apparently. This year’s total of 3,000, in fact, marks the seventh-straight year Red has recorded a perfect score, and the 10th time overall. “What would you equate it to?” said Millet of the streak (before this year’s win). “It’s like the Triple Crown that Cooper Kupp won. It’s that one year where everything lines up and falls into place.”

In the run up to this year’s race, Curt Kinghorn of Runners Soul, a running-gear retailer in Spokane, wryly commented on his own previous teams’ track record of futility against Eastern’s Bloomsday runners. Try as they might, he said, his group could never match the scores of Red’s older guys, who excelled within their age groups. “They refuse to lose,” says Kinghorn. “It seemed they kept getting faster the older they got.”

— By Dave Cook. An earlier version of this story, Seeing ‘Red,’ appeared under Cook’s byline in The Spokesman-Review.

Despite the odds, Eastern’s greatest-ever quarterback is ready to quiet the next-level doubters.

By Dave Cook

Turning heads is what Eric Barriere ’21 did best on the football field at EWU.

It began during Eastern’s recruiting process, as Eagle recruiters watched him win championships as a high schooler in California. Then, upon arrival in Cheney in the fall of 2016, it was his astonishing arm strength that was on display — coaches still talk about the day his throws outdistanced the kicks of Eastern’s senior punter during an after-practice showdown.

As a sophomore in 2018, Barriere turned heads across the FCS as he took over for Eastern’s injured All-America starter Gage Gubrud at mid-season and proceeded to lead the Eagles to the NCAA Division I Championship Game in Frisco, Texas.

Along the way he continued to pile up highlight-reel plays, astonishing yardage totals and, of course, the honors that go along with such things. Barriere finished fifth in the voting for the Walter Payton Award in 2019, was runner-up for the prize in 2020 and in the fall of 2021, he won it, securing his place as the single best offensive player in the FCS.

Now the process starts all over again as Barriere, his college eligibility exhausted, looks to turn heads — plenty of which are looking askance — and secure a place in professional football. It won’t be easy. But it’s never been easy for Barriere.

 As a kid growing up in Southern California, he persisted through injury, illness and a tough neighborhood to excel at pretty much anything he put his mind to. He says he’s more than confident he’ll do the same, in spite of the doubters, as a professional athlete. 

“It’s something I’m used to already,” Barriere said during a phone conversation in April. For now, he is back in California, where he’s been working out since his senior season concluded in December. “I’m always trying to prove myself and out-work other people. I have to show them that I deserve a chance to play with the best. It’s another opportunity to showcase myself now at a higher stage, and show them what I can do.”

During his preparations, he talked with and received advice from former Eagles-turned-pro  Nsimba Webster and Vernon Adams, Jr. He also traded texts with Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Cooper Kupp, the reigning Super Bowl MVP, and has sought counsel from two other Eagle standouts now in the NFL: San Francisco’s Samson Ebukam (also a 2022 Super Bowl veteran) and New England Patriots star Kendrick Bourne. 

Their common message? Keep being you.

“They just told me to work hard, and that I just need one opportunity for a team to believe in me,” Barriere said in advance of the NFL Draft in late April. “I just want an opportunity, that’s all,” he says. “When I get it, I have to make the most of it. It’s all on me. I just have to put in the work, and I know I’ll be up for any of the challenges that come my way.”

Measurables is one word for what professional football analysts use in the sometimes maddeningly opaque process of projecting the value of prospects. Aaron Best, Eastern’s head coach for four of the five seasons Barriere played in the EWU program, knows getting drafted is something of a crapshoot.

“So much of it is about measurables, and I don’t know if it’s the right way to go,” Best admits. “Teams determine what their evaluation process is. The numbers are great to have, but it comes down to if you can play football.”

“He has a ton to offer,” says Best of Barriere’s NFL appeal. “His stats alone are great and some of the best the FCS has ever had. On top of that, he was a great teammate, and he continually got better from the time he took over as our starting quarterback.”

“Eric’s off day is somebody else’s greatest day, which is crazy. But that’s the standard he set for himself, this team and this university,” Best continues. “Unfortunately, it’s out of everybody’s hands once [his] eligibility is done. It’s up to others to determine if he’s a good fit for their [professional] organization, no matter what the position is.”

In Barriere’s case, the numbers were never going to be a problem: They were, in short, “ridiculous.” He finished ranked third in FCS history with 15,394 yards of total offense, 13,809 passing yards and 121 passing touchdown — all EWU and Big Sky Conference records. He’s also the school record-holder in completions, pass attempts, rushing yards by a quarterback, touchdowns and points generated. In short, he’s the Eagle quarterback G.O.A.T., a distinction he will likely not soon surrender.

In Barriere’s case, the numbers were never going to be a problem

Other than stats and film assessment, most of the measurables come from “Pro Days” hosted by schools. These events usually consist of physical testing to see exactly how players compare to others at their respective positions. Barriere was fortunate to not only take part in EWU’s Pro Day, but also one held at USC in California. 

Players also participate in on-field drills. Barriere certainly turned heads at EWU’s Pro Day, where he threw the football 70 yards flat-footed. Only a handful of NFL scouts were on hand, but what they learn about a player is shared widely.

Barriere registered a head-turning 38-inch effort in the vertical jump at EWU’s Pro Day. By comparison, the best mark among quarterbacks at the NFL Scouting Combine — an event Barriere was not invited to attend — was 36 inches. His time of 4.77 seconds in the 40-yard dash wasn’t as impressive, and his measured height (5-feet, 11-inches tall) invited skepticism from scouts. Barriere was not concerned. 

“I feel good about everything,” Barriere says. “I know quarterback is different than every position, so it’s going to come down to the mental aspects. I have to practice like a pro and prepare like an NFL quarterback. Those will be the key factors.”

Among the records Barriere broke at Eastern was the Big Sky career yardage record held by EWU’s Matt Nichols, who played two preseason games with the Dallas Cowboys in 2010 before playing nine seasons in the CFL from 2011-21. Nichols says he has heard it all before — the “prototype quarterback” that NFL teams are looking for: “6-feet, 4-inches tall, laser-rocket arm and from a bigger school,” he says. Without all of those assets, he adds, “You aren’t going to be drafted in the first three rounds.”

“If you don’t have those measurables, you have to have a scout or player personnel director stick their neck out for you,” Nichols says. “Because if they’re wrong, it could be their job. I think you hope there is that one guy out there who believes in you. Hopefully there is, and it’s up to you to prove it.”

Best is hopeful that Eastern’s ability to produce players for the NFL could help Barriere along the way. “I don’t think it hurts. I think a lot of people (in professional football) understand who we are, what we are about and the players we have. But at the end of the day it’s not who came before you, it’s what you do in the moment. He’s played with professionals like Coop [Cooper Kupp], so he can take his notes and apply them moving forward.”

But Best stops short of saying success for FCS players, such as the extraordinary path to greatness by Kupp, gives them equal footing with FBS opponents. That same old adage, “played at a lower level of competition,” as CBS Sports said of Barriere, is rearing its head again. And it makes it hard to turn heads if you don’t get the opportunity.

“To me, there is no downside at all,” Best says of Barriere’s FCS experience. “Can you play, and can you play at a high level? The logos on the sides of the helmet are sometimes taken into too much consideration.”

In advance of the NFL draft in April, assessments of Barriere’s chances — from draft watchers in the media at least — were mixed. Most of the independent quarterback rankings had Barriere as an “outside looking in” guy, although he was listed as No. 8 by SI.com and No. 10 by profootballnetwork.com.

On the positive side, some draft observers described him as a “dual-threat, elite-level athlete,” and used terms such as “creativity, mobility, vision” and “stands tall in the pocket” to describe his game. CBS Sports in particular had positive things to say: “Good top end speed. Quick release made possible with a flick of the wrist. Gets the ball out quickly. Generates a lot of strength off platform. Good deep ball accuracy. Can drive the ball.”

Still, there were doubters. Words like “unorthodox,” and phrases like “lesser-known profile,” “decision-making,” and “durability,” were used to express concerns about Barriere’s NFL worthiness. Again, CBS had these things to say: “Undersized in terms of height and weight. Does not follow through in his throwing motion. Does not sell fakes well. Late to feel pressure, poor pocket presence. Balance is an issue. Played at a lower level of competition.”

In all, it added up to Barriere likely being considered a “developmental prospect,” a player whose chances at signing a free-agent contract with a NFL team were greater than were his chances for being selected. And that’s pretty much the way things played out over the three-day draft. Names came and went, but Barriere’s phone didn’t ring.

A little later, however, he did get a call. The Denver Broncos, the former AFC powerhouse whose recent quarterbacking woes led to their poaching Russell Wilson from Seattle, invited Barriere to rookie minicamp in May.

Even if the NFL doesn’t pan out, the two-time Big Sky Offensive Player of the Year would almost certainly get an opportunity in the Canadian Football League, where a larger playing field and fewer downs would be advantageous for Barriere’s strong arm and accuracy.

As of now, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers own his rights, and Barriere could continue the successful pipeline of former EWU quarterbacks into the CFL, starting with Rick Worman in the 1980s and continuing with recent stars Bo Levi Mitchell, Vernon Adams Jr. and Nichols.

“Hopefully he gets the opportunity to get on an NFL roster and play in some preseason games,” says Nichols, who has played in the CFL for Edmonton, Winnipeg and Ottawa.

“Obviously, I think the CFL is incredible and is a great brand of football,” he continued. “He should set his sights on the NFL for as long as he can, but I think there is a big future for him in the CFL — especially with the equity EWU has in the league. I think he could go up there and be great.”

Barriere appreciates the backup plan. But he wonders, alongside his coach and so many Eastern supporters, why EWU quarterbacks have so often been bypassed by the NFL: “I don’t get it,” he says. “I don’t know why they end up in the CFL.”

Barriere’s springtime training sojourn took place under the direction of his player representative agency, ELITE Athlete Management. “Throughout the process,” Barriere said, “I’ve had to learn how to work out different parts of my body, and treat it a little bit better than I was doing in college. They are making sure I can be 100 percent and make sure I don’t overdo anything.”

For his part, Coach Best remains confident that what Barriere showed the world while at EWU, he’ll show again at the next level.

 “Eric checks every single box and then some,” Best says. “Throw it all aside, your eyes aren’t going to fool you. He’s done what he can do plus a lot more in his time here. There are so many things outside of the statistics that he’s improved and has shown his capabilities. He just needs a legitimate opportunity.” [Editor’s note: As Eastern magazine went to press, Barriere announced he had signed a contract with the Michigan Panthers of the United States Football League. The move does not preclude a future deal with either an NFL or CFL team.]

“Somebody is going to be happy with him, more importantly as a person,” Best adds. “He’s a heckuva player, but he’s a heckuva person. You match those two things together and somebody is going to be very fortunate.” 

Joddie Gleason, Eastern’s new women’s basketball head coach, aims to elevate a program in search of titles.

Helping student athletes flourish both on and off the basketball court is the goal for Joddie Gleason, who in November made her debut as head coach of Eastern’s women’s basketball team.

Gleason comes to Eastern from Seattle University, where she served as an associate head coach. She also has 12 years of head coaching experience with the Lumberjacks of Humboldt State University in California, where she earned California Collegiate Athletics Association Coach of the Year honors in 2015. Gleason succeeds Wendy Schuller, who had served as women’s basketball head coach since 2001.  

“I am very grateful for the opportunity to be the next women’s basketball coach at Eastern Washington,” Gleason said after accepting the job in May. “Throughout the interview process, I have been lucky to meet so many great people at Eastern and know that it is the right fit for me and my family.”

“I am very grateful for the opportunity to be the next women’s basketball coach at Eastern Washington,” she said after accepting the job in May. “Throughout the interview process, I have been lucky to meet so many great people at Eastern and know that it is the right fit for me and my family… [Eastern’s] student-centered approach aligns with my values as a leader and creates additional excitement to get started.”  

Gleason’s new boss, EWU Athletic Director Lynn Hickey, said that she expects big things. “We look forward to working with her to help rebuild our program to be a dominant force in Big Sky women’s basketball competition.”

At Seattle University, Gleason worked as the team’s offensive coordinator. As head coach at Humboldt State, the Lumberjacks qualified for the NCAA DII Tournament four times and won two California Collegiate Athletic Association championships. Her coach of the year honors came after guiding the Lumberjacks to a 23-6 overall record and a regular season title.

Gleason, who earned both bachelor’s and master’s degrees from California State University, Chico, also served as the head coach at Butte Community College in Oroville, California, from 1999-2004.
“I can’t wait to start working with this group of young women and to build something special that the passionate Eagle fans can be proud of… Go Eags!”

For one of the world’s most accomplished athletes, nothing has come easy.

By Charles E. Reineke

It was raining as EWU student and Team USA Paralympian Jaleen Roberts settled into the starting blocks at Tokyo’s Olympic Stadium — a light but steady downpour, just like the PNW showers she’d trained in back home. 

The 2020 Summer Paralympic Games — so dated due to a year-long pandemic delay — had already yielded Roberts a medal, silver, for her North American record-setting leap in the long jump. But now she was lining up for the 100 meters, arguably track and field’s most storied event. 

Roberts was ready, confident. The prelims had gone exactly as planned. Here in the final she was in Lane 5, almost dead center in the nine-woman field, right where she wanted to be. The rain, too, was welcome, familiar, calming. She felt any pre-race anxieties melting away with every drop.

Roberts, who completed her bachelor’s degree in Eastern’s Department of Wellness & Movement Sciences in December, is one of the world’s top para athletes. Before arriving in Tokyo, she had proved her mettle in the two most recent World Para Athletics Championships, claiming a total of five medals, including gold in 2019’s 4×100 universal relay. Earlier this year she was ranked as the planet’s No. 1 long jumper.

But none of it had come easy: Not physically, not mentally. Her appearance in Tokyo for example, the culmination of nearly four years of focused, intensive training, almost ended before it began, a casualty of a cycle of depression so severe that Roberts, for a time, thought she would not survive it.  

Born with cerebral palsy, Roberts has nonetheless excelled in competitive sports since childhood. Back in Kent, Washington, the Seattle suburb where she grew up, Roberts says she almost always found herself teamed up with, and competing against, “able-bodied athletes.” Never bothered her, she says.

“I started playing sports with the able-bodied kids when I was 4 years old,” says the now 23-year-old Roberts. “I began with soccer, then a bunch of sports.” By high school, again competing against able-bodied athletes, she excelled not only in soccer, but in wrestling and track. Especially track. It was at a state-level track meet that she first heard the pitch for para-sports from her eventual Paralympic coach, David Greig, development director and head coach for track and field at ParaSport Spokane, a local adaptive-sports organization with an impressive record of training champions. 

Greig, who has been coaching female athletes with cerebral palsy for two decades, immediately recognized Roberts’ breakthrough talent. “The first time I saw her run and long jump — I still have it on video — I pulled out my phone and called the director of the USA Paralympic track and field program and said, ‘We’ve got something here. She’s functional, she’s fast, and she’s aggressive. She’s got the whole mix.’” 

Though he was pretty much ready to sign her that day, Roberts wasn’t so sure she was buying what Greig was selling. “I was initially hesitant because I had never competed against other athletes with disabilities, I had only competed against able-bodied athletes,” Roberts says. “It wasn’t something I necessarily wanted to do; I never really wanted to highlight my disability — I’ve always seen that as a part of me that was ‘normal’ and ‘able.’ But after learning more about it, and understanding how competitive it was, I decided to try it out.”

Just six months after “trying it out,” Roberts was competing with Team USA in London. 

“It was interesting how much of a sense of belonging it gave me,” she says of those first international meets. “I was surprised at how much it made me feel like I was part of something, just because there were so many people around me who were just like me — whether with my same disability, or a different one.”

After high school, Roberts made the decision to leave her hometown and move to Spokane, where she and Greig could more fully develop her potential. This meant being away from her mom, Kathleen, and her sister and brothers: Kaitlyn, Austin and Jordan. Roberts says her family have always been close, and leaving was tough.

“It really took me out of my comfort zone,” Roberts recalls. “I knew myself, and I knew my level of discipline. If I didn’t have a coach, I wouldn’t have just trained on my own. So I had to make the sacrifice.”

And it wasn’t just the travel-related classroom accommodations that impressed Roberts, it was the love EWU showed toward this accomplished Eagle.

 

Difficult as it was, moving to Spokane offered Roberts an advantage beyond proximity to training: It made attending Eastern an easy call. 

“It’s true I didn’t initially move to Spokane to attend Eastern,” Roberts admits with a laugh, “I chose Spokane for training, and Eastern was there. I mean, I never heard anything bad about Eastern! It was just never a school I thought about attending because I didn’t want to be so far away from my family and friends.”

As it turns out, EWU was a great fit for Roberts, who, at the conclusion of her track and field career, plans to become an educator. During the school year Roberts says she was required to do a lot of traveling. Her instructors, she says, were not just understanding, they were also incredibly encouraging. 

“I was really scared about how my professors were going to deal with me being away, as far as me completing my academic course requirements. But they’ve always all been very supportive… I remember I had a final exam for my rhythms and games class: We had to, like, come up with our own dance and do it at the end of the quarter. But I was competing in Europe, so I couldn’t be there to perform it in front of the class. She just had me submit it digitally: and there I was, out with my phone on our hotel balcony in Italy, doing my dance.”  

And it wasn’t just the travel-related classroom accommodations that impressed Roberts, it was the love they showed toward this accomplished Eagle: “They would send emails out to all the other students keeping them updated on what I was doing, which I think is really cool,” she says. “It shows how proud they were to have a student who is doing this; who is in the Paralympics and traveling for Team USA.”

Perhaps even more consequentially, Roberts says Eastern’s faculty were also instrumental in helping her stay on track after she found herself struggling mentally — a dark period in her personal life about which Roberts has been courageously forthcoming.

She had begun her para-athletics career just a few months after the conclusion of the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Since that time the travel, the competitions, the intense training schedule — hours each day, six days a week, while juggling a full-time schedule at Eastern — were all geared toward preparing Roberts for her Paralympic debut in Tokyo. 

Then came Covid-19. 

As a dazed world struggled to understand what was happening, things went from bad to worse with stunning speed. In January, rising international case numbers made clear the “novel coronavirus” was rapidly spreading from person to person, and would not be confined to China. In early February, global transportation restrictions began stranding travelers, and within weeks many international borders shut down completely. By mid-March the WHO had declared a global pandemic. 

For a while, Japanese and Olympic officials put on a brave face, saying, as one news account put it, that the Games “would be the balm the world needs to show victory over the coronavirus pandemic.” But then, on March 23, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan announced that the Games were off, supposedly postponed, though many in Japan loudly advocated for their outright cancelation.

The news hit Roberts hard. The punishing workouts, the endless training, the exhausting travel, the separation from family and friends: suddenly it all seemed like a cruel joke, a virus-concocted mockery of everything that defined her. She felt her ambitions dissolving into air; her dreams vanishing before her eyes. Then came word that one of her closest friends was dead at age 23, apparently from suicide. For Roberts, who had long battled anxiety and depression, it was almost too much to bear.  

At a particularly low moment, afraid that she might harm herself, Roberts checked into a psychiatric hospital. “At some points, I genuinely didn’t think that I would make it,” she confided to reporter Danamarie McNicholl of Spokane’s KREM2 during a February interview. 

Coach David Greig pauses, then gives a heavy sigh when he recalls Roberts’ ordeal. During the four years leading up to the Games, he says, the focus had always been on what Greig calls “the plan” — “Tokyo, medaling, executing what needed to be done when that gun went off, or when that long jump commenced… With Covid-19, with Tokyo disappearing, all that stuff, things changed.”

Greig says he tried to help by “peeling back the layers,” digging deep to identify the sources of Roberts’ destructive stress. “I remember there was text conversation we had. I was on the coast, trying to get some R&R. She was really struggling. I asked her, ‘Why? Why do you want to do this?’ It basically got down to her saying ‘I want to be that girl, that woman, that other girls with disabilities can look up to. Because I didn’t have that.’ I’m, like, okay. Let’s go from there.”

At Eastern, Carri Kreider, an associate professor and program director for health and physical education, also remembers Roberts’ battle as something of a milestone along her road to something greater. “Our Health and Physical Education Program is like one large family,” Krieder says. “While Jaleen’s Paralympic success is amazing, so is her ability to overcome the struggles she has had with mental health… We would not give up on her. And, more importantly, we would not let her give up on herself.”

It was, thankfully, a short, successful hospital stay. Roberts emerged more determined than ever to keep training hard for Tokyo, willing herself to believe the Games would eventually be held. But the frightening episode has stayed with her, adding yet another incentive to succeed: Using success not only to encourage others with physical disabilities, but also those who may be struggling with mental health challenges.

“I’ve always been super transparent about my mental health journey, just because I feel like it’s something that needs to be more normalized, especially in the athletics community,” Roberts says. “People think that athletes in some way are exempt from mental health issues — suicide, depression, anxiety — and we’re not. I hope that my experience might help other athletes, and everybody in general, understand that it’s OK to struggle. It’s OK to reach out and speak up when you need help.”

The Tokyo Games did, of course, go on. And as she boarded the jumbo jet bound for Japan, Roberts knew she was ready. Convinced, she says, that she had left nothing on the table in preparation for track and field’s biggest stage.

To ensure competitive fairness, athletes at the Paralympics are classed according to the nature of their impairments. Track and field athletes such as Roberts, who live with co-ordination conditions involving hypertonia (muscle tightness and reduced stretching capacity) ataxia (a loss of muscle control affecting voluntary movements) and athetosis (muscle contractions that sometimes cause involuntary movements) compete in “Running Tracks and Jumps,” categories T35-38.

Roberts is a T37 athlete, a category where, according to World Para Athletics, competitors have “moderate hypertonia, ataxia or athetosis in one half of the body. The other side of the body may be minimally affected but always demonstrates good functional ability in running.”

After the long flight, Roberts settled in to her accommodations at Yokota Air Base, the U.S. Air Force facility in Tokyo where the 70-member Team USA would spend the week before the Games. The extra time at Yokota allowed Roberts to recover from jet-lag and get acclimatized before getting down to business.

Heat 1 of the 200-meter sprint was to be Robert’s first event, held on the third day of the 12-day-long Games. She was highly ranked, but wasn’t a favorite against the talent-stacked field. She ran well, however, finishing third in her heat. It was good enough to qualify for the final, but with a time that put her well behind the eventual medalists. She wasn’t in the least bit disappointed. In fact, Roberts says, getting that first race in the books provided a big boost of confidence. It also didn’t hurt, jitters-wise, that the stands of the enormous stadium were largely empty due to Japan’s strict Covid-19 protocols.
 

More important than the lack of fans, however, was simply feeling comfortable. Feeling like she belonged, not just at the Games but on the podium. Roberts says that as she entered the stadium for the T37 long jump, the second of her three scheduled events, she was more than relaxed. She was psyched.

 

 “With a big competition like that, you’re obviously used to having people in the stands,” she says. “But as I’ve reflected back on the whole Games, I think it made me a little bit less nervous than I would normally be, just because it made it all feel like a smaller event.”

More important than the lack of fans, however, was simply feeling comfortable. Feeling like she belonged, not just at the Games but on the podium. Roberts says that as she entered the stadium for the T37 long jump, the second of her three scheduled events, she was more than relaxed. She was psyched.

“After the 200-meter, most of my nerves were gone,” she says. “Obviously, you still get the stress that happens right before your event — like, ‘Woo, I’m about to go out there’ — but no, seriously, I was probably in my best head-space going into the long jump that I’ve ever been in for any event at any competition.”

Reaching that level of comfort was no small achievement. In the long jump, athletes sprint down a 40-meter-long “runway” (the approach) which terminates in a 20 cm (7.8 inch) wide “take-off board.” As they near the board, long-jumpers must quickly condense their stride and heave themselves airborne before reaching the foul line at board’s end. Because even a toe on the line disqualifies the jump, the temptation is to launch early. Leaving sooner, of course, prevents disqualifications. But it shaves crucial inches off a jumper’s final distance. 

Roberts says that previous to the Games, she had been struggling to bring her approach and launch into sync  — perhaps the most crucial part of this demanding event — and it had weighed on her mentally.

 “I had been working on it for years,” she says of her approach, “just getting on the board; taking off from the board: I would always take off behind the board. But over the last couple of months I finally got it down. In practice I was consistent with it; at a competition before the Games, I was consistent with it. That helped me feel more confident going in. I was able to have fun, instead of thinking so much that: ‘You’re not going to get on the board; you’re not going to get on the board.’”

“I just focused on talking really positively to myself,” she adds. “I really, really, really try to have that voice between my ears to be my friend and not my enemy.”

And so it was on Day 5 of the Games, as Roberts’s perfect technique on the second of her five jumps set a new North American record of 4.65 meters (15.25 feet) and earned her a silver medal. It was an exultant moment, but there was little time for celebration. The 100-meter was on the horizon. She was determined to make the most of it.

Roberts says that before the long-jump, she was so pumped that Greig urged her to chill. “He’s like, ‘Jaleen, please go over there and sit down. You’re wasting too much energy!’” She recalls feeling more ambivalence headed into the 100.

“To be completely honest, I was not super confident going into it. I just wasn’t super happy with the times I had been running during the season… I knew my ranking [No. 3 in the world], but I was, like, ‘I’m not even sure I’m going to place here. I’m just going to run it; see what happens.’”

That changed after her qualifying race. Roberts finished second with a time of 13.41 — just .15 seconds behind China’s Xiaoyan Wen — easily qualifying for the next-day’s final. “After that, I felt really good,” says Roberts. “I was glad that it was the next morning. I think the adrenaline was carrying over.”

When that rainy morning dawned, Roberts remembers she was again in the “positive head space” that bodes well for elite athletes. “It’s weird, because the races where I feel the most relaxed are the races that I run the fastest. But in your head, you actually feel like you’re running slow. It’s because you’re not tensing up.” (Tensing up isn’t good for any athlete, but for those with cerebral palsy it’s especially troublesome. “It’s just the nature of cerebral palsy,” says Greig. “If you’re stressed out, your body reflexively tightens.”)

Video clips from NBC Sports show Roberts looking intensely focused as she approached the blocks. Runners in the 100 typically internalize a litany of technical points that will help propel them forward. Feet set, body aligned. React to—don’t anticipate — the gun. Keep long out of the blocks, ease into the upright position, stay low and efficient over the first 25 meters. 

For Roberts it was all about keeping positive, trusting her abilities. “I was ready to go. I was ready to medal.”  

Crouched in the blocks to her right was Wen, two-time 100-meter gold medalist and the world record holder. To Roberts’ left was Jiang Fenfen, another Chinese athlete with a reputation for speed and efficiency. Greig was in the stands above the track, peering down nervously. “Honestly, I was thinking bronze,” he says, “because Jaleen had never touched the Chinese girls.” 

Roberts settled into the blocks, head down, hair draped across her face like a veil.  

The gun sounded. Roberts got away clean and fast. “One of her best starts ever,” Greig says. Still, after the first couple of strides she found herself looking at the backs of her two closest rivals. “Jaleen Roberts has some work to do!” said NBC’s Bill Spaulding during his call. 

“I had thought through the race going in: get out of the blocks hard, but stay low, and then transition up instead of standing right up. So I just worked it through. And as soon as I got to my top end, I think I just got a little push. I don’t know… I just felt some burst of energy kicked in.”

Indeed. By the 50-meter mark the race had become a three-woman event: Wen leading, Jiang a half-stride behind her with Roberts in third but closing fast. At this point, with all three runners at peak speed, the race became a contest of attrition: Who could maintain the pace? 

As the finish approached, it was clear that Wen would not be denied another gold medal. But Roberts kept powering forward; pushing, gaining ground. “I’ve learned over the years not to tense up when I see people passing me — that used to be one of the areas I struggled with,” Roberts says. “I knew they were going to go out hard, because they’re phenomenal athletes. So I just stayed calm and relaxed.” 

At 75 meters, Roberts says she knew she would be medaling, “because I couldn’t see the field in my peripheral vision,” she says. But the color of that medal was very much up in the air. 

“I could see one of the Chinese athletes in front of me, but I didn’t think there was enough time left in the race for me to catch up to her,” she says. “But then I saw the other Chinese athlete on my left. I thought, ‘We are way too close. There is no way I’m going to lose to her.’”

The finish could not have been tighter, but Roberts inched ahead at the end.

“In the stands, with 10 meters to go, I just started screaming, ‘GO! GO!’ It just came out of nowhere, I was like ‘Gooooooo! GO J!’ I could see she was closing. It was awesome. People around me were, like, ‘What is wrong with this guy?’”

 

“When I saw my name and ‘silver’ on the board,” she says, “I freaked out. I started bawling.”

Greig’s voice catches with emotion as he recalls the race’s finish, one he says was “the highlight of my coaching career.” 

“In the stands, with 10 meters to go, I just started screaming, ‘GO! GO!’ It just came out of nowhere, I was like ‘Gooooooo! GO J!’ I could see she was closing. It was awesome. People around me were, like, ‘What is wrong with this guy?’” 

Wen’s time of 13-seconds flat was a new world record. Roberts second-place time of 13.16 set the American and North American records. After the race the two competitors, who count themselves as friends off the track, joined up with Jiang to pose together, smiling. 

It was a classic moment of sporting solidarity, a reminder of how the Olympic spirit is meant to bring rivals — both personal and political — together in shared appreciation. It also speaks of the power of sport to encourage, to motivate, to inspire. For Jaleen Roberts, an Eastern student whose Paralympic dreams were seemingly upended by a global pandemic, a young person who experienced the tragic death of her best friend and depression-shrouded days where she could not will herself out of bed, this was the true power of standing on the podium.

“It means that there are girls around the world watching on TV, and that I didn’t disappoint them,” Roberts says. “It means that I was able to show that you can move beyond all this adversity and still come out with success.”  

These days, Roberts has been student teaching in San Diego — the last requirement for finishing up her degree at EWU — while working with Greig’s coaching colleague Kris Mack at the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee’s Elite Athlete Training Center in nearby Chula Vista. The past few months have been a whirlwind, she says, but she is keeping her focus on what really matters.

“I’ve always tried to find deeper meaning in things,” Roberts says. “It’s really nice to have finally done this thing I’ve always wanted to do, and to have the impact that I’ve always wanted to have. That I get to continue having an impact means a lot to me, too. That’s not something that’s going to stop just because the Games are over.”

After three decades on the job, Dave Cook, Eastern’s longest-serving director of sports information, exits the press box.

By Dave Meany

For more than 30 years, the name Dave Cook has been synonymous with EWU Athletics. Some would say, despite his understated style, that he was the most influential person in the department. As EWU’s Sports Information Director, Cook supplied reporters with endless stats and data before and after games, setup interviews and coordinated hundreds of behind-the-scenes details. He also proved to be a steadying influence for nervous administrators, coaches and athletes who found themselves exposed to the occasionally uncomfortable glare of the sports-media spotlight.

Over the years, Cook witnessed the incredible rise of a football program once denied entry into the Big Sky Conference — a program that would avenge that slight by becoming a perennial conference title contender and 2010 FCS National Champion. Cook also served to advance the interests of Eastern’s other competitive sports, including a men’s basketball program that has made three NCAA Tournament appearances.

Cook, who grew up in Yakima, retired in June. But stepping back doesn’t mean he’s stepping away entirely. In the months following his retirement announcement, he’s often been back at Roos Field to help Monica Jaenicke, his replacement as SID, transition into her new role. Eastern magazine visited with Cook about his years at EWU, his retirement, and what lies ahead for the self-proclaimed “stats geek” who will always be a part of the university’s sports history.

What has it been like so far, being away from EWU Athletics, during what is typically a super busy stretch of the year for the sports information director?

DC: I haven’t been away; far from it! I still have the same commute to campus — consisting of one mile and two stop signs — so I’ll be a frequent visitor. From the day I announced I was retiring in late June, I made a vow to Eastern and myself that I was still going to be involved; especially to assist in the transition and anything to keep the Eastern historical legacy alive. I knew a lot was already on the plate of our Assistant Sports Information Director Monica Jaenicke [now the permanent SID], so I wanted to help where I can with football and men’s basketball. Although I now get to be a fan, my love for Eagle Football and our other programs will never ever waver.

When you announced your retirement, many former and current coaches and players chimed in on what a great experience it was working with you – how did that make you feel? Did it make it harder to walk away?

DC: It was definitely overwhelming and appreciated, and most certainly there was a part of me that regretted retiring about four years before I planned. I still have a lot of energy and passion for work, and I did enjoy greatly being sports information director at Eastern for 31 years. However, once I was able to spend more time with my wife, Freida, in the summer instead of answering a barrage of emails and preparing for another sports season, I understood just how very valuable my time was to me. We went to five music festivals this summer – two of them I wasn’t ever able to do because of the job. And what was crazy about those two festivals was the fact I ran into people with connections to Eastern. 

So I guarantee that sweaty old red Eagle cap will be with me on our trips forever. Although Freida continues to work, we’ll also enjoy life — through running and music primarily — and cherish every moment.

I assume you were watching the opening game at UNLV. What was it like to finally be a ‘spectator’ like the rest of us?

DC: I did go on that trip, and was in the press box — and the same with the home game versus my alma mater, Central Washington. So the answer to your question really came on Sept. 18, when I watched the Western Illinois game on ESPN+. It was definitely weird, but not unprecedented, since I had missed football road games before because of basketball home-game conflicts. It was certainly memorable, with Eastern scoring 55 first-half points, Eric Barriere throwing for more yards in a half than any other FCS player in history and the Eagles scoring touchdowns on their first six possessions. I remember sending countless texts to Monica, [game announcers] Larry Weir and Paul Sorensen alerting them to my observations about records broken and potentially broken — with a whole lot of ‘Unbelievable!’ comments about what we all were witnessing. I promised them I would not be so irritating the next time I watch an Eagle game. 

As far as the real strangeness of missing an Eastern game, that will come in the playoffs because I’m the only person who has been at each and every playoff game in EWU’s history as a member of the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly I-AA). And the first Eagle home game I miss will be even more surreal — I’ve seen them all since 1990.

So, are you able to watch an EWU game without subconsciously wanting to take notes or write down stats for your post-game release?

DC: I’ll always take a big gander at the stats during and after games, as well as read the recap and the comments that coaches and players make before and after games. It’s just a relief to know it’s no longer my responsibility to navigate technology we needed to get those stats and information out to the masses. I’ll still try to discover notes as well, and pass them along when I think of them — particularly historical tidbits. I’ve been helping Monica with that, and hopefully she’ll continue to let me visit her office on Sundays! 

These days, I can spend a good portion of the game in the stands where the rule, ‘No Cheering in the Press Box,’ is not in play. Most importantly, I’m always available, or a text away, to help Monica. She’s already been marvelous at the job, and I look forward to celebrating HER tenure when she retires in 30 or so years!

I know you’ve got a lot of great memories. But what do you miss least?

DC: I enjoyed most of the job, most of the time — especially interactions with coaches, players, media and game staff. [Toward the end] I just couldn’t keep up with a never-ending flurry of requests, technology changes and the workload on nights and weekends. So, despite my love for EWU, I felt it was time for me to hang it up. But by no means did I leave bitter or have any animosity towards others. 

It’s just the way most jobs, professions and organizations operate these days, and I made the choice to retire a bit earlier than most [Cook is 58].

Looking back at your years at EWU, which season stands out as the most memorable?

DC: Honestly, it would have to be my first, when I served as an interim SID during the 1985-86 school year. Eastern had just been denied admission into the Big Sky Conference, so the year and my career started on a somewhat somber note. But that year the football team won nine games, beating Idaho in the playoffs. And the men’s basketball team won 20 games. My memories and experiences working alongside Ron Raver, John Johnson, Dick Zornes, Judy Crabb and Kerry Moxcey shaped my professional life ever since. It was an amazing group of people that I got to learn from, and much of that I used while at Idaho as SID from 1986-90 before returning to EWU.

Two years later the Big Sky admitted Eastern. The growth trajectory since then has been nothing short of amazing, so I’m equally as proud of seasons such as 1992 [first Big Sky Conference title in football], 1997 [playoff semifinals], 2004 [first NCAA Tournament berth in basketball], 2010 [FCS National Champions], 2015 when beating Montana in Missoula to win the Big Sky tournament title [and an NCAA Tournament birth] and 2018 [FCS football national runner-up]. To cap it all off, I was able to spend a week in the “bubble” in Indianapolis at the NCAA Tournament, followed by a berth in the spring football playoffs — making EWU the only school in the nation to qualify for the playoffs in NCAA Division I in both sports. I could go on and on, and of course I’d have a list. Making lists was essentially my life for 35 years.

Do you plan to stay involved with the university?

DC: As much as I can! But what I didn’t anticipate was how much I’d enjoy working at Michael Anderson Elementary, a part of the Medical Lake School District on Fairchild Air Force base. My wife is in her 31st year there, and is now an instructional coach for the school of 377 students. She convinced me this summer to complete paperwork to become a substitute para-educator on occasion and receive base access, and I looked forward to joining my wife at her workplace for a change. She has long been a staff worker at EWU football games, and has helped us when needed, but I never had the military clearance to visit her on a regular basis. 

From that first day on, I’ve tried to be a willing servant and that ‘jack of all trades, master of none’ type of sub for the school. I’ve been able to work with the kids in classrooms, which is by far my favorite task. But I’ve also helped in the library, monitored recesses, assisted with bus-loading duty, labeled new books and classroom curriculum, handed out breakfasts and took on myriad of other duties as they arose. 

I even spent a full day substituting in PE, and nearly a week working in the kitchen helping to prepare and serve breakfast and lunch. What I thought would be a glimpse at K-12 education has turned into an “eyes-wide-open emoji” — multiplied by 100. My experience and amazement at the school has given me and an incredible appreciation for what educators do each day for these kiddos. And the corn dogs and mac-and-cheese is mighty good too!

How about your passion for running — is that continuing? Or did you also hang up the running shoes when you retired from Eastern?

DC: God-willing, the running shoes will NEVER be hung up. My daily run — three miles a day for more than 10 years — will always be the most important part of my day. But with an earlier wake-up call to serve at the elementary school, I’ve had to navigate running in darkness earlier than expected. In fact, recently I was blinded by the lights of an early-morning bus, and as I tried to shuffle from the road to the sidewalk, I ran smack dab into a garbage can on the curb and knocked it down. Neither myself nor the can suffered injury, thankfully. Now I think of that garbage can as an apt characterization of my retired life: Whatever comes before me, just knock it down, laugh it off and live to run another day.

Eastern students and alumni are used to attacking rims at Spokane Hoopfest. Now they’re bringing the backboards.

Hoopfest, the massive three-on-three basketball gathering that modestly bills itself as the “Best Basketball Experience on Earth,” now counts EWU as a major sponsor. To celebrate, three university design students, Matthew Barden, Tannor Glumbick and Delaney Umemoto, created special backboards meant to show their Eagle pride

Though last year’s cancelation meant nobody was banking balls off their creations, Hoopfest organizers say they’ll for sure be hanging rims from them this September.

Interested in attending or, even better, participating in Spokane Hoopfest? Visit spokanehoopfest.net.