Left: Nikki Osborne, EOU, Right: Kieran Raney, NU
Osborne and Raney Named CCC Les Schwab Champions of Character
LA GRANDE, Ore. – Two student-athletes have been chosen for the Cascade Collegiate Conference Les Schwab Champions of Character award in Eastern Oregon’s Nikki Osborne and Northwest’s Kieran Raney, the conference office announced Tuesday.
Osborne, a junior on the women’s basketball team, is actively involved in both her academics and her community. She has been selected as a CCC Academic All-Conference Student-Athlete and an NAIA Daktronic’s Scholar Athlete with a 3.55 cumulative GPA in the Business Administration program. Osborne is a member of EOU’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), Cascade Conference SAAC, Business Leaders of Tomorrow and serves as captain of her team.
Osborne also spends a portion of her time serving her community by playing bingo with the elderly and participating in 12-hour Drug Free Relay, Fire Safety Fair, La Grande Neighborhood Clean-Up and EOU Campus Clean-up to name a few.
Raney has been a member of Northwest’s men’s soccer team for two seasons and has demonstrated his strong commitment to helping young people in Africa through soccer. The midfielder spends his spring and summer breaks as a part of Adventure Soccer, a faith-based organization founded by his father Matt that has them travel to Swaziland to emphasize sportsmanship, team play and integrity as well as developing the technical side of each player.
Adventure Soccer partners directly with Leadership for Africa in the operation of The Sandra Lee Centre Orphanage, a home for rescued and abandoned children. In addition, Adventure Soccer builds Carepoint Feeding Stations to help provide food for orphan and needy children. Soccer camps are used to identify children in need and organize soccer teams in order to teach, disciple and mentor the children
In addition to playing soccer, Raney is a student worker for Game Management and works many of the volleyball, basketball and softball events at NU.