NWAC Announces 2025 Fall Coaches of the Year

The NWAC congratulates its five NWAC Coaches of the Year for the 2025 fall sports season. Each Coach of the Year award was voted upon by the conference coaches for the respective sport after the conclusion of their seasons. Each award winner will be recognized at the 2026 NWAC Hall of Fame Banquet & Ceremony, receiving a commemorative plaque. Four of the five award winners are first-time recepients. 

Sean McLachlan • Spokane • Men's Cross Country
A year after winning the women's coach of the year award, McLachlan once again earns another postseason honor. McLachlan led the Sasquatch men to their 25th NWAC title, the most all-time in conference history. The championship was the ninth with McLachlan as head coach. The Sasquatch had an overall dominant performance as a team, with a low score of 26 points, 44 less than second place. They were also led by the race's medalist in freshman Alex Wright, who won the 8,000-meter race in a time of 25:23.3 Wright ran neck and neck with Lane's Andrew Rush and Treasure Valley's Brayden Lamanna, but pulled away over the last 1,000 meters to win by just under 10 seconds. Wright's win also extends Spokane's streak of medalists to three in a row as he follows Luke Hurd (2023) and Gilbert Langat (2024).

Spokane's top-five runners all finished within the top-8 while all 10 competitors finished in the top-20 out of the 84-man field. Holland Hurd was the next finisher for the Sasquatch in fourth with a time of 25:53.2. The Sasquatch then had four straight runners cross the finish line from sixth to ninth in Isaac Rigsby, Travis Horn, Anders Nielson and Aaron Wright.

Steve Delgado • Southwestern Oregon • Women's Cross Country 
Delgado led Southwestern Oregon to its first-ever NWAC women's cross country title at Spokane Valley's 'The Course'. The Lakers, who had never finished first or second, put together a historic race for the program, led by a large freshmen class. It is the first championship for Delgado as head coach.

The Lakers were led by a pair of standout performances from freshmen Taylor Dickey and Lydia Montes De Oca, who finished first and second, respectively in the 6,000-meter race. Dickey took home medalist honors with a time of 22:47.6, winning the race by just over 15 seconds. Montes De Oca placed second in 23:03.5, almost 20 more seconds ahead of third place as the duo led the team to a tight eight point victory. The Lakers finished with 45 total team points, besting two-time defending champions Spokane who had 53 in a close race.

Vianey Toledo took 11th for SWOCC, followed by Bella Fortino in 13th and Raena Crisp in 18th to close out the team's scoring. All five scoring runners for the Lakers were freshmen.

Skyler Roehr • Highline • Men's Soccer
Roehr led Highline to its fifth NWAC title at the 2025 NWAC Soccer Championships with a 1-0 overtime win against Columbia Basin. The title and the award are each the first for Roehr who is in just his second year as head coach for the Thunderbirds. Highline did not lose a game this season, finishing with a 17-0-3 record.

The championship match went over 100 minutes without a goal scorer as the Highline and Columbia Basin remained tied through regulation. In extra time in the first overtime, Highline's Frank Meza drew a foul in the box after a free kick by the Thunderbirds to earn a penalty kick. The Thunderbirds sent out Idin Fakhri who made no mistake in scoring on the PK to send Highline to the title with the golden goal. The championship is the first for Highline since 2021.

Marco Monzon • Highline • Women's Soccer
Monzon led Highline back to the NWAC Final for the first time since 2019. Just two years removed from the team not competing in 2023, the Thunderbirds enjoyed a resurgent season with a second-place finish and a 15-2-3 overall record. As the West Region No. 2 seed, the Thunderbirds put together a run of three-straight postseason wins to reach the championship match. They defeated Bellevue 2-1 in the regional round, followed by knocking off South Region Champions Chemeketa 2-1 in the quarterfinal. Then in the semifinal, Highline upset defending champions Peninsula 3-2, coming back from one goal deficits on two different occassions. Peninsula had previously allowed just one goal on the season.

In just his second year at the helm, Monzon helped Highline become of the best teams on both sides of the ball, ranking fourth in goals per game at 2.60 and tied for fifth in goals against at 0.82. They finished with the fourth best winning percentage, coming up just short in the final in a 1-0 loss to Spokane. 

Rylie Engleson • Treasure Valley • Volleyball
Engleson brought the Treasure Valley volleyball program its first-ever NWAC title this year, defeating Bellevue in the final in an incredible five-set match. Trailing 1-0 and then 2-1 in the match, the Chukars won a close fourth set 25-23 before dominating in the fifth to win 15-6. The championship caps off the best season in program history for TVCC as they finish with a 32-4 overall record and tied for first in the East Region with a 13-1 record.

The Chukars had a tough road in the Elite 8 bracket, starting out with a sweep of region rival Spokane in the quarterfinals. They then had to take on the No. 1 and 2 ranked teams in the final coaches' poll, defeating Edmonds 3-1 and then Bellevue 3-2 for the championship. Under Engelson, the Chukars finished among the best statistically in a number of categories including first in service aces (314) and digs per set (19.79), second in hitting percentage (.219), and third in kills per set (12.17).

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