Graham
June 15, 2009
For the first time in school history, Western Washington University has two athletes sharing each of its Male and Female Athlete of the Year awards.
The two 2008-09 male Athlete of the Year honorees are senior guard Ira Graham, who helped the Vikings to the school's first outright Great Northwest Athletic Conference title in men's basketball, and senior Jake Koppenberg (Everett), who placed 12th at nationals and became the school's first golfer named to the prestigious All-Nicklaus Team.
The female Athlete of the Year award was shared by senior rower Audrey Coon, who captained Western to an unprecedented fifth straight national team title, and sophomore distance runner Sarah Porter (Hockinson), who earned All-America honors in three sports.
Graham
Graham, from Fontana, Calif. (graduate of Fontana High School), was a fourth-team Division II Bulletin All-American and the GNAC Player of the Year as a senior. He also was a first-team National Association of Basketball Coaches West District and Daktronics West Region all-star and played in the NABC Division II All-Star game.
The 6-foot-1 Graham scored 515 points in 2008-09, becoming the first Western player to have two 500-point seasons. He helped the Vikings to a 21-6 record, the school's first outright GNAC title, a No.23 ranking in the final NABC/NCAA II Top 25 Poll and the first round of the NCAA II West Regional.
Graham averaged 19.1 points, being Western's top scorer and finishing second among the GNAC's point leaders, each for the second straight season.
A four-year letter winner, Graham finished his career with 1,465 points, tying him for seventh in school history.
Koppenberg
Koppenberg, from Everett (graduate of Everett High School), was an All-Nicklaus Team selection and a first-team Golf Coaches Association of America PING All-American and West Region all-star.
Koppenberg led the Vikings with a 71.5 scoring average, tying for 12th at the NCAA II National Championships that Western hosted, and placing ninth at regionals. He was the GNAC Player of the Year for the second straight season and took medalist honors at three regular-season tournaments.
As a junior, Koppenberg was a second-team GCAA All-American and first-team West Region all-star. He paced Western with a school-record 71.3 scoring average, helping the Vikings place eighth at nationals.
During his two-year career at Western, Koppenberg, a transfer from NCAA I Idaho, had 14 top 10 finishes and shot 17 rounds in the 60s.
Coon, from Kenai, Alaska (graduate of Kenai Central High School), was the team captain and No.7 rower in the varsity eight, helping Western to national titles both individually (eight) and team.
Coon
It was Coon's third team national championship and the school's fifth straight overall, something never before accomplished by any school in any NCAA rowing division.
Western's varsity eight finished the season with a perfect 10 wins in 10 races, a school first, taking victories at both the Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association and Northwest Collegiate Rowing Conference championship regattas and at the unofficial NCAA II West Regional.
Coon was named a Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association All-American and, for the third straight time, a CRCA National Scholar-Athlete. She also was a first-team ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA College Division Academic All-American after being a second-team pick in 2008.
Coon was an ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA District 8 and Great Northwest Athletic Conference at-large academic all-star, both for the third time.
A NCRC all-star and four-year letter winner, Coon rowed with a U.S. development team last summer, winning gold medals in the open lightweight eight and intermediate lightweight four and a silver medal in the intermediate pair.
Porter
Porter, from Hockinson (graduate of Hockinson High School), earned United States Track and field and Cross Country Coaches Association All-America honors in three sports and twice in outdoor track.
An automatic qualifier to the outdoor track nationals in two events, Porter placed fifth in the 10,000 meters (36:02.72) and seventh in the 5,000 (17:02.19). Earlier this spring, she set school records in the 5,000 with a time of 16:50.87 and 10,000 with a time of 34:58.37.
Porter also was an All-American in indoor track and cross country. She finished sixth in the 5,000 at indoor nationals and placed 13th individually, at cross country nationals, helping Western to a school-best 10th-place finish in the team standings.
Last winter, Porter set school indoor records in the mile (4:46.37), 3000 (9:47.86) 5,000 (16:56.07) and distance medley (11:57.17).
In all, Porter has made six national tournament appearances, going twice each in cross country, indoor track and outdoor track.
The names of Coon, Graham, Koppenberg and Porter will be added to the G. Robert Ross Memorial Trophy.