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Nov. 17, 2009

BELLINGHAM, Wash. - Western Washington University's Kelven "Pee Wee" Halsell has been voted the 2009 Great Northwest Athletic Conference Men's Cross Country Coach of the Year.

Halsell directed the Vikings to a GNAC title and a national-qualifying second-place finish at the NCAA Division II West Regional Championships.

The award is the fourth men's cross country GNAC Coach-of the Year award for Halsell, who was also selected in 2003, 2006 and 2007.

In all, Halsell, who is in his 23rd year at Western, has won eight GNAC Coach of the Year awards including two in men's indoor track and field (2005, 2006), one in men's outdoor track and field (2005) and one in women's outdoor track and field (2009).

Halsell will be traveling to Evansville, Indiana, this week with both his men's and women's teams to compete in Saturday's NCAA II national meet. Western's men are ranked sixth nationally and the Viking women 11th.

GREAT NORTHWEST ATHLETIC CONFERENCE

Contact: Bob Guptill (509-535-5291/Fax 535-5293/e-mail - bguptill@gnacsports.com)

Halsell, Friess GNAC Cross Country Coaches-of-the-Year

SPOKANE, Wash. - Kelven "Pee Wee" Halsell of Western Washington and Michael Friess of Alaska Anchorage and have been voted the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Men's and Women's Cross Country Coaches-of-the-Year, respectively.

Halsell and Friess each led their teams to GNAC titles this fall and to national-qualifying finishes in the NCAA Division II West Regional championships at San Francisco, Calif. Halsell's men placed second at the regional and Friess' women captured Alaska Anchorage's first-ever West Region cross country title.

The award is the fourth men's cross country GNAC Coach-of-the-Year award for Halsell, who was also selected in 2003, 2006 and 2007. In all, Halsell, who is in his 23rd year at WWU, has won eight GNAC Coach-of-the-Year awards including two in men's indoor track and field (2005, 2006), one in men's outdoor track and field (2005) and one in women's outdoor track and field (2009).

Friess has now won eight cross country Coach-of-the-Year awards (seven in the GNAC) and 10 total during his 20-year career at Anchorage.

Friess, a 1985 Linfield College graduate, was also voted the GNAC Men's Coach of the Year in 2002, 2005 and 2008 and was selected the GNAC Women's Coach of the Year for three consecutive seasons between 2003 and 2005. He was also named the PacWest Men's Coach of the Year in 1997 and the GNAC Outdoor Track and Field Men's Coach-of-the-Year in both 2008 and 2009.

Both Halsell and Friess will be traveling to Evansville, Indiana, this week along with both their men's and women's teams to compete in Saturday's NCAA Division II national meet. UAA takes a No. 3 women's and a No. 19 men's national ranking into the meet, while WWU's men are ranked sixth and its women are ranked 11th.