One of the inevitable things about college sports is that the athletes are temporary and only have four or five years to play at the collegiate level. As the 2024-25 athletic season comes to an end, many Weber State University athletes are moving on to the next phase of their lives.
Weber State Soccer seniors bidding adieu are goalkeeper Hadley Harris, midfielders Lucky Phonharath, Mikayla Topaum and Alaina Wildenradt.
From Weber State Volleyball, opposite hitter Baylee Bodily, setter Kate Payne and middle blocker Liana Woodley are among those moving on. Payne and Woodley helped to win two Big Sky Conference regular-season titles, two Big Sky Conference tournament titles and an upset win over Bowling Green in the first round of the 2020-21 NCAA Tournament. Bodily would be a part of one of those titles, and Payne ends her career with two All-Big Sky First Team honors, along with being tied for third in matches played, tied for first in sets played, second in assists and second in digs in school history.
From Weber State Women’s Basketball, forward Rose Bubakar and guards Kennedy Eskelson, Kendra Parra and Margarita Satini all finished their Wildcat careers this season. Parra, a standout her senior season, averaged 11.8 points per game, 3.5 rebounds per game and 3.7 assists per game and received All-Big Sky Second Team honors along with a 30-point game against Sacramento State on Jan. 25.
From Weber State Women’s Golf, Isabel Gutierrez finishes her Wildcat career receiving All-Big Sky Second Team, finishing fourth in the conference tournament during her junior year in 2024. Guiterrez looks to improve on last year’s finish in her final year of collegiate golf.
From Weber State Women’s Tennis, Cindy Li etched her name into the Wildcats’ 2022 Big Sky regular season title and 2023 Big Sky tournament title.
From Weber State Women’s Track & Field, distance runners Danielle Brow, Lydia Felix and Laurie Murphy, sprinters Angelyca Chapman, Jasmine Devers, and Makayla Oliver, jumper Abigail Triplett, who recently came in second at the Big Sky Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships in the high jump, and throwers Alyssa Hansen and Kapuake’oke’oomele Pulotu, who came in first last season at the Big Sky Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships in the discus will all be moving on.
Finally, Weber State Softball thanks utility player Olivia Birkinshaw, third baseman Abby Grundy, who received All-Big Sky Second Team last season, catcher Eva Richardson, outfielder Gianna Memoli and pitchers Jayci Finch, Cali McCraw and Brooke Merrill. All of these seniors were part of the Wildcats’ 2022 season, in which they won both the Big Sky Conference Regular Season and Tournament.
These athletes will be greatly missed at Weber State, and we wish them all the best in their future endeavors.
