SPU Gymnast Named Finalist for NCAA Woman of the Year

Seattle Pacific University gymnast Gina Bolenbaugh was selected as one of 10 national finalists for the 1997 NCAA Woman of the Year. The award program recognizes young women in intercollegiate athletics for their outstanding achievements in athletics, academics and community leadership. Bolenbaugh, who was earlier named the Washington state NCAA Woman of the Year, was a four-time All-American, two-time Academic All-American and the recipient of an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship. During her four-year career at SPU, she became one of the most distinguished gymnasts in school history. She won the national championship in the floor exercise in 1996, is co-holder of the school record in the floor exercise, and last season helped lead the Falcons to the USA Gymnastics National Collegiate Championship.

Pacwest Realigns

In a breakthrough move that will reduce Seattle Pacific University's travel costs and intensify local rivalries, the Pacific West Conference is expanding to 16 NCAA Division II members. Effective with the 1998-99 athletic season, long-time Falcon rivals Western Washington (WWU), Central Washington (CWU) and St. Martin's (SMC) will enter the conference. Two other Northwest schools, Western Oregon (WOU) and Canada's Simon Fraser (SFU) were granted provisional membership, with the goal of full membership in three years. Tentatively, the 16 teams will be divided into two eight-team divisions. The "Pacific" division would include the following universities: Alaska Anchorage, Alaska Fairbanks, BYU Hawaii, Chaminade, Hawaii Pacific, Hawaii Hilo, Montana State University Billings and Western New Mexico. Joining SPU in the "West" division would be WWU, CWU, SMC, Lewis-Clark State (ID), Humboldt State (CA), WOU and SFU. The newly realigned conference will apply to Seattle Pacific's men's and women's basketball, women's volleyball, and men's and women's cross country programs. Additional sports may be included in future years.

Fall Sports Underway

Thanks to four wins in its first five games at the new Interbay Stadium, the Seattle Pacific University soccer team was again on-course for an NCAA playoff berth at midseason. Two big late-season home games are November 1 versus perennial playoff contender Cal State Bakersfield and November 4 against defending NCAA champion Grand Canyon. In volleyball, Seattle Pacific struggled while playing its first 19 matches on the road. The team, which was picked to be defending champion Chaminade's chief challenger for the conference title, was 9-16 on October 20. The women's cross country team will be defending its championship when the Pacific West Championships come to West Seattle's Lincoln Park November 1. Last season, SPU won the regional championship and finished eighth nationally.  Please read our disclaimer. Send any questions, comments or correspondence about Response to jgilnett@spu.edu or call 206-281-2051. Copyright © 1999 University Communications, Seattle Pacific University. Seattle Pacific University Office of University Communications 3307 Third Avenue West Seattle, Washington 98119-1997 United States of America