SEATTLE (Mar. 15) ­ Jessica Pixler, Seattle Pacific University's record-setting runner , is a unanimous choice as the female indoor track and field athlete of the year in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.

Pixler (Fr., Sammamish, Wa./Eastlake) completed the indoor season by winning the NCAA Division II championship in the mile, breaking her own SPU and conference records by over 5 seconds. Earlier, she had won both the GNAC 800 meters and mile in meet-record times.

Pixler was also named the freshman of the year by the head coaches. They chose the Falcons' Karl Lerum as women's coach of the year . SPU won the won the conference crown for the fourth year in a row and finished seventh in the NCAA.

Last fall Pixler won the GNAC cross country crown and freshman of the year for that sport. It was the second year in a row that a Falcon earned the award. High-jumper Teona Perkins was the 2006 recipient.

Central Washington thrower Cameron Neel was a unanimous pick for the male indoor athlete of the year.

To date, three Seattle Pacific athletes have been voted player of the year in the GNAC: Jenna Von Moos (volleyball), Pixler (indoor track) and Dustin Bremerman (basketball).