Sports Brief

Barriere falls short of Payton Award

CHENEY — Eastern Washington University quarterback Eric Barriere fell six votes shy of claiming the Walter Payton Award, won by Cole Kelley from Southeastern Louisiana.

Kelley had 137 votes to Barriere’s 131 on May 15.

In his 38-game Eastern career, Barriere was 20-9 as a starter, including 13-0 at home. In the FCS Playoffs, he went over the 10,000-yard mark for total offense in his career with a current total of 10,102 – including 8,739 through the air.

He ranks fifth in school history in both categories.

Barriere has not officially announced if he will return for the 2021 traditional fall season, but indicated in an earlier interview that he will be back.

Newman Lake access site closed

OTIS ORCHARDS — Public access to Newman Lake will be closed May 19-21 to allow for application of aluminum sulfate in the lake.

The public access site will be used as a staging and loading area for tanker trucks to transfer “alum” to a barge on the lake, officials said.

Alum is used to clear the water by reducing phosphorus and algal blooms, official said.

Between 120-140 acres of the lake will be treated during the three-day window, officials said, noting the application won’t affect recreational use.

However, officials are asking Newman Lake-goers to keep their distance from the application barge.

More than 475,000 trout to be released

GRAND COULEE — The Spokane Tribe will release 10,000 triploid rainbow trout into Lake Roosevelt over the next two weeks.

The fish, which weigh about a pound each, are among more than 475,000 that will be released across Northeast Washington from net pens and hatcheries.

The release is due to a partnership between the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, Spokane and Colville tribes, and Lake Roosevelt net pens.

The fish will come from Sherman Creek Hatchery, Spokane Tribal Hatchery and Lake Roosevelt Volunteer Net Pens.

Sherman Creek and Lake Roosevelt net pen fish will be 8-12 inches long, officials said, noting they should grow to more than 18 inches in length in the coming few months.