Tuesday, December 4, 2018

PORTLAND, Ore. - GNAC Insider returned Tuesday night at 7:00 p.m. (PST) with five guests for a grand finale to the calendar year.

Leading off the program was Western Washington volleyball head coach Diane Flick-Williams. The Vikings are fresh off a historic season that featured a 30-game winning streak, a 30-4 overall record and a national runner-up finish at the NCAA Division II Championships. 

The entirety of WWU's roster was made up of Washington-natives, as it has been (with the exception of one player) for the entirety of Flick-Williams' 19-year career. The coach will join the show to talk about her team's stellar performance and run to last week's national title match.

Also joining the show was Western Oregon forward Riley Hawken. A junior on the men's basketball team, Hawken is poised for a breakout season after starting 30 games a year ago (his first in Monmouth).

The forward is averaging 10.8 points and 5.5 rebounds per game entering the second month of the 2018-19 campaign. He's fresh off a double-double in his last time on the floor, a 14-point, 10 rebound performance in a double-overtime win over No. 15 Western Washington. The Wolves are off to a 5-1 (2-0 GNAC) start this season and will return to the floor on Saturday afternoon against Corban.

On the women's side, Seattle Pacific finds itself in a tie for first after the initial week of conference play. The Falcons are one of just three teams with a perfect 2-0 record in GNAC competition after dispatching Concordia and Western Oregon last week. Head coach Mike Simonson joined the program to talk about his team's recent winning streak and what lies ahead for SPU.

Rounding out Tuesday's show was visits from two special cross country runners and award winners, Central Washington senior Alexa Shindruk and Western Oregon senior Tyler Jones. The pair were named as the recipients of the NCAA's Elite 90 Award, presented to the student-athletes with the highest cumulative grade point average participating at the finals site for each of the NCAA’s 90 championships.