From Water To Track To Diamonds, Boxers Surge In Spring Seasons
The hardware continues to roll in for Pacific’s athletic teams after another successful spring season.
In her third season leading Pacific women’s rowing team, Head Coach Charlotte Copp was named the Northwest Conference Women’s Rowing Coach of the Year after leading the Boxers to a third-place finish at the NWC Championships. It was the best-ever finish for the Boxers in the 10 years that the conference has sponsored the sport.
Pacific’s women’s tennis program earned its best finish in the Division III era, placing second at the NWC Championships. The Boxers edged out George Fox 5-4 in the semifinals before falling to Whitman in the championship match.
Cassidy Binder ’25 became the first Pacific player to be named the conference Women’s Tennis Player of the Year. Binder compiled a 14-2 record at No. 1 singles and went undefeated in No. 1 doubles with her sister, Sydnie Binder ’22 MFA ’24, at 17-0. Sydnie Binder also earned First Team All-NWC honors after going 16-0 at No. 2 singles.
The two sisters, along with their mother and head coach Traci Binder, were featured in a story that aired on KGW-TV in Portland in April.
Pacific’s women’s track and field program finished third at the NWC Championships, the team’s best finish in the Division III era. The Boxers were buoyed by a pair of individual champions. Emily Rutkowski ’24 repeated as champ in the 400-meter hurdles, winning in 1:04.60. Cris Brethower ’25 won the steeplechase in a time of 11:18.24.
The Boxer men placed fifth behind a pair of titles from Henry Tierney ’26. He repeated as champion in the 800 meters in a time of 1:53.37 and won the 1,500 meters in a time of 3:51.38. The men’s 4x100-meter relay team won the NWC title for the first time since 1976, winning in a time of 41.63 seconds.
Tierney broke the Pacific record in the 1,500 meters with a time of 3:49.55 at the Rich Allen Classic in March, breaking a 48-year-old record set by David Nees ’78. Ally Hammond ’26 broke her own school records in the 100 meters (12.44 seconds) and the 100-meter hurdles (14.53 seconds).
On the links, Bead Boonta ’27 was named the NWC Women’s Golf Rookie of the Year after finishing in fourth place at the NWC Spring Classic. She led the Boxers to a fourth-place finish in the tournament and fourth overall in the conference’s women’s golf standings.
For the fifth year in a row, Pacific baseball earned a berth in the NWC Championships. The Boxers needed a win on the final day of the regular season to qualify, scoring a 5-4, 13-inning win over Lewis & Clark on May 6. The Boxers dropped both of their games in the NWC Championships in Walla Walla, Washington, losing 4-3 to top-seeded Whitman and 11-10 in 10 innings to Whitworth to finish the season at 25-16.
The Boxers were paced by CJ Colyer '24, the NWC Baseball Player of the Year. Colyer entered the conference tournament with a .354 batting average and is the first player in Pacific baseball history to hit 20 home runs and steal 20 bases in the same season.
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