BELLINGHAM, Wash. – The Western Washington University Department of Athletics announced its annual award winners as part of the 2021-22 WWBlue Awards Show that was held in person for the first time in three years on Wednesday, June 1 on Old Main Lawn.
 
Awards were announced for the male and female Athlete and Scholar-Athlete of the Year and a new Viking Inspirational Award, with six student-athletes receiving awards. In addition, special recognition was given to the eight student-athletes who earned All-America honors and highlights from a richly successful 2021-22 season were celebrated.
 
The student-athlete BBQ was held on Old Main Lawn, marking the first time since June 2019 the department was able to celebrate these awards in person due to the global pandemic. The last two WWBlue Awards were announced in a digital production on YouTube in 2020 and 2021.
 

2021-22 WWU ATHLETICS AWARDS
Female Athlete of the Year	Emma Duff (Basketball)
Male Athlete of the Year	Mac Franks (Track & Field and Cross Country)
Female Scholar Athletes of the Year	Aliyah Dawkins (Track & Field) & Clarice Ruhlin-Hicks (Rowing)
Male Scholar Athlete of the Year	Gus Diehl (Soccer)
Viking Inspirational Award	Gracie Castaneda (Women's Basketball)

 
2021-22 was a season full of honors, awards, trophies and a celebration of the complete student-athlete for WWU Athletics. In addition to winning the GNAC All-Sports Trophy, the Vikings won seven conference titles, had 11 teams compete in the NCAA postseason and combined for 100 All-GNAC awards. While the marks and finishes in competition were exemplary, the highest honor was earning the NCAA Presidents' Award for the fourth time in the last five years. Here are a few highlights of an amazing 2021-22 season for the Vikings:
 
WWU Athletics By the Numbers in 2021-22:

• 2 National Runner-Up Finishes (Women's Basketball, Rowing)
• 3 West Region Championships (Volleyball, Women's Basketball, Rowing)
• 7 GNAC Team Titles
• 8 All-Americans
• 45 All-Region Awards
• 56 GNAC Player of the Week Awards
• 100 All-GNAC Awards
• 133 GNAC All-Academic Honors

  
 
 
 
 
 
 
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Team Highlights:
While success was prevalent throughout all our programs over the last year, we have to highlight the amazing accomplishments of the following teams:

• Women's Basketball: Won GNAC title and third West Region title in program history…advanced to the national championship game for national runner-up honors.
• Men's Track & Field: Swept the indoor and outdoor GNAC titles, marking six consecutive team titles between indoor and outdoor.
• Volleyball: Won fourth consecutive GNAC title, made ninth consecutive trip to the NCAA Championships, won fourth West Region title (third in last six seasons) and played in the national semifinal.
• Rowing: Won GNAC Championships and earned national runner-up honors at the NCAA Championships with a thrilling Varsity Eight second-place finish. Marked 18th trip to nationals in the 20-year-history of the event. Also won the Varsity 8+ at the WIRA Championships and earned the No. 1 seed in the West Region.
• Women's Soccer: Advanced to the West Regional Championship game for the sixth consecutive season while making ninth straight trip to the NCAA Championships.
• Men's and Women's Golf: Swept the GNAC Championship titles with both teams featuring the conference Player of the Year. Both teams qualified for the NCAA Championships.

 
The winners for the 2021-22 WWBlue Awards were the following:
  Senior Aliyah Dawkins (North Mankato, MN) earned her third consecutive Scholar Athlete of the Year award, becoming just the third female in WWU history to win the award in three consecutive years, joining Audrey Coon (Rowing, 2007-09) and Liz Bishop (Volleyball, 2002-04). Dawkins will graduate this month with degrees in Bio Chemistry and Behavioral Neuroscience, while carrying a near perfect GPA of 3.95. She has been awarded the Outstanding Graduate Award in the Behavioral Neuroscience department and the Presidential Scholar Award for the College of Humanities and Social Sciences and is a three-time All-GNAC Academic selection. During her senior season in track & field, Dawkins was selected as the GNAC Indoor Championships Women's Field Athlete of the Meet and earned All-GNAC honors in the triple jump during the outdoor season. Female Scholar Athlete of the Year | Clarice Ruhlin-Hicks – Rowing
Junior rower Clarice Ruhlin-Hicks (Anchorage, AK/West Anchorage) also earned a WWU Scholar Athlete of the Year Award with a perfect 4.00 GPA as a Political Science major. Ruhlin-Hicks earned the prestigious NCAA Elite 90 Award at the NCAA Division II Rowing Championships, is a two-time All-GNAC Academic selection and was voted to the CoSIDA All-District 8 Academic Team. A key member of the NCAA national runner-up rowing team, Ruhlin-Hicks was a mainstay in the middle of the Varsity Eight boat that claimed GNAC and WIRA Championships during, and runner-up honors at the NCAA Championships during the 2022 season. Male Scholar Athlete of the Year | Gus Diehl – Soccer
Junior midfielder Gus Diel (Bellingham, WA/Sehome) has been a four-year starter for the WWU Men's Soccer Team and is now a two-time Scholar Athlete of the Year award winner. Diehl carries a 3.94 GPA as a College of Business and Economics double-major in Finance and Accounting. On the field he has been a stalwart member of the men's soccer program missing only one match in his four year career, is a three-time GNAC All-Academic Selection and a three-time All-GNAC performer for the Vikings, including earning Second Team All-GNAC honors during the 2021 season. Diehl will complete his collegiate eligibility this fall after serving a prestigious internship with Moss Adams this summer. Female Athlete of the Year | Emma Duff – Basketball
Senior guard Emma Duff (Tumwater, WA/Black Hills) is the recipient of the 2021-22 Female Athlete of the Year Award. Duff earned All-GNAC, All-West Region and All-America honors while helping lead the Vikings to the NCAA Division II National Championship Game in Birmingham, Alabama. Duff averaged 15.6 points and 7.1 rebounds per game, becoming the first Viking to average 15 and 7 in the last decade. Starting all 31 games during the 25-6 season, Duff scored in double-digits in all but four games and tallied five double-doubles. She was a unanimous First Team All-GNAC selection and earned WBCA All-America honors as honorable mention. Her strong postseason performance also earned her West Region and Elite Eight All-Tournament honors. Duff concluded her career with 1,346 points to break into the program all-time top 10, also ranking 11th with 730 rebounds, 7th with 147 3-pointers made and tied for the most games played in program history with 126. Male Athlete of the Year | Mac Franks – Track & Field and Cross Country
Mac Franks (Lake Forest Park, WA/Shorecrest) earned the Male Athlete of the Year Award…just one year after his selection as a Scholar Athlete of the Year. Franks put together one of the best seasons in the 99-year history of the WWU Track & Field program, earning All-West Region honors in cross country, indoor track and outdoor track. He combined to earn six All-GNAC awards between the indoor and outdoor championships, winning titles in the indoor 800m and outdoor steeplechase. He qualified for nationals in the indoor 800m and Mile, earning First Team All-America honors during the indoor season placing 6th in the 800. He also finished 13th in outdoor championships in the 1500m. Over the course of the indoor and outdoor seasons, Franks set seven program records. On top of all that, he became a four-time GNAC All-Academic selection and was an academic all-district award winner. Senior guard Gracie Castaneda (Arlington, WA) was the recipient of the first Viking Inspirational Award after showing courage, determination and perseverance after coming forward about sexual abuse endured during her childhood. Through two trials, during two different seasons during her career as a student-athlete, Castaneda opened up about her past to help educate the future so this does not happen to kids during their childhood. As a basketball player, Castaneda was a six-year member of WWU program appearing in 126 games to tie for the most by any player to wear the Viking uniform. Castaneda will continue to inspire younger generations as she pursues a career as educator and coach. During her senior season, while helping lead the Vikings to the GNAC and West Region titles, Castaneda was also a student teacher at Happy Valley Elementary in Bellingham Public Schools. Western Washington University is a four-year public institution located in Bellingham, Washington, featuring over 300 student-athletes that compete for 15 intercollegiate athletic teams at the NCAA Division II level and in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference. WWU Athletics has finished in the top 50 in the NCAA II Learfield Directors' Cup standings in 15 of the past 16 years, and in the top 20 in eight of the last 12 years (no award in 2019-20 or 2020-21). WWU's programs have won 11 team national championships, most recently the 2016 women's soccer team and the 2017 women's rowing team. Outside of competition. WWU's student-athletes have compiled an academic success at 90% in four of the last five years, earning the NCAA's President's Award for Academic Excellence four times. 2021-22 was another banner season for the Vikings, earning the GNAC All-Sports Trophy for the 13th time while capturing seven conference titles. Women's Basketball and Rowing led the way with national runner-up finishes, volleyball advanced to the Final Four for the third time in the last six seasons, women's soccer advanced to play in its sixth consecutive West Regional Final (Sweet 16), the men's track & field program swept the indoor and outdoor GNAC Championships and the men's and women's golf team both captured GNAC titles.
  For more information on WWU's 15 varsity sports programs, visit WWUVikings.com. Fans and alumni can also track all the teams via social media accounts on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook at @WWUAthletics.