Tuesday, October 4, 2016

PORTLAND  – Now in its fifth season, the weekly internet-based radio show GNAC Insider has reached its 100th episode, which will air live Tuesday at 7 p.m. Pacific. The show features GNAC commissioner Dave Haglund, Alaska faculty-athletic representative Dr. Dani Sheppard, and Saint Martin’s cross country runner Shannon Porter, who will talk with host Rob Lowery.

Haglund, who introduced the 30-minute live show to the conference, is now in his fifth year as commisioner of the GNAC. He began the show in 2012 as a prerecorded podcast and later developed it into a live radio show that aired online to athletes, alumni, parents, and fans across the GNAC. In its five seasons, the show has featured over 300 live interviews with athletes, coaches and athletic directors, featuring future professional athletes in a number of sports and an Olympian.

Sheppard is an associate professor of psychology at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. A graduate of Viriginia Tech, Sheppard did her postgraduate work at George Mason, completing her doctorate in developmental physiological psychology in 1996. Sheppard has been a professor at Alaska, since the Fall fo 1999. Among other interests, she is currently studying educational models of service-learning and community engagement. Sheppard is in her sixth year as an FAR and was one of three GNAC representatives who recently visited Indianapolis for the Division II FAR Fellows Institute.

In her first year of cross country at Saint Martin’s, Porter is already making an impact, winning the Charles Bowles Willamette Invitational by a 25-second margin. Porter had a standout track & field season last year, recording marks that rank seventh all-time in GNAC history in both the 3,000 meters and the 5,000 meters. Porter transferred to Saint Martin’s in 2015 as a junior and took a red-shirt during the cross country season before debuting as a Saint in track and field.