NORTHBOROUGH, Mass. – Whitworth University lacrosse set a new team record with nine individual players named to the 2026 Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association Division III Academic Honor Roll this week, while the entire team also earned recognition.

Claire Baker, Nikki Beers, Jordyn Bennett, Amelie Deese, Sedona Liming, Keira Paulus, Mary Penfield, Megan Whitman and Sierra Witte all claimed individual honors.  Beers, Whitman and Witte are all repeat honorees.

To be eligible for this recognition, student-athletes must be a junior, senior, or graduate student and have earned a cumulative academic GPA of 3.50 or greater.

Baker (Sr., D) is a biochemistry major from Boise, Idaho.  She anchored the Whitworth defense, starting all 17 matches.

Beers (Sr., M/D) is a health science major from Albany, Oregon.  Injuries limited her season to only eight matches and she finished with seven goals and seven assists.

Bennett (Jr., M) started 16 of the team's 17 contests and finished with 19 goals and 11 assists.  She is a peace studies major from Bend, Oregon.

Deese (Sr., D) started all 17 games on defense and scored her second career goal in a match with Puget Sound.  She is from Sumner, Washington and majored in political science.

Liming (Jr., D) is a strategic communications major from Renton, Washington.  She played in the first 12 contests before suffering a season-ending injury.

Paulus (Jr., M) is a kinesiology major from Seattle.  She played in 16 games with 15 starts and scored 16 goals with seven assists.

Penfield (Sr., D) played in 16 games and closed out her Pirate career with her first goal at Whitworth in the second-to-last game of the season.  She is from Spokane and graduated with degrees in secondary education and history.

Whitman (Sr., M) graduated as a kinesiology and education double major.  A Spokane native, she scored 26 goals and added 15 assists with 67 draw controls while starting 16 of the team's 17 games.

Witte (Sr., M), from Sacramento, California, majored in engineering.  She started all 17 contests and totaled 31 goals and 28 assists for a career-high 59 points. 

As a team Whitworth claimed IWLCA recognition as an Academic Honor Squad with a cumulative 3.40 GPA in 2025-26.  To qualify for this prestigious honor, the women's lacrosse team must have posted a 3.2 or higher team GPA for the academic year.

The Pirates finished 8-9 overall and 4-4 in the Northwest Conference in 2026, taking fifth place in the NWC standings.