Tuesday, January 29, 2019

PORTLAND, Ore. – GNAC Insider returned Tuesday night at 7:00 p.m. (PST) with a strong range of guests to close the book on the month of January. 

Making her GNAC Insider debut was Alaska Anchorage chancellor Dr. Cathy Sandeen. Sandeen was named the chancellor in Anchorage in May of last year.

Sandeen took part in her first NCAA Convention last week in Orlando in addition to being in attendance at the Division II CEO meeting. 

Prior to taking over at UAA, Sandeen was the chancellor of the University of Wisconsin Colleges and the University of Wisconsin-Extension, which employed over 2,000 faculty and staff. Prior to that position, she was vice president of education attainment and innovation at the American Council on Education.

It was a big week all across the country for the Seawolves as senior Caroline Kurgat established the Division II all-time best time in the indoor 5,000 meters in Seattle. Kurgat won the race in a time of 15:48.46. The time was 33 seconds faster than the old record, which has been held since 2011.

Down in Bellingham, it was a big week for Western Washington director of athletic communications Jeff Evans. Before Evans assumed his current position with the Vikings, he played a key role in the campaign to put Seattle Mariners legend Edgar Martinez in the Baseball Hall of Fame. That hard work paid off on Tuesday as Martinez was elected to the Hall. 

It's a busy time at WWU as the athletic program is preparing to host the GNAC Basketball Championships in March. Evans spoke on his work in the production of those championships, the Martinez campaign and more on Tuesday's show.

GNAC Insider was also joined by Northwest Nazarene softball senior Anna Williams. Now in her second year in Nampa after transferring from Walla Walla, Williams will look to build on a 2018 campaign that saw her finish second on the team in batting average at a .359 clip. The Nighthawks will get their season started on Friday against Concordia-Irvine at the Desert Stinger tournament in Las Vegas.