Monday, April 15, 2013

PORTLAND, Ore. - Ali Worthen of Seattle Pacific had three provisional national qualifying performances and four GNAC All-Time Top 10 marks in an heptathlon last week at Sacramento State and is the GNAC Red Lion Women's Track Athlete of the Week for the Week of Apr. 8-14.

She is one of 11 GNAC Red Lion Athlete/Player of the Week award winners.  Following is a recap of this week's outstanding performers:

Women’s Track & Field: Track – Ali Worthen, Seattle Pacific (Sr., Coos Bay, OR) had three provisional national qualifying performances and four GNAC All-Time Top 10 marks in an heptathlon at Sacramento State.  She won the heptathlon with the second best score in GNAC history scoring 5,492 points.  On the way to that point total, she had the fifth best high jump (5-7 ¾), the third quickest 100 hurdles (14.16) and the sixth fastest 200 meters (24.96) in GNAC history. Her high jump mark tied her previous career mark.  Her heptathlon score is a NCAA automatic qualifying score, while her high jump and 100 hurdle marks are provisional national qualifying performances.  Field – Seabre Church, Western Oregon (Jr., Florence, OR) won the javelin at the John Knight Twilight at Monmouth Friday with an NCAA automatic qualifying mark of 151-5. That is the fifth best throw this spring in the nation and ranks 10th in GNAC history.  Honorable Mention – Jordan Powell, Northwest Nazarene; Tayler Fettig, Central Washington.

Men’s Track & Field:  Track – Rory Bauer, MSU Billings (So., Roberts, MT) set school records in the decathlon and 400 meters in placing ninth in the decathlon at the Idaho State Multi-Events.  His 5,470 point total ranks third in the GNAC this spring.   His 400 time of 49.60 (49.71 after being adjusted for altitude) was a GNAC automatic qualifying mark.  He finished first in the field in the 400 and second in the 200 (11.28). Field – Ryan MacDonald, Western Washington (So., Bellingham, WA - Sehome) established a provisional qualifying mark of 163-1 in winning the discus and leading Western Washington to its 16th consecutive team title in the WWU Ralph Vernacchia Invitational.  Honorable Mention - Dkay Ayivor, Simon Fraser.

Softball: Player – Joslyn Eugenio, Saint Martin’s (1B, 5-3, Sr., Kapolei, HI) batted .625 (10 of 16) and slugged for a 1.125 percentage in sweeps of Western Oregon and Montana State Billings.  Among her hits were two doubles and two home runs.  She led SMU in both runs scored (9) and RBI (10). Her two doubles increased her career total to a GNAC-record 61. She was perfect in two of the four games going 3 of 3, scoring three runs and driving in four in a 12-6 win Thursday against Western Oregon.  She capped the week going 3 of 3 again, scoring twice and driving in four more runs in a 12-3 win Saturday at Billings.  She had home runs in both of those contests.  Pitcher – Maria Gau, Central Washington (5-7, Jr., Woodinville) allowed just three hits and matched a GNAC-season high with 12 strikeouts in a 3-2 win over Northwest Nazarene Saturday at Nampa.  The strikeout total was also a career high for Gau.  Honorable Mention-  Mai Galusha, Central Washington.

Baseball: Player – Marc Garza, Central Washington (3B, 6-0, 205, Sr., Othello, WA) and Scott David, Western Oregon (C, Sr., Pleasanton, CA) ....Garza had 13 hits in 28 at bats, scored seven runs and drove in six leading the Wildcats to six wins in eight games. He also handled 17 chances at the hot corner (3 putouts, 14 assists) without committing an error and participated in three double plays.  David batted .533 (8 of 15) in a four-game series sweep of Northwest Nazarene.  He caught all four games and didn’t allow a stolen base as the Wolf pitching staff carved out a microscopic 1.12 earned run average allowing just five runs in 32 innings.  Pitcher – Spenser Watkins, Western Oregon  (6-1, 185, Jr., Scottsdale, AZ) blanked Northwest Nazarene 6-0 on five hits, while fanning a GNAC season-high 12 batters.  Spencer leads the GNAC in both earned run average (3.07) and wins (6).  Honorable Mention – Joe Arlt, Central Washington.                                                                                                                                       

Men's Golf: Gage Huft, Montana State Billings (So., Kimberly, Idaho) finished first in the Saint Martin’s Preview Invitational with a 54-hole total of 207. Huft had a tournament-best 66 in the final round on the par-72, 7,162 yard layout to finish one shot ahead of runner-up James Hall of Hawaii Hilo.  Hall carded a 69 in the final round.  Huft also had rounds of 69 and 72.

Women's Golf: Clair Rachor, Western Washington (Sr., Bellingham) finished sixth with a 153 total in the Tarleton State Don Housewright Invitational to lead the Vikings to a fifth-place team finish.  Rachor, who won the award for the second week in a row, had rounds of 78 and 75 as she grabbed the season scoring lead in the GNAC with an average of 80.5.