Thursday, May 29, 2014

PORTLAND, Ore.  –  McKayla Fricker, who won the women’s 800 meter title at last weekend’s NCAA Division II National Track & Field meet at Allendale, Mich., been selected the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Outdoor Track and Field Female Athlete of the Year.

The Seattle Pacific senior won the NCAA Division II national championship in a time of 2:06.18, which is the fifth fastest 800-meter time in GNAC history.

The win earned Fricker (Canby, Ore.) her sixth career All-American award.  She previously won three in the indoor 800 meters (2012, 2013 and 2014) and one each in both the 2013 indoor and outdoor 4x400 relay.

Also winning special awards were Alaska Anchorage’s Joyce Kipchumba, Jamie Ashcroft and head coach Michael Friess.

Kipchumba (Jr., Kapsowar, Kenya) was selected the GNAC Newcomer of the Year.  Ashcroft (Shawnigan Lake, BC) was voted the GNAC Freshman of the Year and Friess was named the GNAC Women’s Team Coach of the Year.

Kipchumba, who also won the Newcomer of the Year award for GNAC Indoor Track and Field in February, placed seventh in the 10,000 meters in the national meet in a time of 35:35.61 and also finished 11^th in the 5,000 meters in a time of 16:50.38.

In the conference meet, she scored 18 points, winning the 10,000 in a meet-record time of 35:43.39 and placing third in the 5,000 meters in a time of 17:15.00.  The transfer from American University had season-best times of 16:44.97 in the 5K and 334:54.04 in the 10K.  Those times rank sixth and fifth, respectively, in GNAC history.

Ashcroft swept the 100 and 200 meters in the conference meet in times of 11.99 and 12.34 and also led UAA to a win in the 4x100 meter relay in a GNAC meet record-time of 46.68. 

In the national meet she finished 11^th in the 100 meters in a GNAC-record time of 11.69, breaking her own record of 11.74, and 22^nd in the 200 in a time of 24.74.  She had a season-best of 24.27 in the 200, which ranks third in GNAC history.

Friess led the Seawolves to their second consecutive GNAC Women’s Outdoor Track and Field team title, earning the GNAC Outdoor Women’s Coach of the Year award for the second year in a row.  

He has now won six GNAC Track and Field Coach of the Year awards – two in women’s outdoor, two in women’s indoor (2013, 2014) and two in men’s outdoor (2008, 2009).