NWAC Announces Baden Athletes of the Year for Fall

VANCOUVER, Wash. – The NWAC Baden Athletes of the Year for the fall season have been announced by the conference office with awards being selected for men's and women's cross country, men's and women's soccer and volleyball.

The winners of the awards are Logan Auxier of Lane for men's cross country, Cammeo Ramirez of Lane for women's cross country, River Stewart of Everett for men's soccer, Millie Long of Peninsula for women's soccer and Taya Manibusan of Linn-Benton for volleyball.

Logan Auxier • Lane • Men's Cross Country
Auxier was the top runner on the top team in the NWAC as he led the Titans to a dominant victory at the NWAC Cross Country Championships. Auxier took first place in the event with a personal best time of 24:48 as Lane captured a perfect score with the top-five runners. Auxier impressively ran a sub-five minute mile pace over the 8K race.

Auxier was outstanding all year, even running in some of the toughest meets against NCAA Division I competition such as the Bill Dellinger Invitational on Sep. 23 and the NCAA Division II Pre-National meet.

Cammeo Ramirez • Lane • Women's Cross Country
Ramirez also led an incredibly talented Lane women's cross country team that had the top-three runners at the NWAC Championships as they claimed another title. Ramirez took first place in 18:23.4, also running a personal-best time.

Ramirez also had an outstanding year as a whole, taking second place at the Southern Region Championships, 29th at the Willamette Invtiational and ninth at the D2 Pre-National Meet.

River Stewart • Everett • Men's Soccer
Stewart completed one of the best seasons in NWAC men's soccer history, leading the league with an impressive 30 goals on the season. He helped lead Everett to the semifinals of the NWAC Championship and to a 13-4-4 overall record. The Trojans were the No. 1 scoring team in the NWAC with 67 goals with Stewart nearly accounting for half.

Stewart also had six assists, 84 shots, 52 shots on goal and six game-winning goals. He was especially clutch for the team, scoring at least one goal in all three postseason matches accounting for six of the teams seven scores. Stewart had two goals against Tacoma, a hat trick against Lane in a 3-2 win and the team's lone goal in the semifinals against CBC.

Millie Long • Peninsula • Women's Soccer
Long had the highest goal per game pace in the NWAC this year, scoring 19 goals in just 12 games for Peninsula. The Pirates finished the year undefeated once again, going 12-0-2 overall and only being eliminated from the playoffs in a penalty kick shootout against Spokane.

Long was a huge contributor to the team's prowess as she ranked third in goals scored and fourth in total points with 43 despite the limited number of games while also often being rested in matches where Peninsula led significantly. She tallied two goals in eight different matches on the year to go along with a pair of hat tricks. Long finished the year with 63 shots, 42 shots on goal and five game-winning goals.

Taya Manibusan • Linn-Benton • Volleyball
Manibusan led the Roadrunners to their second-straight NWAC Volleyball title. For the second year in a row, Manibusan was the tournament MVP as Linn-Benton won matches over Highline, Bellevue and Columbia Basin in the finals.

On the season, Manibusan led LBCC with 285 kills, averaging 2.46 per set with a .230 hitting percentage. She was the best hitter on the best hitting team in the league this season. Additionally, she was impressive in other facets with 305 digs on the year, 24 total blocks and was one of the top servers in the NWAC with 60 aces.

Each of the five Baden Athletes of the Year will be invited to the NWAC Hall of Fame Banquet to receive their awards on June 1, 2023 in Pasco, Washington.

About Northwest Athletic Conference: 

The NWAC is the athletic governing body of two year colleges in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and British Columbia. There are 15 men's and women's sports and 10 championship events.  Approximately 4,200 student-athletes compete in the NWAC representing a student population of over 400,000. Many NWAC student-athletes continue their academic and athletic careers at the NAIA-NCAA levels. The NWAC promotes the three ideals of Character, Competition, and Community. NWAC…..more than sports.

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