Monday, February 25, 2013

PORTLAND, Ore. - Sergej Pucar, who led Alaska Fairbanks to a 77-73 win last Thursday against Western Washington, snapping the Vikings' record 30-game win streak, has been selected the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Red Lion Men's Basketball Player of the Week for the Week of Feb. 18-24.

UAF's Samantha Thornton and Kristina Collins of Simon Fraser were selected the GNAC Red Lion Women's Basketball Co-Players of the Week.

Also earning Red Lion Player of the Week honors this week are Western Oregon baseball players Daniel McNabb and Gary Steindorf and softball players Lexi Orteza and Hannah Pomeroy of Western Oregon and Sam Munger of Saint Martin's.

Six athletes earned Red Lion Track and Field Athlete of the Week honors.

For the men Chris Olsen of Western Oregon was selected the GNAC Red Lion Track Athlete of the Week.  WOU's Matson Hardie and Brett Watson of Western Washington shared the GNAC Red Lion Field Athlete of the Week award.

For the women, the GNAC Red Lion Track Athlete of the Week award winner is Andrea Abrams of Simon Fraser.  Sharing the GNAC Red Lion Field Athlete of the Week award is Tanya Bjornsson of Western Washington and Becki Duhamel of Central Washington.

RED LION PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

Men’s Basketball

Sergej Pucar, Alaska Fairbanks (C, 6-11, Jr., Belgrade, Serbia) scored 42 points including a career-high 26 as the Nanooks ended Western Washington’s 30-game win streak with a 77-73 victory Thursday at The Patty Center.  Pucar shot 53.6 percent from the floor (15-28) and made six of 10 treys, as the Nanooks won a pair of games.  He also had 15 rebounds and blocked four shots. Honorable Mention - Riley Stockton, Seattle Pacific; John Allen, Western Washington; Teancum Stafford, Alaska Anchorage; Kenny Jones, Northwest Nazarene; Will Bond, Saint Martin's.

Women’s Basketball

Samantha Thornton, Alaska Fairbanks (F, 5-11, Jr., Bremerton, WA – Umpqua) and Kristina Collins, Simon Fraser (G, 5-10, Sr., Port Coquitlam, BC) ... Thornton led the Nanooks to their second and third consecutive wins after starting the conference season with 14 straight losses.  She scored 27 points and also had 14 rebounds, five steals and three blocked shots in home wins over Western Oregon (55-40) and Saint Martin’s (67-65).  In the latter game, she scored six of the Nanooks’ 10 points in the overtime period ... Collins led the Clan to wins over Central Washington (67-60) and Northwest Nazarene (73-52) as SFU clinched a first-round bye in the conference tournament. In the two wins, she had 27 points and a team-high 14 assists while being charged with just a single turnover.  She also was a standout defensively as SFU limited the Wildcats and Crusaders to a 56.0 point per game average and a 22.2 shooting percentage (6 of 27) from the three-point arc. Honorable Mention – Alysa Horn, Alaska Anchorage;  Britt Harris, Western Washington; Chelsea Haskey, Saint Martin's.

Softball

Player – Lexi Orteza, Western Oregon (2B, 5-2, Sr., Bremerton, WA - Olympic) and Sam Munger, Saint Martin’s (SS-P, 5-6, So., Everett, WA - Cascade) ... Orteza batted .385 as the Wolves split eight games in Hawaii.  She had 10 hits in 26 at bats, scored a team-high seven runs and also drove in six runs.  She also played errorless softball at second base, handling 35 chances (20 putouts, 15 assists).  Munger had seven hits, including four doubles, in 15 at bats leading the Saints to three wins in a four-game series at the College of Idaho.  She scored five runs and drove in four.  In the circle, she posted a 1-1 record, posting a 3.23 ERA in 13 innings.  Pitcher – Hannah Pomeroy, Western Oregon (5-6, Sr., Mossyrock, WA) had a 3-0 record and a 1.84 earned run average in Hawaii.  She walked six and fanned 15 batters in 19 innings, allowing 20 hits and seven runs, five of them earned. 

Baseball

Player -  Daniel McNabb, Western Oregon (OF, 5-9, 175, Jr., Rancho Cucamonga, CA) led the Wolves to a split of a four-game series at Lewis-Clark State.  He had eight hits in 17 at bats and led WOU in both runs scored (7) and RBIs (7).  Among his hits were two triples, including a bases loaded clearing triple to break a 5-5 tie in the final game of the series.  He currently leads the GNAC with a .404 batting average.  Pitcher -  Gary Steindorf, Western Oregon (6-4,  220. So., Portland, OR – Liberty) pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing just five hits and fanned 10 in a 11-2 win in lowering his ERA to a GNAC-best 2.12.  

Men’s Indoor Track and Field

Track – Chris Olsen, Western Oregon (So., Milwaukie, OR) set a GNAC record in winning the 800 meters at the Seattle Pacific University Last Chance Invitational Saturday at the Dempsey Indoor.  Olsen was clocked in a time of 1:51.43, breaking the old GNAC record of 1:51.49 set by Paul Mach of Seattle Pacific in 2004. Olsen’s time bettered the NCAA provisional qualifying standard by 2.57 seconds and currently ranks ninth nationally virtually assuring him a berth in next month’s national meet.  Field -  Matson Hardie, Western Oregon (Jr., Bend, OR) and Brett Watson, Western Washington (So., Ferndale, WA) ... Hardie won the triple jump at the SPU Last-Chance meet with a provisional national qualifying mark of 48-4.  That mark ranks second all-time in GNAC history.  Watson won the high jump at the SPU meet with a  provisional national qualifying leap of 6-8 ¾, equaling the third best mark in GNAC history.   

Women’s Indoor Track and Field

Track – Andrea Abrams, Simon Fraser (Sr., Saskatoon, Sask.) won the 60-meter hurdles at the Seattle Pacific University Last Chance Invitational with a provisional national qualifying time of 8.82, moving into fourth place in the event on the GNAC all-time list.  Field –  Tanya Bjornsson, Western Washington (Jr., Ferndale, WA) and Becki Duhamel, Central Washington (Jr., Wenatchee, WA) ... Bjornsson recorded the third best long jump in GNAC history leaping 18-9 ¼ to win the event at the Dempsey Indoor, bettering the NCAA provisional standard by 8 ¼ inches.  Duhamel had two GNAC all-time Top 10 performances, in sweeping the shot put and weight throw.  She won the shot with a put of 45-7 and the weight throw with a mark of 54-2 ½.  Both are provisional national qualifying marks and rank fourth and third, respectively, on the GNAC Top 10 all-time list.