By: Evan O'Kelly, Associate Commissioner for Communications

PORTLAND, Ore. – After helping lead her team to its first-ever Great Northwest Athletic Conference overall title, Cal Poly Humboldt’s Kealey Scott was selected as the 2025 GNAC Women’s Rower of the Year to headline the all-conference team.
 
A senior from Victoria, B.C., Scott was a key leader on a Lumberjack squad that won the varsity 4+ race and finished as the runner-up in the varsity 8+ race to solidify the crown at the 2025 GNAC Women’s Rowing Championships. Her teammate River Walkington was voted as the GNAC Newcomer of the Year, and Lumberjack head coach Matt Weise was selected by his peers as the GNAC Coach of the Year.
 
Western Washington also received a pair of major awards, with Janisa Cook being named GNAC Coxswain of the Year and Sonja Gebhardt being tabbed GNAC Freshman of the Year.
 

2025 GNAC Women’s Rowing All-Conference Team
Rower of the Year	Kealey Scott, Cal Poly Humboldt
Coxswain of the Year	Janisa Cook, Western Washington
Newcomer of the Year	River Walkington, Cal Poly Humboldt
Freshman of the Year	Sonja Gebhardt, Western Washington
Coach of the Year	Matt Weise, Cal Poly Humboldt

 

First-Team All-Conference
Name	School	Year	Hometown (Previous School)
Audrey Rekedal	Seattle Pacific	SR	Pasadena, Calif. (Maranatha)
Eva-Louisa Eschbach	Central Oklahoma	FR	Breisach, Germany (Berufliche Schule)
Anya Landrowski	Central Oklahoma	SR	Elgin, Ill. (Streamwood)
Emily Marsolais	Cal Poly Humboldt	SR	Pollock Pines, Calif. (El Dorado)
Gabriella Griffin	Cal Poly Humboldt	JR	Albany, Calif. (Albany)
Emily Daniels	Cal Poly Humboldt	SR	San Rafael, Calif. (San Rafael)
$ Dana Foley	Cal Poly Humboldt	SR	Santa Cruz, Calif. (Aptos)
$ Kealey Scott	Cal Poly Humboldt	SR	Victoria, B.C. (Claremont Secondary)
Mia Marie Knipe	Western Washington	JR	Boise, Idaho (Boise)
$ Emma Clark	Western Washington	SR	Lake Stevens, Wash. (Lake Stevens)
Taylor Wall	Western Washington	JR	Grand Junction, Colo. (Fruita Monument)
$ - 2024 First-Team All-GNAC

A fifth-year senior, Scott has been a fixture in the Cal Poly Humboldt lineup since arriving on campus in 2020-21. She was voted first-team all-conference for the second year in a row and occupied the four seat on the Lumberjacks’ varsity 8+ boat. She was also selected as the 2025 Cal Poly Humboldt Student-Athlete of the Year, and earned academic all-conference for the second straight season. She is the second woman in CPH history to claim the league’s top women’s rowing honor, joining 2023 GNAC Rower of the Year Dana Foley.
 
Walkington, a junior from Canyon Lake, Calif., is in her first year competing with the Lumberjacks and played an integral role in the team claiming its first conference title. Walkington spent time both within the varsity 8+ boat and as the two seat on the team’s GNAC champion varsity 4+ boat this season, and is among the Lumberjacks’ key leaders both on and off the water. She joined 2022 GNAC Newcomer of the Year Foley as the second woman in school history to claim the award.
 
Weise, now in his fifth season piloting the Lumberjacks, earned his second GNAC Coach of the Year honor after also claiming the award in 2023. Weise helped lead the Lumberjacks to the 2023 NCAA Division II national title, and the team was ranked No. 1 in the most recent CRCA national poll.
 
For the Vikings, Cook won the GNAC Coxswain of the Year honor for the second straight season to become the first-ever multi-winner of that honor. A senior from Bothell, Wash., Cook has played an instrumental role in building the Vikings into a national championship caliber program. Helping lead the team to its ninth NCAA Division II national title last season, Cook followed up with another strong performance in 2025 as she helped the Vikings capture the varsity 8+ title at the GNAC Championships.
 
Gebhardt made it three GNAC Freshman of the Year awards for the Vikings in the last four seasons, joining 2023 winner Taylor Wall and 2022 winner Sarah Ernst. A Kenmore, Wash., native and graduate of Inglemoor High School, Gebhardt had an impactful debut collegiate season this spring. She played a key role on the varsity 8+ boat that won the GNAC title in that event, and was cited by her coach as having a strong impact within her boat’s speed and cohesion.
 
The 2025 NCAA Division II Women’s Rowing Championships are set for May 30-31 at Lake Mercer in West Windsor, N.J. All four of the conference’s programs were selected to compete in the national championships. For the eights, Western Washington was the top seed followed by Cal Poly Humboldt at No. 2, Seattle Pacific at No. 4 and Central Oklahoma at No. 5. For the fours, Cal Poly Humboldt checked in at No. 1 followed by Central Oklahoma at No. 3, Western Washington at No. 4 and Seattle Pacific at No. 5. More information on the NCAA Championships can be found online here.