Sunday, July 05, 2026
62.0°F

Eagle women's golf wins academic awards

MIKE MAYNARD | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 11 months AGO
by MIKE MAYNARD
| August 9, 2025 3:19 PM

CHENEY – Eastern Washington Eagles women’s golf team has been collecting academic hardware as of late, according to statements by EWU athletics and the Big Sky Conference. This week, the Eagles were named academic champions in women’s golf for the 2024-25 season and the Big Sky’s team of the month.  

“Since implementing these awards three years ago, it’s been fun to see the great teamwork we have on our campuses, not only on the playing surface, but in the classroom as well,” Commissioner Tom Wistrcill said. “Congratulations to our Team Academic Champions for the 2024-25 season and keep lifting each other up in all your endeavors.” 

The Big Sky conference announced their 2024-25 Team Academic Champions and EWU earned the title in women's golf. The academic champions are awarded to the program with the highest GPA in all Big Sky-sponsored sports, EWU’s statement said. The GPA used is the cumulative figure for the entire academic year. 

According to EWU’s statement, the Eagles continue to define what academic excellence is at the school. Eastern's seven student-athletes carried a 3.96 GPA for the 2024-25 academic year, second-best in Division I women's golf.   

Spencer Cerenzia, Gabriella Ilardi, Natalie Kent, Berkeley Ledesma, Brooke Mahler, Esha Reddy and Kami Twining continued the strong academic tradition under head coach Brenda Howe this past year. In June, the entire roster was named to the Women’s Golf Coaches Association All-American Scholar team, EWU athletics said. It was their 12th consecutive season that an Eagles golfer was named under their head coach, Brenda Howe.  

All seven of the Eagles earned spots on the WGCA All-America Scholar team earlier this summer. The accomplishment marks the 12th consecutive season that Howe's program has placed student-athletes on the Scholar All-American list. The roster also earned Big Sky spring All-Academic honors. 

2024-25 Big Sky Team Academic Champions:
Men's Cross Country: Idaho (3.82)
Women's Cross Country: Northern Colorado & Weber State (3.83)
Volleyball: Idaho State (3.75)
Soccer: Northern Colorado (3.76)
Football: Weber State (3.39)
Men's Track & Field: Idaho (3.60)
Women's Track & Field: Weber State (3.72)
Men's Basketball: Weber State (3.71)
Women's Basketball: Montana State (3.73)
Men's Tennis: Montana (3.84)
Women's Tennis: Portland State (3.77)
Women's Golf: Eastern Washington (3.96)
Softball: Weber State (3.67) 

ARTICLES BY MIKE MAYNARD

Correia reflects on making All-State team
July 3, 2026 3 a.m.

Correia reflects on making All-State team

COULEE CITY — Multiple basin athletes qualified to play in the All-State Baseball Series from June 27-28 in Yakima, with Almira/Coulee-Hartline graduate, Caden Correia being one of them. Correia said he was initially selected for a feeder game ahead of his state qualification. “I was at practice one day, and my head coach (Hunter Lee) came up to me and he’s like, ‘Hey, you got selected for an All State feeder game,’” said Correia. “I actually got invited to two, the Central Washington one and the Spokane one.” Correia said he decided to go with the Spokane feeder game since it was taking place at Avista Stadium and he had a desire to compete at that venue. Once he played there, Correia was informed that he was also selected to play for Team Baker in the All State games, an opportunity that he couldn’t pass up.

Quincy standout ‘Duckie’ Workinger returns home to lead Vikings womens wrestling
July 1, 2026 3 a.m.

Quincy standout ‘Duckie’ Workinger returns home to lead Vikings womens wrestling

MOSES LAKE — Shannon “Duckie” Workinger was named the new head coach of women’s wrestling at Big Bend Community College on June 18, bringing one of the Basin’s own back to help build the next generation of women’s wrestlers. “I'm super excited,” Workinger said. “I spent some time wrestling at different places, and it feels really good to be able to come back to the community that I was born in and really establish more connections here and build on the ones that I already have, and just help grow our Basin into a great wrestling (community), even better than it already is, because we have some good wrestlers that come from here.”

ACH wrestlers earn All-American honors at women’s national duals
June 30, 2026 3 a.m.

ACH wrestlers earn All-American honors at women’s national duals

COULEE CITY — Karis Butler and Kyanna Garza from Almira/Coulee-Hartline earned All-American status after a strong showing in the 2026 Women’s National Duals in Westfield, Indiana that ran from June 16-20. “It feels really good,” Karis said. “It was very surprising last year when I got on here, and then this year they were like, ‘You can go to whatever weight class you want,’ and it made me feel very recognized for the hard work I've put in.” Wrestlers competed in freestyle wrestling and Greco-Roman throughout the four-day tournament. Karis competed in both earning a 7-1 record in freestyle and 4-3 in Greco-Roman. Throughout her path in the tournament, she noted a lot of growth as a wrestler came out of it.