By: Evan O'Kelly, Associate Commissioner for Communications

PORTLAND, Ore. – Voted as the league’s top softball player for the second year in-a-row, Maleah Andrews of Western Washington headlined the 2026 Great Northwest Athletic Conference all-conference team released on Wednesday.
 
The junior third baseman became just the second player in GNAC history to earn the top softball award, joining Humboldt State’s Andrea Williams who won it back-to-back in 2003 and 2004. Andrews was the co-MVP last year, and made it six player of the year awards for the Western Washington program – the most of any GNAC softball school. Andrews’ teammates EmmaJoy Wise and Alanna Wirtala were named the GNAC Newcomer of the Year and GNAC Freshman of the Year, respectively, giving the Vikings three of the league’s top honors. Northwest Nazarene sophomore Miah Lusk was voted GNAC Pitcher of the Year, and Jim Peterson of the regular-season champion Saint Martin’s Saints was tabbed by his peers as the GNAC Coach of the Year.
 
The 2026 GNAC Softball Championships begin on Thursday in Ellensburg, Wash., with the top-four teams from the 2026 regular-season standings competing for the tournament title. Complete information on the event can be found online here.
 

2026 GNAC Softball Special Award Winners
Player of the Year	Maleah Andrews, Western Washington
Pitcher of the Year	Miah Lusk, Northwest Nazarene
Newcomer of the Year	EmmaJoy Wise, Western Washington
Freshman of the Year	Alanna Wirtala, Western Washington
Coach of the Year	Jim Peterson, Saint Martin’s (1st of career)

 

First-Team All-Conference
Name	School	Position	Height	Year	Hometown (Previous School)
*& Miah Lusk	Northwest Nazarene	P	5-7	SO	Pocatello, ID (Pocatello)
&* Monica Bourque	Simon Fraser	P	5-9	JR	Quisparmsis, NB (Centre Scolaire Samuel-de-Champlain)
* Alanna Wirtala	Western Washington	P	5-5	FR	Puyallup, WA (Emerald Ridge)
* EmmaJoy Wise	Western Washington	C	5-4	SO	Stanwood, WA (Everett CC)
+$* Heather Ebner	Saint Martin’s	1B	5-11	JR	Keizer, OR (McNary)
#* Emma Bumatay	Northwest Nazarene	1B	5-9	SR	Fresno, CA (Clovis North)
+$* Maleah Andrews	Western Washington	3B	5-3	JR	Shoreline, WA (Bothell)
^$+* Hailey Rath	Western Washington	SS	5-8	SR	Eatonville, WA (Eatonville)
*McKayla Cable	Central Washington	OF	5-4	SO	Albuquerque, NM (St. Pius X)
* Marleigh Nieto	Montana State Billings	OF	5-7	JR	Billings, MT (Billings West)
!* Lauren Lugtigheid	Simon Fraser	OF	5-7	SO	Langley, BC (Langley Christian)
* Madelynne Hommel	Western Oregon	OF	5-2	JR	Nampa, ID (North Idaho Coll.)
!* Ava Clark	Northwest Nazarene	OF	5-4	JR	Woodinville, WA (Woodinville)
* - Unanimous Selection | + - 2025 First-Team All-GNAC | & - 2025 Second-Team All-GNAC | ! – 2025 Honorable Mention All-GNAC $ - 2024 First-Team All-GNAC | # - 2024 Second-Team All-GNAC | @ - 2024 Honorable Mention All-GNAC ^ - 2023 First-Team All-GNAC | < - 2023 Honorable Mention All-GNAC

 

Second-Team All-Conference
Name	School	Position	Height	Year	Hometown
Kayla Vaughan	Saint Martin’s	P	5-5	JR	Rancho Bernardo, CA (Rancho Bernardo)
Zoey Theophilus	Central Washington	P	5-7	JR	Tumwater, WA (AG West Black Hills)
Amanda Peterson	Saint Martin’s	P	5-7	JR	Beaverton, OR (Southridge)
Lizzy Sugrive	Simon Fraser	C	5-8	JR	Surrey, BC (Queen Elizabeth)
+ Cassidy Affeldt	Simon Fraser	1B	5-7	SR	Mission, BC (Thomas Haney)
Reghann Fairbairn	Western Oregon	1B	5-4	SO	Montesano, WA (Newman)
& Keana Bell	Northwest Nazarene	3B	5-7	JR	Las Vegas, NV (Centennial)
Kaylee Walker	Saint Martin’s	3B	5-5	SO	Lake Tapps, WA (Auburn Riverside)
<& Shelby Lawson	Saint Martin’s	SS	5-7	SR	Des Moines, WA (Kennedy Catholic)
Lauren Mauer	Western Oregon	SS	5-6	SO	Indio, CA (La Quinta)
Wynter Hurst	Montana State Billings	OF	5-8	SO	St. Joseph, MO (Missouri Western State)
Haley Agena	Saint Martin’s	OF	5-1	SR	Mililani, HI (Kamehameha – Kapalama)
Jami Obringer	Northwest Nazarene	OF	5-7	SR	Newbury Park, CA (Newbury Park)
* - Unanimous Selection | + - 2025 First-Team All-GNAC | & - 2025 Second-Team All-GNAC | ! – 2025 Honorable Mention All-GNAC $ - 2024 First-Team All-GNAC | # - 2024 Second-Team All-GNAC | @ - 2024 Honorable Mention All-GNAC ^ - 2023 First-Team All-GNAC | < - 2023 Honorable Mention All-GNAC

 

Honorable Mention All-Conference
Name	School	Position	Height	Year	Hometown (Previous School)
Brooke Baker	Central Washington	DP	5-3	JR	Bothell, WA (Bothell)
& Mia Flores	Central Washington	1B	5-7	SR	Rio Rancho, NM (Rio Rancho)
Jadyn Holdren	Central Washington	3B	5-9	FR	Kennewick, WA (Southridge)
Kasi Thomas	Central Washington	1B	5-5	SO	Lynden, WA (Lynden)
Izzy Vargas	Central Washington	OF	5-6	FR	Puyallup, WA (Graham Kapowsin)
Riley McGee	Northwest Nazarene	P	5-7	SO	Sumner, WA (Sumner)
Bridget Johnson	Saint Martin’s	P	5-6	JR	Bothell, WA (Snohomish)
# Grace McMillan	Simon Fraser	SS	5-4	JR	Langley, BC (Brookswood)
Braeli Martin	Western Oregon	P	5-10	FR	Salem, OR (West Salem)
Laila Carpenter	Western Washington	OF	5-5	JR	Snohomish, WA (Glacier Peak)
Payton Chacon	Western Washington	OF	5-5	FR	West Richland, WA (Richland)
* - Unanimous Selection | + - 2025 First-Team All-GNAC | & - 2025 Second-Team All-GNAC | ! – 2025 Honorable Mention All-GNAC $ - 2024 First-Team All-GNAC | # - 2024 Second-Team All-GNAC | @ - 2024 Honorable Mention All-GNAC ^ - 2023 First-Team All-GNAC | < - 2023 Honorable Mention All-GNAC

 

Yet again compiling one of the top statistical seasons across the conference, Andrews posted a slash line of .421/.550/.779 while starting all 49 games for the Vikings. She led the league in both on-base percentage and slugging percentage, hitting a conference-best 18 doubles and adding 10 home runs during the regular season. Andrews was third in the league with 61 hits, tied for fourth with 51 runs scored and was seventh with 42 RBIs. She has already drawn 40 walks this season, tied for the third-highest single-season total in conference history.
 
Across her first three seasons, Andrews’ .413 batting average is tied for eighth-best in GNAC history and she is the conference’s all-time leader with an on-base percentage of .525. She also holds a career slugging percentage of .673, ranking her 10th all-time in the league. She enters the conference tournament one walk away (125) from tying the GNAC career record, and her 59-career doubles are also third-most in league history.
 
Lusk followed up her 2025 GNAC Freshman of the Year campaign by getting the nod as the top pitcher in 2026. The right-hander posted a league-leading ERA of 2.61, opponents’ batting average of .202 and a GNAC-best 159 strikeouts. Lusk was second in the GNAC with 16 wins during the regular season, tossing a dozen complete games, three shutouts and picking up a pair of saves. She had four games reaching double digits in strikeouts, with a season-best 12 coming on April 17 against Montana State Billings. Nearing the midway point in her collegiate career, Lusk has struck out 267 hitters in 249 1/3 innings pitched, picking up 26 wins and holding an ERA of 2.95. She is the third woman in school history to win the league’s top pitcher award, joining Sidney Booth (2021-22, 24) and Jordan Adams (2018-19). She is the fourth in conference history to win both the top freshman and top pitcher awards in her career, joining Adams (2018/18-19), Anna Kasner of Western Washington (2017/17) and Sam Munger of Saint Martin’s (2012/2013).
 
In her first season with the Vikings after transferring from Everett Community College, Wise was unanimously selected to the all-conference first team along with receiving the top newcomer honor. Starting all 49 games primarily behind the dish, she hit .385 with 10 home runs, 12 doubles and 45 RBIs throughout the regular season. She reached base at a clip of .480, drawing 18 walks against just 16 strikeouts in her 180 plate appearances. Wise is the seventh Viking all-time to garner GNAC Newcomer of the Year recognition, and the first since Mareena Ramirez in 2023.
 
The top pitcher for WWU in 2026, Wirtala delivered a productive debut collegiate season to capture the conference’s top freshman award. She led all GNAC pitchers with 203 innings pitched and 23 victories during the regular season, with her 132 strikeouts and four saves each ranking her second in the conference. Wirtala sported an ERA of 3.55 and an opponents’ batting average of .266, routinely delivering multiple wins in series for her team throughout its second-place conference finish. She had a memorable collegiate debut with a season-high 11 strikeouts in eight innings pitched against Chico State on Jan. 30, and she finished the season with 17 complete games across her 24 starts. Wirtala is the fourth Viking to earn GNAC Freshman of the Year in softball, joining teammate Hailey Rath (2023), Kasner (2017) and Makinlee Sellevold (2015).
 
In a regular-season title race that came down to the final weekend of the season, Peterson’s Saints came through with a four-game sweep to seal their third trophy in program history. Peterson led SMU to a conference record of 18-6 (.750), while going 33-17 (.660) overall during the regular season. Now in his ninth season leading the team, Peterson helped bring home SMU’s first regular-season title since 2015. He holds an overall record of 233-167 (.583) overall and is 117-81 (.591) in conference contests since taking the helm in 2018. Peterson’s 117 total GNAC wins are tied for seventh-most all-time by a GNAC coach.