Submitted by The Evergreen State College
Three Geoducks received 2025 Thurston County Sports Awards during the eighth annual Awards Show on Wednesday, June 4 at South Puget Sound Community College and organized by the Olympia & Beyond Sports. Emmanuel Nicasio (Sr., M) from the men’s soccer team was chosen Men’s Collegiate Sports Star of the Year. Alauna Carstens (Jr., Distance) from the women’s cross country and women’s track and field teams was chosen Women’s Collegiate Sports Star of the Year. Assistant Women’s Wrestling Coach John Lane was named Sports Contributor of the Year.
A total of eight Evergreen athletes and Coach Lane were nominated for Thurston County Sports Awards this year.
Nicasio, Max Baeder (So.) from men’s cross country and men’s track and field, and Jourdan Joseph (Sr., G) from men’s basketball were nominated for Men’s Sports Star of the Year. Carstens, Flor Parker Borrero (Jr.) from women’s wrestling, Izabelle Trefts (Jr.) from women’s cross country and women’s track and field, and Sydney VanNess (Sr., G/F) from women’s basketball were nominated for Women’s Sports Star of the Year.
Carstens, Allison DeBerry (Sr., G) from women’s basketball, Nicasio, and Parker Borero were nominated for Sports Moment of the Year. Coach Lane was nominated for Sports Contributor of the Year and Thurston County Sports Legend.
Evergreen’s winners at the 2025 Thurston County Sports Award
Emmanuel Nicasio (Sr., Men’s Soccer): Men’s Collegiate Sports Star of the Year
Nicasio led the Evergreen men’s soccer team with six goals and four assists for 16 total points during the 2024 season and was selected First Team All-Cascade Collegiate Conference. He was named Honorable Mention All-CCC in 2023 when he also was nominated for the Men’s Collegiate Sports Star of the Year. Nicasio was difficult to defend and was a key offensive player for the Geoducks.
In his two seasons at Evergreen, Nicasio played in and started 30 games and contributed seven goals and five assists. This past fall, he scored the game-winning goal with four seconds left in a 2-1 home victory over Northwest University on Sept. 27, 2024. Later, he earned a three-goal hat trick against Rocky Mountain College on Oct. 18, 2024. Nicasio was a team captain for the Geoducks. He has signed a contract to play semi-professional soccer for the FC Olympia Artesians.
Alauna Carstens (Jr., Women’s Cross Country, Women’s Track and Field): Women’s Collegiate Sports Star of the Year
Carstens has received multiple conference and national honors for her accomplishments in track and field and cross country. She has earned NAIA All-American five times in five different races: the marathon, cross country, 3,000 meters in indoor track and field, plus 5,000 meters and 10,000 meters in outdoor track and field.
In 2024-25, Carstens achieved NAIA All-American three times. She won the marathon in 2 hours, 47 minutes, and 4 seconds for the second-best time in NAIA history. She placed third in the 3,000-meter run in 9:43.40 at the NAIA Indoor Track and Field Championships, and was eighth in the outdoor 10,000-meter run in 35:47.91 at the NAIA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. She was named the USTFCCCA West Region Athlete of the Year for in NAIA indoor track and field.
Carstens has qualified for NAIA national meets six times in her career, including cross country, the marathon, indoor track, and outdoor track. During regular season competition this spring, she achieved the 14th-best NAIA indoor 5,000-meter run of all-time and the 18th-best NAIA outdoor 10,000-meter run of all-time.
She was recently chosen as Evergreen’s Female Athlete of the Year for 2024-25. She is the Cascade College Conference record holder in the marathon. She also owns nine Evergreen school records and broke many of her own school records in 2024-25. She was chosen CCC Athlete of the Week four times between indoor and outdoor track and field this year.
In addition, Carstens was named Academic All-CCC in cross country and track and field and was chosen as a Daktronics NAIA Scholar-Athlete in track and field in 2024-25. She was recently nominated for Academic All-District honors from the College Sports Communicators.
Carstens has been nominated twice for Women’s Collegiate Sports Star of the Year in Thurston County. She also was nominated in 2023-24, when Geoduck Nizhoni Tallman from the women’s wrestling team received the award.
John Lane (Assistant Coach, Women’s Wrestling): Sports Contributor of the Year
Lane was honored for his many contributions to Thurston County sports over the years. He coached at Olympia High School for 20 years and he coached at Tumwater High School for 15 years. He has spent the past two years as the assistant women’s wrestling coach at The Evergreen State College.
He has developed athletes into strong competitors as well as responsible and accountable adults. His positive energy and commitment to sports are two great qualities that have made him a key person in Thurston County athletics.
He played an important role in launching the Evergreen women’s wrestling program, which advanced wrestlers to the NAIA National Championships in both 2023-24 and 2024-25. The Geoducks have earned NAIA All-American three times. The team had its first Cascade Collegiate Conference individual champion this past season.
Lane has encouraged broader participation and community involvement in wrestling. He has stressed discipline, accountability, and teamwork throughout his career, which has led to a legacy of excellence.
