GREAT NORTHWEST ATHLETIC CONFERENCE

Contact: Bob Guptill (509-535-5291/Fax 535-5293/e-mail – bguptill@gnacsports.com)

2008-09 Report 4 (Sept. 14, 2009)

Volleyball

                                  Conference                     All
                               W      L   SW     SL       W       L     SW    SL
Northwest Nazarene    1      0      3       1        8       4      26     16
Central Washington     0      0      0       0        8       3      27     13
Alaska Anchorage       0      0      0       0        8       4      27     18
Western Washington   0      0      0       0        7       4      22     17
Alaska Fairbanks        0      0      0       0        6       5      20     19
Seattle Pacific            0      0      0       0        6       6      25     20
Western Oregon          0      0      0       0        3       8      13     27
Saint Martin’s             0      0      0       0        1       6        4     18
Montana State Billings 0      1      1       3        6       5      24     21

LAST WEEK:     Tuesday – Evergreen State 0 at Saint Martin's 3 (26-24, 25-10, 25-15). Thursday – WWU Invitational (British Columbia d. Western Washington, 25-18, 25-15, 25-21, exh; Seattle Pacific d. Notre Dame de Namur, 24-26, 25-15, 25-14, 25-12; British Columbia d. Central Washington, 25-17, 25-17, 25-21, exh; Western Washington d. Notre Dame de Namur, 25-19, 25-14, 25-13; Equus Challenge (Alaska Fairbanks d. Chaminade, 25-20, 25-20, 14-25, 25-23). Friday – WWU Invitational (West Texas A&M d. Central Washington, 22-25, 25-12, 24-26, 26-24, 15-13; Western Oregon d. Notre Dame de Namur, 19-25, 25-22, 25-19, 25-13; Seattle Pacific d. Grand Canyon, 25-16, 25-17, 25-18; Central Washington d. Notre Dame de Namur, 25-13, 25-11, 25-22; West Texas A&M d. Western Oregon, 25-17, 24-26, 25-23, 25-21; Western Washington d. Grand Canyon, 25-10, 20-25, 25-19, 25-18); MSU Billings Invitational (Northwest Nazarene d. MSU Billings, 25-18, 25-17, 19-25, 25-17; Northern State d. Dickinson State, 25-20, 25-19, 25-27, 25-21; Mary d. Dickinson State, 3-1; Northwest Nazarene d. Mary, 25-16, 25-19, 25-13; Northern State d. MSU Billings, 17-25, 25-17, 19-25, 25-20, 15-9); Equus Challenge (Hawaii Hilo d. Alaska Anchorage, 25-16, 25-11, 25-14; Alaska Fairbanks d. Hawaii Pacific, 25-15, 25-23, 25-14; Alaska Anchorage d. BYU-Hawaii, 21-25, 23-25, 25-21, 25-17, 15-10). Saturday – WWU Invitational (West Texas A&M d. Seattle Pacific, 15-25, 25-23, 25-23, 20-25, 15-13; British Columbia d. Western Oregon, 32-30, 25-21, 23-25, 25-14, exh; Grand Canyon d. Central Washington, 16-25, 25-23, 27-25, 25-23; Seattle Pacific d. British Columbia, 25-21, 25-22, 25-15, exh; Grand Canyon d. Western Oregon, 25-23, 19-25, 25-21, 25-19; West Texas A&M d. Western Washington, 25-14, 25-17, 25-21); MSU Billings Invitational (Northwest Nazarene d. Northern State, 25-19, 25-19, 25-18; Mary d. Dickinson, 25-20, 25-19,  25-27, 25-21; MSU Billings d. Mary, 25-21, 25-23, 25-14; Northern State d. Mary, 23-25, 25-19, 25-16; 26-24; Northwest Nazarene d. Dickinson State, 25-15, 25-7, 25-17; MSU Billings d. Dickinson State, 25-15, 25-14, 26-24); Equus Challenge (Alaska Anchorage d. Chaminade, 26-24, 25-19, 22-25; 25-21; Hawaii Hilo d. Alaska Fairbanks, 25-23, 25-21, 25-20; Alaska Anchorage d. Hawaii Pacific, 26-24, 24-26, 27-25, 25-18; Alaska Fairbanks d. BYU-Hawaii, 23-25, 25-23, 25-19, 25-18).

UPCOMING: Thursday – Saint Martin's at Western Washington; MSU Billings at Alaska Fairbanks; Central Washington at Western Oregon; Seattle Pacific at Northwest Nazarene.  Saturday – MSU Billings at Alaska Anchorage; Central Washington at Northwest Nazarene; Seattle Pacific at Saint Martin's; Western Washington at Western Oregon.  Tuesday (Sept. 22) – MSU Billings at Rocky Mountain.

POLLS: CSTV/AVCA National Division II (Sept. 14) – 27. Western Washington.  Note: NCAA West Region polls will be released Oct. 15, Oct. 29 and Nov. 12 with the playoff qualifiers announced Sunday, Nov. 15.

GNAC PLAYERS-OF-THE-WEEK:  Megan Thigpen, Alaska Fairbanks (OH, 5-10, Sr., Spokane, WA – Mead) and Stacie Meisner, Alaska Anchorage (L, 5-8, Sr., Gering, NE) led their respective teams to 3-1 records in Hawaii. . .Thigpen, who currently ranks second in the GNAC in points (4.51), kills (3.82) and service aces (0.51), had 58 kills, 49 digs and seven aces as UAF earned road wins against Chaminade, Hawaii Pacific and BYU-Hawaii. . .Meisner, who earned all-tournament honors at the UC San Diego Triton Invitational (Sept. 4-5), had 86 digs in UAA’s four matches in Hawaii.  “Stacie had a great two days in Hawaii making some amazing digs and also doing a great job in serve receive,”  UAA coach Chris Green said.   “Her digs were often good enough for us to convert offensively.”

OTHER NOTABLE PERFORMANCES: Cammy Dranginis of Northwest Nazarene became the GNAC’s all-time block leader as the Crusaders won four matches in the Montana State Billings Invitational.   Dranginis, who also had 33 kills, had 11 blocks to increase her career total to 403, breaking the old record of 402 set by NNU’s Louise Free between 1999 and 2002. . .Devon Crotteau of Montana State Billings had 66 kills and hit for a .327 percentage as the Yellowjackets split four matches in their own invitational.  Crotteau also had 42 digs, seven blocks and six aces to earn all-tournament honors. . .Sarah Risser had 55 kills as Seattle Pacific won two of three counting matches in the Western Washington Invitational.  SPU’s lone loss came in a 15-13 fifth set against nationally seventh-ranked West Texas A&M.  Risser’s performance earned her all-tournament honors.

ALL-TOURNAMENT: Joining Crotteau on the all-tournament team at Billings were Lindsay Grant and  Alaina Barber of Northwest Nazarene.  Grant had 47 kills and 47 digs and hit for a .339 percentage, while Barber had 36 kills and swung for a .378 average.  . .Sarah Risser was one of six GNAC players to make the 12-woman all-tournament team at WWU.  Joining the Seattle Pacific outside hitter on the team were SPU middle blocker Amber Johnson, Western Oregon outside hitter Danielle Reese, Central Washington OH Kady Try and outside hitter Marlayna Geary and libero Allison Gotz, both from Western Washington. . .Johnson had 27 kills and 11 blocks and hit for a .471 percentage in SPU’s three official tournament matches. . .Reese led Western Oregon with 45 kills and seven blocks and also had 50 digs in the Wolves’ three counting matches. . .Try led Central Washington with 39 kills and 19 digs.  Geary led Western Washington with 38 kills and Gotz had 55 digs for the Vikings

AROUND THE GNAC:   Jackie Matthisen led Alaska Anchorage with 59 kills and Cortney Lundberg had 50 kills and a team-best 13 blocks as the Seawolves won three of four matches in Hawaii. . .Jessica Hill had 32 kills, a team-best 10 service aces and 13 blocks in Alaska Fairbanks’ four matches in Hawaii. . .MSUB’s Jen Boe averaged 3.20 kills (48 in 15 sets) and Jody Lutz had 19 blocks in 16 sets in the Yellowjacket Invitational. . .Central Washington outhit its three opponents .213 to .165 in the WWU Invitational, but still lost two of its three matches.  The Wildcats split 12 sets, defeating Notre Dame de Namur 3-0 and losing to West Texas 3-2 and Grand Canyon 3-1.  Five of its six set losses were by two points, while its six wins were by an average of seven points per set. . .Western Oregon’s Sylvia Herrold had 33 kills and a .388 percentage. . .Emily Jepsen led Western Washington with 43 ½ points and 14 blocks.  She also had 31 kills. . .Seattle Pacific’s Anna Herold averaged six digs per set (72 in 12). . .Saint Martin’s earned its first victory of the season defeating Evergreen State.  Katy Ferguson led the Saints, who snapped a 15-match losing streak, with 10 kills.

ALL-TOURNAMENT: Alaska Anchorage (Aug. 28-29) -  Calli Scott, UAA (MVP); McKenzie Moss, UAA; Jackie Matthisen, UAA.   Sonoma State (Aug. 28-29) – Cammy Dranginis, NNU; Erin Norris, CWU.  Central Washington (Sept. 3-4) – Carlee Marble, CWU (MVP), Kady Try, CWU; Marlayna Geary, WWU; Allison Gotz, WWU.  Alaska Fairbanks (Sept. 4-5) – Megan Thigpen, UAF; Allison Oddy, UAF.  UC San Diego (Sept. 4-5) – Stacie Meisner, UAA.  Western Washington (Sept. 10-12) – Sarah Risser, SPU; Amber Johnson, SPU; Marlayna Geary, WWU; Allison Gotz, WWU; Kady Try, CWU; Danielle Reese, WOU.  MSU Billings (Sept. 11-12) – Devon Crotteau, MSUB; Lindsay Grant, NNU; Alaina Barber, NNU.

Women’s Soccer     

                                  Conference                     All
                               W   L    T  GF GA Pts     W    L    T  GF GA
Western Washington   1    0    0     3    0    3      2    2     1    8    8
Seattle Pacific            0    0    0     0    0    0      6    0     0   10    0
Saint Martin’s             0    0    0     0    0    0      4    2     0    9    5
Northwest Nazarene    0    0    0     0    0    0      2    1     3   11   10
Montana State Billings 0    0    0     0    0    0      3    2     1   12    8
Central Washington     0    0    0     0    0    0      3    4     0   14   11
Western Oregon          0    1    0     0    3    0      1    3     2    8   11

LAST WEEK:   Monday   – Central Washington 3, Mary 2 (at Nampa); CSU Stanislaus 4 at Northwest Nazarene 0;  Humboldt State 1 at Saint Martin's 0; Sonoma State 0 at Western Washington 1.  Tuesday  – Seattle Pacific 1 at Chico State 0.   Wednesday – Western Oregon 0 at Willamette 0 (2ot).  Friday – Grand Canyon 0 at Seattle Pacific 3; Western Oregon  0 at Western Washington 3.  Saturday – MSU Billings 1 at Mary 1; Lewis & Clark 0 at Northwest Nazarene 0 (2 ot).  Sunday – MSU Billings 4, Minnesota – Crookston 0 (at Bismarck); Grand Canyon 0 at Saint Martin's 1 (ot); Simon Fraser 1 at Central Washington 2.

THIS WEEK:   Tuesday – Western Oregon at Corban, 3 p.m. Wednesday – Northwest Nazarene at College of Idaho, 3 p.m.; Saint Martin's at Western Washington, 7 p.m.  Thursday – MSU Billings at Central Washington, 4 p.m.; Seattle Pacific at Western Oregon, 4 p.m.  Saturday – Central Washington at Western Washington, 11 a.m.; MSU Billings at Northwest Nazarene, noon; Saint Martin's at Seattle Pacific, 7 p.m.  Sunday - Southern Oregon at Western Oregon, 1 p.m.  Tuesday (Sept. 22) – Western Washington at Simon Fraser, 7 p.m.

POLLS: NSCAA National (Sept. 8) - 1. Seattle Pacific.    NSCAA Regional (Sept. 8) - 1. Seattle Pacific; 2. UC San Diego; 3. 3. Cal Poly Pomona; 4. Chico State; 5. Cal State L.A.; 6. CSU Stanislaus; 7. Saint Martin's; 8. Grand Canyon; 9. Sonoma State; 10. Humboldt State.

GNAC PLAYERS-OF-THE-WEEK:  Samantha Boehm, Montana State Billings (D, 5-7, Jr., Wilsonville, OR) anchored a back line which allowed just four shots on goal in a pair of contests at the University of Mary Invitational, including a 4-0 win over Minnesota Crookston and a 1-1 tie with the University of Mary.  MSUB outshot its two opponents  30-17, including an 18-4 advantage in shots on goal.

OTHER NOTABLE PERFORMANCES: Jocelyn Charette scored all three of Seattle Pacific’s goals in a 3-0 win against Grand Canyon.  It was the 38th hat-trick in GNAC history, three of them this season.  Charette now ranks 16th in GNAC history with 20 career goals.  Rachelle Kliewer of Western Oregon and Stacey Beckman of Northwest Nazarene have also had three-goal games this fall. . .Molly Shannon had assists on three of Western Washington’s four goals in wins over Sonoma State (1-0) and Western Oregon (3-0).

AROUND THE GNAC: Seattle Pacific broke its own GNAC record for most consecutive shutouts as it blanked Sonoma State and Western Oregon to extend its streak to seven, dating back to last year’s national championship game.  SPU shared the old record with Seattle University.  The Falcons had accomplished it three different times.  SPU has not allowed a goal over the last 683 minutes and seven seconds. . .Saint Martin’s split a pair of 1-0 overtime decisions, losing to Humboldt State and defeating Grand Canyon on a goal by Kayci Donatelli. . .Chelsea Libby had three assists and Jennifer Larsen had two goals as MSU Billings posted a 1-0-1 record in the University of Mary Invitational. . .Monique Cornier had a goal and two assists as Central Washington edged Mary 3-2 and NAIA 10th ranked Simon Fraser 2-1. . .Northwest Nazarene took 33 shots, 14 on goal, but were shutout by Cal State Stanislaus (4-0) and Lewis & Clark (0-0).

Men’s Soccer 

                                  Conference                     All
                               W    L    T  GF GA Pts     W    L    T  GF GA
Seattle Pacific            0    0    0     0    0    0      5    0     2   12    3
Saint Martin’s             0    0    0     0    0    0      5    3     0   14   11
Montana State Billings 0    0    0     0    0    0      4    2     0   16    5
Western Washington   0    0    0     0    0    0      3    3     0   13    9
Northwest Nazarene    0    0    0     0    0    0      2    4     0   13   17

LAST  WEEK: Monday   –   Humboldt State 3 at Saint Martin's 4; Chico State 3 at Western Washington 2; Mary 3 at Northwest Nazarene 2. Tuesday   – Seattle Pacific 3 at CSU Monterey Bay 1.     Wednesday – Saint Martin's 2 at Whitman 0.   Thursday – Colorado State Pueblo 2 at MSU Billings 1 (2ot);  Metro State 2 at Western Washington 1 (ot).  Friday – Saint Martin's 0 at Whitworth 2.  Saturday – Saint Martin's 3, Pacific Lutheran 1 (at Spokane); Metro State 1 at Seattle Pacific 4; Northwest Nazarene 1 at Dixie State 2.  Sunday – Mary 1 at MSU Billings 2;  Western Washington 3, Mesa State 0 (at Phoenix).

THIS WEEK:  Tuesday – Western Washington at Grand Canyon, 3 p.m.  Wednesday – Northwest Nazarene at College of Idaho, 5 p.m.  Saturday – Seattle Pacific at MSU Billings, 3 p.m.; Simon Fraser at Western Washington, 7 p.m.  Sunday – Jamestown at MSU Billings, 4 p.m.  Monday (Sept. 21) – Seattle Pacific vs. Mary (at Billings), 1 p.m.

POLLS: NSCAA National (Sept. 8) – No GNAC team is ranked. NSCAA Regional (Sept. 8) - 1. Cal State L.A.; 2. Sonoma State; 3. Grand Canyon; 4. Seattle Pacific; 5. UC San Diego; 6. CSU Dominguez Hills; 7. Chico State; 8. CSU San Bernardino; 9. MSU Billings; 10. Western Washington & San Francisco State.

GNAC PLAYERS-OF-THE-WEEK:  Tyler Schultz, Seattle Pacific (M, 5-11, 170, So., Scottsdale, AZ – Pinancle) had a pair of goals and an assist as the Falcons stayed unbeaten    with wins over Cal State Monterey Bay (3-1) and nationally 20th-ranked Metro State 4-1.  He had a goal and assist in the latter game as SPU gained a little revenge for a 4-1 loss to the same team a year ago.  “Tyler has been a real threat offensively for us,” SPU coach Mark Collings, who has guided SPU to a 5-0-2 start, stated.  A year ago the Falcons won just six games.

OTHER NOTABLE PERFORMANCES: Sam Charles of Montana State Billings had a pair of goals, including the game-winner in a 2-1 home win against the University of Mary.  It was Charles’ 17th game-winning goal in three seasons since MSUB joined the GNAC, breaking the conference record of 16 set by Bobby McAlister of Seattle University between 2002 and 2005.  Charles’ GNAC career totals now stand at 103 points and 46 goals and he has scored a goal in seven straight games, one short of his own conference record. . .Xan Nixon had three goals, including the game-winner in a 3-1 victory over Pacific Lutheran as Saint Martin’s won three of four contests.

AROUND THE GNAC:  Drew Williams scored the game-winning goal in Seattle Pacific’s win over Metro State and also had one assist against Metro and one in a 3-1 win over Cal State Monterey Bay. . .Kellan Brown scored all three of Western Washington’s goals in a 3-2 loss to Chico State and a 2-1 overtime loss to Metro State.  Three different players – Justin Moore, Jim Dangvan and Oscar Jimenez – found the net in WWU’s 3-0 win over Mesa State.

ALL-TOURNAMENT: Chico State (Aug. 27-31) – Ruben Orozco, SMU; James Schmid, SMU; Erik Orozco, SMU.

Cross Country

ATHLETES OF THE WEEK: Men – Bennett Grimes, Western Washington (Jr., Pocatello, ID - Century) and Chris Reed, Western Oregon (Jr., Klamath Falls, OR).  Women – Sarah Porter, Western Washington (Jr., Hockinson, WA). . .Grimes, Reed  and Porter all had impressive wins in leading their respective teams to invitational titles Saturday.  Grimes won the CWU Apple Ridge Run Invitational near Yakima in a 6,000 meter time of 19:49, finishing 20 seconds ahead of teammate Blake Medhaug.   The Vikings placed five runners in the Top 7 in winning the team title with  19 points.  .Reed outran 116 other runners in winning the Lewis & Clark Invitational at McIver Park in Estacada, Ore., in an 8,000-meter time of 25:29.8.  The Wolves finished first among the 11 colleges and one club team with 51 points. . .Porter won the women’s CWU Apple Ridge  Run Invitational in a 4,000 meter time of 15:13, more than a full minute ahead of the remainder of the  field.
AROUND THE GNAC:  Western Washington and Seattle Pacific finished 1-2 in both the men’s and women’s divisions at the CWU Apple Ridge Invitational, which will be the site for the conference meet in October.  But, don’t put too much into the relative finishes of the two.  Both the men’s and women’s courses were 2,000 meters shorter than the conference championship course and both schools rested some of their top runners in preparation for the University of Washington Sundodger Invitational this coming Saturday.  Six of the GNAC’s teams are expected to run in Seattle. . .Western Washington had five of the top seven finishers for the men, while SPU had good spacing with just 33 seconds separating its top five. . .  Jaclyn Puga and freshman Barak Watson led Northwest Nazarene  to a pair of third-place team finishes in the Roger Curran Invitational cross country meet at West Park in Nampa. Puga finished fifth overall in the women's race in a time of 14:44.35 on the four-kilometer course.  Watson placed fourth overall in 18:57.36 on the six-kilometer men’s course. . .Montana State Billings’ women had a second-place team finish at the South Dakota Mines Invitational as Lisa Minnehan placed third in a 5K time of 20:07.07.

UPCOMING: Saturday - Willamette Grass Course (WOU); Montana State Invitational (MSUB); UW Sundodger Invitational (UAA, CWU, NNU, SMU, SPU, WWU).

POLLS: USTFCCA National (Pre-Season): Men - 7. Western Washington, 15. Alaska Anchorage, 22. Western Oregon. Women - 3. Seattle Pacific, 9. Alaska Anchorage, 10. Western Washington. Regional (Pre-Season): Men – 1. Chico State; 2. Western Washington; 3. Alaska Anchorage; 4. Western Oregon; 5. Cal Poly Pomona; 6. Hawaii Pacific; 7. UC San Diego; 8. Humboldt State; 9. Saint Martin's; 10. Cal State Stanislaus. Women – 1. Seattle Pacific; 2. Chico State; 3. Alaska Anchorage; 4. Western Washington; 5. Cal State L.A.; 6. UC San Diego; 7. BYU-Hawaii; 8. Western Oregon; 9. Northwest Nazarene; 10. HSU.

LAST WEEK

NNU Roger Curren Invitational (Sept. 12): Men - Boise State 18, College of Idaho 51, Northwest Nazarene 89, Eastern Oregon 90, Treasure Valley CC 140, Westminster (Utah) 184. Individuals (6,000 Meters)- 1. Kevin Higgs, BSU, 18:41.23; 4. Barak Watson, NNU, 18:57.36; 17. Luke Hetrick, NNU, 19:45.57; 22. Matt Rankin, NNU, 20:01.29. Women – College of Idaho 46, Boise State 52, Northwest Nazarene 68, Eastern Oregon 70, Westminster (Utah) 134. Individuals (4,000 Meters) - 1. Shannon Porter, BSU, 14:19.20; 5. Jaclyn Puga, NNU, 14:44.35; 7. Jordan Powell, NNU, 15:06.58; 11. Michelle Phillips, NNU, 15:18.23; 24. Ashley Rendahl, NNU, 16:13.38; 28. Christine Harwood, NNU, 16:28.12.

CWU Apple Ridge Run Invitational (Sept. 12 at Yakima): Men - Western Washington 19, Seattle Pacific 48, Central Washington 57, Alaska Fairbanks 108, Skagit Valley 145. Individuals (6,000 Meters) - 1. Bennett Grimes, WWU, 19:49; 2. Blake Medhaug, WWU, 20:09; 3. Manuel Santos, CWU, 20:28; 5. Nick Abraham, WWU, 20:47; 6. Yonas Berhe, WWU, 20:48; 9. Jordan Lance, SPU, 20:55; 10. Kyle Johnson, WWU, 21:07. Women - Western Washington 31, Seattle Pacific 45, Alaska Fairbanks 65, Central Washington 76. Individuals (4,000 Meters) - 1. Sarah Porter, WWU, 15:13; 2. Kate Harline, SPU, 16:15; 3. Lisa Anderberg, SPU, 16:23; 4. Emily Wallen, WWU, 16:32; 5. Heather Edic, UAF, 16:35; 6. Kristi Fairbanks, WWU, 16:36; 7. Mary Williams, SPU, 16:44; 8. Jana Benedix, UAF, 16:54; 9. Kendra Hedges, WWU, 16:59; 10. Stephanie Cooke, CWU, 17:04.

Lewis & Clark Invitational (Sept. 12 at Estacada): Men - Western Oregon 51, Linfield 71, Concordia (Ore.) 77, Whitman 118, Lewis & Clark 120, Pacific Lutheran 175, Northwest Christian 206, Corban 216, George Fox 220, Bruin Track Club 230, Pacific 276. Individuals (8,000 meters) - 1. Chris Reed, WOU, 25:29.8; 8. Conner Kasler, WOU, 26:10.1; 14. Braxton Jackson, WOU, 26:30.7; 15. Brandon Snook, WOU, 26:38.5; 17. Mike Schmidt, WOU, 26:41.3; 18. Matt McCrary, WOU, 26:41.6. Women - Whitman 35, Lewis & Clark 60, Linfield 88, Northwest Christian 113, Concordia (Ore.) 120, Western Oregon 127, Pacific Lutheran 151, Corban College 238, Bruin Track Club 273, Oregon Tech. 280, George Fox 296. Individuals (6,000 Meters) - 1. Marci Klimek, Linf, 22:17.50; 13. Tricia Morrison, WOU, 23:47.30; 15. Amanda Wright, WOU, 23:49.90.

South Dakota Mines (Sept. 12 at Rapid City): Men - Black Hills State 30, Dickinson State 88, Gillette Community College 89, SD Mines 108, Rocky Mountain 109, MSU Billings 128, Minot State 145. Individuals (7,920 Meters) - 1. Jed Morgan, BHS, 26:25; 11. Daniel Lombardi, MSUB, 27:45; 31. Tyson Vanderby, MSUB, 28:45; 34. Mar Bolt, MSUB, 28:51. Women - Black Hills State 31, MSU Billings 60, Minot State 80, Dickinson State 99, Rocky Mountain 124, Gillette Community College 128, SD Mines 171. Individuals (5,000 meters) - 1. Wendy O' Lexey, BHS, 19:14.29; 3. Lisa Minnehan, MSUB, 20:07.07; 11. Leah Thompson, MSUB, 21:00.48; 13. Mary Owen, MSUB, 21:12.71; 14. Katie Thiel, MSUB, 21:14.61; 20. Kristen Yeley, MSUB, 21:34.27.

Men’s Golf
 

LAST WEEK:  MSUB opened its golf season Thursday and Friday with a dual with Rocky Mountain at the Peter Yergen Golf Club in Billings.  Rocky Mountain won the two-day event 5-3.

UPCOMING: Monday-Tuesday (Sept. 21-22) – Carroll Invitational (MSUB).

Football

                                  Conference                     All
                               W      L    PF     PA       W       L      PF    PA
Western Oregon          1      0    17      16        1       1      31     51
Central Washington     0      0      0       0        3       0      57     20
Dixie State                 0      0      0       0        1       2      64     87
Humboldt State           0      1    16      17        1       1      52     41

LAST SATURDAY:   West Texas A&M 10 at Central Washington 34; Dixie State 20 at Montana State 23; Western Oregon 17 at Humboldt State 16

THIS SATURDAY:     Azusa Pacific at Central Washington, 1 p.m.; Dixie State at Western Oregon, 2 p.m.; Humboldt State at Menlo, noon.

POLLS: AFCA (Sept. 14) – 5. Central Washington.   D2Football.Com (Sept. 8) – 6. Central Washington.

GNAC PLAYERS-OF-THE-WEEK:  Offense -  Ryan Robertson, Central Washington (QB, 6-3, 195, Fr., Sammamish, WA – Eastlake) had an extraordinary  first half in leading the Wildcats to a 34-10 win over West Texas A&M in their 2009 home opener.  Robertson completed 18 of 24 passes for 227 yards and four touchdowns in the first two quarters as CWU jumped to a 31-3 lead on the way to a 34-10 victory.  The redshirt freshman finished the afternoon with 256 yards, completing 21 of 36.  Ten months ago, West Texas knocked CWU out of the NCAA Division II playoffs with a 49-42 win at Canyon, Tex.   Defense –  Keauntea Bankhead, Dixie State (LB, 6-1, 255, Jr., Seattle, WA – Arizona Western) led a Red Storm defense that limited Big Sky member Montana State to just two touchdowns,  MSU’s Jason Cunningham kicked three field goals enabling the Bobcats to escape with a 23-20 home victory.  Bankhead had 13 tackles, including six solos, recovered a fumble and also broke two passes.  Special Teams – Kyle Schierholt, Humboldt State (K, 5-10, 200 Sr., Chugiak, AK – Northern State) kicked three field goals, including one from 46 yards early in the fourth quarter in a 17-16 loss to Western Oregon.   Schierholt also converted from 36 and 34 yards.  The game was the conference opener for both schools.