Monday, May 12

All-Sports: Western Oregon Wins First All-Sports Title

Western Oregon, which won five GNAC sports titles including four this spring, is the 2007-08 Great Northwest Athletic Conference All-Sports Team Champion. It is the first all-sports title for the Wolves.

WOU, which outpointed Western Washington 158-152, is the third different GNAC team to win the all-sports title. WWU won the first four championships (2001-02 to 2004-05), while Seattle Pacific finished first each of the past two seasons.

Western Oregon won titles in men's indoor track and field, men's outdoor track and field, baseball, softball and women's outdoor track and field. The Wolves shared the softball title with Seattle University.

WOU also won the GNAC Men's All-Sport championship edging Western Washington, which won five consecutive titles between 2001-02 and 2005-06, by two points. Defending champion Central Washington finished third.

"The credit goes to our coaches and players in all of our sports,” Western Oregon athletic director Jon Carey said. “It's remarkable what those people have done with relatively limited resources.  It also reflects the university's commitment to a broad-based program. 

“It's a particularly noteworthy accomplishment given the balance of strength in the GNAC.  It's also a culmination of increased recognition and attention paid to athletics by our president Dr. John Minahan and our administration."

Seattle Pacific, which won women's titles in cross country, soccer, basketball and indoor track and field, won its sixth consecutive GNAC Women's All-Sports championship with a record 99 points. The previous record for most points was 96 by SPU in 2004-05. Western Oregon finished second with 86 points.

Points are awarded (on a two-point increment) based on the final conference finishes in each of the conference's 14 sports – volleyball, men's and women's soccer, men's and women's cross country, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's indoor track & field, men's and women's outdoor track & field, men's golf, baseball and softball.

Five different schools won team titles this year led by WOU's five and SPU's four. Western Washington won three including men's cross country, volleyball and men's golf. Seattle University won two (softball and men's soccer) and Alaska Anchorage won one (men's basketball).

Combined – Western Oregon 158, Western Washington 152, Seattle Pacific 134, Northwest Nazarene 129, Central Washington 125, Seattle 111, Alaska Anchorage 96, Saint Martin's 76, MSU Billings 71, Alaska Fairbanks 30. Men - Western Oregon 72, Western Washington 70, Central Washington 64, Alaska Anchorage 52, Northwest Nazarene 50, Seattle 42, Saint Martin's 39, Seattle Pacific 35, MSU Billings 22, Alaska Fairbanks 16. Women - Seattle Pacific 99, Western Oregon 86, Western Washington 82, Northwest Nazarene 77, Seattle 69, Central Washington 61, MSU Billings 49, Alaska Anchorage 44, Saint Martin's 39, Alaska Fairbanks 14.

Baseball: Wolves Get NCAA Playoff Berth

Western Oregon has been selected to compete in the NCAA Division II West Regional baseball tournament. The six-team double-elimination tournament begins Thursday with three games.

The Wolves, who will be competing in their fourth regional, are the fifth seed and will play No. 2 seed UC San Diego in the opening round at 3 p.m. Three games will be played on Thursday, Friday and Saturday with the two survivors advancing to Sunday's championship game.

Western Oregon also qualified for the regional previously in 2003 when they lost two straight and in 2005 and 2006 when they posted 2-2 records and finished second and third, respectively.

NCAA West Regional (May 15-18 at Chico): Thursday : #6 Nebraska Kearney (33-25) vs. #1 Sonoma State (46-13), 11 a.m.; #5 Western Oregon (39-17) vs. #2 UC San Diego (41-16), 3 p.m.; #4 CSU Stanislaus (37-21) vs. #3 Chico State (39-15), 7 p.m. Friday : Games at 11 a.m., 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. Saturday : Games at 11 a.m., 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. Sunday: Championship game at noon.

Academic: Thirty-Three Named To At Large Team

A total of 33 student-athletes have been named to the 2008 Great Northwest Athletic Conference At-Large Academic all-star team.

Athletes eligible for the at-large team are those that compete in sports at GNAC institutions that are either independent (not an officially sponsored conference sport) or compete in another conference which does not officially select an academic all-conference team.

The top scholar on the at-large team is Audrey Coon, who competes in rowing at Western Washington University. Coon, who is a Spanish and Elementary Education major, has a 3.95 GPA. She is one of 12 athletes from the Viking crew team to be selected to the academic team.

All letter winners who are in at least their second year of competition and have a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.20 are eligible to be selected to the team.

Sunday, May 11

Softball: Humboldt State Wins West Region Title

Becker

A magical season ended for one team and a stunning turnaround continued for the other as Humboldt State defeated Western Oregon 9-0 Sunday in the championship final of the NCAA Division II West Region tournament.

The Wolves simply had no answer for Humboldt State ace Lizzy Prescott. On Saturday, Humboldt State stayed alive via a 1-0 Prescott shutout.

On Sunday, the No. 1 seeded Lumberjacks added offense to Prescott 's second consecutive whitewash. Prescott scattered four hits, walked four and fanned six Wolves.

She had breathing room from the beginning after the Lumberjacks put five runs on the board in the bottom of the first inning, three on a home run by Chrissy Motzny.

“When you get in a hole like that against a pitcher as good as Lizzy, it makes it very difficult to come back,” said Wolves head coach Pam Knox. “She was tough on us again today.”

So were the Humboldt State hitters, who laced out 11 hits against the previously unblemished Katie Fleer.

Four of those hits came in the five-run first inning, and four more came in the fateful sixth when HSU added four runs to mercy-rule the No. 6 seeded Wolves.

The game ended on Marissa Slattery's two-run double to left center field.

Humboldt State lost consecutive games last week at the California Collegiate Athletic Association tournament and then dropped their opener here to the No. 8 seed Cal State San Bernardino 10-1.

But they have since reeled off six straight victories, including the back-to-back wins over WOU.

Jamie Becker had two of WOU's four hits. Fleer, who had a 0.56 ERA in the tournament prior to Sunday's game, gave up six earned runs, all of them in the first and sixth innings.

Western Oregon set a school record for victories in a season in 2008 (33) and advanced to the NCAA regional final in their first-ever appearance.

Saturday, May 10

Softball: Humboldt State Forces Final Game

Sutherland

Humboldt State rode the arm of NCAA Division II Region Pitcher-of-the-Year Lizzy Prescott to a pair of victories Saturday, including a 1-0 shutout of Western Oregon to force a Sunday championship game at the NCAA Division II West Region tournament at Arcata, Calif.

The loss was the first of the tournament for the Wolves (33-17). The two teams will play again Sunday with the winner advancing to the NCAA Division II Sports Festival next week in Houston, Texas.

Prescott (43-11) gave up just one run in 14 innings of work defeating Cal State Dominguez Hills 8-1 before blanking the Wolves on four hits. She walked two and fanned nine in outdueling Katie Fleer (21-6) who gave up seven hits. Fleer fanned four.

Western Oregon, which had outscored its opponents 20-1 in three tournament victories, twice had runners reach third base against Prescott, who has all but nine of HSU's wins this season.

Jamie Becker and Tyler Sutherland singled in the third inning to place runners on second and third with one out, but Prescott induced a ground out and line out to get out of the jam. 

In the fifth, Sutherland and Kristin Maglasang singled with two outs, with Sutherland reaching third base, but Prescott fanned Jessica Hallmark to end the rally.

HSU (52-18) scored the game's only run in the first inning piecing together singles by Nikki Ketteringham, Natalie Galletly and Ashley Oltjenbruns. 

Ketteringham scored on a single to shallow left by Oltjenbruns, but Galletly was thrown out at the plate by the Wolves shortstop Tyler Sutherland.

Sutherland had two of Western Oregon's four hits against Prescott.  Becker had a hit, and was also the victim in the seventh inning of an outstanding play by HSU third baseman Francesca West who flagged down a bullet that was heading for extra bases. 

Lumberjack rightfielder Lindsay Warren made a leaping grab of a twisting drive down the rightfield line of a Amanda Fleer hit earlier in the game as HSU played solid defense in the contest.

"It was a great softball game, we just came up short," said WOU head coach Pam Knox. 

"Humboldt State made some great plays on defense in a game that could have gone either way.  We now have a chance to bounce back in a true championship game.  It should be a great title game between two very good teams."

Baseball: Northwest Nazarene Sweeps CWU

Ryne Phillips' grand slam home run in a five-run seventh inning powered Northwest Nazarene to a 10-8 victory over Central Washington in the first game of a Great Northwest Athletic Conference doubleheader Saturday at Nampa as the GNAC regular-season came to a close.

The Crusaders (32-22) also won the second game 6-5 on a RBI single by Mitch Kochis in the bottom of the seventh, enabling them to win the series three games to one.

Elsewhere GNAC champion Western Oregon split two games with Montana State Billings (14-38, 5-25), losing the opener 4-3 before earning a split with a 3-2 victory.

The Wolves finished their regular-season with a record of 39-17, including 24-8 in the GNAC.

Central Washington (30-21, 20-12) took a 8-5 lead into the seventh inning of its opener before NNU pulled to within two runs on a single by Cole Smith.

After CWU got a force at the plate for the second out, Phillips unloaded for his first home run of the season to earn Alex VanOeveren his sixth win against three losses. It was also his 15th career victory, tying the NNU school record.

Central had 12 hits in the contest, including three by Nate Rylaarsdam and two each by Jamie Nilsen and Kevin Walkenhauer, who had three RBI. Kochis had three hits and Phillips and Cole had two each for NNU.

In the second game, Severo Rodriguez walked and advanced to third on a double by Zach Aakhus prior to Kochis' game-winning hit, his third hit in the game.

Aakhus also had a solo home run (his 16th career blast) in the first inning to establish a school career record. Nate Slonaker got the final two outs in the seventh to earn his seventh win against two losses.

Nilsen had two hits and scored three of CWU's five runs. A.J. Gosney also had two hits and Kevin Walkenhauer had two RBI with a double in the fifth.

Montana State Billings 4-2, Western Oregon 3-3

Steve Scott scattered 10 hits and Nick Harris drove in the winning run with a ground out in the ninth as Montana State Billings beat Western Oregon in their opener.

Bryce Thomas and Jef Ridgeway set up Harris' game-winning RBI with singles. Both players had two hits in the contest.

Tyson Nelson and Joe Pratt each had two hits for Western Oregon. Pratt's RBI single in the sixth tied the game at 3-3.

WOU avoided the sweep against the last-placeYellowjackets getting an RBI single by Dylan Bruck in the bottom of the eighth.

MSUB had forced extra innings in the seventh on a RBI single by Harris. Harris, Joe Via and Steve Larson all had two hits. Bruck had two of WOU's five hits, including a run-scoring single in the third.

Track and Field: Five Improve Qualifying Times

Karin Rohde of Seattle Pacific established an automatic national qualifying time in the women's steeplechase and four other GNAC athletes improved previous national qualifying marks Saturday at the Ken Shannon/Ken Foreman Invitational track and field meet at Husky Stadium.

Rohde finished third in the steeple in a time of 10:54.73, cutting 14 seconds off her previous PNQ in bettering the automatic standard. Sarah Benson of Central Washington finished fifth in 11:14.82, shaving eight seconds off her PNQ.

Heidi Dimmitt of Western Washington in the 400 hurdles, Jeeni Schantin of Seattle Pacific in the javelin and Tyler Fischer of Central Washington in the men's hammer had improvements in their qualifying marks.

Dimmitt won the hurdle event in a time of 1:01.69, cutting .09 seconds off her PNQ and GNAC season-best mark.

Schantin placed second in the javelin with a throw of 151-5, adding a foot to her GNAC leading and automatic qualifying mark.

Fischer placed second in the hammer with a throw of 177-5, four inches more than his previous PNQ.

Ken Shannon/Ken Foreman Invitational (May 10 at Seattle): GNAC Winners, Men: 5000 - Jordan Welling, WWU, 15:03.95. 400 Hurdles - Kevin Myhre, WWU, 54.36. Steepelchase - Keever Henry, WWU, 9:36.81. 4x100 - Seattle University 42.34, Long Jump - Justin Felt, SPU, 22-3 1/2. Shot Put - Sam Washington, SMU, 52-11 1/2. Women: 100 Hurdles - Michelle Howe, WWU, 15.06. 400 Hurdles - Heidi Dimmitt, WWU, 1:01.69. 4x100 - Western Washington (Dimmitt, Thornton, O'Connell, Brownell) 3:59.33.

Jaclyn Puga Establishes PNQ In 800

Jaclyn Puga of Northwest Nazarene established a provisional national qualifying time in the women's 800 and two other athletes improved previous PNQs Saturday at the Western Oregon Twilight.

Puga placed fourth in the 800 in a time of 2:14.03. Ashley Berry of Western Oregon finished third in a time of 2:14.01, improving her PNQ by .14.

In the women's hammer, Sara Cole of Western Oregon placed third with a mark of 165-4, adding 10 inches to her previous PNQ.

Western Oregon Twilight (May 10 at Monmouth): GNAC Winners, Men: 1500 - Zeke Van Patten, WOU, 3:55.05. 110 Hurdles - Andy Luscutoff, WOU, 15.41. Triple Jump - Greg Hamm, NNU, 45-5 3/4. Women: 100 - Lauren Duckett, WOU, 12.58. 400 Hurdles - Sarah Barker, WOU, 1:03.20.

Friday, May 9

Softball: Western Oregon Advances To Title Game

Katie Fleer	Hallmark

Western Oregon is one win away from winning the 2008 NCAA Division II West Region softball title.

The Wolves (33-16) stayed unbeaten in the tournament at Arcata, Calif., Friday blanking Cal State Dominguez Hills 7-0 as Katie Fleer tossed a four-hit shutout.

Fleer (21-5) struck out 11 in earning her third straight tournament victory. The Wolves have outscored their three tournament opponents 20-1.

WOU, the tournament's No. 6 seed, will play either top-seed Humboldt State or fifth-seeded CSUDH Saturday at 1:30 p.m. If the Wolves lose a final game will be played Sunday.

Humboldt State eliminated eighth-seeded Cal State San Bernardino 5-1 and defending champion Cal State Stanislaus 9-2 in eight innings in loser-out games Friday. San Bernardino ousted Seattle University 10-8.

Western Oregon put the game away early scoring four runs in the first, two in the second and one in the third. Center fielder Jessica Hallmark keyed the win both offensively and defensively.

Hallmark singled during WOU's four-run first inning, then doubled for a run in the second. Defensively, she threw a runner out at third base to cut short a potential CSUDH threat in the second and in the sixth she made a diving catch with a runner on first base.

The Wolves' first inning runs came on a ground out by Amanda Fleer, a wild pitch and a two-run double by designated player Krysta Pennington.

After Hallmark's double made it 5-0 in the second, she scored on a single by Trina Dorn. Whitney Lee homered in the third to complete the scoring.

Cal State San Bernardino 10, Seattle 8

Jordan Dahl and Jamie Lowe had back-to-back two-run doubles in the seventh as Cal State San Bernardino rallied from an 8-2 deficit to defeat Seattle University 10-8 and oust the Redhawks from the NCAA Division II West Regionals.

Seattle jumped to an 8-2 lead after three innings before CSUSB scored four to pull within 8-6 in the fourth.

SU starter Erin Martin protected that lead until the seventh and was one out away from earning her 26th win of the season before CSUSB loaded the bases on a pair of singles.

However, Dahl's double tied the game at 8-8 and Lowe's double put the CCAA school up by two. Tawni Baker then retired the side in order in the bottom of the seventh - she allowed just one hit over the final 3 1/3 innings - to earn the win.

Seattle managed 13 hits in the game, including 12 in the first three innings. Second baseman Jane Purdy, first baseman Lauren Berin and third baseman Jamie Foote had two each.

Among Purdy's hits were a RBI single in the first and a solo home run in the third as she extended her GNAC career home run record to 37.

Dahl led San Bernardino with four hits. Tayler Wilson had three. Lowe had two hits and three RBI.

Baseball: Western Oregon Completes Spring Sweep

Mike Eisenhauer ran his personal win streak to 10 and lead-off hitter Dylan Bruck had six hits as Western Oregon swept a Great Northwest Athletic Conference baseball doubleheader from Montana State Billings at Monmouth Friday by scores of 5-3 and 6-4.

The two wins coupled with a Central Washington loss to Northwest Nazarene at Nampa enabled the Wolves (38-16, 23-7) to clinch their seventh consecutive GNAC baseball title. CWU lost its opener to NNU 9-6 before rebounding for a 9-4 victory.

It also completed a "spring sweep" for the Wolves as they previously also won GNAC titles in softball, men's track and field and women's track and field, the four sports in which they compete.

In all, WOU won a conference-best five GNAC titles during the 2007-08 sports season.

Eisenhauer improved to 10-3 on the season, allowing six hits in 6 2/3 innings. Jared Neyens pitched the ninth to earn his sixth save of the season.

WOU jumped to a 4-0 lead scoring twice in the first and twice in the fourth. In the first Bruck led off with a triple and scored on a single by Tyson Nelson. Cesar Lopez, who was hit by a pitch, later scored on an error.

In the fourth Taylor Mieras singled, advanced to third on a double by Tyler Moore and scored on a sacrifice fly by Travis Fox. Bruck singled to score Moore. Mieras had a RBI single in the seventh.

Montana State Billings was led by second baseman Matt Schoonover with three hits. Centerfielder Jonathan Schlender and first baseman Matt Kakalecik had two each.

In the second game, WOU snapped a 3-3 tie with two runs in the fifth as Bruck had another triple and scored on a sacrifice fly by Lopez. Nelson doubled to make it 5-3.

Bruck finished the contest with four hits, including two doubles. He also stole two bases to increase his GNAC record total to 38.

Greg Bobnick went five innings after relieving Mike Ward in the first inning and earned his fifth win against two losses. Patch Wirtzberger and Schoonover each had two hits for MSUB. Schlender went 0 for 3, ending his 21-game hitting streak.

Northwest Nazarene 9-4, Central Washington 6-9

Northwest Nazarene catcher Zach Aakhus tied a school single-season record for home runs and set a NNU season mark for runs batted in in leading the Crusaders to a 9-6 victory in the opening game of a doubleheader.

Aakhus doubled for two runs in the third and had a three-run home run in the fifth to increase his GNAC leading home run total to 15. The five RBIs gave him a new NNU mark with 53 on the season.

NNU outhit Central 12-5 as leadoff hitter Ryne Phillips led the way with four. Aakhus, Tim Puckett and Joel Oliver had two each. Jamie Nilsen had two of CWU's five hits.

Chris Mahelona allowed four hits in seven innings and struck out nine in winning his sixth game in 10 decisions.

Nilsen tied a GNAC career record for RBIs with a sacrifice fly during a four-run second inning. It was his GNAC-leading 59th RBI of the season and the 183rd of his career, tying the GNAC all-time record set by Greg McCarthy of Western Oregon between 2002 and 2005.

Central had 13 hits in the contest led by designated hitter Nate Rylaarsdam with four, including a pair of doubles. Rylaarsdam also drove in three runs.

Second baseman Kevin Walkenhauer had three hits, including two doubles. Walkenhauer also had a two-run triple in the opener.

Derek Shoemaker went the distance for CWU, allowing eight hits, in improving to 6-5 on the season.

Men's Golf: Two Vikings Earn All-Region Honors

Two members of the Western Washington's men's golf team, Sean Packer (Sr., Sumner - Auburn Riverside) and Jake Koppenberg (Jr., Everett), have been named to the Golf Coaches Association of America NCAA Division II West Region all-star team.

Koppenberg, who has a school-record pace 71.3 scoring average, tied for second at the West Regional. He has placed among the top 10 individually in eight tournaments this year, placing first once, second four times and third once.

The University of Idaho transfer has had nine rounds in the 60s, including a school-record 10-under par 62 in the final round at the Grand Canyon Invitational to take medalist honors.

Packer, who also received all-region recognition in 2005, has a 73.2 scoring average. He has had five top 10 performances, placing ninth at regionals.

Thursday, May 8

Softball: Wolves Blank Defending Champions 4-0

Katie Fleer

Katie Fleer pitched a six-hit shutout and four different players had RBIs as Western Oregon defeated defending champion Cal State Stanislaus 4-0 Thursday in a winner's bracket game in the NCAA Division II West Regional softball tournament at Arcata, Calif.

The Wolves, the tournament's No. 6 seed, will now play fifth-seed Cal State Dominguez Hills Friday at 2 p.m. The winner of that game will qualify for the championship game. CSUDH remained unbeaten with a 4-2 win over Cal State San Bernardino.

Stanislaus, the tournament's No. 2 seed, will face a loser-out game against top-seed and host Humboldt State Friday morning at 9 a.m. Seattle University, which ousted Cal State Monterey Bay 4-2, will play San Bernardino at 11:30 a.m.

Fleer didn't walk a batter and fanned six in winning her 20th game against five losses in snapping the Warrior' 18-game road winning streak.

The most serious trouble she faced came in the sixth when Kamiko Wright and Meghan Wright began the inning with singles. But, she got the next three batters to ground out.

Jessica Hallmark, who had six RBI Wednesday, gave WOU an early 1-0 lead with a RBI single in the third. The Wolves then added three insurance runs in the fifth on singles by Trina Dorn, Amanda Fleer and Katie Fleer.

The two Fleer sisters along with Tyler Sutherland and Kristin Maglasang all had two hits as the Wolves reached double figures for the second day in a row.

WOU, which is assured of finishing no worse than third in the tournament, had 13 hits in Wednesday's 9-1 win over Cal State Monterey Bay and is now hitting .411 in the regional.

"We are just playing great softball right now," said Wolves head coach Pam Knox.  "Katie (Fleer) is hitting her spots, we are getting hits from nearly everyone in the line-up and we are playing solid defense.  We are playing relaxed, we are in a good place right now."

Redhawks Stay Alive With 4-2 Victory Over Monterey Bay

Jane Purdy

Seattle University maximized its opportunities in defeating Cal State Monterey Bay in a loser-out game.

The seventh-seeded Redhawks (38-13) were outhit 11-2 in the contest, but still managed to come away with a 4-2 win over the third-seeded Otters (35-26).

Redhawk second baseman Jane Purdy keyed the victory. She hit a two-run home run in the first inning and then was hit by a pitch with two out in the fifth to jump-start another two-run frame.

After Purdy, who is now the GNAC all-time home run leader with 36 breaking a tie with CWU's Mallory Holtman, reached base, she scored all the way from first on an error by CSUMB pitcher Angela Cabral.

Kaha Weir then doubled to score Lauren Berin to give SU's Erin Martin a 4-0 lead. Martin gave up six hits in the final two innings, including a leadoff home run in the seventh to Homa Shafii, but managed to hold on to record her 25th win against five losses.

Martin didn't walk a batter - she has issued just one free pass in her last six starts - and fanned two.

Martin, Purdy, Antich Earn NFCA All-Region Accolades

Seattle University standouts Erin Martin, Jane Purdy and Katie Antich have all been named to the National Fastpitch Coaches Association's NCAA Division II West Region all-star softball team.

The three were the lone GNAC players named to the first team. On Wednesday, Antich was also named the Daktronics team, which is selected by the region's sports information directors.

Eight other GNAC players were named to the second team including Katie Fleer, Tyler Sutherland and Trina Dorn of Western Oregon and Megan MacIsaac and Laurin Berin of Seattle University.

Also selected were Holly Rossman, Mallory Holtman and Kasey Druffel of Central Washington.

NFCA (Coaches): First Team - Erin Martin, Seattle (P, 5-7, Sr., Valencia, CA); Jane Purdy, Seattle (2B, 5-4, Sr., Missoula, MT), Katie Antich, Seattle (OF, 5-6, So., Spokane, WA). Second Team - Katie Fleer, Western Oregon (P, 6-2, Sr., Salem, OR); Holly Rossman, Central Washington (C, 5-6, Jr., Olympia, WA), Mallory Holtman, Central Washington (1B, 5-9, Sr., White Salmon, WA), Megan MacIsaac, Seattle (SS, 5-10, Jr., Santa Barbara, CA); Tyler Sutherland, Western Oregon (SS, 5-3, So., Gold Hill, OR); Trina Dorn, Western Oregon (3B, 5-4, Sr., Henderson, NV); Kasey Durffel, Central Washington (OF, 5-6, Sr., Colton, WA) ; Lauren Berin, Seattle (UT, 5-3, So., Lacey, WA).

DAKTRONICS (SIDs): First Team - Katie Antich, Seattle (OF, 5-6, So., Spokane, WA). Second Team - Katie Fleer, Western Oregon (P, 6-2, Sr., Salem, OR); Erin Martin, Seattle (5-7, Sr., Valencia, CA); Holly Rossman, Central Washington (C, 5-6, Jr., Olympia, WA), Mallory Holtman, Central Washington (1B, 5-9, Sr., White Salmon, WA), Jane Purdy, Seattle (2B, 5-4, Sr., Missoula, MT), Holly Morris, Saint Martin's (3B, 5-10, Jr., Richland, WA), Michelle Wrigley, Western Washington (OF, 5-7, Fr., Bothell, WA).

Purdy Lone GNAC Player on CoSIDA Academic Team

Jane Purdy of Seattle University has been named to the CoSIDA Academic District VIII College Division softball academic team.

Purdy, a senior from Missoula, Mont., was the lone GNAC player selected to the team. Purdy is a biology major and has a 3.46 cumulative GPA.

Purdy was also the lone Division II player selected to the team. All the other honorees either play for NCAA Division III or NAIA schools.

SportsCenter: CWU, WOU Story Featured On ESPN

The Central Washington/Western Oregon sportsmanship softball story was recently featured on ESPN's SportsCenter. To view the story, click here.

Wednesday, May 7

Softball: Western Oregon Upsets Monterey Bay

Hallmark

Jessica Hallmark drove in a school-record six runs with a pair of home runs to power sixth-seeded Western Oregon to a 9-1 upset of No. 3 Cal State Monterey Bay Wednesday in the NCAA Division II West Regional softball tournament at Arcata, Calif.

In Wednesday's second game, defending regional champion Cal State Stanislaus blanked Seattle University 4-0. The Warriors were the only higher seeded team to win as No. 5 Cal State Dominguez Hills beat No. 4 UC San Diego 6-4 and No. 8 Cal State San Bernardino ripped No. 1 Humboldt State 10-1.

Western Oregon (31-16) will play CSUS (31-21) Thursday at 2 p.m. in a winner's bracket game. Seattle (37-13) will face Monterey Bay (35-25) in a loser-out contest at 11:30 a.m.

Hallmark staked WOU to a 4-0 lead in the second inning with a grand slam home run, then gave WOU a 6-0 lead with a two-run blast in the fourth.

Amanda Fleer doubled to drive in another run in the fourth and Tyler Sutherland then homered for two runs in the fifth. The Otters got a run back in the bottom of the fifth, but it wasn't enough to prevent the Wolves winning the game on the eight-run rule.

Hallmark has been on a hitting tear over the last three weeks.

"Jessica is just seeing the ball really well," WOU head coach Pam Knox said.  "She has put in the extra time and she is just really comfortable at the plate.  She is driving the ball very well."

WOU finished the contest with 13 hits, including three by Sutherland and two each by Kristin Maglasang, Hallmark and Krysta Pennington.

Monterey Bay managed just four hits off of WOU's Katie Fleer (19-5), who didn't walk a batter and fanned six.

Cal State Stanislaus 4, Seattle University 0

Jessica Gaumnitz blanked the Redhawks on two hits - singles by Katie Gould in the third and Jamie Foote in the fifth. Gaumnitz also walked three and fanned two in improving to 18-7.

The Warriors had eight hits off of SU's Erin Martin (24-5). The CCAA school jumped on top in the third inning on a sacrifice fly by Casey Stephenson, then added another run in the fifth on a single by Meghan Franksen.

Stanislaus then added a pair of insurance runs in the sixth on a two-run home run by catcher Jessica Scholl. Scholl finished the contest with three hits in three at bats.

Eight Players Named to Daktronics West Region Team

Eight Great Northwest Athletic Conference players have been selected to the Daktronics NCAA Division II West Region softball team selected by the region's sports information directors.

Only one GNAC player - Seattle University outfielder Katie Antich - was a first team selection.

Earning second team accolades were pitchers Katie Fleer of Western Oregon and Erin Martin of Seattle, catcher Holly Rossman of Central Washington, first baseman Mallory Holtman of Central Washington, second baseman Jane Purdy of Seattle University, third baseman Holly Morris of Saint Martin's and outfielder Michelle Wrigley of Western Washington.

Track and Field: 111 Named To GNAC Academic Team

Clarke	Carlson	Wageman

A total of 111 student-athletes – 72 women and 39 men - have been named to the 2008 Great Northwest Athletic Conference Track and Field Academic all-star team.

Two of the women's academic all-stars have perfect 4.00 grade point averages – Kirsten Clarke of Central Washington and Krinda Carlson of Saint Martin's. The top scholar on the men's team is Josh Wageman of Northwest Nazarene who has a 3.95 GPA.

Northwest Nazarene placed the most athletes on the men's academic team with 11. Alaska Anchorage and Western Washington have seven and six academic all-stars, respectively.

NNU led way on the women's team with 17 academic all-stars. Seattle Pacific and Central Washington were also in double figures with 15 and 10.

Nineteen athletes were named to the team for the third time. Twenty-six others were selected for the second time.

To be eligible for the academic team, student-athletes must have a minimum grade point average of 3.20 and be in at least their second year of competition at their university.

Baseball: Wolves Move Up In NCAA Poll

Western Oregon moved up one spot to fifth place in this week's NCAA Division II West Regional baseball poll released Wednesday putting itself in good position to qualify for next week's regional playoffs.

Six teams will qualify for the playoffs including the CCAA and Rocky Mountain champions, which receive automatic berths, and four at-large teams. The GNAC does not receive an automatic berth.

NCAA Division II West Region (May 7) - 1. UC San Diego (41-14); 2. Sonoma State (42-12); 3. Cal State Stanislaus (36-19); 4. Chico State (35-13); 5. Western Oregon (36-16); 6. Mesa State (40-15); 7. Metro State (38-17); 8. Central Washington (25-16).

Men's Golf: Western Washington Earns National Berth

Koppenberg

Western Washington tied for the best round of the day and earned an at-large berth to the NCAA Division II National Championships by placing second in the West Regional and third overall in the West/Northwest Super Regional Wednesday at the Adobe Creek Golf Club in Petaluma, Calif.

It is the Vikings' first trip to nationals since 2005 when they won the regional title.

Host Sonoma State got the automatic berth to nationals, which will be held at Houston, Texas, beginning next Wednesday. The Seawolves led all the way, finishing 3-under par for a three-day, 54-hole total of 861 (299).

Western shot a final-round, even par 288, for an 873 total, 12 strokes behind Sonoma State. Grand Canyon, which also shot 288, finished third at 880 in the eight-team field.

Western's Jake Koppenberg shot a final-round 3-under par 69 to finish in a three-way tie for second place at 212, and Thomas Jun shot a 73 and placed seventh at 215. Koppenberg's score was his ninth round in the 60s this season.

Sean Packer, who birdied four of his first six holes, had a 2-under 70 to finish ninth at 217.

Grand Canyon 's Ryan Sperry took medalist honors, shooting a final-round 69 for a 5-under par total of 211.

NCAA Division II West Regional (May 5-7 at Adobe Creek Golf Club, Petaluma, CA): Team Scores - 1. Sonoma State 861 (285-277-299); 2. Western Washington 873 (293-292-288); 3. Grand Canyon 880 (303-289-288); 4. Cal State Stanislaus 881 (298--290-293) and Cal State San Bernardino 881 (296-290-295); 6. Cal State Monterey Bay 883 (298-283-302); 7. Chico State 895 (303-290-302); 8. Hawaii Hilo 903 (305-294-304). Individuals (Par 72-6,840) - 1. Ryan Sperry, Grand Canyon, 211 (74-68-69); 2. Jake Koppenberg, WWU, 212 (72-71-69); 7. Thomas Jun, WWU, 215 (72-70-73); 9. Sean Packer, WWU, 217 (75-72-70); 25. Hiro Nezu, SMU, 225 (74-77-74); 33. John Eisentrout, SMU, 229 (76-76-77); 37. Julian Peters, WWU, 231 (74-79-78); 41. Brandon Brown, WWU, 236 (81-79-76); 42. Dale Raybould, NNU, 238 (77-82-79).

Women's Golf: Vikings Qualify For Nationals

Breanna Carmichael amd Kaitlin Parker tied for fifth with 54-hole totals of 226 to lead Western Washington to a second-place team finish at the NCAA Division II Women's Golf West Regional at The Legacy Golf Resort in Phoenix, Ariz. Wednesday.

The Vikings finished four shots back of Tarleton State to earn one of the two regional berths for the national tournament May 13-16 at the Memorial Golf Course in Houston, Texas.

Tarleton had a team score of 910, including 291 on Wednesday. Western finished with a 298 Wednesday to finish at 914.

Saint Martin's finished third with a 940 total. The Saints' Amy Dalzell and Stacie Henden tied for seventh with 229 totals.

Tarleton's Shraddhanjali Singh fired a three-under 69 to win medalist honors with a 218 total.

It will be the fourth national appearance as a NCAA member for Western Washington, which has placed fifth in each of its three previous trips.

The Vikings tied for the regional title in 2005 and finished second in 2004 and 2006. It is the sixth national trip overall for the Vikings. They placed eighth at the NAIA Championships in 1998 and 10th in 1997.

NCAA Division II West Regional (May 5-7 at The Legacy Golf Resort,, Phoenix, AZ): Team Scores - 1. Tarleton State 910 (318-301-291); 2. Western Washington 914 (319-297-298); 3. Saint Martin's 940 (320-301-319); 4. St. Edward's 941 (312-311-318); 5. Northeastern State 945 (315-314-316);6. Western New Mexico 968 (322-309-337). Individuals (Par 72 -6100 yards) - 1. Shraddhanjali Singh, Tarleton, 218 (76-73-69); 5. Breanna Carmichael, WWU, 226 (75-75-76) and Kailtin Parker, WWU, 226 (83-70-73); 7. Amy Dalzell, SMU, 229 (75-73-81) and Stacie Henden, SMU, 229 (78-75-76); 13. Catherine Kim, WWU, 232 (79-75-78); 15. Allison Gillette, WWU, 235 (86-78-71); 16. Babe Prante, SMU, 237 (83-75-79); 18. Lianne Matkin, WWU, 240 (82-77-81); 29. Lauren Roberts, SMU, 249 (88-78-83); 31. Lexi Coltom, SMU, 253 (84-81-88).