CORVALLIS, Ore. –
The following 10 CCC student-athletes have been recognized as the Embrace Health-Santiam Hospital Players of the Week for their performances during the period April 19-25, 2021.
Women’s Basketball - Player
Eastern Oregon University’s Taylor Stricklin was named the Embrace Health-Santiam Hospital Women’s Basketball Player of the Week.
Stricklin, a five-foot-10 senior guard from Roseburg, Ore., scored 17 points on both nights as EOU went 2-0 at home against Corban University. She nailed five triples both nights and shot over 50-percent from the floor in both wins. Stricklin grabbed 13 total boards and tallied five steals over the two-game span.
Men’s Basketball - Player
Bushnell University’s Stevie Schlabach was named the Embrace Health-Santiam Hospital Men’s Basketball Player of the Week for the second time this season.
Schlabach, a six-foot-four sophomore guard from Tigard, Ore., had two monster nights for the Beacons. He scored 30 points in an 84-71 victory over George Fox and then added 20 points against CCC opponent Oregon Tech to average 25.0 points per game on the week. He added eight rebounds, three assists, two blocks and two steals over the two games. Schlabach shot 76.9-percent from the floor, missing just six of his 26 shots taken.
Baseball - Pitcher
Oregon Tech’s Trask Telesmanich was named the Embrace Health-Santiam Hospital Baseball Pitcher of the Week.
Telesmanich, a six-foot-one senior pitcher from Gladstone, Ore., was dominating on the mound Sunday with eight strikeouts as he improved to 5-3 on the season. He allowed just three hits with no runs to pick up the win.
Baseball - Player
No. 6-ranked Brock Ephan was named the Embrace Health-Santiam Hospital Baseball Player of the Week, his third time winning the award.
Ephan, a six-foot-four senior infielder from Kalaheo, Hawaii, crushed four home runs, including two in the first game of the series with College of Idaho, and knocked in 11 runs. He led the team with nine hits in the series with a .563 batting average and slugged 1.438 with a .632 on-base percentage. With now 15 home runs on the season, Ephan has 30 in his career which puts him ninth in the LC State record books.
Softball - Pitcher
No. 6-ranked Oregon Tech’s Sarah Abramson was named the Embrace Health-Santiam Hospital Softball Pitcher of the Week.
Abramson, a five-foot-10 junior pitcher from Milwaukie, Ore., grabbed two wins in the circle for the Owls, throwing over 17 innings. She allowed just three runs over three games, striking out 12 batters in the process.
Softball - Player
No. 1-ranked Southern Oregon University’s Lauren Quirke was named the Embrace Health-Santiam Hospital Softball Player of the Week for the fourth time this year.
Quirke, a five-foot-six senior pitcher/third baseman from San Mateo, Calif., went 10-for-13 with 11 RBIs and seven runs, and had five extra-base hits on Friday, including her eighth and ninth home runs to lift the Raiders to three wins over Carroll College in CCC contests. It helped SOU claim the regular-season title and grab an automatic qualifier to the NAIA Championship Tournament. Quirke also also pitched a five-inning, four-hit shutout to improve to 14-2 and now leads the CCC in average (.483) and RBIs (57).
Men’s Outdoor – Field Athlete
Oregon Tech’s Hunter Drops was named the Embrace Health-Santiam Hospital Men’s Outdoor Field Athlete of the Week for the second time this year.
Drops, a junior from Coos Bay, Ore., competed at the CCC Decathlon Championship, presented by U.S. Bank, where he finished second. He won the javelin event with a mark of 70.93, which now leads the NAIA by 25 feet and is No. 20 on the US list for the Olympic trials.
Men’s Outdoor – Track Athlete
Oregon Tech’s Mark French was named the Embrace Health-Santiam Hospital Men’s Outdoor Track Athlete of the Week.
French, a senior from Tualatin, Ore., won the 10K event at the Southern Oregon University Invite #4 with a time of 30 minutes, 40.48 seconds for an NAIA ‘A’ mark. He is now eighth on the list as he led the last 19 laps and won by 30 seconds, smashing his previous school record by 26 seconds.
Women’s Outdoor – Field Athlete
Corban University’s Valerie Schmidt was named the Embrace Health-Santiam Hospital Women’s Outdoor Field Athlete of the Week.
Schmidt, a sophomore from Battle Ground, Wash., smashed her own school record in the heptathlon, scoring 4,772 points to become Corban's first-ever CCC Heptathlon Champion. She dominated from wire-to-wire, claiming first in three events (100-meter hurdles, shot put, 200 meters), second in three events (high jump, long jump, javelin), and fifth in the seventh and final event (800 meters). Her 4,772-point performance ranks third in the NAIA for the 2021 spring campaign, and she finished just 54 points behind the CCC meet record, set by Eastern Oregon University's Paige Dodd in 2019.
Women’s Outdoor – Track Athlete
College of Idaho’s Larissa Mauer was named the Embrace Health-Santiam Hospital Women’s Outdoor Track Athlete of the Week.
Mauer, a junior from Spring Creek, Nev., ran a solo 3,000-meter steeplechase at the Raider Invite. Despite no one to run against, she still hit the NAIA "A" qualifying standard and clocked the fifth-fastest time in the NAIA this season with a time of 11 minutes, 17.01 seconds.