Monday, March 24, 2014

PORTLAND, Ore. - McKayla Fricker of Seattle Pacific and Katie Reichert of Western Washington posted the best marks of the season in NCAA Division II in the women's 800 meters and javelin, respectively, Saturday at the Oregon Preview meet at Eugene.

Fricker ran the 800 in a time of  2:08.00, while Reichert tossed the javelin 162 feet, one inch.

Those marks earned the two athletes Red Lion GNAC Athlete of the Week honors.

They were among nine athletes to win the weekly award.  The honorees include:

Women's Track & Field: Track – McKayla Fricker, Seattle Pacific (Sr., Canby, OR) finished second in the 800 and led the Falcons to a win in the 4x400 relay in a time of 3:54.16 at the Oregon Preview.  Her 800 time of 2:08.00 currently ranks No. 1 in Division II and automatically qualifies her for the NCAA national meet in May.  It is also the sixth quickest time in GNAC history. She was the first collegiate runner across the finish line, beating, among others, four University of Oregon runners who wound up third-through-six. In the 4x400 relay, she came from behind in the final 200 meters to give SPU the victory, 47 hundreths of a second ahead of Oregon. Field – Katie Reichert, Western Washington (So., Longview, WA - Kelso) automatically qualified for the NCAA meet in the javelin winning the event at Eugene with the third best throw in GNAC history (162-1). Her mark currently ranks No. 1 among NCAA Division II athletes.   Honorable Mention - Marie Smith, Northwest Nazarene (Sr., Boise, ID - Capital); Kalli Walker, Saint Martin's (Fr., Lacey, WA – Northwest Christian); AnnaMarie Forza, Northwest Nazarene (So., Enumclaw, WA); Emmi Collier, Western Oregon (So., Warrenton, OR); Audrey Hellesto, Western Oregon (Jr., Philomath, OR).

Men's Track & Field: Track – Brady Beagley, Western Oregon (Sr., Grants Pass, OR – North Valley) finished ninth in the 1500 meters at the Oregon Preview in a provisional national qualifying time of 3:50.72. That time ranks fourth in WOU history and is the second best so far this spring in the GNAC. Field – Frank Catelli, Western Washington (So., Sequim, WA) had a pair of provisional national qualifying and GNAC All-Time Top 10 performances at Eugene.  He won the shot with a put of 57-2 ¼ and finished fourth in the discus with a throw of 165-4.  His shot mark ranks second in GNAC history and his discus throw ranks eighth. Honorable Mention -  Rimar Christie, Northwest Nazarene (Jr., St. Michael, Barbados); Logan Myers, Western Washington (Jr., Olympia, WA - Capital); Zach McClanahan, Northwest Nazarene (Fr., Yuma. AZ - Cibola); Brian Chalkley, Saint Martin’s (Fr., Eugene, OR - Sheldon); Kyle Lane, Western Oregon (Jr., Portland, OR - Reynolds).

Softball: Player – Raina Reece, Western Oregon (DP, 5-8, Fr., Salem, OR - South Salem) and Haylee Baker, Western Washington (SS, 5-4, Sr., Poulsbo, WA - Bainbridge) ... Both Reece and Baker had huge offensive weekends.  Reece hit three home runs and drove in 10 runs as the Wolves stayed on top the GNAC standings sweeping two games from Saint Martin’s and splitting a pair of contests with Central Washington.  She also had a single and double and posted a .385 batting average (5-of-13) and 1.176 slugging average.  Baker had eight hits in 17 at bats.  She homered four times and drove in 12 runs as the Vikings split a four-game series with Montana State Billings.    Pitcher – Kelli Demianew, Western Oregon (5-10, Jr., Pendleton, OR) didn’t allow an earned run in pitching the Wolves to two victories including a 4-0 shutout of Central Washington Sunday.  In 15 innings, she allowed 15 hits, but just a pair of unearned runs extending her string of innings without allowing an earned run to 26.  She walked two and fanned three. Honorable Mention - Noelle Wright, Northwest Nazarene (P, 5-9, Sr., Irrigon, OR – Clackamas CC); Shelby Johnson, Northwest Nazarene (SS, 5-7, Sr., Soda Springs, ID – Treasure Valley);  Maria Gau, Central Washington (P, 5-7, Sr., Woodinville, WA); Danielle Raison, Simon Fraser (SS, 5-7, Jr., Langley, BC).