WSU Notebook: Watch Jeshua Anderson run

FOUR COUGARS VIE for NCAA track and field titles on national television and/or NCAA.com Friday and Saturday in Fayetteville, Ark. Today, sophomore Jeshua Anderson defends his 400-meter intermediate hurdles crown at, after a rain dealy, 7:10 p.m. on CBS College Sports. Junior Trent Arrivey competes in the high jump at 5, and sophomore Marissa Tschida throws the javelin at 6:00.

Matt Lamb guns for his third All-America honor in the discus at 8 a.m. Saturday.

CBS provides live coverage from 10 a.m.-noon Saturday, and CCS’ coverage runs from 4-7 p.m. Saturday -- NCAA.com has all the action both days.

-- Staying put: Rising salaries, increased demands and added temptations from outside sources have made coaching “lifers” at any one school virtually extinct.

A notable exception is Washington State’s Rick Sloan. He’s been coaching track at WSU for 36 years, including the past 15 years as head coach of the men’s and women’s teams.

The Cougars have earned more than 100 All-America honors in outdoor and indoor track during Sloan’s reign as head coach. He plans to add to that total this weekend at the NCAA Championships in Fayetteville.

Sloan, an Anaheim native who starred in track and field at UCLA, came in seventh in the decathlon at the Mexico City Summer Games in 1968. He once held the decathlon world records in the high jump (6 feet, 11 ¾ inches) and pole vault (16-7), In 1996, Sloan helped coach former Idaho star (and WSU assistant coach) Dan O’Brien when he won Olympic gold in the decathlon.

-- Good old days: Phil Steele’s College Football Preview magazine provides a reminder of one of the key factors behind WSU football’s fall since the 2003 season, the last of a three year stretch where they won 10 games a season.

Since 2001, Steele says the Cougars rank ninth nationally with 222 turnovers on defense.

Last year’s total? A measly 13. Just three fumble recoveries (tied for last nationally) and 10 interceptions. Of course, WSU’s 38 turnovers on offense (also tied for last nationally) played a major role in the 2-11 record of a year ago. The Cougars’ average turnover margin of minus-1.9 per game ranked last.

It’s hardly coincidence that the leader in forced turnovers (265) since 2001 is USC.

-- Drafting QB’s: When the Los Angeles Angels drafted Washington Huskies quarterback Jake Locker in the 10th round Wednesday, it brought to mind the time the Seattle Mariners drafted Cougar quarterback Jack Thompson.

Thompson, Seattle’s 34th-round draft pick in 1979, was selected third overall in the NFL draft by Cincinnati earlier that year. Thompson played six years in the NFL.

The Cougars and Huskies both lost a pair of signed quarterback recruits who wound up enjoying successful careers in baseball. Ryne Sandberg went on to a Hall of Fame career with the Chicago Cubs after spurning Washington State, and former Husky signee Grady Sizemore is the star center fielder of the Cleveland Indians.