Tuesday, February 17, 2015

PORTLAND, Ore. – Guests for episode 53 of GNAC Insider included Northwest Nazarene track coach John Spatz, Saint Martin’s high jumper Mikel Smith and Simon Fraser guard Erin Chambers.

Spatz is in his 13th year leading the Crusaders track and field programs. In his tenure, Spatz has coached 137 athletes that have set school records and 47 GNAC event champions. This year, the NNU coach has had six athletes provisionally qualify for nationals. The Northwest Nazarene track team will be in action this weekend as it hosts the 2015 GNAC Indoor Track & Field Championships in Nampa, Idaho. Spatz talked about the preparations for this event and gave us a sneak-peak on the top competitors. 

Smith is in his junior year with the Saints. Earlier this year at the University of Washington Indoor Preview, Smith leaped 7 feet, .5 inches in the high jump becoming the first athlete in GNAC history to break the seven foot mark in either indoor or outdoor competition. His height ranks fourth in the nation and provisionally qualifies him for the national meet. Smith discussed his 7-foot jump and how he ended up at Saint Martin's.

Chambers is in her senior year on the Clans women's basketball team. Chambers was named the GNAC Player of the Week after scoring 60 points in two games, including a 41 point performance against Saint Martin’s that clinched a spot for Simon Fraser in the 2015 GNAC tournament. The 41 points were the third highest scoring total in GNAC history. The prolific scorer also broke the GNAC’s all-time scoring and made free throw records last week. Chambers talked about breaking these records and touched on how the team is playing at the end of the season.

GNAC Insider airs live at 7 p.m. Pacific time every Tuesday and is produced by the conference office. All episodes become available as free podcasts via iTunes, and for archived listening via GNAC.TV.