In April the Northwest College athletic programs gathered together to celebrate the achievements of the year, as six Trappers earned important end of year awards including the Male and Female Athletes of the Year.

Austin Richens was the biggest winner of the night, as he was named the Male Athlete of the Year as well as the winner of the David Rowlands Award, given to the top NJCAA male athlete in the country regardless of sport.

“It’s really nice to be able to represent my teammates, my coaches,” Richens said. “I think it’s not just me, it’s a representation of the program, especially my coaches, and the bond with my coaches and teammates.”

Richens had a dominant season at heavyweight, claiming the national title in Iowa in March. Find a full recap of his season as a Trapper and receiving the David Rowlands Award in the May 7 Powell Tribune.

The Trappers also honored sophomore Elliasen (Elli) Lewis, a forward for the women’s soccer team from Boise, Idaho.

She was named the Female Athlete of the Year, becoming the second women’s soccer player in a row to earn the honor.

“It feels really nice. Last year, my best friend [Pressly Taylor] won it, so obviously I was really happy for her. It just feels awesome,” Lewis said. “And I get to go and play at a D1 school and keep playing. Freshman year we had such an awesome team, and even this year, they just made me such a better player.”

Over her two seasons as a Trapper she started in 29 games, recording 24 goals and 17 assists for her career.

Lewis made a strong impression her freshman year with 14 goals and 13 assists, earning her All-American honors.

“It’s been really cool, All-American was really cool, it was great to be noticed for that,” she said.

Joining Taylor as the second winner from the women’s soccer team in a row was extra special for Lewis, as she and Taylor grew up together in Idaho, crossing paths multiple times including at Northwest.

“I’ve just always looked up to her, we grew up together and have always played together,” Lewis said. “It was really awesome to get to play with her another year here and then get named athlete of the year after her too. It’s awesome.”

She said the Trappers continued to grow throughout the season, and became more aggressive by the end of the year.

“We really all grew together. We started off not very good and just not very aggressive,” Lewis said. “I think over time, we kind of just got more aggressive and started to work together more. Working together and getting to know each other more really helped I feel like.”

Apart from scoring goals for the Trappers, Lewis felt she brought strong leadership to the team over her two years.

“I feel like I’m a very good leader, I’m also just really aggressive, so I feel like that connects our team in such a good way,” Lewis said. “It’s been nice to kind of lead, and help us make it fun.”

She said it was great to play under coach Rob Hill for two years, and will take plenty of knowledge with her to the University of Montana next season.

“Obviously I made a lot of good friends here, just bringing that leadership part, and always growing as a team,” she said.

In addition to the athletes of the year, Northwest College also honored one male and female athlete with the Trapper Award, which is given to some of the hardest working Trappers in the athletic programs.

The female winner was Eva Murray, a freshman volleyball player from Green River, who recorded 43 kills and 34 total blocks as a middle blocker during the season.

The male winner was Lucas Davies, a sophomore defender for the Trapper men’s soccer team from Pembrokeshire, Wales, who was key in a Trapper defense that advanced to the Region IX championship game this year.

The Trapper Scholarship Award was given to freshman Trapper soccer defender Briauna Rybolt and men’s basketball point guard Mateo Trujillo.