By: Jeff Evans, Assistant AD for Athletic Communications
BELLINGHAM, Wash. – Western Washington University senior
Lauren F. Lee has been voted as the GNAC Player of the Year for the 2025-26 season.
Lee headlines the All-GNAC selections that included three Vikings, with freshman
Carly Ikei selected as the Freshman of the Year and Second Team All-GNAC. Sophomore
Jadyn Gracie was also a second-team pick and Lee earned her third First Team All-GNAC award.
2025-26 GNAC Women's Golf All-Conference Awards:
Lauren F. Lee heads into the postseason leading the GNAC with a scoring average of 74.0 strokes per round this year – an improvement of 0.4 strokes per round upon her GNAC record of 74.4 set during her historic 2024-25 campaign.
The Player of the Year season has been an extension of where Lee left off in the spring of 2025, when she finished tied for 4th at the NCAA Division II National Championship to earn All-America honors. Her senior campaign has featured five top 10 finishes and pair of tournament victories. She tied for first at the East Bay Fall Invitational in October and won in playoff fashion the Fujikura Invitational in March. Lee also had a runner-up finish at The Big Freeze in March and tied for 6th at the GNAC Championships. Her season will extend playing in next week's NCAA West Region Championships, where she earned a spot as an individual competitor.
The GNAC's top-ranked player on a national scale, Lee checked in at No. 29 in Division II in the latest Clippd rankings. She is bidding to complete just the fourth season in GNAC history with an average below 75.0 strokes per round as she remains on pace to top her own conference single-season scoring record. Lee is the eighth woman in WWU history to claim the conference's top women's golf award and the first since Megan Billeter in 2022. Ahead of next week's regional, Lee holds a three-year career stroke average of 75.2 which is second-lowest in the history of the conference.
Freshman
Carly Ikei earned the top freshman award in the GNAC after capping her first collegiate season placing 9th at the GNAC Championships. She had the second-lowest scoring average on the team at 77.1 (+5 to par) with two rounds at or below par. In addition to her top 10 finish at the GNAC Championships, Ikei also tied for second at the Bob Grisham Memorial Shootout in her collegiate debut tournament in September. Ikei is the fourth Viking to take home GNAC Freshman of the Year and the first since Dani Bailey in 2021.
