Monday, April 6, 2015

PORTLAND, Ore. – Led by baseball players Jesse Hilyard of Northwest Nazarene and Jesse Pratt of Western Oregon, eleven athletes have earned Great Northwest Athletic Conference Player of the Week honors for the Week of March 30 through April 5.

Following is a recap of their performances and a listing of honorable mention selections:

Baseball: Player – Jesse Hilyard, Northwest Nazarene (OF, 6-4, Fr., Klamath Falls, OR) scored three of his six runs, including two game-winners over Saint Martin’s Saturday. The left fielder doubled down the left field line, his second of the day, to put himself in scoring position in a 4-3 win in the opening game of the series. On the week including two losses to NAIA power Lewis-Clark State, Hilyard went 6-for-15 while driving in five runs and scoring six himself. He also registered three walks and 10 putouts.  Hilyard added two home runs against LCSC.  Pitcher – Jesse Pratt, Western Oregon (RHP, 6-5, Sr., Monmouth, OR) won his fifth straight start blanking Central Washington 10-0 Friday. He retired the first 16 batters he faced while allowing just a single hit.  He walked one and recorded eight strikeouts in the seven-inning game, lowering his ERA to 2.12, the second lowest in the GNAC.  It was his first shutout and third complete game of the season.

Honorable Mention - Randy Fuller, Central Washington (1B, 6-3, Jr., Clarkston, WA); Mitch Yada, Central Washington (LHP, 6-0, So., Moses Lake, WA); Jake Reppert, Northwest Nazarene (LHP, 6-5, Sr., Monroe, WA); Josh Moss, Saint Martin’s (LHP, 6-1, Sr., Rochester, WA); Chandler Tracy, Saint Martin’s (C/UTL, 6-2, Sr., Bellevue, WA); Nathan Etheridge, Western Oregon (1B, 6-5, Jr., Grants Pass, OR).

Softball: Player – Bella Rovens, MSU Billings (OF, 5-7, So., Sparks, NV) and Kailyn Campbell, Central Washington (1B, 6-0, So., Duvall, WA - Cedarcrest) led their respective offenses as the Yellowjackets outscored the Wildcats 42-36 in a four-game series at Billings.  Rovens had eight hits in 17 at bats, including a game-winning home run in the eighth inning of a 12-10 victory Friday, as the Yellowjackets rallied from a 9-1 deficit in the fifth.  It was the first home run of the season for Rovens, who ranks second in the conference in walks with 20.   Campbell drove in 15 runs in the four-game series, slamming four home runs and batting .556 (10-of-18).  She also had a double and finished the trip with a 1.278 slugging average.  On the season she has 46 RBI, 10 more than anyone else in the conference.  Pitcher – Jourdan Williams, Western Oregon (5-8, Sr., McMinnville, OR)…. In a week that was dominated by hitters – 178 runs were scored in 12 games (14.8 per game) – Williams had one of the few standout pitching performances limiting league-leading Saint Martin’s to a single-run and seven hits  in a 6-1 complete-game victory.  Williams also led the Wolves in batting with a .462 average (6-of-13) as WOU split a pair of twin bills with Western Washington and Saint Martin’s.

Honorable Mention – Jessyka MacDonald, MSU Billings (P, 5-8, Sr., Billings, MT – West); Gatalina Schuster, Northwest Nazarene (OF, 5-6, Sr., Lacey, WA –Timberline); Alyssa Slate, Saint Martin’s (2B, 5-4, So., Antoich, CA – Deer Valley); Kim Nelson, Saint Martin’s (P, 5-10, Fr., Fremont, CA – American); Alex Baylak, Simon Fraser (1B, 5-7, Jr., Regina, SK); Katie Hawkins, Simon Fraser (P, 5-8,  Sr., Victoria, BC – Oak Bay); Makinlee Sellevold, Western Washington (P, 5-4, Fr., Everett, WA – Cascade).

Men’s Track and Field:  Track – Cameron Proceviat, Simon Fraser (Jr., Burnaby, BC - Moscrop) finished second in his section of the mile and third overall in the San Francisco State Distance Carnival.  His time of 4:05.26 converts to a provisional national qualifying time of 3:47.09 for the 1500 and ranks sixth nationally. His converted time is also the second fastest 1500 in GNAC history.  He also had a PNQ in the 800 meters at the Stanford Invitational with a time of 1:51.61.  Field – Payton Lewis, Northwest Nazarene (Fr., Nampa, ID – Nampa Christian) finished fifth in the pole vault at Stanford with a school-record vault of 16-10 ¾.  That height ranks second in GNAC history and second on the current TFRSS national ranking list.

Honorable Mention – Dominik Notz, Alaska Anchorage (Jr., Dettingen, Germany); Ben Chalkey, Saint Martin’s (So., Eugene, OR); David Durden, Saint Martin’s (So., Tumwater, WA); Cody Warner, Western Oregon (Fr., Springfield, OR – Thurston); Justin Larson, Western Oregon (Jr., Dayville, OR); Alex Donigian, Western Washington (Jr., Mission Viejo, CA – Trabuco Hills).

Women’s Track and Field:  Track – Lindsey Butterworth, Simon Fraser (Sr., North Vancouver, BC - Handsworth) ran one of the best 800, 1500 doubles in GNAC history at the Stanford Invitational  finishing sixth overall in the shorter race in a time in a time of 2:05.86 and second overall in the 1500 in a time of 4:18.34.  Both times rank No. 1 this spring in Division II by substantial margins (3.48 seconds in the 800 and 5.63 seconds in the 1500) and her 1500 time ranks eighth in NCAA Division II history.   Her 800 time also ranks fifth in GNAC history and her 1500 time ranks second.  Field – Megan Mortensen, Western Washington (So., Tacoma, WA – Franklin Pierce) won the discus at the Puget Sound Shotwell Invitational with a provisional national qualifying throw of 146-7, the fifth longest in GNAC history.

Honorable Mention – Caitlin Curtis, Northwest Nazarene (Sr., Portland, OR – David Douglas) Taylor Deskins, Northwest Nazarene (So., Corvallis, OR);Anna Patti, Seattle Pacific (Jr., Renton, WA – Lindbergh); Stephanie Stuckey, Western Oregon (Jr., Tacoma, WA – Wilson); Emmi Collier, Western Oregon (Jr., Warrenton, OR); Kahili Novikoff, Saint Martin’s (Fr., Kapalmaa, HI); Katelyn Steen, Western Washington (Sr., Sammamish, WA – Eastlake).

Men’s Golf: Keynan Fanslow, Northwest Nazarene (Jr., Tacoma, WA) won the Northwest Nazarene  Intercollegiate individual title while helping his team win its first tournament of the year. Fanslow tied Northwest Nazarene’s single-round school low shooting a 67 on the third round of the tournament where he finished with a score of 211, 5-under par. His 70.3 average for the tournament crushed his season average of 76.2 in route to his first-career collegiate win.

Honorable Mention - Jake Hedge, Montana State Billings (Sr., Billings, MT); Patrick Whealdon, Saint Martin’s (Sr., Ilwaco, WA).

Women’s Golf: Sammy Walter, Montana State Billings (Fr., Billings, MT) finished in the top 20 in her two events played last week. In Monday and Tuesday’s MSUB Spring Invitational, Walter recorded 18 pars and five birdies to place third – her highest finish of the year. The freshman was the highest finisher on her team that ran away with the tournament title, beating the field by 45 strokes. Three days later, Walter and the MSUB team were competing at the Western New Mexico Invitational in Goodyear, Ariz. In the 96-player event, Walter recorded her second top 20 finish by placing 19th with 16 pars and six birdies. She was also the second highest GNAC finisher at the event. Shooting a 154 in each tournament lowered her average round to 81.2, tied for second on the team.

Honorable Mention: Sam Miller, Northwest Nazarene (So., Hillsboro, OR); Jennifer Liedes, Saint Martin’s (Jr., Olympia, WA); Brooke Branigan, Western Washington (So., Bellingham, WA).