CORVALLIS, Ore. – Warner Pacific University’s Courtney Jackson and Bushnell University’s Ethan Crofts were named the 2020-21 Cascade Collegiate Conference Les Schwab Champions of Character, announced Thursday.
Jackson, a guard from Hanksville, Utah, has perhaps the biggest heart on the Knights’ team. Besides being an advocate for WPU’s “sixth man” Lexy Delos Reyes and cheering with her during games, while also being second in scoring coming off the bench.
Since WPU has not been able to do its normal sock drive or Potluck in the Park this season, Jackson was constantly looking for ways to help in the community and found another way to help the homeless population. After a loss to Bushnell, Jackson gathered the team in her hotel room and put an assembly line together to assemble hygiene kits for the homeless.
Jackson and her teammates were able to get 135 toothbrushes donated and then purchased 135 tubes of toothpaste, wash rags, soap and bottles of water to put in the kits. Once the kits were assembled, team members were able to take some and put in their cars to hand out to people on the side of the road if they wished to do so. The rest of the kits were taken to the Clackamas Service Center and will be handed out to the homeless that come in for meals.
Other female nominees: Lewis-Clark State College’s Abby Farmer, Southern Oregon University’s Arianna Daniel, Bushnell’s Noel Balderston
Bushnell’s Crofts has been a strong leader for the men's soccer team and the student-athlete body for four years. He was a three-year member of the Bushnell SAAC and Co-President for the Bushnell Fellowship of Christian Athletes, along with completing an internship with the greater Western Oregon branch of FCA.
During and after the major forest fires last fall, Crofts volunteered to help people who lost their homes. This included organizing a drive to get clothes, food, and supplies to people. Other volunteer work included leading his team as they worked with Food for Lane County on a canned food drive and trail cleanup/brush clearance at Hendricks Park.
Other male nominations: LC State’s Brooks Juharz, University of Providence’s Joel Samayoa, WPU’s Lucas Higginbotham