It was a busy week of competition for the Western Washington University Vikings, and it was also successful with eight student-athletes earning Great Northwest Athletic Conference Athlete of the Week recognition.
The eight Vikings that were selected as GNAC Athletes of the Week are the following, with volleyball, men’s soccer and men’s track & field sweeping their respective weekly awards. In total, WWU won eight of 12 possible GNAC weekly awards for competition held April 26-May 2:
In 10 possible weeks of competition since sports competition resumed in late February, WWU has earned 36 GNAC Athlete of the Week honors.
Anna Kasner made history on Sunday becoming the all-time strikeout leader in GNAC history with 513 to earn her ninth career conference weekly award (8th as a pitcher). In the complete game 5-1 win over CWU, Kasner allowed one run on five hits with one walk and five strikeouts. She now has 513 career strikeouts, moving past the previous record of 511 set by Adrian Herman of Northwest Nazarene (2003-06). In the weekend split vs. the Wildcats, Kasner combined to go 1-1 with a 1.00 ERA (2 ER, 14.0 IP) with 16 strikeouts. This marks Kasner’s fourth GNAC Pitcher of the Week honor during her senior season.
Anna Maracich helped lead the Vikings to a doubleheader sweep over Central Washington, averaging 2.50 kills on a .625 attack percentage. Maracich did not have a hitting error on 24 total attacks and also led WWU averaging 1.17 blocks per set.
Kasey Woodruff anchored WWU’s defensive effort in the sweep over the Wildcats averaging 3.88 digs per set, including 17 digs in the five-set victory in Saturday’s opener and 14 digs in the evening match. For the season Woodruff is averaging 3.29 digs per set.
Teagan Eldridge scored the go-ahead goal in the Vikings 2-1 road win over Saint Martin’s, putting the Vikings up 1-0 late in the 17th minute (16:59). His strike from the right side of the box came following a long and accurate pass from Defensive Player of the Week Camron Miller. Eldridge was also a key defender for the Vikings logging 66 minutes in the victory. This is the second GNAC Player of the Week honor in his career.
Camron Miller played the full 90 minutes in a 2-1 road win over Saint Martin’s and assisted on the go-ahead goal early in the game by GNAC Offensive Player of the Week Teagan Eldridge. This marked Miller’s third career GNAC weekly award in two seasons with the program, third-most in program history.
Jeret Gillingham won the 3,000m steeplechase at the Ralph Vernacchia Track & Field Meet in a time of 9:03.33. The time is tops in the GNAC this season and No. 2 on WWU’s all-time list. The performance is also an NCAA Championships provisional qualifier and ranks No. 19 in Division II this season.
David Tran won the long jump at the Ralph Vernacchia Track & Field Meet with a leap of 7.14m/23-5.25. The mark leads the GNAC this season, is No. 6 on WWU’s all-time list and just short of an NCAA Championships provisional qualifying mark.
Katie Watt anchored the defense that allowed Western Oregon just four shots on goal in a 3-0 shutout of the Wolves on Wednesday in a neutral-site game played in Vancouver, Washington. Watt played 70 minutes in the match to help keep the Vikings undefeated at 2-0-2 during the abbreviated spring season.
