GNAC Sports

Twenty-Two Named to USTFCCCA Academic Team

July 17, 2008

Twenty-two GNAC track-and-field athletes have been selected to the 2008 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.

Three On WBCA Top 25 Team Honor Roll

July 17, 2008

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).

WWU's Packer Named Golf All-America Scholar

July 11, 2008

Western Washington golfer Sean Packer has been named a Cleveland Golf All-America Scholar, one of just 26 NCAA Division II student-athletes to receive the honor from the Golf Coaches Association of America.

The honoree must be a junior or senior academically and have competed at least two full years at the collegiate level. He must have participated in 70 percent of his team's competitive matches or in the NCAA Championships, have a stroke average under 78.0 and maintained a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.2 (4.0 scale).

A fifth-year senior, Packer was Western's 2007-08 Male Athlete of the Year, having the second highest finish in school history as he tied for third place at nationals, just one stroke behind the co-leaders.

Packer, a 2003 graduate of Auburn-Riverside High School, received GCAA third-team All-America and first-team West Region and GNAC all-star honors, finishing with a 72.3 scoring average.

At nationals, Packer had three rounds of par or better, finishing 1-under 279 for the four-day, 72-hole tournament. One shot off the lead with four holes to go and the leaders in the clubhouse, he gave himself two good birdie chances to tie or win.

Packer began the season with three top 10 performances in his first four tournaments. He did not have another until the GNAC Championships after fully recovering from a bout with pneumonia.

At the league tournament, which was won by Western, Packer placed seventh. He finished ninth at regionals as the Vikings placed second.

Packer maintained a 3.42 GPA while earning a bachelor's degree in business administration and marketing. He was a three-time GNAC academic all-star. The national appearance was the third for Packer, who placed 35th in 2006 and 81st in 2004.

Thomas Receives Arthur Ashe Scholar Award

June 10, 2008

Seattle University's Jackie Thomas has been named to the women's basketball first team of the 2008 Arthur Ashe, Jr., Sports Scholar Awards by Diverse: Issues in Higher Education .

A three-time GNAC academic selection, Thomas will graduate with honors later this week, earning her degree in sociology.

She has been accepted into the Masters of Teaching program at Seattle University and earned the Distinguished Graduate Award earlier this spring for her contributions to the campus community.

Last week she was named as one of two nominees from the GNAC for the NCAA Woman of the Year Award.

In the community, Thomas has helped numerous people through her work with organizations such as the Rotary Boys and Girls Club, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Minorities in the Community, and the Office of Multicultural Affairs.

She is a two-time recipient of the athletic department's Mission Award for exemplifying the mission of Seattle University through her actions.

Thomas started 26 of the 27 games she appeared in during the 2007-08 season, averaging 7.8 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 3.0 assists per game. She is Seattle University's all-time career steal leader with 234 and its single-season steal leader with 84.

She also set GNAC career records for most steals (158) and steals per game (2.93) in conference games.

Diverse: Issues in Higher Education is a magazine published every two weeks that won the 2002 Folio Award as the best education publication in the United States.

Since 1995, the magazine has sponsored the Arthur Ashe, Jr., Sports Scholar Award in honor of the tennis player for his commitment to education and his love of athletics.

To be included, student-athletes have to compete in an intercollegiate sport, maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.2, and be active on their campuses and/or in their communities.