Linfield University

The Linfield University dance team earned national recognition with a fifth-place finish in the Division III Hip Hop category at the 2025 College Classic National Championship, held April 12-13 in Orlando, Florida. The two-day competition featured collegiate teams from across the country, with Linfield making its national debut at the event. The Wildcats earned a fifth place finish during the preliminary round on Saturday afternoon, with a score of 80.78. The team advanced to Sunday's finals, where they scored 82.66 and earned a top-five spot in a competitive field. "This was such an exciting opportunity for our team," said Head Coach Gina Regalado. "In the dance world, competition is where we get to show off our skills and hard work. Our program has grown in both numbers and talent over the last year. We're now attracting dancers with both the technique and passion to compete - and represent Linfield at a high level." Read the full announcement on Linfield News.

"The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical" is a collaboration of Linfield's Theatre Program and Department of Music. There will be eight shows starting with the opening night at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 25. All shows are in Marshall Theatre within Kenneth W. Ford Hall. Among the contributing cast and crew are students from across the university. Read the full announcement online.

Linfield's Kira Hawaaboo broke her own school record by 211 points while successfully repeating as heptathlon champion Tuesday at the Northwest Conference Multi-Event Championships at Stoffer Family Stadium. Read the full announcement at https://golinfieldwildcats.com/news/2025/4/15/track-field-hawaaboo-breaks-record-wins-2nd-nwc-heptathlon-title.aspx

A pair of Linfield Wildcats were rewarded for standout seasons on the tennis court, as sophomore Kaitlynn Canubida and senior Emma Tuttle were both named to the All-Northwest Conference Second Team, announced in a release last week. Together, Canubida and Tuttle served as leaders for a young Wildcats squad, providing consistency and competitiveness against a deep NWC field. Their recognition as second-team selections marks the first all-conference honors for both players. Read the full announcement on GoLinfieldWildcats.com.

Two Linfield University chemistry students earned competitive scholarships last week from the Portland Local Section of the American Chemical Society, while the student club, the Linfield Society of Undergraduate Chemists (LSUC), earned national recognition. Kenni Proctor '26, a chemistry major from Tacoma, Washington, received the Anderson, Van Santen, Zeh Scholarship. The award includes $3,000 and an additional $1,000 to support travel to a national ACS conference in spring 2026. Proctor is the first Linfield student to receive the AVZ Scholarship since 2019. Allan Fernandez '27, a chemistry major from McMinnville, received the Dunne-Currie Scholarship, which includes a $3,500 cash award. He is the first Linfield student to earn this award since its inception in 2020. Both scholarships are open to students at colleges and universities in the Portland and Salem areas. "These honors show how Linfield students are rising to the top in chemistry, not just in Oregon but across the country," said Andrew Baggett, associate professor of chemistry. In addition to the scholarships, the LSUC - an official student chapter of the ACS - received the society's highest recognition. LSUC earned the "Outstanding Chapter" award for the 2023-24 academic year. The "Outstanding" honor of the Student Communities Award honors ACS student organizations for their campus programs and activities. Honors are based on a peer review by faculty members nationwide. During the 2023-24 academic year, the club's leadership included president Dan Khazaei '24 and vice president Abraham Solomon '24. Khazaei previously made headlines as Linfield's youngest-ever known graduate. Fernandez, representing the club, formally accepted the recognition at the March 2025 ACS national meeting in San Diego. Six Linfield students attended the national meeting to present their research to an international audience. Linfield University's Department of Chemistry is accredited by ACS. It offers a major and minor in chemistry, and provides coursework and research opportunities for chemistry students and for students enrolled in the interdisciplinary biochemistry and molecular biology major.

Linfield University softball's undefeated conference campaign is garnering national attention, with three Wildcats earning spots on the 2025 NFCA Division III Player and Pitcher of the Year Watchlist. Senior outfielder Claire Seats, senior second baseman Brynn Nelson and sophomore pitcher Tyler McNeley were all selected to the prestigious list, which recognizes standout student-athletes across 10 regions in Division III. Read the full announcement at GoLinfieldWildcats.com.

Linfield midfielder Gabby Crist scored a career-high 10 goals and added two assists as Linfield steamrolled Pacific Lutheran 20-1 on April 6 at East Field in Northwest Conference women's lacrosse action. Crist's performance is her second 10-goal match in as many days for the Wildcats. She helped lead the Wildcats to 22-7 victory over Puget Sound on April 5. This past weekend's performances place Crist second (tied with herself) for goals in a match in program history, only behind Anna Gorciak's 11 goals in March 2010. Read more about Linfield women's lacrosse on GoLinfieldWildcats.com.

Linfield University junior Kira Hawaaboo earned All-America honors for the second time in her career on Friday, placing fourth in the women's long jump at the NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field Championships at Golisano Training Center on the campus of Nazareth University. Hawaaboo's top effort of 19 feet, 2 inches came on her third attempt and fell fewer than two inches shy of surpassing her own school record of 19 4. Read the full story at https://golinfieldwildcats.com/news/2025/3/14/track-field-hawaaboo-is-4th-in-long-jump-at-ncaa-indoors.aspx

Eight Linfield University swimmers earned College Sports Communicators NCAA Division III Academic All-District honors. Four men and four women is the max that can represent a single swimming team, and the Wildcats filled the roster. The 2024-25 Academic All-District Men's and Women's Swimming & Diving Teams, selected by College Sports Communicators, recognize the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances in the pool and in the classroom. The CSC Academic All-America program separately recognizes honorees in four divisions - NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III and NAIA. For the women's team, Avery Campbell headlines the list with her third consecutive selection, while Talia Patterson and Kirsti Keppo make the list for the second time. Caley Haydu makes her first appearance after an impressive sophomore season. Keppo took home the Co-Swimmer of the Meet award after taking the top spot in the 500-yard freestyle and the 1,650-yard freestyle in the NWC Championships. She joined Campbell on the All-NWC first team for the 2024-25 season. For the men's team, Gavin Smith also makes his third appearance in his senior season while Rocco Velie appears for the second time. Nikola Jelusic and Carson Washburn receive Academic All-District honors for the first time in their careers. Smith, Washburn and Velie were selected to the All-NWC second team for various events. Keppo was selected to advance to the national ballot voting which will be announced later this month. Read the full announcement on GoLinfieldWildcats.com.

The Linfield University Concert Choir made history on March 13, 2025. The ensemble shared the famed Carnegie Hall stage with choirs from Baylor University and Bridgewater State University. Together, the nearly 200-voice National Masterwork Chorus performed the world premiere of Andrea Ramsey's groundbreaking composition, "The Wilderness of You." Read the full story at https://news.linfield.edu/concert-choir-carnegie-hall/.

In a release published Monday afternoon, the NWC announced Linfield's Savannah Irwin as the Women's Lacrosse Student-Athlete of the Week recipient. This is the first such award of the junior's career. Read the full announcement at https://golinfieldwildcats.com/news/2025/3/10/lacrosse-savannah-irwin-wins-first-student-athlete-of-the-week.aspx.

Linfield women's basketball players Miki Vermeulen and Allie Mead were named to the All-Northwest Conference first team is a release by the conference Wednesday afternoon. Mead and Vermeulen led the Wildcats in tying a program record 19 wins this season and ranked among the conference leaders in several statistical categories. Read the full announcement on GoLinfieldWildcats.com.

Linfield sophomore Cade Collins etched his name into the Linfield record books, being named to the Northwest Conference honorable mention team in a release announced Tuesday afternoon. Collins played a crucial role for the Wildcats this season and scored 17 points in Linfield's biggest win of the season at Whitman. Read the full announcement at GoLinfieldWildcats.com.

Linfield University congratulates the 585 students who earned Dean's List honors during the fall 2024 academic term. The Dean's List identifies undergraduate students who earned a GPA at least equivalent to a cum laude (3.65) while taking at least graded 12 credits. It is computed following the posting of grades at the end of each semester. See the full list on Linfield News.

The Linfield University men's and women's wrestling teams performed strongly at the fourth annual Mat 'Cat Open, held Sunday inside Rutschman Field House. On the men's side, sophomore Max Vander Meide captured the individual championship at 133 pounds, Ethan Ensrud wrestled for the 174-pound title, and Lucien Lefebvre was the fourth-place finisher at 165. For the women's team, junior Klaira Flatt advanced through a crowded field of 173 combatants to place fifth overall, and fellow junior Abisua Perez Diaz scored her first collegiate victory.

Linfield University is pleased to release its newest list of graduates. Nearly 90 students completed their degree programs following the fall 2024 semester. The newest graduates represents students from Linfield's two physical campuses located in McMinnville and Portland, Oregon. Out of the graduating students, three earned a master's degree, two earned a Bachelor of Arts and the remaining 82 graduated with a Bachelor of Science. The majority of those graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the Linfield-Good Samaritan School of Nursing. Congratulations to Linfield's newest graduates!

Linfield University football players Blake Rybar, Chance Sparks and Gavin Dalziel were named to the D3Football.com All-America teams. Caleb Sell was named to the Associated Press All-America second team. Read the full announcement at https://golinfieldwildcats.com/news/2025/1/2/football-sell-rybar-sparks-and-dalziel-receive-all-america-selections.aspx.

After a successful season that included the Linfield football program winning its 45th conference title and winning an NCAA Division III playoff game for the first time since 2022, nine players have been recognized in D3Football.com's All-Region 6 teams. Read the full story at https://golinfieldwildcats.com/news/2024/12/12/nine-wildcats-named-to-d3football-com-all-region-6-teams.aspx

Linfield's newcomers dominated the postseason awards in 2024, with graduate transfer Rae Gerking and freshman Julia Alvarez both receiving recognition for their impactful play this season. Gerking was voted to the All-Northwest Conference second team while Alvarez was voted both All-NWC honorable mention and Rookie of the Year. Read the full announcement at https://golinfieldwildcats.com/news/2024/11/22/womens-soccer-gerking-alvarez-recognized-with-all-northwest-conference-honors.aspx

Linfield ended the 2024 regular season as Northwest Conference champions after a 34-7 slogging of Whitworth. A large part of the Wildcats' success this season has been due to the dominant play of the defense. Linfield is the 15th ranked defense nationally and led the conference in sacks (34), interceptions (20), interceptions returned for touchdowns (4), pass yards allowed (1,766), total yards allowed (2,378) and several other categories. Star senior, Blake Rybar, becomes the first player in the history of the Northwest Conference to win three Defensive Player of the Year awards, cementing his legacy as one of the greatest players to come through Linfield. Rybar joins ten other Wildcats on the 2024 All-NWC defensive teams. Read the full announcement at https://golinfieldwildcats.com/news/2024/11/26/football-blake-rybar-headlines-11-wildcats-named-to-all-nwc-defensive-teams.aspx.

Thirteen Linfield University football players were named to the 2024 All-Northwest Conference offensive teams last week. The announcement comes after the Wildcats claimed the NWC title and continue their season into the third round of the NCAA Division III playoffs. Read the full NWC announcement at https://nwcsports.com/news/2024/11/25/2024-football-all-nwc-teams-announced-pirates-blair-boxers-booker-pioneers-kamakawiwoole-and-wildcats-rybar-smith-earn-top-honors.aspx

E.J. Sablan, a student-athlete on the Linfield University men's soccer team, earned All-Northwest Conference honors following the conclusion of the 2024 season. The sophomore out of Emerald Ridge High School has been selected to the All-NWC Second Team given his impressive performance on the field this season. This marks the first such award of his career. Read the full announcement at https://golinfieldwildcats.com/news/2024/11/21/mens-soccer-e-j-sablan-named-to-all-northwest-conference-second-team.aspx.

Radule Bozovic and Sam Haynes from the Linfield men's soccer program have received honors for their accomplishments both on and off the soccer pitch. They have been named to the 2024 College Sports Communicators NCAA Division III Academic All-District Men's Soccer Team, which was announced Tuesday. Read the full announcement at https://golinfieldwildcats.com/news/2024/11/19/mens-soccer-haynes-and-bozovic-receive-csc-all-district-honors.aspx.

Linfield University volleyball player Nora Myre has secured her first career postseason award, being named to the All-Northwest Conference honorable mention list on Tuesday. Read the full announcement at https://golinfieldwildcats.com/news/2024/11/19/volleyball-myre-named-all-nwc-honorable-mention.aspx.

Five members of the Linfield women's soccer team have earned College Sports Communicators NCAA Division III Academic All-District honors. Sidra Griffin, Mia Curtaz, Alexa Fritz, Sofia Pietrok and Riley Omonaka received recognition for their performances both on the pitch and in the classroom. Read the full announcement at https://golinfieldwildcats.com/news/2024/11/19/womens-soccer-five-wildcats-earn-csc-all-district-honors.aspx.

After a legendary career in a Linfield volleyball uniform, Paige Richards closed the 2024 season on a high note, earning Northwest Conference Student-Athlete of the Week honors. Read the full story at https://golinfieldwildcats.com/news/2024/11/11/volleyball-paige-richards-closes-career-with-student-athlete-of-the-week-honors.aspx.

Linfield University student Emma Bare '25 earned international recognition from the Sigma Tau Delta international English honor society for a critical essay she submitted for publication. The English major from Camas, Washington, is the recipient of the Frederic Fadner Critical Essay Award. Her winning entry - "Interrogating Torture and Surveillance in J.M. Coetzee's 'Waiting for the Barbarians' in a Post-9/11 Space" - applies a post-structural lens to the portrayl of torture and surveillance in the novel. Read the full story at https://news.linfield.edu/linfield-student-english-essay-honors/.

After a 72-0 victory over Willamette on Saturday afternoon, Linfield University linebacker Blaze Holani has been voted with the Northwest Conference Defensive Student-Athlete of the Week. This is the second time that a Linfield defensive player has been given the award during the 2024 season, joining Caleb Sell who won the award on Sept. 23 after Linfield's win over Redlands. Read the full announcement at https://golinfieldwildcats.com/news/2024/10/7/football-blaze-holani-earns-nwc-defensive-student-athlete-of-the-week.aspx

Linfield University congratulates the 42 students who earned Dean's List honors during the summer 2024 academic term. The Dean's List identifies undergraduate students who earned a GPA at least equivalent to a cum laude (3.65) while taking at least graded 12 credits. It is computed following the posting of grades at the end of each semester. See the full list on Linfield News.

Linfield defensive end Caleb Sell has been honored with the Northwest Conference Defensive Student-Athlete of the Week.