Tuesday, June 5, 2012

SPOKANE, Wash.  –   Western Oregon baseball pitcher Grady Wood and Alaska Anchorage basketball star Hanna Johansson have been voted the 2011-12 Great Northwest Athletic Conference Male and Female  Athletes-of-the-Year.

The selections are made by the conference’s athletic directors.

Wood, who posted a perfect 12-0 record this spring, is the first baseball player in the 11-year history of the conference to win the award, while Johansson is just the second basketball player and the first UAA athlete to win the women’s top prize.

Wood (Sr., Junction City, OR) led the Wolves to their 11^th consecutive GNAC baseball title carving out a 1.69 earned run average.  He allowed just 63 hits in 96 innings, while walking just 12 and striking out 89 in earning GNAC Pitcher-of-the-Year honors.

The Wolf right-hander, who finished three points ahead of Western Washington basketball player Rory Blanche (Sr., Ashland, OR) and UAA distance runner Micah Chelimo (Jr., Kapkoi, Kenya)  in the balloting, set GNAC career records for lowest ERA (2.01), most shutouts (5) and  fewest hits allowed per nine innings (6.50).

He won 20 consecutive games over two seasons, just one shy of the NCAA Division II national record, while holding opponents to a  record-low .199 average. The previous record was .230.

Wood was a consensus NCAA Division II All-American.  He was selected to the first team by the  National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association and by Daktronics and to the second team  by the American Baseball Coaches Association honors. 

The  Daktronics team is selected by the nation’s sports information directors.

Johansson, who outpointed Seattle Pacific track standout Ali Worthen (Sr., Coos Bay, OR) 25-17 in the balloting,  led Alaska Anchorage’s women’s basketball team to a 30-5 record and to GNAC and NCAA West Regional titles.

She was named to both the WBCA (Coaches) and Daktronics (SIDs) All-American teams, earning first team honors on the coaches’ team and third team Daktronics honors.

Johansson, who was the MVP in the West Region tournament, led UAA in  scoring (14.3) and rebounding (8.6) and was the only player in the GNAC to rank in the Top 12 in scoring (8^th), rebounding (4^th), field goal percentage (6^th, 54.3) and assists (12^th, 2.8).

In conference games she averaged a double-double (15.1 points and 10.3 rebounds)  and shot 58.1 percent.

She finished her career ranked among the GNAC all-time leaders in virtually every major category including 11^th in scoring (1,393), ninth in rebounding (808), 11^th in steals (195), 7^th in field goal percentage (53.3), 21^st in blocks (70) and 32^nd in assists (247).