NW Briefs | UW honors crew legend

The "Chuck Holtz," a new rowing shell named after the late University of Washington oarsman from the early 1960s, was dedicated Wednesday in a ceremony attended by family and friends at the UW crewhouse. Holtz was a standout on Huskies crews in the early 1960s after earning a gold medal at the Pan Am Games in 1959 and earned a second Pan Am gold medal in 1963. Holtz died in 1980.

The shell will see its first intercollegiate action next weekend when the Huskies men and women compete in the Windermere Classic in Belmont, Calif.

Explosion sign pair

The ABA's Everett Explosion signed two new players Wednesday, forward-center Brian Dennis and forward Justin James.

The 6-foot-7 Dennis played the last two seasons with the Bellingham Slam. James' brother, Jerome James, played with the Sonics and is now currently with the New York Knicks.

The Explosion begins its inaugural season Saturday against the Lewis County Raptors. Everett's first home game is Tuesday at the Everett Events Center.

Lawrie among top 25

UW sophomore pitcher Danielle Lawrie (Langley, B.C.) is one of 25 finalists for the 2007 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Award, it was announced Wednesday.

Lawrie ranks second in the Pac-10 with a .159 opponent batting average and third in earned run average (1.02) and strikeouts (241).

SPU gymnastics seeded third

Towson is the No. 1 seed for the USA Gymnastics Collegiate Championships, which will be hosted by Seattle Pacific, April 19-21.

The other teams, in order of seeding, will be defending champion Texas Woman's, Rutgers, SPU, Centenary, Cornell, Temple and William & Mary.

Sixteen individuals earned at-large berths.

Tickets are on sale at the SPU Athletic Office (206-281-2085).

Compiled from sports-information reports

and other sources. Times staff reporter

Craig Smith contributed to this report.