By: Evan O'Kelly, Associate Commissioner for Communications
PORTLAND, Ore. – Each receiving identical votes from the league’s coaches,
Taylor Wall of Western Washington and
Elizabeth Walters of Cal Poly Humboldt were named the 2026 Great Northwest Athletic Conference co-Rowers of the Year with Wednesday’s release of the all-conference team.
Alongside Wall,
Emilie Borberg was picked as the GNAC Newcomer of the Year for the 2026 GNAC women’s rowing champions. For the Lumberjacks,
Laurel Calhoun was named the GNAC co-Freshman of the Year and
Matt Weise was picked by his peers as the GNAC Coach of the Year. Seattle Pacific also had a pair of major award winners, with
Aleksia Haugen snagging GNAC Coxswain of the Year and
Miriam Dykstra sharing GNAC co-Freshman of the Year honors with CPH’s Calhoun.
| 2026 GNAC Women's Rowing Special Award Winners |
| Co-Rowers of the Year |
Elizabeth Walters, Cal Poly Humboldt; Taylor Wall, Western Washington |
| Coxswain of the Year |
Aleksia Haugen, Seattle Pacific |
| Newcomer of the Year |
Emilie Borberg, Western Washington |
| Co-Freshmen of the Year |
Laurel Calhoun, Cal Poly Humboldt; Miriam Dykstra, Seattle Pacific |
| Coach of the Year |
Matt Weise, Cal Poly Humboldt |
| First-Team All-Conference |
| Name |
School |
Year |
Hometown (Previous School) |
| Solanes Capps-Mace |
Seattle Pacific |
SO |
Seattle, Wash. (Lincoln) |
| Raphaela Sanchez |
Central Oklahoma |
SR |
Lima, Peru (Piura Peru) |
| Carlota Martinez |
Central Oklahoma |
JR |
Sevilla, Spain (Sevilla) |
| Ellie Walters |
Cal Poly Humboldt |
SR |
Folsom, Calif. (Folsom) |
| Elsie Stevens |
Cal Poly Humboldt |
SO |
Portland, Ore. (Franklin) |
| River Walkington |
Cal Poly Humboldt |
SR |
Canyon Lake, Calif. (Coll. of the Redwoods) |
| Kylie Lovrich |
Western Washington |
SR |
Gibsons, B.C. (Blaine) |
| $ Taylor Wall |
Western Washington |
SR |
Grand Junction, Colo. (Fruita Monument) |
| Sarah Plemons |
Western Washington |
JR |
Richland, Wash. (Hanford) |
| Isabelle Mullick |
Western Washington |
SO |
Fremont, Calif. (Washington) |
| Lex Clark |
Western Washington |
SR |
Everett, Wash. (Jackson) |
| $ - 2025 First-Team All-GNAC |
Three of the GNAC’s programs qualified for the upcoming NCAA Women’s Rowing Championships, which run May 29-30 at Lake Lanier Olympic Park in Gainesville, Ga. Western Washington, Cal Poly Humboldt and Seattle Pacific will each represent the conference in both the varsity 4+ and varsity 8+ races as they pursue the national championship trophy. Since adding women’s rowing as a varsity sport in 2020, the GNAC has had three national champions in Central Oklahoma (2021), Cal Poly Humboldt (2023) and Western Washington (2024). Complete information on the upcoming NCAA Championships event
can be found online here.
Set to lead the nationally-first ranked Vikings into this weekend’s NCAA Division II Championships, Wall added the league’s top rower honor to a decorated career resume. She became the first person in conference history to earn both the GNAC Freshman of the Year (2023) and GNAC Rower of the Year honors, and she was a first-team all-conference selection in 2025. Wall led the Vikings’ varsity 8+ boat to a time of 7:15.499 minutes at the GNAC Championships, helping secure WWU’s GNAC-leading third women’s rowing championship trophy. She became the second woman in program history to garner the GNAC’s top award, joining 2024 GNAC Rower of the Year Mia Marie Knipe.
Walters of Cal Poly Humboldt shared the award with Wall, after headlining a Lumberjack varsity 8+ boat that had a successful season and qualified for the upcoming NCAA Championships as well. Walters and the ‘Jacks finished as the runners-up at the GNAC Championships and her boat was twice selected as the GNAC Crew of the Week during the season. She became the third woman in school history to earn the league’s top rowing honor, joining 2025 winner Kealey Scott and 2023 winner Dana Foley.
In her first season on the water, Borberg, a sophomore at WWU, contributed significantly to the Vikings’ third GNAC Championships team title. She rowed alongside Wall in the varsity 8+ boat all season long, a unit that was selected as GNAC Crew of the Week on three different occasions. Borberg became the third Viking to capture the GNAC Newcomer of the Year award, joining 2024 selection Kate Baring and 2023 winner Jenae Pusich.
One of the top senior leaders in the conference, Seattle Pacific’s Haugen put together yet another impactful campaign as coxswain within her team’s varsity 8+ boat. She helped that group post a time of 7:23.856 minutes at the GNAC Championships, taking third place and earning the Falcons a dozen points in the team standings. After earning GNAC co-Coxswain of the Year in 2024, Haugen became the second woman in league history to win the award twice in her career and she is the lone Falcon to do so.
Each making a prolific impact on their respective rosters in their debut collegiate campaigns, co-Freshmen of the Year Calhoun of Cal Poly Humboldt and Dykstra of Seattle Pacific were each recognized with year-end hardware. Dykstra held a key spot as a stroke within the Falcons’ varsity 8+ lineup throughout the entire 2026 campaign. She joined Emmerson Spencer (2024) in becoming the second woman in school history to earn the award. Calhoun played her part in a Lumberjack varsity 4+ boat that secured eight points in the team standings at the GNAC Championships, as she directly contributed to their second-place overall finish. It marks the first-ever GNAC Freshman of the Year honor for Cal Poly Humboldt.
Weise helped lead the Lumberjacks back to the NCAA Championships with a No. 2 national ranking, as they will pursue their fourth NCAA national title with the most recent coming in 2023. It is his third-career GNAC Coach of the Year honor and his second win in-a-row.