Storm Excellence: Chemeketa Athletics Celebrates 2025-26 Student-Athletes at End-of-Year Banquet

SALEM, Ore. — The Chemeketa Community College Athletic Department gathered at the beautiful Chemeketa Eola Campus on Tuesday, May 26th, to host the 2025-26 End of Year Banquet.

The formal, catered event brought together over 100 student-athletes, coaches, athletic staff, and college administrators to celebrate a remarkable year of athletic achievement, academic excellence, and character development.

The "Big Five" Major Awards

The pinnacle of the evening featured the presentation of the department's five major annual awards, recognizing the absolute best in athletic performance, academic dedication, and leadership.

• StormLife Athlete of the Year: Slater Tsuma (Baseball)

  Presented to the student-athlete who best embodies the foundational pillars of the athletic department philosophy: Character, Commitment, Consistency, Courage, and a Positive Mindset.

• Male Athlete of the Year: Wyatt Hooper (Baseball)

  • Honored after an incredible season on the diamond, earning NWAC-South First Team Catcher honors.

• Female Athlete of the Year: Clarissa Lemus (Soccer)

  • Recognized for a dominant season on the pitch, sweeping regional awards including NWAC-South Player of the Year.

• Male Scholar of the Year: Julius Bolstad (Baseball)

  • Achieved a spectacular 3.90 overall GPA while completing an impressive 138 credits.

• Female Scholar of the Year: Ella Holwege (Basketball)

  • Earned a stellar 3.91 GPA over the course of 93 credits.

The 2025-26 All-StormLife Team

The athletic department honored one representative from each sports program to form the All-StormLife Team. These individuals met the rigorous core criteria of Character, Commitment, Consistency, Courage, and a Positive Mindset, serving as the exclusive pool of nominees for the overarching StormLife Athlete of the Year award.

• Mia Fullbright – Women's Basketball

• Jaylin Scott – Men's Basketball

• Laney DeLoe – Softball

• Slater Tsuma – Baseball

• Sixto Chavez – Men's Soccer

• Tatum Kiger – Women's Soccer

• Brooklynn Lindsey – Volleyball

• Sara Rodriguez Uribe – Cross Country / Track & Field

Team-by-Team Department Awards

Each coaching staff selected standout individuals from their respective programs to be recognized in three critical categories: Most Valuable Athlete, Most Valuable Scholar, and Scholar-Athlete of the Year.

NWAC All-Region Athletic Honors

Chemeketa was heavily represented on the Northwest Athletic Conference (NWAC) All-Region teams this past year, highlighting the competitive depth of the Storm programs.

Women's Soccer

• Clarissa Lemus: NWAC-South Player of the Year | NWAC-South Defensive Player of the Year | First Team Midfield

• Evelyn Loibl: NWAC-South First Team Forward

• Mira Thornton: NWAC-South First Team Midfield

• Avery Anunsen: NWAC-South First Team Defender

• Alyssa Tapia-Stockwell: NWAC-South First Team Defender

• Tatum Kiger & Bethany Villegas: NWAC-South Second Team

Men's Soccer

• David Garcia Angulo: NWAC-South First Team Forward

• Samuel Victoria: NWAC-South First Team Defender

• Ian Gomez & Tristan Olvera: NWAC-South Second Team

Baseball

• Wyatt Hooper: NWAC-South First Team Catcher

• Kyle Sheller: NWAC-South First Team Infield

Softball

• Layni Noonkester: NWAC-South First Team Infield

• Zoe Moore: NWAC-South First Team Infield

• Megan Trissell: NWAC-South Second Team Infield

• Kylie Carapinha: NWAC-South Second Team Catcher

Women's Basketball

• Ella Holwege: NWAC-South Second Team

• Ava Rubio: NWAC-South All-Defensive Team

Men's Basketball

• Spencer Horne: NWAC-South All-Defensive Team

Volleyball

• Nicole Ebbs: NWAC-South Second Team Libero

• Hannah Callaway: NWAC-South Third Team Middle Blocker

Academic Excellence: NWAC Academic Awards

Storm student-athletes set a high standard in the classroom this academic year, with dozens of individuals earning conference-wide recognition for maintaining elite grade point averages while balancing full-time athletic schedules.

NWAC All-Academic Team

(Criteria: 3.50+ cumulative GPA with 60+ credits completed)

• Volleyball: Josalyn Markert, Sierra Summer

• Cross Country: Sarah Rodriguez Uribe

• Men's Soccer: David Garcia Angulo, Jonathon Islas-Velazquez

• Women's Soccer: Vanessa Jimenez

• Men's Basketball: Kaden Holm, Kaiya Woolsey

• Women's Basketball: Ashley Barba, Isabel Flores, Ella Holwege

• Baseball: Robert Campbell, Cam Garrett, Kyle Sheller, Joe Vaccaro

• Softball: Zoe Moore

NWAC Academic All-Stars

(Criteria: 3.25–3.49 cumulative GPA with 60+ credits completed)

• Volleyball: Hannah Callaway, Nicole Ebbs

• Women's Soccer: Izabella Nanonski

• Men's Basketball: Jaylin Scott, Jackson Penigar

• Baseball: Julius Bolstad, Nick Crawford Jr., Ryne Hockman, Liam Petty, Joel Spencer, Slater Tsuma, Andrew Yost

• Softball: Laney DeLoe, Hadlee Nicholson, Layni Noonkester

Congratulations to all of our incredible student-athletes, coaches, and staff on an outstanding 2025-26 season. Go Storm!