Wednesday, June 1, 2016

PORTLAND, Ore. – Over half of the athletes who represented the Great Northwest Athletic Conference at the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track and Field Championships have been named as All-Americans by the U.S. Track and Field & Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).

A total of 15 GNAC athletes, eight male and seven male, received First Team All-American honors based on their top-eight finish at the national meet. An additional 12 athletes, including member of Alaska Anchorage’s men’s 4x400-meter relay team, were named Second Team All-Americans based on ninth place through 12th place finishes. The GNAC sent a total of 49 athletes to the national championship, which was held May 26-28 in Bradenton, Fla.

Alaska Anchorage had the most All-Americans with nine, which included three First Team All-Americans in decathlon national champion Cody Thomas, men’s javelin runner-up Cody Parker and Caroline Kurgat, who finished sixth in the women’s 5,000 meters. Western Washington had six All-Americans and three first team honorees in women’s javelin runner-up Bethany Drake, third place javelin performer Katie Reichert and fifh place men’s javelin finalist John Haskin.

The GNAC produced three First Team All-American selections out of the men’s 1,500 meters alone with a fifth place finish by Western Oregon’s David Ribich, a sixth place finish by Simon Fraser’s Marc-Antoine Rouleau and an eighth place finish by the Wolves’ Sam Naffziger.

The women’s javelin produced four All-Americans: first teamers Drake, Reichert and Ellie Logan of Northwest Nazarene along with the Vikings’ Anosi Laupola, who was one of two conference freshmen to earn All-American honors.