ALL-GNAC SELECTIONS SET TO CARRY ON PROUD TRADITION

Central Washington University's football team has won four conference championships and been to three NCAA Division II playoff s in the last seven years, including two consecutive playoff appearances. In fact, the Wildcats are the winningest collegiate football team in the state of Washington over the past six years.

However, with the departure of two players leaving to be National Football League free agents and three starting offensive linemen recently graduating, a few questions await the 2009 Wildcats. Will they be able to compete at the same level? Will they be able to win the conference? Will they be able to return to the playoffs? Ultimately, will the tradition continue?

CWU's five all-conference seniors—cornerback Courtney Smith (Stockton, California/East Union High School), wide receiver Johnny Spevak (Edgewood, Washington/Puyallup High School), linebacker David "Buddy" Wood (Chatt aroy, Washington/Riverside High School), safety Jerome Williams (Seattle, Washington/Ballard High School), and kicker Garrett Rolsma (University Place, Washington/Curtis High School)— are not only confident they can reach each of these goals, they're suggesting this year's encore may be even more impressive than last year's accomplishments.

"We expect to carry on the Central tradition," Spevak stated. "It doesn't matter who's not here. We loved the guys from last year, but they're gone now and the focus is on who is here and who's playing well."

"We expect to get back to the playoff s and we think we can go even further this year," added Smith. "We've got a lot of guys from last year who've been coming in (during the summer) and getting better and that's making the other players get better as well."

While the Wildcats search to fill the vacancies on the offensive side of the ball, the defense and special teams units appear to be even stronger than last year. The defense returns eight starters, and having the same defensive coordinator for a second consecutive season is paying big dividends.

"I've had three different coaches in three years," Wood explained. "Having Coach (Blaine) Bennett and Coach (Joe) Lorig back is huge. This second year is going to be a coming out year for the defense because we know everything we're supposed to do."

Rolsma returns for his final year as well, and he'll be called on for place kicking, punting, and kickoff duties. Last year, Rolsma made all 63 of his extra-point attempts.

"The holder's important also," Spevak noted.

And teammates find Rolsma to be just as effective with punts and kickoffs. "He's not just a kicker, he likes to go down there and mix it up," Williams observed. "I think he led the special teams in tackles last year."

With this type of talent and experience returning for 2009, these Wildcats are confident in their goals. "We want to win our first four or five (non-conference) games because that will really help us in the rankings," Smith said. "Then we want to win the conference and we want to go as far as we can into the playoffs."

Each senior admits he would like to continue to earn individual awards similar to last year, but each is adamant that team goals come first. "We build on team success by doing our own jobs as best we can," Wood explained.

These five determined Wildcat leaders are resolved to make certain that CWU's proud football tradition continues in 2009.