The Northwest Conference announced all-conference teams in addition to its annual awards for men's tennis Thursday afternoon, with three Linfield Wildcats earning all-league recognition.
 
The Wildcats were led by seniors Brooks Lerfald and Zac Nakaijima earning first team honors for doubles. Both additionally made the second team for singles.
 
Junior Cameron Paulsen took home a spot on the all-NWC singles third team as well, marking the first time Linfield's had at least three selections since 2009.
 
The trio helped lead Linfield to a 5-9 record against the NWC and a 5-16 mark overall, the program's most wins against league opponents since 2011 and most total since 2019.
 
Lerfald and Nakajima teamed up to create one of the best doubles teams in the West region of Division III this season, ending the regular season ranked No. 8 in the West by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association.
 
The duo posted a team-best 12-7 record on the year representing the 'Cats at the top of the doubles lineup, including a 10-3 mark in NWC play. Their season was highlighted by wins against many of the top tandems in the region, as well as an impressive victory on March 22 against the then-No. 25 doubles team in DIII of Julian Wu and Noah Lewis from then-No. 10 Middlebury.
 
It's the second straight season of all-NWC recognition for Lerfald after taking home first team recognition last year as well, becoming the first Wildcat with consecutive all-league seasons since 2011 and first with back-to-back first team honors since 2011.
 
Lerfald posted six singles wins on the season. He played as Linfield's No. 1 entry 12 times, and never played lower than No. 2 in the singles lineup.
 
Nakajima put the league on notice in his first season with the Wildcats after spending the first three years of his collegiate career at University of Redlands. His all-league honors are the first of his career.
In addition to pairing with Lerfald as a formidable doubles presence Nakajima immediately bolstered Linfield's talent in the top half of the singles lineup, competing as Linfield's No. 1 nine times in addition to posting a 4-4 record at No. 2 on his way to six total wins this season.
 
Paulsen's third-team singles recognition is the first all-league nod of his career as well after leading Linfield in singles wins on the season. Paulsen posted a team-best 11-9 record, including an impressive 11-3 in the NWC, and went 10-3 when playing as Linfield's No. 3.
 
In addition to all-NWC teams being announced, Whitman's Alexander Stage was named the conference's 2026 Player of the Year while Lewis & Clark's Kaden Sigurdsson was named Rookie of the Year and Daniel Redfern of Whitworth earned NWC Coach of the Year.