Sports

<< Previous   of   Next >>   ADVERTISEMENT   ADDITIONAL ITEMS • University of Washington athletics (External Link)   CONTACT THE HERALD Report scores and results to 425-339-3470 or 1-866-6-SCORES (Call after 4:30 p.m.) E-mail information including items for Tuesday's Communities Sports Roundup and Thursday's Outdoor Calendar, to sports@heraldnet.com Kevin Brown, Sports Editor kbrown@heraldnet.com   Published: Tuesday, April 22, 2008 UW's Garcia has Lisfranc sprain It's still unknown how long the center will be out with the injury. By John Boyle Herald Writer SEATTLE -- In 2006, a Lisfranc injury devastated Washington's football season as quarterback Isaiah Stanback missed the second half of the season with the foot injury. After learning Monday that Juan Garcia suffered a Lisfranc sprain in Friday's practice, the Huskies' 2008 outlook will hinge on whether or not their starting center and captain has a similar version of the injury that Stanback did two seasons ago. Tyrone Willingham said that Garcia will miss the final week of spring practice, but didn't know what Garcia's long-term prognosis will look like. Garcia is expected to meet with a specialist this week to determine the severity of the injury. "There are varying degrees of it, that's why I won't speculate," Willingham said. "What Isaiah had was a severe case of that. We're not sure and I'm not at liberty yet to say what exactly the extent of Juan's is." Stanback was injured in mid-October and required surgery. He was drafted by the Cowboys despite missing spring workouts, and was back on the field that summer. A similar diagnosis for Garcia's injury would keep the center off the field for most or all of his senior season. Garcia will be a sixth-year senior in the fall, having been granted an extra year of eligibility after injuries sidelined him for two full seasons. A dislocated ankle and broken fibula suffered in the spring of 2004 kept him out that fall, and a torn labrum caused him to miss the 2005 season. He started all 25 of Washington's games over the past two seasons, and was a second-team all-conference selection in 2007. "When it happened it was very, very difficult, because Juan has had quite a few injuries that he has had to overcome, and at some point you ask yourself, 'When does it end.'" Willingham said. "I know that's what he was going through and that's a lot of pain. It's very difficult on him right now. Until the sun starts to shine, he'll be down a little bit." The injury occurred early in Friday's scrimmage when Garcia was in a pileup on a short-yardage play. An air cast was placed on his leg and he was taken off of the field on a golf cart. Original reports indicated a knee and ankle injury to his left leg, but Willingham said Garcia's knee has no major injuries. "There's no question he is an important person to our football team," Willingham said. "The impact of his loss Friday was immediately felt from the standpoint that the whole team felt his absence. It was one of those situations where you feel like the air is being sucked out of the room when that person leaves. We know he's a vital part to our football team. But always in football the next man has to step in and that's what happens." Matt Sedillo is listed as Garcia's backup, though if the injury kept the center out in the fall, Willingham said the team could look at moving another more experienced lineman to center. "We'll always look at what strengthens our team the best," Willingham said. "It may be that Matt's our starter or it may be that somebody else switches over and comes in and does something else. The option's always available to you, but right now I'm confident that if we played tomorrow, then Matt would go in and do a good job." Hasty missing from practice: Tailback J.R. Hasty was not on the field for Washington's practice Monday. Hasty, a junior next season in terms of eligibility, was suspended during the first two weeks of spring practice along with linebacker E.J. Savannah, though both attended practice and ran stairs during that time. Hasty briefly quit the team last fall before returning. Willingham made no mention of Hasty's status during his press briefing prior to practice. Forrester to cornerback: Mesphin Forrester, who started all 13 games last season at safety, has been working as a cornerback in recent practices, Willingham reported. Apparently Forrester as well as Quinton Richardson, a redshirt freshman who practiced as a safety last year, have been getting reps at cornerback with the first-team defense, while sophomore Nate Williams and Victor Aiyewa have seen first-team action at safety. Jason Wells, the starting free safety for Washington's first five games, is out for the spring while recovering from a torn ACL suffered last season. His replacement last year, Darin Harris, has been limited this spring with a knee injury as well. "We'll continue to move people around, nothing necessarily major, but always seeking to find the best combinations to give us a chance to play good sound defense," Willingham said. "If it puts our best players on the field, that's something we'll go with." Defense continuing to improve: Willingham said that the defense outplayed the offense in Friday's scrimmage, which was closed to the media. The offense had the edge over the defense in the team's first two scrimmages. "I thought overall our defense kind of rebounded from what had happened a week ago," Willingham said. "I gave the advantage to the offense a week ago coming out of our scrimmage, and this time I gave the advantage to the defense coming out of the scrimmage." Contact Herald Writer John Boyle at jboyle@heraldnet.com. For more on University of Washington sports, check out the Huskies blog at heraldnet.com /huskiesblog

1. Text messages led to 2 arrests in Sultan man's killing 2. Man shot to death in south Everett 3. Arrest made in early morning shooting death 4. Boeing 7-8-07 rollout : One year later 5. Hikers rescued off Mount Pilchuck 6. Governor's race gets costly; in Snohomish County, Rossi leads Gregoire in fundraising 7. Neighborhood fireworks ruin day 8. Auburn teen pleads guilty in gang-related slaying 9. Everett needs parking more than new children's theater, some businesses say 10. Miss Jessica: Racecar teacher 2 - Top 10 Stories Most Talked about 3 - Top 10 Stories Most Emailed

• PCC illegally chops three trees in Edmonds • Local lottery winner takes biggest ever prize • Man shot to death south of Everett • Terrace seeks to sharpen dog ordinance's teeth • Terrace council OKs controversial housing development • An era ends: the curtain falls on the Sonics • Red, White, and Blue: Parade photoalbum • World famous, and headed to Everett • The man in charge • Arlington Fly-In marks 40th anniversary this year • County home market offers low rates, lower prices, wide variety of prope ... • Good investments may be boring but profitable • People Watching - July 2008 • Melody Biringer a wide-ranging entrepreneur • Fryelands industrial park growing in Monroe • Out of the Blue Aviation expands flight training • Paul Allen’s rare Flying Heritage Collection becomes latest aviation att ...