Setting the Scene: Championships are on the line this weekend for Pacific Lutheran University's spring sports. Men's and women's track & field heads to Spokane where they will race at the 2026 Northwest Conference Championships while the Lute softball squad will be in the same city looking to capture the team's first NWC regular season title since 2003. Women's rowing will be in California at the Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championships while baseball plays Whitman College looking to jockey for a spot in the four-team NWC Tournament. Women's lacrosse also spends the weekend in eastern Washington looking to move up the NWC standings on the final weekend of the regular season.

SATURDAY:
ROW at WIRA Championships in Sacramento, Calif. (8 a.m.)
T&F at NWC Championships in Spokane, Wash. (10 a.m.)
BB at Whitman (DH) in Walla Walla, Wash. (12 p.m.)
SB at Whitworth (DH) in Spokane, Wash. (12 p.m.)
WLAX at Whitman in Walla Walla, Wash. (1 p.m.)
SUNDAY:
ROW at WIRA Championships in Sacramento, Calif. (8 a.m.)
T&F at NWC Championships in Spokane, Wash. (10 a.m.)
SB at Whitworth (DH) in Spokane, Wash. (11 a.m.)
BB at Whitman (DH) in Walla Walla, Wash. (11 a.m.)
WLAX at Whitworth in Spokane, Wash. at Gonzaga Prep HS (1 p.m.)

Softball: The 21st-ranked Lutes (28-8, 20-4 NWC) seized sole possession of first place in the conference standings over the weekend, winning three of four against then-No. 3 Linfield University.
 
Paige Wilson set the tone for the Lutes in game one, tossing a complete game shutout as an Aby Redwine sacrifice fly in the sixth inning scored Paola Garcia for a 1-0 victory.
 
PLU dropped a wild game two by a 15-13 score to wrap up Saturday before earning 6-4 and 7-3 victories on Sunday to pull ahead of the Wildcats in the league standings. Garcia was the star of game one on Sunday, cranking two home runs and collecting five RBIs while getting another big performance inside the circle from Wilson.
 
On Monday, Wilson was named NWC Pitcher of the Week for the third straight week while Garcia was NWC Hitter of the Week for the second consecutive week. The following day, PLU cracked the NFCA Top 25 Rankings for the first time this season, debuting at No. 21.
 
PLU can clinch its first NWC regular season title since 2003 this weekend in Spokane, owning a two-game lead on Linfield with four games to play.

Women's Golf: Jayda Thomas continued her stellar debut season with the Lutes, tying for first overall at the 2026 Northwest Conference Championships to close the year.

Thomas shot a 153 over the two-day event at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club, carding a 76 on Sunday and a 77 on Monday, recording three birdies and 22 pars of the 36-holes. Thomas was in a four-way tie for first after day one and closed round two tied with Whitman College's Camila Yoo. Yoo would go on to win a playoff hole over Thomas to secure the NWC crown.

The Lutes shot 694 as a team over the two days to place fifth overall, owning a five stroke edge on University of Puget Sound. 
 
Thomas was named Second Team All-NWC, earning the honor despite missing the NWC Fall Classic in October which is one of the three tournaments utilized to decide All-Conference.

Women's Rowing: The Lutes raced at the Northwest Collegiate Rowing Championships on Saturday with the varsity four boat taking home the Keith Buckley Trophy. 

PLU coxswain Louisa Compton and a crew of Riah Heil, Kennadi Jones, Adia Carei, and Makayla Hall finished the 2,000-meter race on Vancouver Lake in seven minutes, 57.81 seconds, owning a 16-second gap on the PLU B team and crews from Lewis & Clark College and Pacific University.

The Lutes also finished runner-up in the varsity eight race and was third in the second varsity eight race. Heil and Hannah Miyasaki both raced in the varsity eight boat and at the conclusion of the regatta were both named All-NCRC.

Pacific Lutheran races in Sacramento this weekend at the WIRA Championships where the squad has one final chance to make a case to be the Pacific Region's representative at the 2026 NCAA Division III Championships.

Men's Golf: Marcus Otto drilled a hole-in-one on Monday, helping the Lutes to a fifth place finish at the NWC Championships at Pumpkin Ridge.

Otto sunk his opening shot on hole three during round two, a par three, 158-yard hole. Otto finished the tournament 12th overall, shooting a two-day tally of 146 (71-75) while Tanner Frinell was one shot back in 16th (72-75).

Pacific Lutheran carded a team tally of 594, shooting a 294 on Sunday and a 300 on Monday. PLU's score was just three strokes shy of third place Lewis & Clark. 

Women's Lacrosse: The Lutes continue to improve in year two as a varsity program, having already shattered several single season records heading into the final weekend of the season.

First-year Paige Hackman holds single season records for both ground balls (54) and caused turnovers (26) and is just two draw controls away from the single season record. As a team, the squad has already set school records for goals, assists, points, ground balls, and caused turnovers with two games left in the season.

Last week, the Lutes tied a school record for fewest goals allowed, coming up short 5-3 to Pacific University under the lights at East Field. The following day, PLU honored its seniors Mara Clay, Issabella Marchio, Kathleen Swankowski, and Lia Zabowski pregame before coming up short 23-3 against conference juggernaut George Fox University. 
 
Women's Track & Field: The Lutes head to Spokane this weekend for the NWC Championships. 
 
Ki Neir heads to the meet as the favorite in the pole vault, leading the conference after vaulting 11 feet, nine inches last Saturday at Lewis & Clark's Larry Byerly Invitational.

Kira Marshall ranks third in the triple jump, Abi Caprye is third in the high jump, while Soukhanya Waters sits third in the NWC in the 100-meters. 
 
Men's Track & Field: PLU heads to the conference meet with three student-athletes ranked in the top five of their respective events. Seth Kramer, runner-up at last year's NWC meet in the long jump, heads to Spokane ranked second in the event with a season-best leap of 23' 0 ¾". 

Bridger Hanis ranks third in the high jump while Micah Ragaza-Bourassa is ranked fifth in the hammer throw.

Baseball: Its crunch time for the Lutes who have only a small margin for error if they want to punch a ticket to the 2026 NWC Tournament. 

PLU dropped two of the three NWC games against conference-leading Whitworth University last weekend. The visiting Pirates took game one 8-1 before the Lutes cranked out a 15-9 win in game two. Whitworth stole game three 5-4 with a late rally before taking a 13-6 non-conference game to close the weekend.

The Lutes responded on Wednesday, pounding University of Puget Sound 11-2, getting home runs from both Braeden Lundberg and Carson Burke. 
 
PLU has just two series left in the regular season — this weekend in Walla Walla, and next weekend at home against Puget Sound. 

Nominations for 2027: Last weekend the Lutes inducted its 35th class into the PLU Athletic Hall of Fame. Now through June 1, the department is soliciting nominations to be considered for the 36th induction class for 2027.
 
Nominate here: LINK