Monday, February 3, 2014

PORTLAND, Ore. - The first triple-double in the GNAC in more than 10 years has earned Western Washington's Austin Bragg the GNAC Red Lion Men's Basketball Player of the Week award.

Bragg joins Jason Burrell of Western Washington (16 points, 11 rebounds, 11 assist versus Alaska Fairbanks, Jan. 16, 2003) and Robert Day of Western Oregon (21 points, 11 rebounds, 11 assists versus Montana State Billings, Dec. 16, 2003) as the only male players to record a triple-double in GNAC history.

He is one of 11 athletes to earn the Red Lion award this week.

This week's honorees include:

Men's Basketball:  Austin Bragg, Western Washington (F, 6-9, Sr., Longview, WA - Clark CC) had 31 points, 26 rebounds and 13 assists and recorded the first triple-double in the GNAC in 10 years in leading the Vikings to wins over Alaska Fairbanks (53-51) and Alaska Anchorage (99-76).  Bragg had one-third of WWU's points (18 of 53) and rebounds (14 of 42) in Thursday's win against the Nanooks before recording the third triple-double (13 points, 12 rebounds, 10 assists) in GNAC history in Saturday's regionally-televised win over Alaska Anchorage.  In the two contests, Bragg made 12 of 20 field goal attempts and all five of his free throw attempts. Honorable Mention - Kalob Hatcher, MSU Billings (G, 5-11, Sr., San Diego, CA - Irvine Valley); Evan Coulter, Saint Martin's (G, 5-10, Sr., Mount Vernon, WA - Whatcom CC); Ibrahim Appiah, Simon Fraser (F, 6-6, Sr., Montreal, QC - Champlain); Mark McLaughlin, Central Washington (G, 6-6, Sr., Bothell, WA - Ingemoor & Tacoma CC); Mario Donaldson, Northwest Nazarene.

Women's Basketball – Taylor Simmons, Northwest Nazarene (G, 5-8, So., Middleton, ID – Middleton) scored 36 points and grabbed 10 rebounds as the Crusaders defeated Alaska Fairbanks 86-81 and lost by just two points (72-70) to Alaska Anchorage on the road. Simmons was instrumental in both games, dishing out 13 assists and providing a conference-high 12 steals on the weekend. The sophomore point guard also shot .476 (10-for-21) from the field and .789 (15-for-19) from the foul line in the split.  Honorable Mention – Brooke Paulson, Saint Martin's (F, 5-10, Jr., Buckley, WA – White River); Dana Goularte, Western Oregon (F, 6-0, Jr., Port Orchard, WA – South Kitsap); Jordan Wilson, Alaska Fairbanks (F, 5-11, Fr., Henderson, CO – Prairie View); Bobbi Knudsen, Montana State Billings (G, 5-8, Sr., Malta, MT – Malta); Jenna Buchanan, Alaska Anchorage(G, 5-8, So., Galena, AK – Galena); Chelsea Banis, MSUB (C, 6-4, Sr., Fairfield, MT – Montana State).

Baseball: Player - Josh Potter, Central Washington (1B, 6-3, Sr., Des Moines, WA – Mt. Rainier/Pierce College/Campbellsville) hit 5-for-8 on the weekend with a  pair of doubles, two runs scored and two RBI as the Wildcats split a doubleheader with San Francisco State. Potter did not strike out and notched a slugging percentage of .875 with his offensive production. In addition, Potter played flawless defense at first base, logging 15 put outs and one assist with no errors in his team-high 16 chances. Pitcher - Matt Minnich, Western Oregon (LHP, 5-11, Sr., Kennewick, WA – Kamiakin/Columbia Basin College/Hawaii Pacific) threw four scoreless innings against No. 18-ranked Cal State Monterey Bay on Saturday, earning the victory in the seven-inning second half of the Wolves’ doubleheader. Minnich allowed just two hits while striking out three batters in the solid effort. His outing helped WOU recover from a 15-0 loss in the first game on Saturday, and pushed the Wolves to the 4-3 victory that helped his team earn a split on the first weekend of the 2014 season.

Softball: Player - Alexie Levin, Western Washington (1B, 5-7, So., Everett, WA - Everett) had seven hits in 13 at bats, scored four runs and drove in four as the Vikings won three of four games in Hawaii.  Among her seven hits were a pair of doubles.  Pitcher - Jenna DeRosier, Western Washington (P, 5-7, Sr., Kelso, WA) tossed complete-game wins over BYU-Hawaii (5-1) and Hawaii Hilo (6-2) allowing just 10 hits in 14 innings.  She walked four and struck out five.  Honorable Mention - Megan Miller, Saint Martin's (3B, 5-3, So., Everett, WA - Cascade).

Men's Track & Field: Track - Chip Jackson, Western Washington (Sr., Shoreline, WA - Shorewood) ran the second fastest mile in GNAC history in winning the open division at the UW Invitational in a provisional national qualifying time of 4:07.95.  His time was less than four seconds off the NCAA automatic standard (for banked tracks) of 4:04.01. Field - Brett Watson, Western Washington (Jr., Ferndale, WA) broke a 22-year Viking school record and also bettered the eight-year-old GNAC record in finishing fifth in the high jump at UW.  His jump of 6-10 1/4 bettered the previous GNAC record of 6-9 3/4 by Cresap Watson of Central Washington in 2006 and the WWU school record of 6-9 by Ron Olson in 1992.  Honorable Mention - Ethan Hewitt, Alaska Anchorage (Sr., Eagle River, AK - Chugiak); Jamon Rodriguez, MSU Billings (Fr., Gillette, WY); Rimar Christie, Northwest Nazarene; Micah Spatz, Northwest Nazarene.

Women's Track & Field: Track - McKayla Fricker, Seattle Pacific (Sr., Canby, OR) and Jamie Ashcroft, Alaska Anchorage (Fr., Shawnigan Lake, BC - Frances Kelsey) ... Fricker grabbed the national lead in the 800 meters away from Sarah Sawatzky of Simon Fraser finishing ninth in the 800 invitational at the University of Washington Invitational in a provisional national qualifying time of 2:09.04. Fricker's time is the fourth best in GNAC history and missed the NCAA automatic standard by just .04 seconds ... Ashcroft posted two PNQs at the Ed Jacoby Invite in Nampa. She finished third in both events, posting a time 0f 7.72 in the 60 and a GNAC-record time of 24.89 in the 200.  Her 60 time ranks third in GNAC history.  Field - Karolyn Anders, Alaska Anchorage (So., Berlin, Germany) finished second at Nampa in the pentathlon. Her score of 3,774 points ranks second in GNAC history and currently ranks third on the NCAA Division II national performance list.  Among her marks was a leap of 5-7 3/4 in the high jump.  That ranks sixth all-time in the GNAC and ninth on the current national performance list.  Honorable Mention - Tayler Fettig, Central Washington (Jr., Olympia, WA); Rio Frame, MSU Billings (Fr., Glendive, MT - Dawson County); Emmi Collier, Western Oregon (So., Warrenton, OR); Jordan Rehfeld, Northwest Nazarene; Alison Silva, Northwest Nazarene.