Monday, March 30, 2015

PORTLAND, Ore. –  A national leading and GNAC-record time of 10.27 in the 100 meters at the Texas Relays has earned Alex Donigian of Western Washington GNAC Track Athlete of the Week honors for the Week of March 23-29.

Donigian is one of five track-and-field athletes and 13 athletes overall to earn the GNAC’s weekly award honoring the top performances during the past week in the conference.

Following is a recap of their performances and a listing of honorable mention selections:

Men’s Track and Field:  Track – Alex Donigian, Western Washington (Jr., Mission Viejo, CA) ran the fastest 100 meter time in NCAA Division II this spring and the fastest in GNAC and WWU school history in the invitational division at the Texas Relays in Austin Saturday. Donigian placed third in his heat and 11th overall in the 17-man field in a time of 10.27.  The field was made up almost entirely of club professionals and national team runners.  Field – Justin Peterson, Central Washington (So., Marysville, WA – Lakewood) and Vladislav Tsgankov, Simon Fraser (Fr., Moscow, Russia) … Peterson won the decathlon at the Mt. Hood Multi-Events with a provisional national qualifying score of 6,401 points.  In the process he also established a PNQ in the high jump with a leap of 6-8 ¼.  Tsgankov became just the fourth athlete in GNAC history to long jump 24 feet in winning the event at the UBC Open with a leap of 7.37 meters (24-2 ¼).

Honorable Mention – Mikel Smith, Saint Martin’s (Jr., Muskogee, OK); Cody Warner, Western Oregon (Fr., Springfield, OR); Nathan Kipchumba, Alaska Anchorage (Fr., Eldoret, Kenya).

Women’s Track and Field:  Track – Jamie Ashcroft, Alaska Anchorage (So., Shawnigan Lake, BC)  and Shannon Porter, Saint Martin’s (Jr., Vancouver, WA – Hockinson) … Ashcroft ran a pair of provisional national qualifying times in winning the 100 and 200 meters at the Willamette Invitational.  Her times of 11.86 in the 100 and 24.50 in the 200 currently rank 7th and 5th, respectively, this spring in NCAA Division II.  Porter ran the second fastest 5,000 meter time this spring in Division II in winning the event at Willamette.   Her time of 16:37.99 ranks sixth in GNAC history.  She now has PNQs in both the 5K and 10K.   Field – Corrie Holm, MSU Billings (Sr., Billings, MT - West) finished third in the discus in the University of Montana Al Manuel Invitational with a throw of 144-4.  That mark ranks sixth in GNAC history and missed the NCAA national qualifying standard by a scant .01 meters.

Honorable Mention: Erin Chinchar, Central Washington (Jr., Kent, WA – Kentwood); Kalli Walker, Saint Martin’s (So., Lacey, WA);Lynelle Decker, Seattle Pacific (Jr., Vancouver, WA – Mountain View); Rochelle Pappel, Western Oregon (Jr., Veneta, OR – Lane CC).

Softball: Player – Sam Munger, Saint Martin’s (P-SS, Everett, WA – Cascade) was selected the MVP in the Cal State Stanislaus Tournament of Champions as she led the Saints to six straight wins and the second best record (6-1) in the 24-team event.  Whether from the batter’s box or the circle, she was spectacular.  At the plate she had 14 hits in 24 at bats, including two home runs.  She drove home eight, twice plating the game-winner.  Her RBI single in the bottom of the eighth gave SMU a 2-1 win Friday against Azusa Pacific.  On Sunday in the Silver Bracket championship game, her sixth inning sacrifice fly snapped a 5-5 tie in a 6-5 win against nationally fourth-ranked Cal State Monterey Bay.  She then went to the circle in the bottom of the inning and retired the final five hitters to earn a save.  She also had three wins and a 0.83 ERA, allowing just four runs (three earned) and 22 hits in 25 1/3 innings. Pitcher –  Sammi Cadwallader, Western Oregon (5-8, So, Toledo, OR) earned a win as a starter against San Francisco State and as a reliever with four scoreless innings in Sunday’s Consolation championship game against Academy of Art.  She also was a tough-luck 2-1 loser Friday to Academy of Art and finished the week with a 1.72 ERA allowing just five runs in 20 1/3 innings.

Honorable Mention – Kailyn Campbell, Central Washington (1B, 6-0, So., Duvall, WA – Cedarcrest); Jessica Campbell, MSU Billings (P, 5-7, Sr., Hardin, MT); Whitney Carlton, Northwest Nazarene (1B, 5-5, Sr., Kimberly, MT); Amanda Evola, Western Oregon (OF, 5-7, Sr., Beaverton, OR – Westview); Makinlee Sellevold, Western Washington (P, 5-4, Fr., Everett, WA – Cascade).

Baseball: Player – Brody Miller, Montana State Billings (2B, 5-8, Sr., Missoula, MT) and Tyler Davis, Northwest Nazarene (2B, 6-0, Jr., Orinda, CA) … Both Miller and Davis launched three home runs in leading their teams to three victories in their respective conference series.  Miller opened  the Yellowjackets series Friday against Saint Martin’s going 3-for-4 with four runs scored and three RBIs, hitting two home runs.  His third slam of the series Saturday put three runs on the board and gave MSUB  the one-run advantage in its 11-10 win. On the weekend Miller went 6-for-14 with eight RBIs, eight runs scored and five walks while making a perfect 24 plays in the field…Davis scored the game-winning run in three of the Crusaders’ four games against conference-leader Western Oregon. The second baseman homered twice in Game 1, scoring the Crusaders first and last runs of the 7-5 victory. He also hit the game-winning home run in the sixth inning of the third game of the series. Davis also hit safely in all four games of Northwest Nazarene’s series win. In the Friday-Saturday series, Davis went 9-for-17 with seven RBIs and four runs scored while recording eight putouts and six assists on the field. Pitcher – Cory Welch, Central Washington (RHP/OF, 6-0, Sr., Las Vegas, NV); made two appearances in the Wildcats’ Oregon and California road trip, winning one game while recording a save in another. He pitched both games in Sunday’s series finale at Holy Names. In the morning matchup Welch came-in for a  1 1/3 inning save, striking out two of the four batters he faced. It was Welch’s sixth save of the season, which leads the conference, and his 17th career save which is third all-time in the GNAC. The senior also started Game 4 of the series, striking out five while only allowing five hits and one run in five innings. It was Welch’s second victory of the season. He also drove in two runs and scored three times helping his team at the plate.

Honorable Mention – Darren Honeysett, Central Washington (OF, 6-0, Jr., Port Coquitlam, BC); Brady Muller, Montana State Billings (LHP, 6-1, Sr., Billings, MT); Blake Mitchell, Northwest Nazarene (RHP, 6-0, Jr., Anaheim, CA); Torin Dooley, Saint Martin’s (RHP, 6-1, Jr., Edmonds, WA); Carl Svanevik, Saint Martin’s (OF, 6-3, Sr., Woodinville, WA); Jesse Pratt, Western Oregon (RHP, 6-5, Sr., Monmouth, OR); Matt Taylor, Western Oregon (OF, 6-1, Sr., Corona, CA).

Men’s Golf – John Mlikotic, Simon Fraser (Sr., Kelowna, BC) carded a 54-hole score of two-under par 214 to finish second in the Cal Baptist Invitational. After shooting a 76 on the opening round, Mlikotic had rounds of 70 and 68  to help the Clan win their second tournament of the season. The Clan  senior captain was one of only five golfers in the 83-player tournament to finish under par.

Honorable Mention – Keynan Fanslow, Northwest Nazarene (Jr., Tacoma, WA); Andrew Raab, Saint Martin’s (Fr., Yakima, WA); Mark Strickland, Western Washington (Sr., Mukilteo, WA).

Women’s Golf – Audrey Orem, Western Washington (So., Bellingham, WA) and Jenn Paul, Western Washington (Fr., Bellingham, WA). . .The Vikings duo each carded a round of 79 and 80 to tie for 21st at the Cal State Monterey Bay Otter Invitational. The pair were the only GNAC golfers to post a round in the 70s.

Honorable Mention – Sammy Walter, Montana State Billings (Fr., Billings, MT).