NWAC Recognizes 2026 Spring Coaches of the Year

The NWAC officially congratulates its six Coaches of the Year for the spring sports season. The award winners were each recognized at the 2026 NWAC Hall of Fame Banquet & Ceremony, receiving a commemorative plaque for their award.

Daniel Graber • Skagit Valley • Men's Golf

Graber earned the Men's Golf Coach of the Year honors after leading Skagit Valley to its second title all-time and first since 2005. It is the second title for Graber, who was also the head coach for the first title. The Cardinals showed strong team depth at the 2026 tournament as they had three of the four top finishers led by medalist Logan Medcalf. After a tougher first round by his own standards, Medcalf shot a tournament low 68 on round two to win by one stroke. Impressively, his teammates Broden Toney and Michael Hoagland finished just one stroke behind as they tied for second place at 144. Hoagland was the leader after a windy round one where he shot 72. The Cardinals shot +6 as a team, holding off Bellevue by two strokes to hoist the trophy.

Brian Pan • Bellevue • Women's Golf Co-Coach

Pan led Bellevue to the 2026 NWAC Women's Golf title to receive co-coach of the year honors with Southwestern Oregon head coach Kristopher Wood. The Bulldogs earned their sixth NWAC title all-time and third in the past five years. Bellevue entered the tournament as the favorites after winning the regular season with three of four league match wins and made good on that expectation. It was not easy, however, as they won by just four strokes over Skagit Valley with all five teams finishing within 13 strokes in a very close tournament. All three scorers for the Bulldogs finished in the top-five as Kari Petterson led the team with a two round score of +26. Baden Golfer of the Year Hadley McDonough placed fourth at +27 and Ava Guthrie tied for fifth at +28.    

Kristopher Wood • SW Oregon • Women's Golf Co-Coach

Wood was named the co-Coach of the Year for women's golf after leading the Lakers to a strong season. Two years removed from missing the tournament, the Lakers finished second in the regular season with 27 team points, placing second in three of four league matches. In the tournament, SW Oregon tied for third with a team score of +88, but were just seven strokes behind first place in a tight tournament. The Lakers were lead by medalist Grace Callas who won the tournament by four strokes with a two-round score of 164, 20-over par. 

Larry Beatty • Spokane • Men's & Women's Track & Field

Beatty led the Sasquatch to a sweep of the team titles at the 2026 NWAC Championship for the second year in a row. Spokane was completely dominant on the men's side with 253 team points, more than doubling second place Lane who had 116 points. It was the 3rth all-time title and second straight for the Spokane men and the 17th title under Beatty's leadership. On the women's side, the Sasquatch won their third title in a row and 25th all-time, including 14 with Beatty at the helm. Contrary to the men's side, the women's meet was much closer as the Sasquatch won with 179.5 points, winning by 14.5 points over Lane. 

Kurt Lupinski • Lower Columbia • Baseball

Lupinski led the Red Devils to the 2026 championship after a remarkable run through the tournament. After dropping their opening game of the tourney, the Red Devils went onto win five-straight games against five different opponents to claim the championship. When all was said and done, the Red Devils finished the year with the most wins and highest winning percentage with a 45-11 record. They won their 16th NWAC baseball title and second in four seasons, both under Kupinski.

Brittany Hendrickson • Mt. Hood • Softball

Hendrickson led the Saints to the 2026 team title, winning their third in the past five seasons under her leadership. The road was not easy for Mt. Hood as after losing in the winner's bracket finals to Lower Columbia, the Saints would then need to win three-straight games including two in a row against the Red Devils. The Saints did just that as they defeated Clackamas 14-4, before besting LCC 11-3 and 6-5 in the championship game. Mt. Hood finished the regular season as the No. 1 ranked team in the RPI and proved just that in the tournament. They finshed with the most wins in the NWAC with a record of 49-7 on their way to their eighth NWAC title.

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