SEATTLE (June 1) ­ Seattle Pacific University's Chris Randolph has been selected the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Male Track-and-Field Athlete-of-the-Year for the third consecutive year.

The NCAA Division II champion in the decathlon for the second straight year, Randolph received six of eight first-place votes. Central Washington thrower Cameron Neel received the two remaining first-place votes. Randolph shared the award in 2004 with Justin Lawrence of Central Washington before winning it outright in 2005.

Randolph becomes the fifth Falcon to earn a GNAC player/athlete of the year award this season. Earlier award winners were Sarah Martinez (women's soccer), Kellen Rosten (men's soccer), Tony Binetti (men's basketball) and Teona Perkins (indoor track and field).

At the NCAA Championships last week, Randolph scored a GNAC and SPU record 7872 points, the third-highest score by an American this year and the highest in the Division II national meet since 1988.

Randolph, who was voted the NCAA Division II National Field Athlete-of-the-Year, won the 400 meters and also placed second in the long jump, third in the discus and sixth in the 110 hurdles in the GNAC outdoor meet. During the season, he had the top conference mark in in four events: 400 (48.27), 110 hurdles (14.82), long jump (23-11 3/4) and decathlon (7872). He also had the No. 2 pole vault (15-5) and discus (161-9).

Central Washington's Katie McMeel, the NCAA runner-up in the javelin, was the GNAC female track and field athlete of the year.

Alaska Anchorage athletes won three of the four remaining awards. Eric Draper and Pearce swept the newcomer of the year awards, while David Kiplagat won the male freshman of the year award. Clara Cook of Western Washington and Ashley Puga of Northwest Nazarene tied in the voting for the top freshman female.