Cougars’ Whitaker earns Coach of the Year
MIKE MAYNARD | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 3 months AGO
COURTESY GRAPHIC/WSU ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS
PULLMAN — After guiding the Washington State Cougars swimming and dive program to its winningest season, Head Coach Russell Whitaker has been named the 2026 Swimming Coach of the Year, according to a statement from the Mountain West Conference.
Postseason accolades are voted on by the league’s 10 coaches, the statement said. Nevada’s Scarlett Ferris was selected as the 2026 MW Swimmer of the Year, while Grace Ally was named the Diver of the Year. Washington State’s Whitaker garnered the Swimming Coach of the Year honor, and San Diego State’s Roland McDonald was selected as the Diving Coach of the Year.
According to WSU Athletics, Whitaker is also the first in program history to earn such an award. This past season, Washington State finished second at the Mountain West Conference Championships, posted its second straight undefeated season after going 7-0 in dual meets and produced 12 all-conference selections, four all-conference relay teams, and two All-Americans for the first time in program history.
At the 2026 MWC Championships in Houston, despite not having a diving program, the Cougars finished second among the 11 teams for the best finish at a conference championships in program history.
The Cougars claimed seven event titles; six individuals medaled and sophomore Darcy Revitt was named Co-Swimmer of the Meet. Following the championships, a program-record 12 swimmers and four relays earned All-Mountain West Conference honors.
For the fourth straight season and second under Whitaker, multiple Cougars earned trips to the NCAA Championships where senior Emily Lundgren and Revitt became the first set of Cougar teammates to earn All-America honors in the same season.
Lundgren and Revitt both earned All-America second-team honors at the 2026 NCAA Championships after Lundgren finished No. 15 in the 200 Breast while Revitt finished No. 16 in the 100 Free.
This past season, the Cougars set 47 WSU Top-10 times, set 16 school records and nine Gibb Pool records.
Prior to being named the head coach in May 2024, Whitaker worked seven seasons as the Cougars Director of Operations and later became an assistant coach for the 2023-24 season.
ARTICLES BY MIKE MAYNARD
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
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
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.