Tuesday, May 10, 2016

PORTLAND, Ore. – The final episode of the 2015-16 athletic season of the conference’s weekly radio show – GNAC Insider – aired Tuesday night at 7 p.m. Pacific time. The 94th episode of the series featured Northwest Nazarene head baseball coach Rocke Musgraves, Central Washington softball third baseman Alexa Olague and Western Oregon distance runner David Ribich.

Musgraves is in his third season as head coach for the Northwest Nazarene baseball team, leading the Crusaders to the GNAC Championships for the second year in a row. The Crusaders also won a share of the GNAC regular season title for the first time in program history, tying with Montana State Billings with a 23-15 record and .605 winning percentage. Northwest Nazarene will host the GNAC Championships on Thurs., May 12 and 13 in Nampa, Idaho, as the No. 1 seed joined by MSUB and Western Oregon. The Crusaders ranked No. 6 in the latest NCAA Division II Baseball West Region Poll. Musgraves spoke about hosting the GNAC Championships, what qualities make a good baseball player and sweeping their final regular season series to reach the playoffs.

Olague is a senior third baseman for the Central Washington softball team, leading the Wildcats to the NCAA Division II Softball Super Regional after winning the West Region 2 tournament last weekend. The Wildcats battled back from a loss early in the tournament to win their next three games, including two in a row over host Azusa Pacific. They travel to Arcata, Calif. to play a best of three series against Humboldt State on Wed., May 11-13 in Arcata, Calif.,  with a chance to move onto the Elite Eight. Olague was named the Most Valuable Player at the GNAC Championships earlier this year. Olague spoke about wining the West Region 2 and traveling to Humboldt State in the Super Regional.

Ribich is a sophomore distance runner for the Western Oregon track and field team. He is ranked third in Division II this season in the 1,500 meters, hitting an automatic qualifier to nationals on Apr. 14 at the Bryan Clay Invitational with a time of three minutes, 43.41 seconds. He is the reigning GNAC champion in the event, winning the race as a freshman in 3:50.58. Ribich was also named to the GNAC Men’s Track and Field All-Academic Team as a communication studies major. Western Oregon hosts the GNAC Championships beginning on Fri., May 13. Ribich spoke about reaching an automatic qualifying mark, goals for the GNAC Championships and running middle distance events.

GNAC Insider is hosted by Rob Lowery airing live at 7 p.m. Pacific, Tuesday night and is produced by the conference office. All episodes become available as free podcasts via iTunes. To listen to archived episodes go to GNAC.TV.