Tuesday, May 29, 2018

PORTLAND, Ore. – A quintet of distance performers, led by Western Oregon distance standout David Ribich, represent the GNAC on the 2017-18 Google Cloud Division II Academic All-District 8 Men’s Track/Cross Country Team, selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America.

Ribich is joined on the team by fellow WOU juniors Dustin Nading and Tyler Jones. Western Washington is represented by seniors Kyler Sager and Andrew Wise. The five selections for the GNAC leads all West Region conferences on the 10-person squad.

Ribich, who has a 3.51 cumulative grade point average in communication studies, will go down as one of the top distance runner in conference history. The two-time NCAA Division II national champion in the outdoor 1,500 meters, Ribich set the Division II record at the distance earlier this season with a time of 3:37.35 at April’s Bryan Clay Invitational. At the time, the mark was the 22nd fastest in the world. He won the 800 meters and 1,500 meters at the GNAC Outdoor Championships, earning selection as the Male Track Athlete of the Meet.

During the indoor season, Ribich won conference titles in both the 800 meters and the mile. He went on to place third in the 3,000 meters at the NCAA Indoor Championships and anchored the Wolves’ national-champion distance medley relay. Ribich opened his senior season with GNAC and NCAA West Region cross country honors and earned an All-American trophy by placing 30th at the NCAA Cross Country Championships.

The GNAC Athlete of the Year in cross country and indoor track and field, Ribich was named the Division II West Region Athlete of the Year in cross country, indoor track and outdoor track by the USTFCCCA, sweeping the year’s top regional honors.

Nading, who owns a 3.88 GPA as an exercise science major, has had an impressive season of his own. An All-GNAC performer in cross country with an eighth-place finish at the GNAC Championships, Nading earned a pair of national titles indoors. He pulled away over the final lap of the mile at the NCAA Indoor Championships to win with a time of 4:13.30. Nading also helped WOU defend its distance medley relay national title. Second to Ribich in both the 800 and 1,500 meters at the GNAC Outdoor Championships, Nading went on to finish second to Ribich in the 1,500 meters at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.

Jones, who has a 4.00 GPA as a mathematics major, capped his season with a second-place finish in the 5,000 meters at the GNAC Outdoor Championships in a time of 14:50.08. His season-best of 14:40.28, run at the Bryan Clay Invitational, was second-fastest in the GNAC this season. During the indoor season, Jones was fifth in the 3,000 meters at the GNAC Indoor Championships with a time of 8:39.49. He also ran a leg on the Western Oregon DMR that placed second in the conference meet.

Sager, a senior with a 3.72 GPA in business administration and accounting, finished eighth in the 800 meters at the GNAC Outdoor Championships, clocking a time of 1:54.98. His season-best of 1:51.94, run at April’s Bryan Clay Invitational, was the fourth-fastest in the GNAC and a provisional qualifier for the NCAA Championships. During the indoor season, Sager finished fourth at the GNAC Indoor Championships in a time of 1:54.89 and was third in the GNAC with his season-best of 1:54.63.

Wise, who finished with a 3.56 GPA in journalism and environmental policy, finished his college career during the 2017 cross country season and made the most of his senior campaign. Wise collected All-GNAC honors with a 10th-place finish at the GNAC Cross Country Championships, run on his home course at Lake Padden in Bellingham Washington. He went on to earn All-West Region distinction with a 14th place time of 30:30.9 over 10,000 meters at the NCAA West Region Championships.

With selection to the Academic All-District Team, the five athletes will now be considered for selection to the Google Cloud Division II Academic All-America Team, which will be announced on Wed., June 20.

Nominees to the Academic All-District 8 Team come from the West’s three Division II conferences: the GNAC, the California Collegiate Athletic Association and the PacWest Conference. To be nominated, an athlete must be of sophomore standing or higher, be a starter or important reserve player on their team, must be in their second year at the nominating school and have a cumulative GPA or 3.30 or higher.