The Newberg Graphic Online

Shielee, team earn Oregon Sports Awards

D-III basketball — Post, national champions earn individual, team titles at sports banquet

• Published: 2/5/2010 2:18:37 PM

Photo By: Gary AllenRecognized —
Kristen Shielee was named the Ad Rutschman Small College Female Athlete of the Year Jan. 31 at the Oregon Sports Awards.

   BEAVERTON — George Fox basketball alum Kristen Shielee and the 2008-2009 national championship team walked away with top awards Jan. 31 from the Oregon Sports Awards on the Nike World Campus.
   Shielee was named the Ad Rutschman Small College Female Athlete of the Year. The Bruins team earned the George Pasero Team of the Year at the banquet.
   Shielee moved into the starting lineup in her final season after three years as a reserve and led the Bruins to the D-III final four, where she was named the most outstanding player as George Fox won its first national basketball championship. The 6-4 senior from Gresham also earned accolades as the Northwest Conference player of the year and D-III west region player of the year.
   Shielee averaged 12.2 points and 9.6 rebounds a game while leading the conference in field goal percentage (.626) and blocked shots (122, 3.81 bspg). She was second nationally in field goal percentage and sixth in blocked shots while leading the conference and setting George Fox records in both categories. Her .599 career field goal percentage is also a Bruin record.
   Now a teacher and professional basketball player in Pamplona, Spain, Shielee was unable to attend the show, but was represented by her family, coaches and teammates. She had prepared a short acceptance speech on a DVD in case she won, and it was shown on the background video screen at the awards ceremony.
   Shielee was one of four finalists, including Annie Hess of Concordia University (track and field), Kimber Mattox of Willamette University (track and field, soccer, and cross country), Jessica Ramback of Concordia University (soccer), and Jacki Speer of Southern Oregon University (basketball).
   The 2008-2009 squad shared the team award with the Northwest Blaze Amateur Softball Association of America under-16 girls’ softball team and the University of Oregon NCAA Division I men’s indoor track team.
   The Bruins were unexpected national champions last year as they had entered the season having to replace seven seniors and all five starters from a 2007-2008 team that had reached the NCAA’s “Sweet 16.” Picked to finish fifth in the Northwest Conference, the Bruins, after going 9-0 in non-conference play, swept through the league with a 16-0 record, winning their fourth straight NWC regular season crown.
   After earning an automatic berth into the national tournament by winning the NWC tournament, the Bruins went 5-0 in the post-season, completing a perfect 32-0 season with a win over the storied Washington University-St. Louis program in the title game in Holland, Mich.
   George Fox women’s basketball head coach Scott Rueck was a finalist for the Slats Gill Sportsperson of the Year, which was won by Chip Kelly, head coach of the University of Oregon football team. Other finalists included Oregon State head football coach Mike Riley, Oregon head cross country and track and field coach Vin Lananna, and Oregon State head basketball coach Craig Robinson.
   Comcast SportsNet will air this year’s Oregon Sports Awards at 9 p.m. Feb. 7; at 8 a.m. Feb. 8; at 9:30 p.m. Feb. 12 and at 6 p.m. Feb. 17.

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