Oregon Sports Awards – 2018
BEAVERTON – Most of the top prep athletes in Oregon will converge on the Nike World Headquarters for the Oregon Sports Awards ceremony in the Tiger Woods Center tomorrow night Wednesday, June 20. Comcast (CSNW) will be televising the event and Rip City Radio (620 AM) will be on the air, beginning at 7 p.m.
Some of the big names on the list of finalists this year include a who’s who Oregon’s best athletes; Portland Trail Blazer guard Damian Lillard, Oregon State baseball players Nick Madrigal and Adley Rutschman, Olympic Gold Medal winner Ryan Crouser, New York City Marathon champ Shalane Flanagan, Western Oregon U. and Enterprise HS legend David Ribich and the University of Oregon’s Sabrina Ionescu. Oregon State’s baseball players will certainly be busy this year (playing in the CWS in Omaha) and many years some of the biggest name pro’s skip the event, but that is fine because the night belongs to the amateurs. High School kids and small college students from all corners of Oregon get to dress up and experience a real-life ESPY like awards show that has been hosted by Sportscenter anchor and Oregon grad Neil Everett on multiple occasions.
Benson’s Micah Williams, fresh off a fourth-place finish in the 100-meters at USA Junior National Track and Field Championships, is a finalist for Prep Track Athlete of the Year and the Johnny Carpenter Award as the top overall prep athlete. Williams time of 10.37 at Junior Nationals ranks 2nd in state history behind Aloha legend Thomas Tyner’s 10.33. Williams will be a junior next year at Benson.
Sunset high school senior Kelly Makin is the only athlete that made it as a finalist in three categories; Prep Cross Country Runner of the Year, Prep Track Athlete of the Year and the Johnny Carpenter Prep Athlete of the Year Award (6A-5A). Makin recently won the 800-meter and 1,500-meter titles for the 2nd consecutive year at the 6A state track and field championships.
A short history of the Oregon Sports Awards from their website
“For more than 60 years, the OSA have honored outstanding achievements by Oregon preps, collegians, amateurs, pros, teams and coaches, as today’s standouts grab a piece of our state’s rich sports history and share it with yesterday’s stars. In 1948, the Oregon Sports Writers and Sportscasters’ Association birthed the Bill Hayward Banquet of Champions. The event was a sit down affair, honoring the greats of Oregon sports.
In 1986, the event was renamed the Oregonian Banquet of Champions and in 2001, was rebranded as the Oregon Sports Awards presented by Nike.
The event is an ESPYs-style stage production hosted in the Stanford Theatre at the Nike World Headquarters and is one of the best nights of the year in Oregon sports for athletes, fans, partners, and community supporters.
Past award winners have included the likes of Terry Baker, Dick Fosbury, Steve Prefontaine, Joni Huntley, Neil Lomax, Danny Ainge, Dan O’Brien, Gary Payton, Tiffeny Milbrett, Joey Harrington, Nick Symmonds, Jordan Kent, Kevin Love, Liz Brenner, Megan Rapinoe, Ashton Eaton and Marcus Mariota.”
Keep reading for a list of finalists in every category.
