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Nov. 9, 2009

BELLINGHAM, Wash. - Western Washington University sophomore midfielder Kellan Brown (Tacoma/Bellarmine Prep) was a unanimous first-team pick on the Great Northwest Athletic Conference men's soccer all-star team named today. Brown finished second among league leaders in both points with 25 and goals with 10.

Two other Vikings named to the first team were sophomore midfielder Oscar Jimenez (So., Mount Vernon) and freshman defender Chris Brundage (Gig Harbor/Peninsula). Brundage also shared conference Freshman of the Year honors with Seattle Pacific's Jon Pearman.

Two Western players were second-team choices - junior forward Gibson Bardsley (Fall City/Mount Si) and senior midfielder Mitch Barrows (Ferndale).

Honorable mention went to three Vikings. They were sophomore defender Sean Connor (Mount Vernon), senior defender Chris Jepson (Bellingham/Sehome) and senior goalkeeper Cameron Copps-Tilley (Vancouver/Fort Vancouver).

Montana State Billings forward Sam Charles was the GNAC Player of the Year, finishing his career with 69 goals and 18 assists.

Chris Brundage

Named GNAC Coach of the Year was Saint Martin's Rob Walker, who directed the Saints to their first GNAC title in any sport, and GNAC Newcomer of the Year honors went to Northwest Nazarene's Renato Brito.

Western ended its season at 8-11-1, finishing with a four-game unbeaten streak, and placed second in the GNAC at 5-3-0.

GREAT NORTHWEST ATHLETIC CONFERENCE

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

Men's Soccer: Charles GNAC Player-of-Year; Walker Top Coach

SPOKANE, Wash. --- Montana State Billings forward Sam Charles has been selected the 2009 Great Northwest Athletic Conference Men's Soccer Player-of-the-Year.

Charles, who received three of the five first-place votes, set a conference single-season record for goals (24) and points, wrapping up a brilliant career which saw him virtually rewrite the GNAC record book. He finished his career with 69 goals, 18 assists and a grand total of 156 points. In three seasons in the GNAC, he had 62 goals, 16 assists and 140 points.

Rob Walker, who led Saint Martin's to a 11-7 record and its first-ever GNAC title in any sport, was selected the GNAC Coach-of-the-Year. Soccer has only been a varsity sport for three years at Saint Martin's. In the first two seasons, the Saints won a grand total of just nine matches. Walker is a 1983 graduate of SMU.

In addition to Charles, three other players earned special awards. Midfielder Renatto Brito of Northwest Nazarene was selected the GNAC Newcomer-of-the-Year. Brito was NNU's No. 2 scorer with five goals, including a pair of game-winners.

Two defenders - Jon Pearman of Seattle Pacific and Chris Brundage of Western Washington - tied in the balloting for the GNAC Freshman-of-the-Year award.

The composition of the first team all-conference team was reflective of the closeness of the conference race. Only seven points separated first-place Saint Martin's from fourth-place MSU Billings. Saint Martin's, Seattle Pacific and Western Washington each placed three players on the 11-man first team and MSUB had two.

Charles was one of seven unanimous selections. Also selected unanimously were forwards Xan Nixon of Saint Martin's and Tyler Schultz of Seattle Pacific, midfielders Kellan Brown of Western Washington, Ruben Orozco of SMU and Alec Nelson of SPU and defender Elliot Morton of SPU.

Four players - Charles, Orozco, Nelson and Morton - were first-team repeat selections from last year. Charles was selected for the third year in a row.

2009 GREAT NORTHWEST ATHLETIC CONFERENCE MEN'S SOCCER ALL-STAR TEAM

First Team - *++Sam Charles, MSUB (F, 6-3, Sr., Chiswell, England); *Xan Nixon, SMU (F, 6-1, So., Seattle, WA); *Tyler Schultz, SPU (F, 5-11, So., Scottsdale, AZ); *Kellan Brown, WWU (M, 5-7, So., Tacoma, WA); *+Ruben Orozco, SMU (M, 5-10, So., Des Moines, WA); *+Alec Nelson, SPU (M, 5-11, Sr., Lynnwood, WA); Oscar Jimenez, WWU (M, 5-8, So., Mt. Vernon, WA); *+Elliot Morton, SPU (D, 6-4, So., Tacoma, WA); Tom Milroy, MSUB (D, 6-0, Sr., Aberdeen, Scotland); Chris Brundage, WWU (D, 6-1, Fr., Gig Harbor, WA); Zac Lubin, SMU (GK, 6-5, Jr., Bozeman, MT). *Unanimous +Repeater ++Two-time repeater

Second Team - Gibson Bardsley, WWU (F, 5-11, Jr., Fall City, WA); Chris Andre, MSUB (M, 6-0, Jr., Billings, MT); Alonso Avila, NNU (M, 5-9, Sr., Yuma, AZ); Vlad Voin, SMU (M, 5-10, Jr., Everett, WA); Drew Williams, SPU (M, 5-7, So., Bend, OR); Mitch Barrows, WWU (M, 5-11, Sr., Ferndale, WA); Renatto Brito, NNU (M, 5-9, Jr., Boring, OR); Jon Pearman, SPU (D, 6-2, Fr., Glendale, AZ); Kyle Gaedke, NNU (D, 5-9, So., Puyallup, WA); Erik Orozco, SMU (D, 5-6, Jr., Federal Way, WA); Ross Carmichael, MSUB (D, 6-3, So., Weymouth, England); Kaleb Kuehn, SPU (GK, 6-0, Jr., Marysville, WA).

Honorable Mention - Garion Holian, MSUB (F, 5-11, So., Missoula, MT); John Stump, NNU (F, 5-10, Jr., Yakima, WA); Chris Morris, SPU (M, 6-0, Fr., Mercer Island, WA); Jeremy DeHerrera, MSUB (M, 6-2, Sr., Kalispell, MT); Tyler Moriarty, MSUB (M, 6-0, Jr., Bozeman, MT) ; Salvador Sanchez, NNU (M, 5-10, Fr., Ontario, OR); Sean Connor, WWU (D, 5-10. So., Mt. Vernon, WA); James Schmid, SMU (D, 5-11, So., Maple Valley, WA); Chris Jepson, WWU (D, 6-0, Sr., Bellingham, WA); Brandon Scott, SMU (D, 5-7, Fr., Tacoma, WA); Tony Armitage, SMU (D, 5-10, So., Federal Way, WA); Caleb Nyone, SPU (D, 6-0, Fr., Happy Valley, OR); Matt Mitchell, MSUB (GK, 6-0, Jr., Thornton, CO); Cameron Copps-Tilley, WWU (GK, 6-1, Sr., Vancouver, WA)

Player-of-the-Year - Sam Charles, Montana State Billings. Newcomer-of-the-Year - Renato Brito, Northwest Nazarene. Freshman-of-the-Year - Jon Pearman, Seattle Pacific and Chris Brundage, Western Washington. Coach-of-the-Year - Rob Walker, Saint Martin's.