Thursday, May 19, 2022

PORTLAND, Ore. – Two of the conference’s top golfers and a trio of standout rowers have been named to the College Sports Information Directors of America’s (CoSIDA) Division II Academic All-District 8 At-Large Teams.

The at-large teams are designed to honor student-athletes competing in NCAA championship sports that do not currently have a separate team within the Academic All-America program.

The GNAC landed a pair of golfers on the men’s Academic All-District Team in Simon Fraser junior Ryan Stolys and Western Washington senior Aidan Thain.

Three conference rowers were elected to the women’s Academic All-District Team: Western Washington senior Maddie Bangasser, Vikings junior Clarice Ruhlin-Hicks and Cal Poly Humboldt sophomore Kealey Scott.

Stolys, who is a senior academically but a junior in terms of eligibility, has a 3.76 GPA as an engineering science major. A Second Team All-GNAC selection, he finished the season with a 74.2 stroke average in 21 rounds played. Stolys had two top-10 finishes on the season, tying for fourth at the WWU Men’s Invitational in September. He tied for 14th place at the GNAC Championships.

Thain, the GNAC Men’s Golf Player of the Year, has a 3.32 GPA as a business administration major. Thain led the conference with a 72.2 stroke average and was the runaway winner of the GNAC Championships, turning in a conference-record three-round score of 199 to win by an amazing 16 strokes. A PING All-West Region selection, Thain finished in the top 10 in five tournaments this season and closed by shooting a three-round score of 218 at the NCAA West/South Central Regional.

The pair of Western Washington rowers were part of the Vikings’ varsity 8+ that won the GNAC championship and helped the team claim its first GNAC title. Bangasser, who has a 3.90 GPA as a kinesiology major, earned her second Academic All-District award after being named in 2020. She rowed as part of the varsity 8+ all season and was in the No. 4 seat for the crew that won both the WIRA Championships and the GNAC Championships.

Ruhlin-Hicks has a 4.00 GPA as a political science major. Another mainstay of the varsity 8+, Ruhlin-Hicks stroked in the No. 5 for both of the Vikings’ wins at the WIRA Championships and the GNAC Championships.

Scott has a 4.00 GPA as a secondary education major. She sat in the stroke seat for the Lumberjacks’ varsity 8+ all season, helping the crew win at the Covered Bridge Regatta and take second at the WIRA Championships.

The Academic All-District Team also honored three male student-athletes from GNAC institutions that do not participate in conference championship sports. The list includes Simon Fraser senior swimmer Jayden Cole, Alaska Anchorage junior skier Espen Persen and Seawolves’ senior skier JC Schoonmaker.

With their selections to the Academic All-District Team, the honorees are now eligible for selection the CoSIDA Academic All-America At-Large Teams. The men’s team will be announced on Tuesday, June 14 and the women’s team will be announced on Wednesday, June 15.

The Academic All-District teams are nominated and voted upon by members of CoSIDA and recognize student-athletes of sophomore standing or higher who are starters or significant reserves for their teams with a minimum GPA of 3.30 or better. Members of the Academic All-District 8 team are selected from student-athletes from GNAC, CCAA and PacWest Conference member institutions.