WWU finishes second in GNAC All-Sports Championship standings

BELLINGHAM, Wash. – Western Washington University has placed second overall in the 2016-17 Great Northwest Athletic Conference All-Sports Championship standings, announced Monday by the conference office.

In addition to finishing second overall, the WWU men and WWU women each placed second in respective GNAC Men’s All-Sports Championship and GNAC Women’s All-Sports Championship standings.

Alaska Anchorage finished with an overall average score of 9.78 in the league’s new all-sports scoring system to end a string of eight consecutive all-sports championships for WWU. The Vikings finished second in the overall standings with a score of 8.56.

Alaska Anchorage also won both the men’s and women’s all-sports championships. The UAA men finished with a score of 9.77, ahead of WWU (8.17) and Western Oregon (7.58). The UAA women won with a score of 9.68, followed by WWU second with a score of 8.04 and Central Washington third with a score of 6.62.

The current academic year has been one of the most successful for WWU with national representation from 13 of the 15 WWU NCAA Division II teams. During the fall, WWU women’s soccer won the 10th team national championship in school history, while WWU volleyball advanced to the NCAA II West Region Championship for the second consecutive year and WWU men’s soccer reached the second round of the NCAA II Tournament in its first-ever tournament appearance. Additionally, WWU men’s cross country was seventh while WWU women’s cross country was eighth at the NCAA II West Region Championships before the men sent individual representation to the national championships.

During the winter, both WWU basketball programs advanced to respective NCAA II tournaments with the women reaching the regional semifinal. WWU women’s track & field was represented at the indoor national championships during the winter season as well.

In the spring, a season still ongoing, WWU softball advanced to the NCAA II West Regional and knocked off the top seed in its first game. WWU women’s rowing is set to compete at the NCAA II Championships during the upcoming weekend while WWU men’s golf is currently competing at the NCAA II Championships. WWU women’s golf had individual representation at the NCAA II West Regional and WWU women’s track & field will be represented at the NCAA II Outdoor Championships during the upcoming weekend as well.

In addition, the Vikings are primed for a top-20 finish in the Learfield Directors’ Cup with final point totals and placings still to be determined after the conclusion of the spring season. The Vikings have a current streak of 13 consecutive years finishing among the top 50 and have placed among the top 30 eight times since joining the NCAA level in 1998-99. The annual all-sport competition, which determines the national success of the 307 NCAA Division II programs, will be finalized on June 8 following spring postseason championships.

In GNAC competition specifically, WWU picked up GNAC regular season titles in women’s soccer, men’s basketball and men’s golf along with GNAC postseason tournament championships in women’s soccer, men’s basketball and softball during 2016-17.

The 2016-17 year marked the first time since 2007-08 that WWU, winner of 12 overall all-sports titles in 16 seasons, was not atop the overall conference standings. The WWU women were second in the women’s all-sport standings after six straight years winning the title, while the WWU men finished as the men’s all-sport runner-up for the second consecutive year after a stretch of seven straight years atop the standings.

For the second straight year, UAA won seven of the GNAC’s 16 championships. The Seawolves earned titles in volleyball, men’s and women’s cross country, women’s basketball, men’s indoor track & field and both men’s and women’s outdoor track & field. Of the UAA’s nine GNAC programs, the Seawolves finished no worse than third.

The GNAC’s six other championships were divided among five other institutions: Azusa Pacific (football), Central Washington (softball), Seattle Pacific (women’s indoor track & field), Simon Fraser (men’s soccer and women’s golf) and Western Oregon (baseball). In addition to postseason GNAC titles won by WWU, UAA (women’s basketball) and WOU (baseball) captured postseason tournament championships.

The success of GNAC programs carried over to NCAA competition, led by the WWU women’s soccer team’s run to the NCAA II national championship. The UAA volleyball team advanced to the Division II national championship match while WOU tied for sixth place at the Division II Men’s Indoor Track & Field Championships, the best-ever finish for a GNAC school.

For the first time, the GNAC all-sports championship was determined using the Dormeyer System, which gives each school an average score based on its finish in each conference sport and the number of GNAC sports sponsored by each school. The averages are based on regular season finishes in football, volleyball, men’s and women’s soccer, men’s and women’s basketball, baseball and softball and conference meet finishes in men’s and women’s cross country, men’s and women’s indoor track & field, men’s and women’s outdoor track & field and men’s and women’s golf. The system treats each conference title equally, with 10 points awarded to first place with values dropping incrementally based on the number of schools sponsoring that sport.

In past years, the all-sports championship was based on points awarded in two-point increments based on a team’s regular season or conference meet finish.

Three WWU programs are competing during the current week as the 2016-17 season wraps up. The WWU men’s golf team is competing at the NCAA II Championships throughout the week at Reunion Resort in Kissimmee, Fla. The WWU women’s rowing team will race for its eight national championship at the NCAA II Championships May 26-28 at Lake Mercer in West Windsor, N.J., while WWU women’s track & field has three student-athletes representing the Vikings at the NCAA II Outdoor Championships, held May 25-27 at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla.

Blake Timm/GNAC Sports Information contributed to this report

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