Tuesday, July 22

Sportsmanship: Softball Players Accept ESPY Awards

WOU's Kevin Boss (of the New York Giants) and Sara Tucholsky show their ESPYs. Boss and the Giants won ESPYs for "Best Game" and "Best Upset".

By Doug Bender
The Oregonian

Mallory Holtman wasn't interested in re-enacting her now famous act of sportsmanship for just anybody.

Enter the singer known as "J.T.," host of the ESPY's, which aired Sunday.

"When Justin Timberlake asked, I was like, 'Oh yeah, I'll carry ya.'"

Timberlake may have promised to bring "sexy" back, but Holtman and Central Washington softball teammate Liz Wallace brought sportsmanship back when they lifted Western Oregon's Sara Tucholsky and carried her around the basepaths during a softball game in April. (more)

UAF Skier, Holtman Win Sportsmanship Awards

Often	Holtman

Skier Einar Often of the University of Alaska Fairbanks and softball player Mallory Holtman of Central Washington University have been selected the winners of the fifth annual Great Northwest Athletic Conference NCAA Sportsmanship award.

The two are now finalists for the 2008 NCAA Division II National Sportsmanship award, which honors one male and one female athlete from each of the three NCAA divisions who have distinguished themselves through sportsmanship and ethical behavior. Those awards will be announced in late August.

Often, from Tynset, Norway, sacrificed his opportunity to qualify for the NCAA National Skiing championships last winter when he gave his pole to teammate Ray Sabo after Sabo broke his pole during the opening kilometer of the 10K Classic race at the NCAA Central Regionals at Biwabik, Minn.

Holtman, from White Salmon, Wash., was involved in the well-chronicled softball game last April in which she and her CWU teammate Liz Wallace carried WOU's Sara Tucholsky around the bases to complete her home run trot after Tucholsky went down with a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) rounding first base.

SIDs: Barnts Hired at Western Oregon

There will be three new assignments and two new faces in Western Oregon athletics when the 2008-09 year begins this fall.

Longtime SID Russ Blunck will become the Associate Athletic Director, overseeing sports information, broadcasting, advertising and community engagement, while assisting with event management, compliance and hosting opportunities.

Blunck has served as Western Oregon's SID for the past 11 years and has been the radio and television broadcast voice of the Wolves, a role that he will continue in.

Danny Barnts is WOU's new Sports Information Director. Barnts is graduate of Washington State University, and has spent the past two years as a graduate assistant in the Boise State sports information office.

He also worked one season with the Las Vegas 51s, the Triple-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers. A native of Crescent City, Calif., Barnts earned his master's degree in Athletic Administration from Idaho State.

Jerilyn Opoien fills the newly created position of Development Officer for Athletics. Opoien most recently worked as the regional director for the American Heart Association and before that as an event coordinator for the Oregon Club of Portland, raising money for UO athletics.

She was also an All-Pac 10 golf selection for the Ducks in 2000 and graduated from Oregon in 2001. She is a Keizer native and McNary High School alum. Opoien will work out of the University Advancement office.

"This is a significant move forward for us in terms of being able to provide more services for our student-athletes and attract more streams of revenue," said Western Oregon athletic director Jon Carey. "This is something that we have wanted to do for quite some time, so we are very pleased to continue to move forward with these improvements."

Rowing: WWU's Coons Wins Three Medals

Western Washington University's Audrey Coon captured three medals this past weekend at the US Rowing Club National Championships, a five-day regatta on the Cooper River in Pennsauken, N.J.

Coon, who will be a senior at Western this fall, won gold in the women's open lightweight eight and intermediate lightweight four, and also silvered in the intermediate pair.

The 21-year-old Coon competed with the Thompson Boat Center Development Camp, a club team she has trained with this summer on the historic Potomac River in Washington , D.C.

Her shell cruised in the lightweight eight, winning by 13.21 seconds. TBC won the lightweight four by more than six seconds.

Coon, one of 1,800 athletes competing at the club national championships, was in Western's varsity eight last spring that won an unprecedented fourth straight NCAA Division II national championship. She has been a member of the last two national title-winning squads.

A graduate of Central Kenai High School in Kenai , Alaska , Coon was named a 2008 CoSIDA Women's At-Large Academic All-American earlier this spring.

A Spanish/elementary education major, Coon is maintaining a 3.96 (4.0 scale) grade point average. She has been the school's Female Scholar Athlete of the Year for all sports the past two seasons.

Friday, July 18

Awards: GNAC Athletes Win Two ESPYS

GNAC athletes were presented with two ESPY awards Wednesday night during ceremonies in Los Angeles.

Earning an ESPY in the "Best Moment" category was the act of sportsmanship in a Western Oregon - Central Washington softball game in April.

CWU's Mallory Holtman and Liz Wallace carried WOU's Sara Tucholsky around the bases to complete her home run trot after Tucholsky went down with a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) rounding first base.

Montana State Billings softball player Shay Oberg also won a ESPY in the "Best Female Athlete with a Disability" award.

Oberg, who was born without a left hand, was a starting outfielder this spring for the Yellowjackets and hit .280. She finished the season with three home runs and 13 RBI.

In addition to the two ESPYs won by current GNAC athletes, former Western Oregon tight end Kevin Boss and his New York Giant teammates won ESPYs for "Best Game" and "Best Upset".

The ESPY Awards will be aired Sunday at 6 p.m. PDT on ESPN.

Women's Basketball: Dolfo Reelected To WBCA Board

Carmen Dolfo

Western Washington women's basketball coach Carmen Dolfo has been reelected to a three-year term on the Women's Basketball Coaches Association Board of Directors.

Dolfo was one of 10 existing members either reappointed or reelected for second terms and three new members were added to make up the 29-member board of coaches and professionals.

"I am so pleased to have such a wonderful group of fellow coaches and administrators around me during my second year in office," said WBCA President Sherri Coale. "Every one brings their own unique perspective and experience to the table which will certainly enhance the Board."

The WBCA Board of Directors develops policies, procedures and regulations for the operation of the organization. They also monitor the organization's financial health, programs and overall performance and provide the chief executive officer with the resources to meet the needs of those the organization serves.

Dolfo is beginning her 18th season as head coach at Western. Her career record of 356-143 puts her No.25 among active coaches in NCAA II in victories, and her 17 seasons are fewer than any coach ahead of her. Her winning percentage of 71.3 ranks No.9 among active NCAA II coaches.

Dolfo also has served on the Kodak All-American Selection Committee as well as the WBCA national rating committee and the West Region rating committee.

CoSIDA: Pixler Earns Academic All-America Honors

Jessica Pixler

Jessica Pixler of Seattle Pacific has been named to the CoSIDA ESPN The Magazine College Division Academic All-American team for track and field and cross country.

She is just the sixth GNAC athlete in history to earn CoSIDA first team academic honors joining soccer players Jennifer Hull of Seattle Pacific (2004) and Ana Gutierrez of Seattle University (2006), basketball player Martina Kartikova of Saint Martin's (2005), baseballer Bryce Gardinier of Western Oregon (2003) and track athlete Nathan Carlson of Saint Martin's (2003) to earn first team honors.

Pixler (English, So., Sammamish, WA), who has a 3.90 GPA, won the NCAA Division II cross country title last fall and the indoor mile title last winter before sitting out the outdoor season.

She was one of three GNAC athletes to earn CoSIDA Academic All-America honors during the 2007-08 academic year. Soccer players Ashley Porter of Seatle University and Katie McNutt of Northwest Nazarene earned second and third team honors, respectively.

A total of 26 GNAC athletes earned CoSIDA All-Region Academic honors during the 2007-08 season, including Porter, who became only the fifth player in GNAC history to earn all-region honors three times.

Athletes from NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III and NAIA schools are eligible for the CoSIDA College Division Academic All-America awards.

Thursday, July 17

All-Sports: NNU Sweeps GNAC Academic Titles

Sanders

Northwest Nazarene University posted the best team grade point averages in four different sports in sweeping the 2007-08 Great Northwest Athletic Conference Academic All-Sports titles.

The Crusaders piled up a total of 145 points in winning their first GNAC Academic all-sports title. Seattle Pacific, which won titles in 2003-04, 2004-05 and 2005-06, edged defending champion Seattle University 132-130 for second place, while Montana State Billings nipped Saint Martin's 111-110 for fourth place.

The Crusaders also won their first-ever men's title, finishing first in both basketball and golf, and scoring a total of 65 points. Seattle Pacific (with 54 points) nipped Seattle University (52 points) and Saint Martin's (50 points) for second-place.

NNU, which won women's academic team titles in soccer and softball, won their fourth women's all-sports title in a photo finish. The Crusaders, who also finished first in 2001-02, 2002-03 and 2004-05, garnered 80 points, two more than Seattle University and Seattle Pacific. MSUB finished fourth with 70 points.

"We are very proud of the academic discipline our student-athletes have displayed over this past year,” NNU athletic director Rich Sanders said. “It has been a very good year both athletically and academically at NNU.  Our student-athletes have done a great job dealing with the travel demands of our conference and the rigors of their academic programs.”

Wednesday, July 16

Wall Street Journal: Questions for Bill Roe

Bill Roe is the only person to be elected to 20 years as an officer with USA Track and Field, the national governing body for the sport. He's been on the group's board since 1986 and won his second term as president in 2004. Mr. Roe was named its acting chief executive when Craig Masback said in January he would leave for Nike.

Track, like many Olympic sports, makes its return to the American consciousness with next month's Beijing Olympics. The sport has been in the news over the last few years with fallout over the use of performance-enhancing drugs and other crimes.

Although he predicts Americans will win 22 track and field medals in Beijing, Mr. Roe, 57, says he's more interested in the grass roots of track. He's run a series of meets open to all runners around Seattle every summer since 1969 and has coached cross-country and distance teams at Western Washington University for 20 years.

In a telephone interview from Bellingham, Wash., Mr. Roe discussed the sport's presence in non-Olympic years, the qualifying process for the Games and the fight against performance-enhancing drugs.

Track and Field: Twenty-Two On USTFCCCA Team

Twenty-two GNAC track-and-field athletes have been selected to the USTFCCCA All-Academic team.

To qualify for the team, a student-athlete must have compiled a cumulative grade point average of 3.25 and have met the NCAA Division II Indoor or Outdoor automatic or provisional qualifying standard in their respective event.

In addition six GNAC teams were selected as Scholar Teams of the Year. Four of the teams were ranked in the Top 10. Seattle Pacific was ranked second in the men's division and its women were ranked third. Northwest Nazarene's men and women were each ranked eighth.

Scholar Teams of the Year: Men - 2. Seattle Pacific 3.41; 8. Northwest Nazarene 3.19; 11. Seattle University 3.17. Women - 3. Seattle Pacific 3.54; 8. Northwest Nazarene 3.46; 28. Seattle 3.29.

All-Academic Team: Men - David Kiplagat, UAA; Tyler Fischer, CWU; Greg Hamm, NNU; Josh Heidegger, NNU; Keith Lemay, WWU; Jordan Welling, UAA. Women - Sarah Benson, CWU; Marcie Mullen, CWU; Amy Carroll, NNU; Elisa Decker, NNU; Ashley Puga, NNU; Jaclyn Puga, NNU; Lisa Anderberg, SPU; Jane Larson, SPU; Jessica Pixler, SPU; Karin Rohde, SPU; Susie Stricker, SPU; Lauren VerMulm, SPU; Katie Hansen, SU; Heidi Dimmitt, WWU; Monika Gruszecki, WWU; Christy Miller, WWU.

Women's Basketball: Three On WBCA Top 25

Three Great Northwest Athletic Conference teams made the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) 2007-08 Academic Top 25 Team Honor Roll list announced this week.

The award is for the entire academic year based on nominations submitted by WBCA-member head coaches.

Saint Martin's had the eighth highest GPA (3.515), while Seattle Pacific ranked 19th (3.412) and Montana State Billings ranked 21st (3.405).