10A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 27, 2017
CONTACT US
FOLLOW US
facebook.com/
DailyAstorianSports
Gary Henley | Sports Reporter
ghenley@dailyastorian.com
SPORTS
IN BRIEF
Ledecky swims
to AP Female
Athlete of the
Year honors
Katie Ledecky got her start in
swimming because she just wanted
to make friends. Her brother was
eager to join a team at a pool near
their house and as a 6-year-old, she
tagged along.
By summer’s end, the Ledecky
siblings had made 100 friends
ranging in age from 6 to 18. Some
of them remain good friends with
Katie, who went on to become
the world’s best
swimmer in the
post-Michael
Phelps era.
She earned
five golds and
a silver at this
year’s
world
Katie
championships
Ledecky
in
Budapest,
maintaining the
upward trajectory she first estab-
lished as a surprise gold medalist at
the 2012 London Olympics.
Her dominant performance in
Hungary earned Ledecky Associ-
ated Press Female Athlete of the
Year honors.
In balloting by U.S. editors and
news directors announced Tues-
day, Ledecky received 351 points,
edging out Serena Williams with
343. Williams won the Australian
Open for her Open era-record 23rd
Grand Slam tennis title.
Astros star Altuve
named AP Male
Athlete of the Year
HOUSTON — Jose Altuve
led the Houston Astros to their
first World Series title with a win
over the Los Angeles Dodgers in
November and picked up the fran-
chise’s first MVP trophy in more
than two decades a couple of
weeks later.
And as his
huge 2017 is
coming to a
close, the dimin-
utive
second
baseman already
is looking for
Jose
more.
Altuve
“Winning the
World
Series,
winning the MVP, you feel like
you have everything,” Altuve
told The Associated Press. “But
my perspective is to try and get
better every year and if we win
one World Series, why not win
another one? Just keep playing for
the team and keep playing for my
city.”
Altuve, who was one of only
a handful of players who endured
the Astros’ painful rebuilding pro-
cess en route to this year’s cham-
pionship, which gave hope to a
city ravaged by Hurricane Harvey,
was chosen as The Associated
Press Male Athlete of the Year.
AP Photo/Michael Ainsworth
Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Dez Bryant defends as Seattle Seahawks linebacker K.J. Wright intercepts a pass.
Gritty Seahawks keep playoff
hopes alive in final week
By SCHUYLER DIXON
Associated Press
UP NEXT: SEAHAWKS
ARLINGTON, Texas — Already miss-
ing two of their defensive stars for the season,
the Seattle Seahawks were coming off their
most-lopsided loss under coach Pete Carroll
and facing Ezekiel Elliott in his return to the
Dallas Cowboys after two of their worst show-
ings against the run this year.
The Seahawks are still fighting for their
sixth straight trip to the playoffs after a 21-12
victory Sunday. The Cowboys are out.
“We’ve been doing this since I’ve been
here the past seven years,” said linebacker
K.J. Wright, who had one of two interceptions
against Dak Prescott, the other returned for a
touchdown by Justin Coleman.
“Whenever our backs are against the wall,
we just find a way to bounce back. We could
have easily taken the loss against the Rams,
come back, pouted and moaned all throughout
the week.”
Instead they won despite a career-low 93
yards passing from Russell Wilson, who threw
two touchdown passes to get to 32 for the sea-
son, within two of his career high.
The Seahawks won despite just 136 yards
total offense — fewest since beating the
then-St. Louis Rams in 2013 — because that
defense missing safety Kam Chancellor and
• Arizona Cardinals (7-8)
at Seattle Seahawks (9-6)
• Sunday, 1:25 p.m. TV: FOX
cornerback Richard Sherman, not to mention
end Cliff Avril, forced three turnovers. Each led
to one of the touchdowns, highlighted by Cole-
man’s 30-yard return to put Seattle in front for
good in the third quarter.
Seattle (9-6) was eliminated in the NFC
West race because the Los Angeles Rams beat
Jacksonville 27-23 a week after a 42-7 blow-
out of the Seahawks. But Seattle still has a shot
at the postseason with a win at home against
Arizona and an Atlanta loss to Carolina next
Sunday.
“Adversity to me is all the same,” said
receiver Doug Baldwin, who had one of the
touchdown catches on a 6-yarder for the final
margin. “It’s another mountain that you have to
climb. So a lot of the guys in this room look
toward things we’ve had to overcome as moti-
vation that we can win with the struggles we’re
facing now.”
Things to consider after the Seahawks
avoided a third straight December loss for
the first time since 2010 — another time they
bounced back because they made the playoffs
at 7-9 and won a wild-card game at home:
ELLIOTT’S RETURN: The Cowboys
(8-7) didn’t look much better offensively with
last year’s NFL rushing leader back after the
ban over domestic violence allegations. If they
are to contend in 2018 after missing the play-
offs following a 13-3 season in the debuts of
Prescott and Elliott, the passing game will have
to get back on track.
Prescott had four interceptions last year
while setting a rookie record for passer rating.
He has four pick-sixes this season and 13 inter-
ceptions overall, the most for a Dallas quarter-
back since Tony Romo matched his career high
with 19 in 2012. Elliott’s 97 yards on 24 carries
didn’t make much difference.
“This year was tough,” Prescott said. “We
know we are not making the postseason, but
hopefully it will motivate us.”
LOOKING AHEAD: Seattle safety Earl
Thomas, going into the last year of his contract
and a candidate for salary cap savings if he is
cut, visited receiver Dez Bryant in the Cow-
boys locker room after the game and told Dal-
las coach Jason Garrett, “If they kick me to the
curb, come get me.”
“When I say ‘Come get me,’ I don’t mean
now,” said Thomas, who has made offseason
appearances with Bryant. “But when Seattle
kicks me to the curb, please, the Cowboys come
get me. That’s the only place I’d rather be.”
Villanova still at No. 1, top 4 of new AP Top 25 unchanged
is No. 12 Oklahoma, led by fresh-
man star Trae Young. No. 9 Virginia
is up four spots.
By AARON BEARD
Associated Press
Els invited
to Augusta
National, but not
to play Masters
Ernie Els says he received an
invitation to Augusta National
for the first week in April. It just
wasn’t an invitation to play in the
Masters.
Els had to clarify a tweet from
Sunday that said: “Thank you for
a Great Xmas present! @TheMas-
ters Can’t wait!” That led several
media sites to post stories that Els,
a four-time major champion, had
received a special exemption into
the Masters.
Instead, the 48-year-old South
African received a letter welcom-
ing him as an honorary invitee. His
five-year exemption into the Mas-
ters from winning the 2012 Brit-
ish Open ended last year. Augusta
National has a tradition of inviting
past major champions as honorary
guests for the week.
Els tweeted Monday: “Wanted
to clarify my excitement getting an
invite from @TheMasters. Work
continues to qualify to compete!
— Associated Press
Villanova stayed comfortably
at No. 1 in an AP Top 25 poll that
offered little change at the top.
The top four teams stayed the
same in Monday’s new poll , led by
the Wildcats (12-0) receiving 43 of 65
first-place votes to stay at No. 1 for
the third straight week. No. 2 Mich-
igan State (12-1) was second and
had 16 first-place votes, while third-
ranked Arizona State (12-0) had six
first-place votes to stay ahead of No.
4 Duke (12-1).
Those four teams won their six
games last week by an average mar-
gin of 39.7 points, leaving their
coaches to focus on tuning elements
of their games before the bulk of con-
ference play takes hold.
“I guess if you were to ask me
where do you want to be at Christ-
mas: would you like to be winning
games by an average of 20 points a
game ... and can you be 12-1?” Mich-
igan State coach Tom Izzo said after
last week’s 102-60 win against Long
Beach State. “I think I’d have taken
that. Plus I’m seeing improvement.”
For the preseason No. 1 Blue Dev-
ils, in particular, a lighter December
schedule due to exams and the holi-
days has offered some needed prac-
tice time following a travel-filled
opening month.
Longest slides
AP Photo/Julio Cortez
Villanova head coach Jay Wright.
“We had some good practices so
we looked better defensively and
hopefully we will continue to do
that,” Duke coach Mike Krzyze-
wski said after last week’s 104-40
win against Evansville. “Once we get
back we have a tough game (against
No. 24 Florida State), but we’ll have
more continuity. And that’s what this
group needs, a young group espe-
cially needs the continuity.”
Changes in the top 10
Texas A&M (11-1) climbed to
fifth, followed by Xavier, West Vir-
ginia, Wichita State, Virginia and
TCU to round out the top 10. Those
teams all climbed between three and
five spots.
TCU (12-0) has the nation’s lon-
gest winning streak at 17 games dat-
ing to last season’s NIT championship
after Friday’s win against William &
Mary , and now has the highest rank-
ing in program history.
Top risers
Joining TCU in rising five spots
Four ranked teams took big slides
after losses to unranked opponents
last week.
Miami and Kentucky both fell
nine spots to Nos. 15 and 16 in the
biggest slides of the week after the
Hurricanes lost to New Mexico State
in the Diamond Head Classic and the
Wildcats lost to UCLA in the CBS
Sports Classic in New Orleans.
Reigning national champion
North Carolina fell eight spots to No.
13 after its home loss to Wofford ,
snapping a 23-game home winning
streak. Now-No. 20 Gonzaga also
fell eight spots after its loss to San
Diego State .
Standing pat
In addition to the four teams at
the top, four more teams — No. 18
Baylor, No. 23 Seton Hall, No. 24
Florida State and No. 25 Creighton
— stayed in the same spot as last
week.
No new faces
There were no newcomers or
departures from this week’s poll,
with 11 teams climbing and six fall-
ing in addition to the eight staying in
the same slot.