T.E.A.C. Team, Excellence, Attitude, Class. Joe Smith ’93, head football coach since 2006 who has been named Northwest Conference coach of the year 10 times, values those traits as the pillars of Linfield football – and proudly wears them on his hat as he exits the locker room and heads onto the field for a game this fall. The Wildcats won their 42nd conference title this year and claimed 21 all-conference honors.
Hall of Fame inductees
Seven former athletes and one coach were inducted into the Linfield Athletics Hall of Fame this fall.
The class of 2019 includes Casey Allen ’05, two-time All-America wide receiver and a record-holding sprinter in track & field; the late Erik Anderson ’96, cross country and track & field standout; Brandon Hazenberg ’05, first team All-America punt returner; Jenny (Marshall) Highberger ’08, softball two-time first team NFCA All-America second baseman; Brittany (Miller) Towe ’09, softball pitcher and two-time NFCA All-American; Tommy Paterson ’05, All-America baseball outfielder; Steve Pickering ’73, two-time all-NWC and all-Little Northwest offensive tackle; and Bob Walker ’74, assistant football coach and head wrestling coach.
New coaches join staff
Dan Spencer is the new head baseball coach at Linfield. He replaces Stan Manley ’82, who retired at the end of the 2019 season. Spencer becomes the sixth Linfield baseball coach in 70 seasons and the first non-Linfield graduate to lead the program since 1949. He has 28 years of coaching experience, including 22 at the NCAA Division I level with stops at Washington State, New Mexico, Oregon State and Texas Tech.
Three-time All-American Ella Riddle ’18 joined the women’s tennis coaching staff. Previously, she served as assistant strength and conditioning coach for the Leeds Rhinos Women’s Professional Netball team and as head strength and conditioning coach for the Leeds Beckett Women’s Tennis team in England.
ESPN touts Linfield streak
ESPN announced the top 50 greatest football programs of all time, and guess who made the list? The Wildcats, slotted at No. 35, “last had a losing campaign in 1955, when Dwight Eisenhower was president and no one had heard of Elvis Presley,” the article reported.
Linfield clinched its 64th consecutive winning season in a 42-10 win over Pacific Lutheran on Oct. 26. The Wildcats have the longest streak of consecutive winning seasons among all divisions of college football.
#NoHazeLinfield
Linfield student groups, including all seven fraternities and sororities and nearly every athletic team, united to participate in National Hazing Prevention Week Sept. 23-27. Activities were designed to raise awareness, educate the Linfield community and prevent hazing. The week included a social media event, #NoHazeLinfield.
