The GSAC had 52 total teams, representing all 13 conference sports, that qualified as NAIA Scholar Teams for the 2009-10 school year. To qualify for this honor, a team must have a 3.0 grade point average, which includes all varsity athletes that are eligible for that sport. For the complete story, go to www.naia.org. To see which GSAC teams qualified, go to Awards Search on the left OR click on the link for each sport on the left and then click Awards.

California Baptist cheerleading coach Wendy Rice died and several student athletes were injured in a 3-vehicle accident on Monday, August 9, near Bishop, CA. Rice was driving one of three vans carrying CBU cross country athletes to a high altitude training camp in Mammoth. For more information, go to www.cbulancers.com.

The 2009-10 season was another banner year for the Golden State Athletic Conference, as seen in the final standings of the Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup, which recognizes the best overall athletic programs in the NCAA and NAIA based on showings in national championship tournaments and meets. Azusa Pacific received the NAIA’s top award for a record-breaking sixth year in a row and was joined by Fresno Pacific, Concordia, and California Baptist in the top 7. The GSAC had 7 teams in the top 18 and a total of 9 conference teams made the rankings, all finishing in the top 100. The GSAC won 3 NAIA Championships during the year, bringing the total to 36 national titles since the conference began in 1986. National Coach of the Year and NAIA Player of the Year awards were given to 4 GSAC coaches and 4 GSAC athletes. Bryan Wilkins (right), the Vanguard cross country and track & field coach, was named the 2010 recipient of the NAIA Coach of Character Award. To see complete award lists for each sport, use the sports links on the left, and then click

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As the season closed, several GSAC baseball players received honors for their work on and off the field. NAIA All-America honors were given to Ryan Delgado, Azusa Pacific (1st team) and Sharif Othman, California Baptist (2nd team). Also, Garrett Rau, California Baptist short stop, and Westmont centerfielder Terrell Wong, were selected to the Rawlings-NAIA Gold Glove Team. Point Loma Nazarene players Chad Blauer, Tyler Kuehl and Rashad Taylor were named to the Avista-NAIA World Series All-Tournament Team. Several players were NAIA Scholar-Athletes. To see the list of honorees, go to GSAC Baseball Awards. In addition, 8 players (listed below) were selected in the Major League Baseball draft. For more information about NAIA players selected in the draft, go to www.naia.org.

• 12th round by Boston – Garrett Rau, California Baptist
• 24th round by Seattle – Bennett Whitmore, Concordia CA
• 25th round by New York Mets – Peter Birdwell, Vanguard
• 27th round by Chicago White Sox – Pete Gehle, Azusa Pacific
• 28th round by Chicago Cubs – Joseph Zeller, The Master’s
• 30th round by Kansas City – Chad Blauer, Point Loma
• 31st round by New York Mets – Steve Winnick, Point Loma
• 32nd round by Atlanta – Ryan Delgado, Azusa Pacific