GREAT NORTHWEST ATHLETIC CONFERENCE

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

2009-10 Report 8 (Oct. 12, 2009)

Click here for release in PDF format

Volleyball

                                  Conference                     All
                               W      L   SW     SL       W       L     SW    SL
Seattle Pacific            6      1    20      11      12       7      45     31
Alaska Anchorage       5      2    16      11      13       7      44     32
Western Washington   5      3    19      11      12       7      41     28
Northwest Nazarene    5      3    20      15      12       8      44     33
Montana State Billings 4      3    17      12      10       8      40     33
Western Oregon          4      4    17      17        7     12      30     44
Alaska Fairbanks        2      4    11      14        8       9      31     33
Central Washington     2      5    11      19      10       8      38     32
Saint Martin’s             0      8      3      24        1     14        7     42

LAST WEEK: Thursday – Seattle Pacific 3 at Central Washington 1 (25-12, 25-23, 25-25, 26-24); Northwest Nazarene 3 at Western Washington 2 (20-25, 26-24, 23-25, 26-24, 15-13); Saint Martin's 1 at Western Oregon 3 (26-24, 23-25, 25-14, 25-22). Saturday – Alaska Anchorage 3 at Alaska Fairbanks 1 (25-21, 25-21, 25-21); Western Oregon 2 at Central Washington 3 (25-22, 23-25, 14-25, 25-18, 19-17); Northwest Nazarene 2 at Seattle Pacific 3 (25-14, 23-25, 26-28, 27-25, 15-10); Western Washington 3 at Saint Martin's 1 (25-23, 26-28, 25-23, 25-16).

UPCOMING: Tuesday   – Rocky Mountain at MSU Billings.  Wednesday – Saint Martin's at Evergreen State.  Thursday – Alaska Anchorage at Seattle Pacific; Alaska Fairbanks at Northwest Nazarene; Central Washington at MSU Billings; Western Oregon at Western Washington.  Saturday – Alaska Anchorage at Northwest Nazarene; Alaska Fairbanks at Seattle Pacific, 3 p.m.; Central Washington at Saint Martin's, 2 p.m.; Western Washington at MSU Billings.  Tuesday (Oct.. 20) – Northwest Nazarene at College of Idaho.

POLLS: CSTV/AVCA National Division II (Oct. 5) – 35. Western Washington.  Note: The first official NCAA West Region poll  will be released Thursday.  Additional polls will be on Oct. 29 and Nov. 12 with the playoff qualifiers announced Sunday, Nov. 15.

NCAA NATIONAL STATISTICS (Through Oct. 4): Individuals (Top 30): Kills - 5. Devon Crotteau, MSUB, 4.41; 20.Megan Thigpen, UAF, 3.90; 23. Jackie Matthisen, UAA, 3.83. Hitting Percentage - 28. Amber Johnson, .366; 30. Laura Sakala, WOU, .365. Assists – 29. Calli Scott, UAA, 10.42. Aces - 7. Erin Norris, CWU, 0.76. Digs - 2. Brandie Vea, CWU, 6.12; 19. Haley Hevern, NNU, 5.29; 23. Allison Gotz, WWU, 5.14; 24. Anna Herold, SPU, 5.12. Team (Top 30): Assists – 30. Seattle Pacific 12.19.  Digs - 1. Northwest Nazarene 18.78; 4. Central Washington 18.30.

GNAC PLAYERS-OF-THE-WEEK:  Sarah Risser, Seattle Pacific (OH, 5-9, Jr., Santa Barbara, CA – Dos Pueblos) had a pair of 22-kill performances in wins against Central Washington and Northwest Nazarene.  Her only previous 20+ kill career performance came against Cal State Stanislaus in SPU’s 2008 season opener.  Her 22 kills in Thursday’s 3-1 win at Central Washington is the second highest total this fall in the GNAC in a four-set match.  Risser also had 41 digs in the two matches and currently ranks fourth in the GNAC in points (4.20), fifth in kills (3.13) and 11th in digs (3.13).  She is one of the main reasons the Falcons already have four more wins  this season than a year ago when they finished with an 8-18 record.

OTHER NOTABLE PERFORMANCES: Marlayna Geary led Western Washington with 45 kills and 26 digs as the Vikings split two matches.  Geary took 128 swings, including a GNAC single-match record 90 in Thursday’s 3-2 home loss to Northwest Nazarene.  The old record was 88 by Nikole Thompson of Seattle University versus Northwest Nazarene on Sept. 8, 2007. . .Cammy Dranginis led NNU with 38 ½ points as the Crusaders came within a fourth-set match point at Seattle Pacific of pulling off a road sweep at Western Washington and  SPU.  Dranginis had 28 kills, 11 blocks including four solos and three aces.  Lindsay Grant had 36 points (34 kills, one ace, two blocking assists). . .Teilissa Tua of Saint Martin’s had 34 kills and seven blocks and hit for a .343 percentage as the Saints forced a fourth set in losses to Western Oregon and Western Washington.

KEY MATCHUPS: This could be a critical week in the GNAC as second-place Alaska Anchorage (5-2)  goes on the road to play first-place Seattle Pacific (6-1) Thursday and Northwest Nazarene (5-3), which is tied for third with Western Washington, on Saturday.  Meanwhile, the Vikings and Montana State Billings, who are among three teams in the conference with three losses, meet in Billings Saturday night.  Prior to Thursday’s matches, the NCAA will release the first regional rankings of the 2009 season. 

RECORD BOOK NUMBERS:  Western Washington setter Laurie Yearout had 69 assists in Thursday’s contest with Northwest Nazarene, equaling the seventh highest single-match total in GNAC history and the most this fall. . .Erin Norris of Central Washington had three aces as the Wildcats split two home matches, increasing her career total to 188 and equaling the GNAC career record set by Alyssa Given of Seattle Pacific between 2004 and 2007.  Megan Thigpen of Alaska Fairbanks ranks 11th in career aces with 133 and needs one more to crack the Top 10.  UAF setter Alexa Sherman has exactly 3,200 career assists to rank seventh on the all-time career chart. . .MSU Billings’ Devon Crotteau, who is the GNAC career leader in kills per set (4.15), needs three more kills to join the GNAC Career Top 10 list.  She has 1,195 career kills.  Shannon Rowland of Western Washington (1999-02) ranks 10th with 1,198.

AROUND THE GNAC: Jackie Matthisen had 16 kills and hit for a .441 percentage and Cortney Lundberg had nine kills and a .467 percentage as Alaska Anchorage ended a five-match losing streak to Alaska Fairbanks and won the first time at UAF since 2005. Jessica Hill led UAF with 14 kills – 35 percent of its team total – and hit for a .312 percentage. . .Seattle Pacific leads the GNAC in kills per set (13.29) and opponent hitting percentage (.147) and ranks  second in hitting percentage (.212). The Falcons have won six of their last seven matches. . Yearout had 111 assists, averaging 12.33 in nine sets in Western Washington’s matches with NNU and Saint Martin’s.  The Vikings were also led by Allison Gotz with 51 digs and Emily Jepsen with nine blocks. . .Danielle Reese had 26 kills and Samantha Ward had 24 kills and 11 blocks as Western Oregon split two matches, losing a 19-17 fifth set at Central Washington.  Every team in the conference has at least two home losses this season except for the Wolves, who are  3-1 on their home court. . .Kady Try led Central Washington with 32 kills and Bri Gregory had 10 blocks in a pair of matches.

ACADEMY OF ART MATCHES NOW REGION COUNTERS: Academy of Art has received a waiver from the NCAA and matches with A of A now count as regional contests. Earlier this fall, Alaska Anchorage split two matches with A of A, while Central Washington beat the PacWest school.  Seattle Pacific and Western Washington both lost to the Urban Knights, who are 14-5 on the season.  GNAC teams are now 19-12  against PacWest teams (including Academy of the Art) and 14-18 against CCAA teams for a 33-30 overall record against other West Region teams.  

GNAC (19) vs. PACWEST (12):  Western Washington 3-1, Central Washington 3-1, Alaska Anchorage 4-2, Seattle Pacific 3-2, Alaska Fairbanks 3-2, MSU Billings 2-2, Western Oregon 1-1, Saint Martin’s 0-1.  GNAC (14) vs. CCAA (18):  Central Washington 3-1, Northwest Nazarene 3-1, Western Washington 2-2, Seattle Pacific 2-2, Alaska Anchorage 2-2, Western Oregon 1-3, Alaska Fairbanks 1-3, Saint Martin’s 0-4.

PACWEST (12) vs. GNAC (19): Hawaii Hilo 6-0, Academy of Art 3-2, Grand Canyon 2-2, BYU-Hawaii 1-5, Hawaii Pacific 0-3, Chaminade 0-3, Notre Dame de Namur 0-4.  CCAA (18) vs. GNAC (14):  Sonoma State 4-0, CSU San Bernardino 3-0, UC San Diego 1-0, Cal State East Bay 1-0, San Francisco State 3-1, Chico State 2-1, Cal State L.A. 2-2, Cal Poly Pomona 1-1, Humboldt State 1-3, CSU Stanislaus 0-2, CSU Dominguez Hills 0-4.

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   4    1    1   11    5   13      6    4     2   17   18
Seattle Pacific            4    1    0   15    3   12    11    1     0   26    3
Montana State Billings 4    2    0   13   12   12      7    4     1   25   20
Saint Martin’s             3    3    0     8   10    9      7    6     0   17   16
Central Washington     2    3    1     6    7    7      5    7     1   20   18
Western Oregon          2    5    0     7   17    6      3    8     3   18   29
Northwest Nazarene    1    5    0     9   15    3      3    7     3   20   29

LAST WEEK:   Monday   – Western Washington 1 at Saint Martin's 2.   Tuesday   – BYU-Hawaii 0 at Seattle Pacific 1.  Thursday – Western Oregon 2 at Central Washington 0;  Northwest Nazarene 1 at MSU Billings 2;  Western Washington 0 at UC San Diego 5.  Saturday – Northwest Nazarene 0 at Central Washington 2.   Sunday – MSU Billings at Rocky Mountain, postponed until Oct. 14, 3:30 p.m.; Saint Martin's 0 at Simon Fraser 1.

THIS WEEK:   Monday   – Western Washington at Grand Canyon, 1:30 p.m.  Wednesday – Western Washington at Central Washington, 3 p.m.; Seattle Pacific at Saint Martin's, 3 p.m.; MSU Billings at Rocky Mountain, 3:30 p.m.  Friday – Carroll at MSU Billings, 4 p.m.  Saturday – Saint Martin's at Central Washington, 11 a.m.; Seattle Pacific at Northwest Nazarene, noon.  Sunday – Western Washington at Western Oregon, 1 p.m. 

POLLS: NCAA  Regional (Oct. 7) -   1. Seattle Pacific; 2. Cal State L.A.; 3 Chico State; 4. UC San Diego; 5. Cal State San Bernardino; 6. Humboldt State; 7. Western Washington; 8. Cal State Dominguez Hills; 9. Cal Poly Pomona; 10. Montana State Billings.  NSCAA National (Oct. 6) - 5. Seattle Pacific. NSCAA West Regional (Oct. 6) - 1. Seattle Pacific; 2. UC San Diego; 3. Cal State L.A.; 4. Chico State; 5. Cal State San Bernardino; 6. Western Washington; 7. Humboldt State; 8. Cal State Dominguez Hills; 9. Sonoma State; 10. Cal Poly Pomona.

NCAA NATIONAL STATISTICS (Through Oct. 4): Individuals (Top 30): Points - 28. Jaucelyn Richter, MSUB, 2.10. Goals Against – 1. Maddie Dickinson, SPU, 0.00; 18. Kylie Broadbent, WWU, 0.48; 24. Jesslyn Rahm Kellerman, SPU, 0.55.  Save Percentage – 1. Maddie Dickinson, SPU, 0.00.  Team (Top 30): Shutout Percentage - 1. Seattle Pacific .909. Goals Against - 4. Seattle Pacific 0.27. Save PCT. - 14. Seattle Pacific .889

GNAC PLAYERS-OF-THE-WEEK:   Brittney Rigtrup, Western Oregon (GK, 5-7, Jr., Renton, WA - Hazen) had 10 saves in the Wolves’ 2-0 road win at Central Washington.   Rigtrup faced a total of 22 shots in recording her first shutout of the season.  Her save total was also the second most in the conference this fall.

OTHER NOTABLE PERFORMANCES: Jill Webb set up Jenny Baker for the game-winning goal as Saint Martin’s defeated Western Washington 2-1 Monday, snapping the Vikings 21-game GNAC unbeaten streak.  Webb was also SMU’s chief attacker in Sunday’s 1-0 loss to Simon Fraser accounting for four of SMU’s seven shots on goal.

AROUND THE GNAC: Rigtrup is the seventh goalkeeper in GNAC history to record 10 or more saves in a shutout.  The last to do it was Kylie Broadbent of Western Washington who had 10 in a 1-0 win over Seattle Pacific on Sept. 20, 2008.  The feat has been accomplished 10 times, three by Shauna Voss of Northwest Nazarene and twice by Amanda Merrill of NNU. . .Seattle Pacific goalkeeper Maddie Dickinson had four saves in a 1-0 win against BYU-Hawaii, extending her streak without allowing a goal  to 728 minutes and seven seconds. That is the second longest streak in GNAC history trailing only a streak of 835 minutes by SPU’s Jennifer Hull in 2003.  Kelsey Jenkins scored the game’s only goal in the 64th minute. . .Kari Foreman and Jennifer Larsen had goals in Montana State Billings’ 2-1 win over Northwest Nazarene.  Larsen’s goal came on a penalty kick. . .Rachelle Kliewer and Chelsy Okuma scored Western Oregon’s goals in its 2-0 win over Central Washington.  Kliewer’s came on a penalty kick. . .Amber Easterbrook had one save in recording her 19th career shutout in Central Washington’s 2-0 home win against Northwest Nazarene. She ranks fourth in GNAC in career shutouts and sixth in career save percentage (.806).

Men’s Soccer 

                                  Conference                     All
                               W    L    T  GF GA Pts     W    L    T  GF GA
Saint Martin’s             3    1    0     7    5    9      8    6     0   24   22
Montana State Billings 2    0    2     6    4    8      8    2     2   28   12
Seattle Pacific            2    1    1     6    5    7      8    1     3   20    9
Western Washington   1    3    0     5    6    3      4    8     0   20   22
Northwest Nazarene    0    3    1     5    9    1      5    7     1   24   28

LAST WEEK:  Monday   – Western Washington 1 at Saint Martin's 2.  Tuesday – Northwest Nazarene 2, Mary 1 (at Billings).  Wednesday   – Northwest Nazarene 3 at Rocky Mountain 1, Friday – Montana State Billings 3 at Mary 2 (ot). Saturday – Seattle Pacific 2 at Northwest Nazarene 1 (ot).  Sunday – MSU Billings at Rocky Mountain, postponed until Nov. 4, 2 p.m.; Saint Martin's 1 at Simon Fraser 3.

UPCOMING:  Monday   – Seattle Pacific at Grand Canyon, 7:30 p.m. Thursday – Seattle Pacific at Saint Martin's, 3 p.m.  Saturday – MSU Billings at Seattle Pacific, 7 p.m.; Western Washington at Northwest Nazarene, 4 p.m.  Tuesday (Oct. 20) – MSU Billings at Northwest Nazarene, 4 p.m.  Wednesday (Oct. 21) – Seattle Pacific at Cal State L.A., 7 p.m.; Western Washington at CSU Dominguez Hills, 7 p.m.

POLLS: NSCAA National (Oct. 6) – 25. Seattle Pacific. NSCAA Regional (Oct. 6) - 1. Cal State L.A.; 2. Sonoma State; 3. Grand Canyon; 4. Seattle Pacific; 5. CSU San Bernardino; 6. Montana State Billings; 7.Cal State Dominguez Hills; 8. Chico State; 9. UC San Diego; 10. San Francisco State. NCAA Regional (Oct. 6) - 1. Cal State L.A.; 2. Sonoma State; 3. CSU San Bernardino; 4. Seattle Pacific; 5. Grand Canyon; 6. Montana State Billings.

NCAA NATIONAL STATISTICS (Through Oct. 4): Individuals (Top 30): Points - 7. Sam Charles, MSUB, 2.64. Goals - 10. Sam Charles, MSUB, 1.09.  Assists – 26. Chris Andre, MSUB, and Vlad Voin, SMU, 0.55.  Goals Against - 28. Kaleb Kuehn, SPU, 0.76. Save Percentage - 21. Matthew Mitchell, MSUB, .847. Team (Top 30): Goals Against - 16. Seattle Pacific 0.69. Shutout Percentage – 29. Seattle Pacific 455. Save Percentage – 15. Montana State Billings .859.

GNAC PLAYERS-OF-THE-WEEK:  Xan Nixon, Saint Martin’s (F, 6-1, So., Seattle, WA – Roosevelt) had an assist on the Saints’ game-winning goal in a 2-1 win over Western Washington as SMU grabbed the GNAC lead at the halfway point of the conference season.  He also scored SMU’s only goal and had all four of its shots on goal in a 3-1 loss to Simon Fraser.   Nixon leads the GNAC in shots with 51, ranks second in total points with 18 and ranks third in points per game, averaging 1.29 per contest.

QUOTABLE: “Xan (Nixon) has had a great last five games with some great goals and timely passing,” SMU coach Rob Walker said.   “He's scored against some great opposition in NNU, SPU and his assist on Connor Biggs' go-ahead goal against Western Washington last week really made our day as the Vikings were all over us. . .Xan does a good job of targeting and has been good at getting into the channels to get his chances.  Against a very good Simon Fraser team, Xan created his own luck by running onto a ball that the SFU defender was set to clear and pushed past the defender and beat the goalkeeper coming out to narrow the angle.  This goal was all on Xan and his desire to score.  Every team needs a player like Xan to finish and it's a real bonus as many of his chances turn into opportunity for others as was the case in Connor's (Biggs) goal against Western.”

OTHER NOTABLE PERFORMANCES:  MSUB’s Sam Charles scored a pair of goals, including the 20th game-winner of his career, in a 2-1 win at the University of Mary.  He extended his own GNAC career record  for points to 118 and now has recorded a point in a GNAC-record 15 consecutive games. Including one season in the Heartland Conference, Charles has 59 career goals (52 in the GNAC) and 132 career points.   His game-winner came in the fifth minute of overtime.

AROUND THE GNAC: Alex Mangeac and Renatto Brito both had a pair of goals leading Northwest Nazarene to two wins in three games.  Brito’s goal with 47 seconds remaining in regulation gave NNU a 2-1 win against Mary.  John Stump had a goal and an assist in the Crusaders’ 3-1 victory against Rocky Mountain. . .Elliot Morton scored with 50 seconds left in the first overtime period to snap a 1-1 tie and give Seattle Pacific a 2-1 overtime win at Northwest Nazarene.

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

Cross Country

ATHLETES OF THE WEEK: Men – Marko Cheseto, Alaska Anchorage (Jr., Kapenguria, Kenya) won the San Francisco State Invitational at Golden Gate Park Friday in an 8,000 meter time of 24:52.6.  It was the first win of the season and the third of his career for Cheseto, who is the defending GNAC champion and was the NCAA Division II West Region runner-up last fall. Women – Ruth Jeptoo, Alaska Anchorage (So., Kapcheno, Kenya) led the Seawolves to a perfect score of 15 in the San Francisco State Invitational.  Jeptoo finished third in a 6,000-meter time of 21:38.7 and was followed closely by four of her teammates.  The five UAA athletes were separated by just 36 ½ seconds.  Jessica Pixler and Jane Larson of Seattle Pacific finished 1-2, but were competing as individuals and didn’t figure into the team score.

OTHER NOTABLE PERFORMANCES: Pixler finished more than a minute ahead of teammate Jane Larson in winning the women’s  individual title at San Francisco State in a time of 20:36.4. . .Western Washington’s Jordan Welling and Sarah Porter won individual titles in the 36th annual WWU Invitational in times of 31:41 and 21:10, respectively. . .Lisa Minnehan finished fourth leading Montana State Billings to a second-place team finish in the MSUB Invitational Saturday at Billings.

UPCOMING:  Saturday- Eastern Oregon Invitational (NNU); Puget Sound Invitational (CWU). Saturday (Oct. 24) - GNAC Championships (at Apple Ridge, Yakima).   Saturday (Nov. 7) - NCAA West Regional (at San Francisco). 

POLLS: USTFCCA National (Oct. 7): Men - 8. Western Washington, 15. Alaska Anchorage. Women - 5. Alaska Anchorage, 7. Western Washington; 12. Seattle Pacific. Regional (Oct. 5): Men – 1. Chico State; 2. Western Washington; 3. Alaska Anchorage; 4. Cal Poly Pomona; 5. Western Oregon; 6. Humboldt State; 7. Northwest Nazarene; 8. UC San Diego; 9. BYU-Hawaii; 10. Hawaii Pacific. Women – 1. Chico State; 2. Alaska Anchorage; 3. Western Washington; 4. Seattle Pacific; 5. Cal State L.A.; 6. UC San Diego; 7. Cal Poly Pomona; 8. Northwest Nazarene; 9. Western Oregon; 10. BYU-Hawaii.

LAST WEEK

San Francisco State Invitational (Oct. 9 at San Francisco): Men - Alaska Anchorage 52, Western Oregon 56, Humboldt State 58, Chico State 108, Santa Clara 131. Individuals (8,000 Meters) - 1. Marko Cheseto, UAA, 24:52.6; 2. Micah Chelimo, UAA, 24:55.0; 3. Chris Reed, WOU, 25:17.1; 8. Alfred Kangogo, UAA, 25:44.3; 9. Chad Meis, SPU, 25:48.2. Women - Alaska Anchorage 15, Chico State 81, Santa Clara 116, San Jose State 148, Western Oregon 148. Individuals (6,000 Meters) - 1 . Jessica Pixler, SPU, 20:36.4; 2. Jane Larson, SPU, 21:37.9; 3. Ruth Keino, UAA, 21:38.7; 4.Hallidie Wilt, UAA, 21:57.1; 5. Shoshana Keegan, UAA, 22:02.8; 6.Laura Carr, UAA, 22:09.2; 7.Miriam Kipng'eno, UAA, 22:15.2.

MSU Billings Invitational (Oct. 10 at Billings): Men - Black Hills State 27, Great Falls 71, Dickinson State 96, MSU Billings 118, South Dakota Tech 120, Rocky Mountain 133, Carroll 146, FVCC 245. Individuals (8,000 Meters) - 1. Mark Mazza, BHSU, 25:27; 14. Daniel Lombardi, MSUB, 26:38; 19, Mark Bolt, MSUB, 26:49. Women – Black Hills State 34, MSU Billings 47, Great Falls 98, Carroll 99, Dickinson State 113, Rocky Mountain 130, South Dakota Tech 180, FVCC 240. Individuals (5,000 Meters) - 1 . Wendy O'Lexey, BHSU, 18:02; 4. Lisa Minnehan, MSUB, 18:50; 9. Mary Owen, MSUB, 19:19; 10. Leah Thompson, MSUB, 19:20; 13. Ler Mykel, MSUB, 19:32; 15. Sarah Jackson, MSUB, 19:43.

Western Washington Invitational (Oct. 10 at Bellingham): Men - Western Washington 23, Club Northwest 63, British Columbia 84, Seattle Running 96, Central Washington 140, St. Martin's 160, Seattle Pacific 170. Individuals (8,000 Meters) - 1. Jordan Welling, WWU, 31:41; 2. Bennett Grimes, WWU, 31:50; 3. Anthony Tomsich, WWU, 31:59; 6. Blake Medhaug, WWU, 32:22; 9. Kyle Van Santen, SMU, 32:32. Women – Club Northwest 32, Western Washington 39, British Columbia 88, Seattle Pacific 90, Central Washington 141, St. Martin's 164. Individuals (6,000 Meters) - 1 . Sarah Porter, WWU, 21:10; 3. Courtney Olsen, WWU, 22:03; 6. Lauren Briehof, WWU, 22:11 8. Natty Plunkett, SPU, 22:29.

Men’s Golf
 
PLAYER OF THE WEEK:  Nick Varelia, Western Washington (So., Kent, WA – Kentwood) finished second with a 54-hole score of three-under-par 213 to lead the Vikings to the team title in the Grand Canyon Fall Invitational at Goodyear, Ariz.  The Vikings tied Oklahoma City for first place with a team score of 863, but were awarded the team trophy based on its fifth man score.  It’s the first regular-season team title for the Vikings since 2006.  Varelia, who averaged 77.1 shots a year ago, lowered his season average to 72.8 with rounds of  72, 71 and 70.

OTHER NOTABLE PERFORMANCES:   Tyler Nicholas of Montana State Billings had a Top 10 finish in the North Idaho Invitational, placing eighth with a 36-hole score of 155. . .Jeff McDonald led Northwest Nazarene to a dual meet victory with an even-par 70 in a 295-328 win over Treasure Valley.

UPCOMING: Monday-Tuesday   - Chico State Invitational (Northwest Nazarene, Saint Martin's).  Monday-Tuesday (Oct. 19-20) - Sonoma State Invitational (Saint Martin's, Western Washington).

North Idaho Invitational (Oct. 4-5 at Avondale GC, Hayden Lake, ID): Team Scores - 1. CC of Spokane 596 (300-296); 2. Skagit Valley 622 (312-310); 3. Lethbridge 623 (316-307); 4. Lewis-Clark State 624 (307-317); 5. Bellevue CC 634 (318-316) and Lethbridge 634 (323-311); 8. MSU Billings 638 (322-316). Individuals (Par 72) - 1. Corey Meyers, CCS, 146 (71-75); 8. Tyler Nicholas, MSUB, 155 (74-81); 37. Trevor Gates, MSUB, 162 (77-85); 41. Jeff Allen, MSUB, 164 (86-78) and Chris Richter, MSUB, 164 (85-79); 47. Jake Harr, MSUB, 165 (87-78); 74. K.C. Kindle, MSUB, 176 (90-86).

Grand Canyon Invitational (Oct. 5-6 at The Golf Club of Estrella, Goodyear, Ariz.): Team Scores - 1. Western Washington 863 (291-283-289) and Oklahoma City 863 (288-289-286); 3. Chico State 866 (290-290-286); 4. Colorado – Colorado Springs 878 (298-288-292); 5. Western New Mexico 884 (292-292-294). Individuals (Par 72, 7,121 Yards) - 1. Julian Valenciana, OCU, 208 (67-72-69); 2. Nick Varelia, WWU, 213 (72-71-70); 3. Brian Barhanovich, WWU, 214 (73-69-72); 8. Xavier Dailly, WWU, 218 (74-72-72) and Julian Peters, WWU, 218 (72-71-75); 63. Sam Ayotte, WWU, 236 (78-81-77).

Northwest Nazarene 295, Treasure Valley 328 (Oct. 7 at Payette, ID): Individuals (Par 70) - 1. Jeff McDonald, NNU, 70; 2. Rowdy Hope, NNU, 72; 3. Leon Vasquez, NNU, 75; 4. Zach Grunig, NNU, 78; 5. Nic Gibson, NNU, 80; 7. Aaron VanDeHey, NNU, 81, and  Tanner Roggenkamp, NNU, 81; 13. Brian Flanders, NNU, 93; and Adam Freiburghaus, NNU, 93; 15. Bryan Beaty, NNU, 95.

Football

                                  Conference                     All
                               W      L    PF     PA       W       L      PF    PA
Central Washington     2      0    71      33        7       0     203     85
Western Oregon          2      1    57      63        3       3     107   127
Dixie State                 2      2    77      97        3       4     141   184
Humboldt State           0      3    63      75        3       3     174   125

LAST SATURDAY: Central Washington 34 at Humboldt State 27; Western Oregon 23 at Dixie State 31.

THIS SATURDAY: Western Oregon vs. Central Washington (at Seattle), 6 p.m.; Azusa Pacific at Dixie State, 1:05 p.m.; Southern Oregon at Humboldt State, 6 p.m.

POLLS: AFCA (Oct. 12) – 3. Central Washington.   D2Football.Com (Oct. 6) – 4. Central Washington. NCAA Super Region IV (Oct. 5) - 1. Abilene Christian (6-0); 2. Central Washington (6-0); 3. Northwest Missouri (5-1); 4. Missouri Western State (5-1); 5. Washburn (5-1); 6. Texas A&M - Kingsville (6-0); 7. Angelo State (5-1); 8. Fort Hays State (4-2); 9. Midwestern State (5-1); 10. Central Missouri (5-1).

NCAA NATIONAL STATISTICS (Through Oct. 4): Individuals (Top 30): Total Offense - 20. Judd Thompson, DSC, 271.0. Receptions – 20. Johnny Spevak, CWU, 6.5; 24. Sean Fullerton, WOU, 6.4. Scoring - 30. Johnny Spevak, CWU, 9.0. Field Goals - 10. Garrett Rolsma, CWU, 1.50; 12. Kyle Schierholt, HSU, 1.40; 27. Kelly Morgan, WOU, 1.00. Punting - 14. Mike Langston, DSC, 41.1. Kickoff Returns - 28. Jon Dowd, WOU, 27.2. Punt Returns – 12. Jon Dowd, WOU, 15.8; 18. Braden Bangay, WOU, 14.1. Tackles – 25. Nick Cragin, DSC, 9.8. Tackles For Loss – 16. Nick Rocco, DSC, 1.80. Interceptions - 20. Miguel Gonzalez, WOU, and West Montgomery, HSU, 0.60. Team (Top 30): Total Defense - 6. Central Washington 242.8; 27. Western Oregon 289.6. Rushing Defense – 12. Central Washington 76.5; 18. Western Oregon 90.4. Passing Offense - 21. Dixie State 266.7. Pass Efficiency - 19. Humboldt State 139.0; 23. Central Washington 129.7. Passing Defense - 29. Central Washington 166.3. Scoring Defense - 3. Central Washington 9.7; 25. Humboldt State 18.2. Net Punting - 24. Central Washington 34.9; 29. Western Oregon 34.6. Punt Returns - 4. Central Washington 19.5. Turnover Margin - 12. Central Washington 1.33.

GNAC PLAYERS-OF-THE-WEEK:  Offense -  Randall Eldridge, Central Washington (RB, 5-9, 192, Sr., Lynnwood, WA) had 162 all-purpose yards and scored all three of his team’s offensive touchdowns in a 34-27 win against Humboldt State.  He carried the ball 30 times for 111 yards, including nine straight times for 34 yards on CWU’s final TD drive in the fourth quarter.  He also led the Wildcats in receiving with five catches for 51 yards.  With Eldridge doing most of the work, Central controlled the football for all but 3 ½  minutes of the final quarter.  Eldridge, who was the GNAC rushing leader a year ago when he netted 805 yards for Western Washington, leads the conference in rushing with 520 yards.  Defense –  Ross Doman, Dixie State (S, 5-11, 190, Sr., Woodburn, OR - Canby) had a pair of interceptions, including one in the end zone in the fourth quarter enabling the Red Storm to protect a 14-point lead on the way to an eight-point victory.  His first interception came in the second quarter in Dixie territory.  He returned that one 41 yards to the WOU 19.  Doman also had four tackles and broke up a pair of passes.  Special Teams – Mike Langston, Dixie State (K-P, 6-2, 200, Jr., Riverside, CA – Ramona) punted for a GNAC season-best average of 46.7 and did not allow a return yard in the Red Storm’s 31-23 win over Western Oregon.  His average was the best by a punter in the GNAC since Coby Sadler of Central Washington set the conference record with a 50.8 average in 2004.  Langston, who has the three best punting averages this fall in the conference, also kicked a 40-yard field goal.

OTHER NOTABLE PERFORMANCES:  Dixie State running back Tauni Vakapuna rushed for 126 yards including touchdowns of one and 74 yards in a 31-23 win over Western Oregon as the Red Storm beat Western Oregon for the first time in six outings.  His 74-yard run in the fourth quarter, which  gave Dixie a 31-17 lead, was the second longest run from scrimmage in GNAC history. . .Central Washington linebacker Prince Hall had 13 tackles, including seven solos (two of them for losses).  It was the third double-digit tackle game of the season for Hall, who ranks third in the GNAC in tackles with 58 and first in tackles for losses with 10. . .Humboldt State’s Corey Stollmeyer had 164 all-purpose yards, including 103 on six kickoff returns, 52 on one pass reception and nine on eight rushes.  His reception came on HSU’s first play from scrimmage giving the ‘Jacks a early 6-0 lead against Central Washington.

AROUND THE GNAC:  Western Oregon quarterback Josh Riddell became the seventh QB in GNAC history to pass for 4,000 yards Saturday throwing for 299 yards to increase his career total to 4,253 yards.  Riddell now has 4,384 yards in total offense and ranks second in GNAC history in both yards passing per game (250.2) and total offense (257.9). . .Central Washington receiver Johnny Spevak did not catch a touchdown pass Saturday, ending his streak of consecutive games with a TD reception at 10, one short of the GNAC record of 11 set by Andy Olson of Western Washington in 2004 and 2005.  Spevak needs one more touchdown to equal the Central Washington career record for touchdowns and set a new school mark for career points.  The current records of 52 and 312 were set by running back Dan Murphy between 1996 and 1999. CWU’s team streak of consecutive games with a receiving touchdown, dating back to the 2004 season, ended at 53. . . CWU kicker Garrett Rolsma extended his streak of consecutive extra points without a miss to 90 including 24 this season.   Rolsma had 10 points Saturday increasing his career total to  287.  He needs 13 more to join Spevak and Murphy as the only members of the CWU  300-point club. . .CWU has won 21 consecutive GNAC contests dating back to a 28-21 loss to Western Washington in the “2004 Battle in Seattle” game.  Counting wins over Western Oregon, Humboldt State and Western Washington during its two seasons in the North Central Conference, the streak is 27.