St. Martin’s basketball player Jamey Gelhar attracted attention at the end of this season when she set an women’s all-divisions record for free-throw percentage.

Turns out she has company when it comes to free-throw records – right on her own campus.

Saints senior Jake Linton made his final 24 free throws of the season to finish his career with a 92.4 percentage. The NCAA Division II men’s record book actually lists two categories for career free-throw percentage. For a minimum of 250 made, Linton, who made 558 of 604, ranks second to Paul Cluxton of Northern Kentucky, who made 93.5 percent between 1994 and 1997.

However, for a minimum of 500 made, Linton, who led the Great Northwest Athletic Conference in scoring (23.0 points per game) in leading the Saints to their first winning season (22-8) in 17 years, smashed the old record of 87.9 set by Hofstra’s Steve Nisenson between 1963 and 1965.

The NCAA’s all-divisions record requires a minimum of 300 made, and Linton ranks fourth there. But he is first among those with 500 attempts.

The former leader was J.J. Reddick of Duke, who made 91.2 percent of his career foul shots (662 of 726) between 2003 and 2006.

Four times in his career, Linton, who shot at a 91.5 percent clip this season and finished his career as the fourth leading scorer in GNAC history with 2,044 points, had streaks of 30 or more, including 50, 44 and 34 last season, and 48 this winter.

Meanwhile, Gelhar was setting an all-time NCAA women’s record by making 78 in a row, more than twice the previous GNAC record of 36.

Gelhar, who was featured recently in The NCAA News, ended the season with a 96.9 percentage (94 of 97) to set an all-time NCAA all-divisions single-season record. The previous record was 96.4 by Adrienne Squire of Penn State in 2006.

Gelhar’s current career percentage of 92.5 is also an all-time NCAA record, bettering the career mark of 91.6 by Shanna Zolman of Tennessee between 2003 and 2006. However, under NCAA guidelines, Gelhar will have to wait until next winter when she completes her eligibility before she can join Linton as the all-time career leader.

– Courtesy Bob Guptill of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference