CORVALLIS, Ore. – After dominating their fields of competition, Corban University’s Valerie Schmidt and UBC’s Rowan Hamilton were named the 2021-22 Cascade Collegiate Conference WVT Laboratory Athletes of the Year. The award is the CCC’s top athletic honor selected by the conference’s athletic directors.
Just last month, Schmidt made history as Corban’s first-ever national champion in track and field after winning the NAIA Heptathlon Championship with 5,158 points – breaking the CCC record set almost 30 years ago in 1995 in the process. The Battle Ground, Wash., native also won the event at the 2022 CCC Track and Field Championship, presented by U.S. Bank, setting a new meet record of 5,086 points.
Schmidt is the Corban record holder in the long jump, 100m hurdles, and the heptathlon. She is the conference record holder in the heptathlon and ranks in the top-10 in the nation in her event in the last nine years. Schmidt also ranks in the top-10 in Corban history in the 200m, 400m hurdles, high jump, and shot put.
The standout was also awarded Academic All-District plaudits for her efforts on the track and in the classroom and was named the CCC WVT Laboratory Track and Field Female Athlete of the Year last week.
Other female nominees included: UBC’s Elizabeth Labbe (Golf), Bushnell University’s Makenna Northern (Volleyball), College of Idaho’s Catylynn Duff (Track and Field), Eastern Oregon University’s Maggie Ledbetter (Track and Field), Lewis-Clark State College’s Callie Stevens (Basketball), Menlo College’s Alleida Martinez (Wrestling), Northwest University’s Ellie Calquhoun (Cross Country/Track and Field), Oregon Tech’s Sarah Abramson (Softball), University of Providence’s Ivy Navarro (Wrestling), Southern Oregon University’s Riley Donovan (Softball), and Warner Pacific University’s Hannah Myers (Basketball).
Hamilton had a historic year, capping it off with an NAIA Championship Meet record of 74.21 meters in the hammer throw to win his second national championship by almost 10 meters and was named the NAIA Men’s Outstanding Performer. Hamilton has the nine longest throws this year by a collegian in any division.
The sophomore from Chilliwack, B.C., Canada, set a CCC meet record of 75.88 meters to win the conference hammer throw by 22 meters, eclipsing the previous meet record by over 11 meters. At the Oregon Twilight meet earlier in May, Hamilton set a new Canadian U-23 record of 75.98 meters, which is the 14
th-best throw in the world in 2022. That mark is also the farthest ever by an NAIA athlete and makes him the No. 12 performer all-time among all collegians.
Other male nominees included: Bushnell’s Andrew Webb (Golf), College of Idaho’s Ricardo Time (Basketball), EOU’s TJ Davis (Track and Field), LC State’s Clayton VanDyke (Track and Field), Menlo’s Elijah Palacio (Wrestling), Northwest’s Dawson Andrews (Track and Field), Providence’s KC Buday (Wrestling), Vanguard’s Ricky Padilla (Wrestling) and WPU’s Arturo Bahena (Soccer).