Three CCC Athletes Finalists for Oregon Sports Awards
CORVALLIS, Ore. – Three student-athletes from the Cascade Collegiate Conference have been named the finalists for the 2019 Ad Rutschman College Athlete of the Year Award, part of the Oregon Sports Awards.
For more than 60 years, the Oregon Sports Awards have honored outstanding achievements by Oregon preps, collegians, amateurs, pros, teams and coaches. The Small College Athlete of the Year award, named after a former football and baseball coach at Linfield College, has been awarded every year since 2001. Finalists were nominated and selected through a statewide voting panel consisting of TV, radio and sports journalists, and respected sports professionals.
The Ad Rutschman Small College Athlete of the Year Award goes to the outstanding male and female student-athlete representing the state’s 14 schools at the NCAA Division II and III and NAIA levels, along with ten community colleges. Over the past 16 years, nine women and six men from the CCC have been selected.
Eastern Oregon University's Maya Ah You Dias is nominated in the female category with Southern Oregon's Zach Beltz and Oregon Tech's Mitchell Fink nominated in the male category. Ah You Dias was nominated in 2018 as well.
With an overall record of 29-4, Ah You Dias led the Mountaineers to regular season and conference tournament titles, along with an appearance in the NAIA Women’s Basketball Division II National Tournament field of 16. Named the CCC Player of the Year, Ah You Dias was the conference player of the week on four occasions and the national player of the week twice. A repeat first team All-American, Ah You Dias was named the NAIA Division II Women’s Basketball Player of the Year. The honor is the first in program history for Eastern Oregon.
A prolific scorer, Ah You Dias set a Mountaineer single game record with 45-points this season and ranks second all-time with 1,843 points. Her 23.2 points per game led the CCC and was second overall in the NAIA. Not just a scorer, Ah You Dias possessed an all-around game averaging 9.0 rebounds, a shooting percentage of 53.5 from the field and 44.3 percentage from behind the arc. Additionally, she averaged 3.2 assists and 2.0 steals per game.
Ah You Dias carries a 3.69 GPA earning U.S. Bank Academic All-Conference and NAIA-Daktronics Scholar Athlete honors. She graduated on June 15 with a degree in Psychology.
Beltz, a senior from Elmira, Oregon capped an impressive final season as a Raider in dramatic fashion. Down to his final attempt in the long-jump at the NAIA Championships, Beltz unleashed a mark of 7.81 (25-7 ½) to win the title by a centimeter and garner All-American honors. The win in Gulf Shores was his eighth on the season winning each time he entered the long-jump during 2019.
At the CCC championships in early May, Beltz became the first four-time champion in the long-jump with his mark of 25-10 setting a new meet record. Beltz was also tops in the triple-jump for the third time winning with a meet record mark of 50-7 ¼. His ark in the long jump would have ranked first this season in the Pac 12 (NCAA D-I).
Beltz became the only CCC athlete ever to have won both jumps (long and triple) three straight years and was named the CCC male Track/Field Athlete of the Year, as well as, the NAIA West Region Field Athlete of the Year. The region award was voted on by the US Track and Field and Cross-Country Coaches Association. Beltz was also the NAIA national field athlete of the week twice.
Beltz graduated with a degree in Communications from the Ashland, Oregon campus.
Fink, a CCC Co-Player of the Year in 2017-18, was once again a consistent force on both sides of the ball for the 2018-19 regular-season champion Owls, averaging 13.7 points per game, dishing out a CCC-best seven assists per contest, and ranking third in the conference with 1.7 steals per game. A gifted scorer, distributor, and defender, Fink has firmly established himself as one of the conference’s most complete overall players.
A native of Clackamas,Oregon Fink was honored as a first team performance All-American this past season leading the Hustlin' Owls to a runner-up finish in the NAIA D II Men's Basketball Championships. The first team nod followed his selection to the third team All-American squad in 2017-18. Fink is majoring in Communication Studies.
Now in its 67th year of existence, the annual event has partnered with NBC Sports Northwest to announce all awards on live television and radio broadcasts from July 8-31. Award-winners will be revealed during 18 segments of “The Noe Show” with Brian Noe on Rip City Radio and four editions of NBC Sports Northwest’s 6-7 p.m. talk show “The Bridge.”
The Oregon Sports Awards and NBC Sports Northwest production teams will also disclose award-winners on social media and through daily press releases on the corresponding broadcast date. Follow along on Twitter @ORSportsAwards for daily updates and Awards content. The Ad Rutschman Small College Athlete of the Year Award will be announced on July 17.