Tuesday, September 6, 2016

PORTLAND  – GNAC Insider, the weekly live radio show that goes around the GNAC with the latest news and guest interviews, aired Tuesday night at 7 p.m. Pacific with Azusa Pacific defensive back Jonathan Thropay, Seattle Pacific athletic director Jackson Stava and Northwest Nazarene volleyball coach Doug English as the scheduled guests.

English, in his fourth season as NNU head volleyball coach, led the Crusaders to a 3-0 weekend at the Dixie State Tournament. He has led the Crusaders to the 2014 GNAC Championship and consecutive NCAA West Regional appearances. Northwest Nazarene will be in La Jolla, Calif. this weekend for the first D2 West Region Volleyball Showcase. The unique tournament features every West Coast Division II volleyball team at six sites in the Golden State.

In 2015, Thropay finished seventh in the conference in tackles per game with 8.0, leading a Cougar defense that was second in the GNAC in points allowed per game. This year, the defensive back is already on pace to repeat what he did last year, recording eight tackles in Azusa Pacific’s season-opening win against West Texas A&M, 28-10. The Cougars will play at Humboldt State this week in the first of two battles between the only two NCAA Division II football programs in California. In each of the last three years, the GNAC has been won by one of the two California teams.

Stava is enterring his first year as athletic director at Seattle Pacific after previously serving as associate athletic director at his alma mater Azusa Pacific. Stava, who was announced by president Daniel Martin on July 5, is the 11th athletic director in school history. Seattle Pacific sponsors 14 intercolliagiate varsity programs, which has ranked in the top-100 every year of the Learfield Director’s Cup standings.