Tuesday, November 14, 2017

PORTLAND, Ore. – NCAA championships and the compliance side of college athletics was discussed on this week's episode of GNAC Insider, and is now available as an on-demand podcast via iTunes or BlogTalk Radio. This week’s episode featured Alaska Anchorage women’s cross country Mariah Burroughs, Western Washington head women’s soccer coach Travis Connell and Saint Martin’s associate athletic director Chris Gregor.

Burroughs has yielded a solid year for the Seawolves. The senior finished 12th at the GNAC championships and was the fourth-highest UAA placer at the 2017 West Regionals with a 22nd-place finish. GNAC champions for the third year in a row, the Alaska Anchorage women will be one of three GNAC teams to race in this weekend’s Division II Cross Country Championships in Evansville, Ind. At the Division II West Regionals on Nov. 4, the Seawolves finished in second to qualify for its ninth NCAA championships appearance.

In his 15th season as the Vikings’ head coach, Connell has turned the program into a national powerhouse. Appearing in its sixth-straight postseason, the defending Division II national champion will take on No. 3 UC San Diego in the third round of the NCAA Division II playoffs this Friday at 7 p.m. In last year’s meeting, the Vikings topped the Tritons with a 2-1 overtime win to advance to the tournament’s quarterfinal round. Western Washington ranks eighth in Division II with 2.89 goals per game and is fourth with 2.95 assists per game. Crowned GNAC champion for the third-consecutive year, WWU is 18-1-0 this season, falling just once in the past two years.

Gregor is in his 13th year as associate athletic director for internal operations and compliance at SMU. In his role, he is in charge of all aspects of NCAA compliance for the school’s 15 intercollegiate athletic programs. A member on Saint Martin’s Title IX and Athletic Advisory Board, Gregor serves on the NCAA Legislative Committee, as he works with fellow Division II administrators to review and propose new legislation to improve NCAA athletics. Gregor has also played a critical role in the planning and running of numerous GNAC basketball and softball championships held at Saint Martin’s.