PORTLAND, Ore. – Eastern Oregon University track and field student-athlete, Robbie Haynie, was named a finalist for the Ad Rutschman Small College Athlete of the Year award at the Oregon Sports Awards.
The Oregon Sports Awards honors the state’s top athletes, coaches and teams of the past year. A statewide media panel votes on the awards. Emmy award-winning sportscaster Ahmad Rashad will be the master of ceremonies, and numerous sports celebrities will present the awards.
The winner will be announced at the 2011 Oregon Sports Awards show on Sunday, Feb. 12, 2012 at the Tiger Woods Center on the Nike World Campus in Beaverton.
“We are thrilled that Robbie is a finalist for this prestigious award,” EOU Athletic Director Rob Cashell said. “His 2011 track and field season in indoor and outdoor is arguably one of the best ever at the NAIA level.”
Haynie was named the Cascade Conference Athlete of the Week five times and the NAIA National Athlete of the Week three times last season. The junior earned two national championships in indoor track and field, winning both the heptathlon and the pole vault and was named the National Championships Male Athlete of the Meet.
Haynie then won the Cascade Collegiate Conference outdoor pole vault title with a new meet record, earning Male Athlete of the Meet honors. Two weeks later, the Nampa, Idaho native was the runner-up at the NAIA National Championships in the decathlon. He also secured his third national title by winning the pole vault with a jump of 17-feet, 6.5-inches. Haynie earned four All-American honors, broke two school records, and is the only athlete in the NAIA to vault over 17 feet in 2011.
Eastern Oregon University was lasted represented at the awards in 2008. Former Mountaineer men’s basketball player, Mark Carollo, was named a finalist for the Ad Rutschman Athlete of the Year.
The 2011 Oregon Sports Awards are hosted by Nike and State partners JELD-WEN, the Portland Timbers and the Portland Trail Blazers; and by Champion Sponsors, Delta Air Lines, the Portland Winterhawks and SportsOne.
The Ad Rutschman award goes to the outstanding male and female student-athletes representing the state’s 14 NCAA Division II and III, NAIA-affiliated colleges and universities, and 10 community colleges, in the calendar year 2011.
Ad Rutschman guided Linfield College to four national championships, three in football and one in baseball, in 24 seasons. he is the only college coach at any level to win national titles in two different sports. A five-time Slats gill Award winner, he is a member of the College Football hall of Fame.
The show will be from 7 to 9 p.m. A light hors’d oeuvres and cocktail reception will begin at 5:30 p.m. Coffee and desserts will be served after the show.