Tuesday, April 26, 2016
PORTLAND, Ore. - GNAC Insider returned for its 92nd episode, Tuesday night at 7 p.m. Pacific time. The show featured Central Washington head softball coach Mike Larabee, Alaska Anchorage decathlete Cody Thomas and Western Washington men’s golfer Brett Johnson.
Larabee is in his first year as head softball coach at Central Washington, leading the Wildcats to the No. 1 seed at the GNAC Softball Championships. This week, he was named the Coach of the Year after the Wildcats finished with an 18-10 GNAC record, 34-13 overall. Central Washington will play Saint Martin’s in the opening round of the GNAC Championships on Thur., Apr. 28 at 2:30 p.m. Larabee joined the Wildcats after spending six years as the head coach for Division I Arkansas. Larabee spoke about leading the Wildcats to the GNAC Championships in his first year, coming to Central Washington from Division I Arkansas and the postseason awards the team received.
Thomas is a senior decathlete for the Alaska Anchorage track and field team and is preparing for the GNAC Multi-Event Championships on May 2 and 3 in Lacey, Wash. He currently ranks sixth in the NCAA Division II with a high total of 7,079 points, a NCAA Championships provisional qualifying mark. He won the decathlon in 2014 at the GNAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships and was named an All-American with a seventh place finish. Last season, he redshirted during outdoor season, but was the runner-up in the heptathlon at the NCAA Division II Indoor Track and Field Championships. Thomas spoke about moving to Alaska from New Zealand, competing in the multi-events and what he hopes to do for his senior season.
Johnson is a junior for the Western Washington men’s golf team. He is coming off a career performance at the GNAC Championships as he earned medalist honors with a tournament record low 10-under-par 203. Johnson shot a low round of 7-under-par 64 in the first round, also setting a championship record low. He was selected the GNAC Newcomer of the Year after transferring from Oregon State and was a First Team All-GNAC selection. Johnson leads Western Washington into the NCAA Division II Men’s Golf South Central/West Super Regionals May 2-4 in Las Cruces, N.M. Johnson spoke about his record performance at the GNAC Championships, transfering from Oregon State and the chance to play at regionals.
GNAC Insider is hosted by Rob Lowery airing live at 7 p.m. Pacific every Tuesday 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.