Tuesday, October 31, 2017

PORTLAND, Ore. – Diving into a full weekend of championships action, GNAC Insider aired Tuesday at 7 p.m., Pacific, hosted by Rob Lowery. This week’s guests were Alaska Director of Athletics Gary Gray, Western Oregon head cross country coach Mike Johnson and Concordia head women’s soccer coach Grant Landy.

Attending his quarterly NCAA Division II Management Council meeting in mid-October, Gray joins the show to discuss his role as the council’s chair since taking the position in January after nearly a year and a half as vice chair. The Management Council reports directly to the Presidents Council and is responsible for recommending administrative policy and regulations that govern Division II. Gray is in his sixth year as the director of athletics at Alaska after serving in the same capacity at Montana State Billings for 18 years and is in his final year as a DII Management Council member.

Achieving the first GNAC cross country title in Western Oregon history, Johnson joins the show after the Wolves dethroned seven-time men’s cross country champion Alaska Anchorage at Lake Padden on Oct. 21. Led by senior David Ribich’s first-place finish, Western Oregon placed five runners in the top-15 to beat the Seawolves by 13 points. Western Oregon will have a chance to show the rest of the region that their performance at Lake Padden was no fluke, as the Wolves host the Division II West Regional Championships this Saturday at Ash Creek Preserve in Monmouth, Ore.

Fresh off the first GNAC regular-season title in school history, Landy appears to talk about his program’s success and the upcoming GNAC Championships this Thursday, which the Cavaliers are hosting. Landy leads a Cavs team that has recorded 10 shutouts this season and has outscored GNAC opponents 30-2. His team’s 2-0 win last Saturday against Western Washington snapped the Vikings’ 40-game unbeaten streak to claim the No. 1 seed heading into the GNAC Championships. During his 21-year coaching stint, Landy won 18 NAIA conference championships and led the 2013 Cavaliers to the NAIA National Championship.