The 2008-09 season was a banner year for the Golden State Athletic Conference, as evidenced in the Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup standings, which recognizes the best overall athletic programs in the NCAA and NAIA based on showings in national tournaments and meets. Azusa Pacific received the top award for the NAIA for a record-tying fifth time and was joined by Concordia, Fresno Pacific, and California Baptist in the Top 5. The GSAC had 5 teams in the top 7 and a total of 9 conference teams made the rankings. The GSAC won a conference-record 5 NAIA Championships in 2008-09, bringing the total to 33 national titles since the conference began in 1986. NAIA Champions of Character Team Awards were given to Westmont for women’s basketball (division I) and to Point Loma Nazarene for baseball. In addition, National Coach of the Year honors were given to 5 GSAC coaches and NAIA Player of the Year awards were given to 5 GSAC athletes. To see complete award lists for each sport, use the sports links on the left, and then click on Awards.

NAIA LEARFIELD DIRECTORS’ CUP STANDINGS
(complete standings)

1st 2nd 4th 5th 7th 16th 36th 66th 152nd

Azusa Pacific Concordia Fresno Pacific California Baptist Point Loma Nazarene Biola Vanguard Westmont The Master’s


NAIA TEAM CHAMPIONS
Azusa Pacific - Women’s Cross Country
Fresno Pacific - Volleyball
California Baptist - Softball
Fresno Pacific - Men’s Tennis
Azusa Pacific - Men’s Outdoor Track & Field

TOP TEAM NAIA FINISHES
Azusa Pacific - Men’s Cross Country runner-up
Concordia - Volleyball runner-up
Biola - Volleyball semifinalist
California Baptist - Volleyball semifinalist
Point Loma Nazarene - Baseball runner-up
Point Loma Nazarene - Softball fifth place
California Baptist - Men’s Tennis semifinalist
Fresno Pacific - Women’s Tennis runner-up
Concordia - Women’s Tennis semifinalist
Azusa Pacific - Women’s Outdoor Track & Field fourth place

NAIA CHAMPIONS OF CHARACTER TEAMS
Westmont - Division I Women’s Basketball
(read more at www.naia.org and www.westmont.edu)
Point Loma Nazarene - Baseball
(read more at www.pointloma.edu)

NAIA COACHES OF THE YEAR
Preston Grey, Azusa Pacific - Women’s Cross Country
Paula Weishoff, Concordia - Volleyball
Mike Smith, California Baptist - Softball
Neil Castro, Fresno Pacific - Men’s Tennis
Kevin Reid, Azusa Pacific - Men’s Track & Field

NAIA PLAYERS OF THE YEAR
Aron Rono, Azusa Pacific - NAIA Men’s Cross Country Individual Champion
Eric Winblad, Azusa Pacific - NAIA Men’s Soccer Player of the Year
Shu Liu, Fresno Pacific - NAIA Volleyball Player of the Year
Tory Ferreira, California Baptist - NAIA Softball Pitcher of the Year
Natasha Miller, Biola - NAIA Women’s Track & Field Top Meet Performer

In non-GSAC sports, the conference also did well. California Baptist was the NAIA Men’s Swimming & Diving Champion and Fresno Pacific was the runner-up. California Baptist’s Ben Wahlman was named the NAIA Men’s Diver of the Year and Fresno Pacific’s Coach Peter Richardson was the NAIA Men’s Swimming & Diving Coach of the Year. California Baptist was also the runner-up in the NAIA Women’s Swimming & Diving Championship. Azusa Pacific was the NAIA Men’s Indoor Track & Field Champion and the women were the runners-up in their indoor meet. For indoor track & field, Natasha Miller of Biola received the Most Valuable Meet Performer Award and Aron Rono of Azusa Pacific was named the men’s Outstanding Performer of the Meet, while Coach Kevin Reid of Azusa Pacific was the men’s coach of the year. In men’s golf, Sam Cyr of Point Loma Nazarene was the NAIA individual champion for the second consecutive year.

Major League Baseball conducted its 2009 draft, and 7 GSAC players were drafted, which are listed below. To see a complete list of drafted NAIA players, go to www.naia.org and for the complete draft, go to www.mlb.com.

Cameron Bayne, Concordia - 13th round by Chicago White Sox
Timothy Crabbe, Westmont - 14th round by Cincinnati Reds
Nicholas Akins, Vanguard - 19th round by Los Angeles Dodgers
Kurt Steinhauer, Point Loma - 27th round by New York Mets
Paul Miller, The Master’s - 32nd round by Los Angeles Dodgers
Hawkins Gebbers, Biola - 33rd round by Seattle Mariners
Kaohi Downing, Point Loma - 50th round by San Francisco Giants

Out of a possible 6 spring sports, GSAC teams won 3 NAIA championships and finished second in 2 others. The 2009 NAIA champions are Fresno Pacific in men’s tennis, California Baptist in softball, and Azusa Pacific in men’s outdoor track & field and the runners-up are Fresno Pacific in women’s tennis and Point Loma Nazarene in baseball. Many GSAC athletes were honored at the national level on NAIA All-Tournament Teams and as NAIA All-Americans and Daktronics-NAIA Scholar-Athletes. Individual honors were given to California Baptist’sTory Ferreira for NAIA Softball Pitcher of the Year and Ashley Boyd as NAIA Softball Tournament MVP, Natasha Miller of Biola as the Most Valuable Meet Performer for women’s track & field, and Kurt Steinhauer of Point Loma Nazarene was given the NAIA Baseball World Series Charlie Hustle Award. NAIA Coach of the Year honors were awarded to Coach Neil Castro of Fresno Pacific for men’s tennis, Coach Kevin Reid of Azusa Pacific for men’s outdoor track and field, and Coach Mike Smith of California Baptist for softball. The Point Loma Nazarene baseball team received the Buffalo Funds-NAIA 5-Star Champions of Character Team Award at the NAIA World Series. To see complete lists of the honorees, use the links below for each of the spring sports.

Baseball
Softball
Men’s Tennis
Women’s Tennis
Men’s Track & Field
Women’s Track & Field

Point Loma Nazarene finished the 2009 Avista-NAIA World Series as the runner-up, the best finish ever by a GSAC team. The Sea Lions received the Buffalo Funds-NAIA 5-Star Champions of Character Award, which recognizes the team that has best exhibited the five core character values of Respect, Responsibility, Integrity, Servant Leadership and Sportsmanship. A total of 5 Point Loma Nazarene players were selected to the NAIA Baseball All-Tournament Team, and Kurt Steinhauer received the Charlie Hustle Award. To read more, go to www.naia.org.

Avista-NAIA World Series All-Tournament Team

Andrew Bovich, P
Brandon Dixon, P
Wes Kartch, 3B
Kurt Steinhauer, OF - Charlie Hustle Award
Tim Winslow, C