Tuesday, March 7, 2017
NEW ORLEANS – Five Great Northwest Athletic Conference coaches and athletes have been recognized with West Region indoor track and field postseason awards by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).
Alaska Anchorage senior Jamie Ashcroft was selected as the West Region Women’s Track Athlete of the Year while the GNAC swept the field athlete awards. Saint Martin’s senior Mikel Smith was named the West Region Men’s Field Athlete of the Year and Concordia senior McKenzie Warren earned the West Region Field Athlete of the Year award.
The GNAC also swept the regional men’s coaches honors. Alaska Anchorage head coach Michael Friess was named the West Region Men’s Coach of the Year while Northwest Nazarene’s Nick Collins was named the West Region Men’s Assistant Coach of the Year.
Ashcroft was named the GNAC Indoor Track & Field Championships Women’s Athlete of the Meet after she won both the 60 meters (7.54 seconds) and 200 meters (24.09 seconds) in conference record times while also helping the Seawolves win the 4x400-meter relay. She became just the second female in conference history to win four consecutive conference titles, in the 60 meters. Ashcroft enters the NCAA Division II Indoor Championships ranked fourth in the nation in the 60meters and 14th in the 200 meters.
Smith, the defending NCAA Division II outdoor champion in the high jump, will be the favorite to win it indoors as well. Smith won the GNAC high jump title with a conference record of 7 feet, 3 inches, a mark that lands just outside the top-10 marks in Division II history. The performance was one of just three automatic qualifying marks in the event this season for the NCAA meet.
Warren proceeded to set the Division II national record in the shot put with her mark of 57 feet, 9.75 inches, at the Feb. 11 Husky Classic. She went on to win repeat GNAC indoor titles in the shot put and the weight throw and set a meet record in the shot put with a mark of 55 feet, 10.25 inches. With the Cavaliers ineligible to compete at the NCAA Championships due to their transition from NAIA to Division II, Warren competed at the USA Track & Field Indoor Championships, placing sixth with a mark of 57 feet, 7 inches. She was named USTFCCCA Division II Women’s Athlete of the Week three times during the indoor season.
Friess led the Alaska Anchorage men to its third consecutive GNAC indoor team championship with a score of 154 points. Under his direction, the Seawolves collected conference titles in the 5,000 meters (Dominik Notz), the 60-meter hurdles (Travis Turner) and the 4x400-meter relay along with a total of 14 top-three finishes. Freiss will coach seven entries in the NCAA Division II Championships.
Collins, in his second year with the Crusaders, saw his athletes score 36 points at the GNAC Championships. Most of those came in the pole vault, where the Crusaders swept the top-three places behind the NCAA Championships automatic qualifying mark of two-time champion Payton Lewis. Collins also coached a 2-3-4 finish in the GNAC high jump.