Wednesday, July 23, 2014

PORTLAND, Ore. – Western Washington University javelin thrower Bethany Drake has been selected the USTFCCCA Division II Field Scholar Athlete of the Year.

Drake, who is the fourth GNAC Athlete to win USTFCCA Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors since 2007, was one of 27 GNAC athletes to receive USTFCCA All-Academic honors for their combined academic and athletic accomplishments.

To qualify for the academic team, a student-athlete must have a cumulative GPA of 3.25 or better and have reached a provisional or automatic qualifying standard for the NCAA Indoor or Outdoor national championship.

Drake, who has a 3.83 GPA, won the NCAA Division II Outdoor national championship in the javelin with a throw of 165-3.

She was one of seven Western Washington athletes named to the academic team.  Alaska Anchorage placed 11 athletes on the academic team.  Seattle Pacific had six selections and Montana State Billings had three.

Previous winners of the Scholar-Athlete of the Year award have included Seattle Pacific’s Jessica Pixler, Ashley Puga of Northwest Nazarene and Helen Crofts of Simon Fraser.

Pixler was a three-time winner.  She was selected the Track & Field winner in 2007 before the award was split into separate track and field categories.  She also won for track in 2009 and 2010.  Puga was the 2009 track award winner and Crofts was the 2013 track winner.

Of the 16 GNAC women athletes selected to the academic team only one – Jamie Ashcroft of Alaska Anchorage – had a perfect 4.00 GPA.  She was one of 20 women (out of 422 nationwide) to post a perfect 4.00 GPA.

Western Washington’s Chip Jackson led the men’s 11 honorees with a 3.91 grade point average.

All-Academic selectees:

Alaska Anchorage: Women - Karolin Anders (English, 3.70); Jamie Ashcroft (Health Sciences, 4.00); Susan Bick (Physical Education, 3.28); Sasha Halfyard (Early Childhood Education, 3.60); Makenzie Harsh (Early Childhood Education, 3.51); Haleigh Lloyd (Nursing, 3.65); Jessica Pahkala (Legal Studies, 3.28). Men – Dylan Anthony (History, 3.39); Elliott Bauer (Construction Management, 3.72); Franz Burghagen (Business, 3.53); Isaac Kangogo (Business, 3.31).

Montana State Billings: Women - Corrie Holm (Exercise Science, 3.82). Men – Drew Galahan (Finance, 3.42); Chase Robinson (Communications, 3.41).

Northwest Nazarene: Women - Natalie Evans (Social Work, 3.48);  Anna Marie Forza (Graphic Design, 3.47); Marie Smith (Nursing, 3.49).

Seattle Pacific: Women - Kyra Brannan (General Engineering, 3.32); Lynelle Decker (Applied Human Biology, 3.28); McKayla Fricker (Integrated Studies, 3.34); Maddie Hommes (Nursing, 3.83); Anna Patti (Accounting, 3.64); BryAnne Wochnick (Psychology, 3.30).

Western Washington: Women - Bethany Drake (Art, 3.83); Katie Reichert (Communications, 3.51). Men – Jacob Gilbert (Electronics Engineering, 3.63); Chip Jackson (Mathematics & Computer Science, 3.91); Matt Lutz (Geophysics, 3.35); Jonathan Poolman (Business Administration, 3.66); Devon Smith (Masters Business Administration, 3.56).

Eight Teams Earn All-Academic Honors

Eight GNAC teams have been selected to receive the USTFCCCA 2014 Division II All-Academic Track & Field team honors.

They were among 50 men's teams and 105 women's teams to earn the distinction as a result of earning a cumulative team GPA of 3.00 or higher.

The honorees:  Men - Northwest Nazarene 3.21, Seatttle Pacific 3.20. Montana State Billings 3.10, Alaska Anchorage 3.04.  Women - MSU Billings 3.45, Northwest Nazarene 3.43, Alaska Anchorage 3.36, Seattle Pacific 3.34.