Oregon St. reaps rewards at Oregon Sports

February 13th, 2007 | by Kevin Morris |

BEAVERTON (AP) — It was a big night for the Beavers at Sunday’s Oregon Sports Awards.

Five major awards went to people with past or present ties to Oregon State University at the 55th annual event, held at the Tiger Woods Center at the Nike World Campus and hosted by former University of Oregon and NFL great Ahmad Rashad.

The national champion Oregon State baseball team took home the George Pasero Team of the Year honor, while coach Pat Casey was named the Slats Gill Sportsperson of the Year for the second straight year.

Pitcher Jonah Nickerson, the MVP of the College World Series, won the Bill Hayward Amateur Athlete of the Year for men, and Oregon State softball pitcher Brianne McGowan, who led the Beavers to a berth in College World Series, took the Hayward Award for women.

Former Oregon State star Steven Jackson, now an All-Pro running back for the St. Louis Rams, won the Harry Glickman Professional Athlete of the Year award.

Former University of Portland striker Christine Sinclair, who helped the Canadian national soccer team qualify for the 2007 Women’s World Cup and led the Vancouver Whitecaps to W-League pro title, won the Glickman Award for women.

Lake Oswego High School basketball star Kevin Love and three-time Class 4A state champion golfer Rebecca Kim of Tigard High won the Johnny Carpenter Prep Athlete Awards for men and women.

Love, who led the Lakers to the 2006 Class 4A state title, is headed to UCLA. Kim, the first golfer to win the Carpenter Award, is a freshman at Duke University.

The Ad Rutschman Small College Athlete of the Year awards went to two Willamette University athletes. NCAA Division III cross country champion Sarah Zerzan won the award for women, while Nick Symmmonds, winner of the Division III 800- and 1,500-meter titles, won the men’s award.

The Nike-Steve Prefontaine Award given to a high school senior distance runner went to Casey Masterson of Sheldon. Darrick Yarbrough of Bend, the fastest alpine skier at the 2006 Special Olympics Oregon Winter Games, won the Lou Burge Special Olympics award, and Harvey Platt, chairman and CEO of Platt Electric Supply, was presented with the Les Schwab Friend of Sports Award.

Merit awards were given to longtime Portland Trail Blazers broadcaster Bill Schonely and Penny Knight, founder of the Corvallis Knights semipro baseball team.

Post a Comment