Annual awards dessert highlighted by eighteen individual awards

SALEM, Ore. – Corban College's athletic department, in partnership with the Warrior Athletic Association, held its annual awards dessert on Sunday in the Psalm Performing Arts Center and handed out eighteen different awards honoring numerous Warrior student-athletes for their accomplishments throughout 2007-08.

Former Olympic bronze medalist Dave Johnson was the keynote speaker at Sunday's athletic award dessert held at Corban College in the Psalm Performing Arts Center. The event was attended by approximately 270 people, as the athletic department presented eighteen awards for both athletic and academic achievements. (Photo courtesy of Mark Colachico, Corban Sports Info.)

John Nelson, Corban's Director of Athletics, welcomed the crowd and thanked them for the support of the student-athletes. He said he was proud of all Warrior teams and "how they continually represented the College by displaying a Christ-like attitude to opponents and fans no matter where they competed."

The awards presentations kicked off with the second annual Mark Neustel Athletic Scholarship Award, which is presented to a current Corban student-athlete in honor of former men's basketball player and Corban alum, Mark Neustel. The student-athlete is recognized for character, achievement, and leadership in athletics. This years' recipient of the Mark Neustel Athletic Scholarship was junior Amy Thompson (women's volleyball).

The 2007-08 Warrior Athletes of the Year and Senior Scholar Athletes were announced by Nelson and Dr. Bryce Bernard, Faculty Athletic Representative & Dean of Business, as voted on by coaches and athletics staff members. The selections were made based upon the athlete’s spiritual, academic, and athletic contributions and leadership during the year.

For the second straight year, senior Caleb Louvier (men's soccer) took home the Male Athlete of the Year honor to go along with fellow senior Jessica Steigleman (women's basketball), who was named the Female Athlete of the Year. Senior Scholar-Athlete awards were presented to Danielle Jordan (women's cross country) and Louvier.

Coaches also selected student athletes from their respective teams as their team’s Mighty Warrior. This annual award is given to an athlete from each sport who best models the spiritual warrior characteristics of truthfulness, standing firm in the faith, and preparedness for the challenges of the Christian’s life (Ephesians 6:13-18). The award selections are also based upon the five NAIA Champions of Character values: respect, responsibility, integrity, sportsmanship, and servant leadership.

The 2007-08 Mighty Warriors included: Baseball, Scott Flux; Men’s Basketball, Joey Jackson; Women’s Basketball, Mandy Peterson; Women’s Cross Country, Sara Aikin; Men’s Cross Country, Brian Beeson; Men's Golf, Josh Greenslade; Women's Golf, Emily Stupfel; Men’s Soccer, Mark Mendenhall; Women’s Soccer, Sarah Whaley; Softball, Megan Gaylord; Men's Track, Ben Snell; Women's Track, Danielle Jordan; and Volleyball, Chelsea Reeher.

Closing out the night was guest speaker, Dave Johnson, who was the 1992 bronze medalist at the Barcelona Olympics in the decathlon. Johnson is currently serving as Athletic Director at nearby South Salem High School, while also working as the organizer of Salem's 'Awesome 3000' which is in its 26th year.

In the end, Johnson talked about his life prior to the Olympics as well as challenging all the student-athletes at Corban to "not give half of themselves to the Lord, as God gave 100% of himself when he died on the cross for their lives." Johnson challenged, inspired, and used humor when talking about his experience in 1992, while competing on a broken foot en route to earning a third-place showing in the decathlon.

Corban president, Dr. Reno Hoff, ended the night thanking everyone for coming and closed the evening in prayer.

Prior to the event starting, a slide show was shown highlighting photos that were taken at different Corban sporting events throughout the year.

Award pre-show slide presentation

As each award was handed out, a picture of the individual was flashed onto the screen for everyone to see. To view the winners from this year, please click on the presentation below...

Award winners presentation