Friday, March 23, 2018

PORTLAND, Ore. – The national record holder in two distance events and the national champion in the women’s 800 meters have been selected by coaches as the conference’s top athletes in voting for the 2018 Great Northwest Athletic Conference’s indoor track and field season-end special awards.

Western Oregon senior David Ribich, who set Division II all-time records in both the 1,000 meters and 3,000 meters, was selected as the conference’s Male Athlete of the Year for the second straight season. Alaska Anchorage senior Danielle McCormick, the Division II national champion in the 800 meters, was the unanimous choice as the Female Athlete of the Year.

McCormick leads three Alaska Anchorage athletes to be honored in the season-end voting. The Seawolves’ Felix Kemboi shares the Male Freshman of the Year honor with Central Washington’s Braydon Maier while junior Yemi Knight was the choice for Female Newcomer of the Year. Seattle Pacific’s Renick Meyer was voted as the Female Freshman of the Year while Western Washington’s Tupre Wickliff earned the Male Newcomer of the Year Award.

Western Oregon’s Mike Johnson was selected by his peers as the Men’s Coach of the Year, the second such award he has received from the GNAC this season. Longtime Central Washington head coach Kevin Adkisson was named the Women’s Coach of the Year.

Ribich was nothing short of exceptional in an already impressive senior season. He followed up his cross country All-American honors by running Division II all-time records in both the 1,000 meters (2:21.38) and 3,000 meters (7:50.81). While not an NCAA Championships event, Ribich ended the season ranked seventh in the world in the 1,000. He also became the 501st person in U.S. history to break the four-minute mile barrier, running 3:58.88 at January’s UW Invitational.

Ribich repeated as the GNAC champion in the mile (4:11.08) and captured his first title in the 800 meters with a meet-record time of 1:50.83. He went on to earn All-American honors in the 3,000 meters with a third-place finish at the NCAA Division II Indoor Championships and ran the anchor leg on the Wolves’ national-champion distance medley relay team, laying down an approximate split of 3:54 on his 1,600-meter leg. Ribich was named the GNAC Championships Male Track Athlete of the Meet and the USTFCCCA West Region Male Track Athlete of the Year.

McCormick gave Alaska Anchorage its first women’s indoor national champion as she claimed the NCAA Division II title in the 800 meters in a time of 2:07.79. She also ran the leadoff leg on the Seawolves’ distance medley relay at nationals, which finished ninth. McCormick claimed her first GNAC indoor championship in the 800 meters in a time of 2:09.19 and also helped the DMR to a third-place finish. McCormick’s 800-meter best of 2:07.13, run at February’s UW Open, was the fourth fastest in Division II this season.

Kemboi scored 18 points for the Seawolves at the GNAC Championships, winning the 5,000 meters with a time of 15:12.63 and finished second to Ribich in the 3,000 meters at 8:33.92. He just missed an NCAA Championships provisional qualifier in the 5,000 with his season-best of 15:12.63. It is Kemboi’s second Freshman of the Year award as he also earned the honor during the cross country season.

Maier, meanwhile, gave Central Washington its second straight champion in the heptathlon as he claimed the GNAC title with a score of 5,006 points. The total ranks No. 6 on the GNAC All-Time List, was an NCAA Championships provisional qualifier and was the 25th best effort in Division II this season. Maier also placed sixth at the GNAC Championships in the 60-meter hurdles (8.47 seconds) and the pole vault (14-9). His best of 15 feet, 6.5 inches in the pole vault was also a national meet provisional qualifier.

Meyer made quite a splash in her freshman season, winning the GNAC title in the 60 meters (7.71 seconds), placing second in the 60-meter hurdles (8.76 seconds) and seventh in the 200 meters (25.40 seconds). The performances helped the Falcons finish in a tie for the GNAC women’s team title with Central Washington. Meyer notched an NCAA Championships provisional qualifying mark with her best of 8.72 seconds in the 60-meter hurdles, tying her for eighth on the GNAC All-Time List. Her conference meet time in the 60 meters also ranks eighth on the GNAC All-Time List.

Wickliff finished his first indoor season for Western Washington as a champion. The junior transfer from Clark College won the men’s high jump at the GNAC Championships with a mark of 6 feet, 7 inches, outlasting Alaska Anchorage’s Chris Brake in a great conference meet battle. The mark tied Wickliff for the fourth-best mark in the GNAC this season.

Knight, a junior in her first season of competition with the Seawolves, was an unexpected entry into the women’s 800 meters at the NCAA Division II Indoor Championships. She finished 16th in the preliminaries and ran the third leg on UAA’s distance medley relay team. Knight finished fourth in the 800 at the GNAC Championships in a time of 2:11.49 and had the 11th fastest time in Division II with her season-best of 2:09.85.

Johnson earned his seventh GNAC Indoor Track Men’s Coach of the Year and his second Coach of the Year award this season, having also having been named the Men’s Cross Country Coach of the Year. Johnson led the Wolves to a tie for sixth place at the NCAA Division II Indoor Championships, matching the team’s finish from a year ago. Over the course of the season, Johnson coached Ribich to his Division II record and Dustin Nading to a Division II championship in the mile. The GNAC Coach of the Year award is the 15th for Johnson, who is in his 12th season at Western Oregon.

Adkisson earned his first Women’s Indoor Coach of the Year award since 2006 and his fifth overall GNAC Coach of the Year accolade. Adkisson led the Wildcats to a tie of the team title at the GNAC Championships, becoming just the third school to win the team championship in 15 years of conference competition in the event. Adkisson coached three CWU athletes to All-American honors, led by Halle Irvine’s sixth-place finish in the pole vault. Adkisson also coached Ali Anderson to GNAC titles in both the 200 and 400 meters, earning her GNAC Championships Women’s Track Athlete of the Meet honors.

GNAC 2018 INDOOR TRACK AND FIELD SPECIAL AWARDS WINNERS
Male Athlete of the Year: David Ribich, Western Oregon
Female Athlete of the Year: Danielle McCormick, Alaska Anchorage
Male Freshman of the Year: Felix Kemboi, Alaska Anchorage & Braydon Meier, Central Washington
Female Freshman of the Year: Renick Meyer, Seattle Pacific
Male Newcomer of the Year: Tupre Wickliff, Western Washington
Female Newcomer of the Year: Yemi Knight, Alaska Anchorage
Men's Coach of the Year: Mike Johnson, Western Oregon
Women's Coach of the Year: Kevin Adkisson, Central Washington