Monday, December 4, 2017

PORTLAND, Ore. – Impressive performances on the court in the first weekend of conference play for Western Washington’s Trey Drechsel and Montana State Billings’ Alisha Breen leads this week’s honorees for GNAC Player of the Week awards.

Drechsel was named the Men’s Basketball Player of the Week after he averaged 26.5 points and 13.5 rebounds in two victories over Concordia and No. 13 Western Oregon. He finished shooting 64.5 percent from the field. Drechsel opened the week by scoring a season-high 32 points and 17 rebounds in Thursday’s 99-72 win over Concordia. He shot 12 of 17 from the field and 4 of 7 from three-point range. Drechsel then led WWU with 21 points and 10 rebounds in Saturday’s 85-58 win over the Wolves, connecting on 8 of 14 from the field. In the two contests, Drechsel played all but two minutes.

Breen was named the Women’s Basketball Player of the Week for the second time this season after she scored 60 points in the Yellowjackets’ two wins over Western Washington and Simon Fraser. In the process, Breen shot 68.9 percent from the field, 88.8 percent from three-point range and 92.3 percent from the free throw line. She scored a season-high 31 points and six rebounds in Thursday’s 75-62 win over Western Washington. Breen followed that up with 29 points in Saturday’s 70-61 win over Simon Fraser, connecting on 9 of 12 from the field, 4 of 5 from three-point range and 7 of 8 from the free throw line.

Montana State Billings swept the first track awards of the season. Senior Sam Zook was named the Men’s Track Athlete of the Week after he won the 60 meters at the Bobcat Preview with a school record time of 6.78 seconds. The performance is an NCAA Championships provisional qualifier and ties him for No. 2 on the GNAC All-Time Top-10. Sophomore Michaela Johnson was named the Women’s Track Athlete of the Week after she placed third in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 9.37 seconds.

Central Washington multi-eventers swept the first field awards. Senior Kodiak Landis earned Men’s Field Athlete of the Week honors after he won the heptathlon at the Eastern Washington Candy Cane X meet with a score of 5,220 points. He won four of the seven events, topped by his mark of 15 feet, 11 inches in the pole vault. That not only broke the CWU school record, but provisionally qualifies him in the event for the NCAA Championships. Junior Ali Anderson was selected as the Women’s Field Athlete of the Week after winning the heptathlon with a CWU school-record score of 3,480 points. The performance was an NCAA Championships provisional qualifier and is No. 7 on the GNAC All-Time Top-10.

GNAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK SELECTIONS – WEEK 14
MEN’S BASKETBALL
Trey Drechsel (Western Washington, G, 6-6, Jr., Woodinville, Wash. – Cedar Park Christian): Drechsel averaged 26.5 points and 13.5 rebounds and shot 64.5 percent from the field to lead the Vikings to a pair of wins to open the GNAC season. He opened the week by scoring a season-high 32 points on 12 of 17 from the field and 4 of 7 from three-point range to go along with 17 rebounds in the Vikings’ 99-72 win over Concordia. Drechsel then led WWU with 21 points and 10 rebounds, connecting on 8 of 14 from the field to go with three rebounds and three steals in the Vikings’ 85-58 win over No. 13 and previously undefeated Western Oregon. Drechsel played in all but two minutes of the two contests. Also Nominated: Davis Kimble (Alaska), Jacob Lampkin (Alaska Anchorage), Christopher Edward (Concordia), Obi Megwa (Northwest Nazarene), Luke Chavez (Saint Martin’s), JJ Pankratz (Simon Fraser).

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Alisha Breen (Montana State Billings, F, 5-10, Sr., Choteau, Mont. – Choteau): Breen finished with a monster 60-point weekend for the Yellowjackets, shooting 68.9 percent from the field (20-29), 88.8 percent from three-point range (8-9) and 92.3 percent from the free throw line (12-13) in two wins to open the conference season. Breen opened the week with a GNAC season-high 31 points and six rebounds in Thursday’s 75-62 win over Western Washington. She made 11 of 17 from the field, 4 of 4 from three-point range and 5 of 5 from the free throw line. Breen then finished with 29 points and six rebounds in Saturday’s 70-61 win over Simon Fraser, connecting on 9 of 12 from the field, 4 of 5 from the three-point line and 7 of 8 from the free throw line. Also Nominated: Lexi Carpenter (Alaska), Hannah Wandersee (Alaska Anchorage), Kizzah Maltezo (Concordia), Saniah Simpson-Patu (Saint Martin’s), Gracie Castaneda (Western Washington).

MEN’S TRACK
Sam Zook (Montana State Billings, Sr., Casper, Wyo. – Kelly Walsh): Zook opened the 2017-18 season by breaking his own school record in the 60-meter dash at the Bobcat Classic. His winning time of 6.78 seconds is an NCAA Championships provisional qualifier and also ties him for No. 2 on the GNAC All-Time Top-10.

MEN’S FIELD
Kodiak Landis (Central Washington, Sr., Snohomish, Wash. – Everett CC): Landis won the heptathlon at the Eastern Washington Candy Cane X Meet with a score of 5,220 points. He won four of the seven events, including the 55-meter dash in 6.54 seconds, the long jump with a mark of 22 feet, 4.5 inches, the shot put with a mark of 38 feet, 7.75 inches and the pole vault with a mark of 15 feet, 11 inches which broke the CWU record, is a NCAA Championships provisional qualifier and ties him for seventh on the GNAC All-Time Top-10. Also Nominated: Nels Flanagan (Montana State Billings).

WOMEN’S TRACK
Michaela Johnson (Montana State Billings, So., Billings, Mont. – Billings West): Johnson led the Yellowjackets with a third-place finish in the 60-meter hurdles at the Bobcat Preview with a time of 9.37 seconds.

WOMEN’S FIELD
Ali Anderson (Central Washington, Jr., Camano Island, Wash. – Stanwood): Anderson won the pentathlon at the Eastern Washington Candy Cane X meet with a score of 3,480 points. The performance is a school record, an NCAA Championships provisional qualifier and ranks No. 7 on the GNAC All-Time Top-10. She finished no worse than fourth in any of the five events and won the 800 meters with a time of 2:19.18. Also Nominated: Kassadee Kuhoa (Montana State Billings).