The NWAC hosted the annual NWAC Hall of Fame Banquet on Thursday, May 30th, where they honored three RiverHawks for their accolades this year.
James Kelly was named NWAC Men's Track and Field Athlete of the Year after he became the overall High Points Scorer at the NWAC Championships, scoring 31.5 points as he helped lead the RiverHawk men to a 3rd place podium finish. James won the pole vault with a clearance of 4.88m/16ft, anchored the 4x100m relay team to 1st place in a time of 42.25, he took 2nd in the decathlon with 6,000 points, 3rd in long jump going 6.79m/22-3.25ft, and 4th in the 110m hurdles with a time of 15.95 (in the prelims he ran a personal best of 15.06). While sporting the RiverHawk uniform, James has become NWAC Champion 2x, All-American 5x, All-Conference 3x, All-South Region 6x, and Men's Track & Field Athlete of the Week 3x. James owns the school record in pole vault at 5.00m/16-4.75ft. In his other events amongst the all-time top 10 of school history, James is 2nd in the decathlon with 6,000 points, 2nd in the 110m hurdles with 15.06, 2nd in the 4x100m relay with 42.25, 5th in long jump with 6.81m/22-4.25ft, 6th in triple jump with 13.34m/43-9.25ft, 8th in the 100m with 11.29, 8th in javelin with 42.66m/139-11ft, and 9th in high jump with 1.85m/6-0.75ft.
Brooklyn Fely was named NWAC Women's Basketball Player of the Year after a dominate and record-breaking season on the court. Brookyln had one of the best overall seasons in NWAC history as she ranked second with 21.5 points per game and paced the conference with 13.4 rebounds per game. She also averaged 2.8 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.0 blocks per contest. She led all NWAc players with 667 points this season. Brooklyn led the Riverhawks to the NWAC Championship game and a record of 28-5. She was named First Team All-Tournament after leading all players with 120 points, averaging 30.0 per game. She also averaged nearly 15 rebounds per game, adding 2.0 assists and 1.0 blocks per contest. In the Sweet 16, Brooklyn broke the NWAC tournament single-game points record as she dropped 52 points in an 83-66 win over Yakima Valley. There are approximately 500 women basketball players in the NWAC. A panel of coaches throughout Oregon and Washington named Brooklyn as the Southern Region Player of the Year, the Southern Region Defensive Player of the Year, the Southern Region Freshman of the Year, and the NWAC Player of the Year. It is the first time UCC has ever had someone earn all four of these awards in the same year, as mentioned by Coach Dave Stricklin (2024 Southern Region Coach of the Year).
Coach Alan King was named NWAC Men's Track and Field Coach of the Year by a panel of NWAC coaches in the sport. A strong recruitng year led to strong performances at the NWAC Track and Field Championships as the men finished 3rd. The men scored 136 points with champions in the decathlon, pole vault, triple jump, high jump, javelin, and 4x100m relay. 7 men from the team earned All-American honors (top 3), 11 earned All-Conference honors (4th-8th), with some earning multiple of each. This year the men's team earned their first two trophies since the program was reinstated in 2018 as they also placed 2nd at the NWAC South Region Championships. The last time the RiverHawk men brought home a trophy was at the NWAC Championships in 1993, just prior to the 22-year hiatus.
