Steven Jackson, Birte Steven Repeat As Athletes Of The Year At Bennys
June 1, 2004
CORVALLIS, Ore. - Junior football student-athlete Steven Jackson and senior swimmer Birte Steven have been named Oregon State's Male and Female Athletes of the Year for the second year in a row, highlighting the sixth annual Bennys Awards on Tuesday at the LaSells Stewart Center on campus. The event culminated the 2003-2004 athletic year.
Jackson was named a third team All-American by the Associated Press and was first team All-Pacific-10 following the 2003 season. The Las Vegas, Nev., native was named the Most Valuable Player at the Las Vegas Bowl, rushing for 149 yards and scoring a record five touchdowns. Jackson, who was a first round draft pick of the St. Louis Rams, led the Pacific-10 with 1,545 rushing yards. He added 470 receiving yards and scored 22 touchdowns.
Steven added two more All-American honors to an impressive resume after placing second in the 200-meter breaststroke and third in the 100-meter breaststroke at the 2004 NCAA Championships. She concluded her career as the most decorated swimmer in OSU history, earning seven All-American honors. The Hannover, Germany native recently set the German national record in the 200-meter breaststroke, and she's preparing for the upcoming Olympic Trials.
Team of the Year Bennys were awarded to the men's rowing, gymnastics and softball programs. Men's rowing has been ranked as high as seventh nationally this season, the highest ranking in program history. OSU placed third at the Pacific-10 Championships and will compete at the IRA Championships later this week. Gymnastics narrowly missed out on a trip to the NCAA Championships. Despite losing four athletes to injuries, OSU qualified for the NCAA Regional Championships for the 23rd year in a row and missed a trip to nationals by a mere 0.050 points. Softball earned its sixth consecutive NCAA Regional appearance and came within one win of the Women's College World Series, good for the program's best postseason showing since 1999. The Beavers won 44 games, including five victories against top 10 teams.
Dana Taylor of men's soccer was named Male Sport Coach of the Year for the second consecutive season, while gymnastics coach Tanya Chaplin was named Female Sport Coach of the Year. Taylor led the men's soccer team to its second straight NCAA Men's College Cup appearance as the Beavers tied the school record with 13 wins. Chaplin kept the gymnastics team focused on a successful season despite tremendous hardships. One athlete nearly lost her life and three others suffered season-ending injuries, but the Beavers still ranked as high as 10th in the nation, advanced to NCAA regional competition and just missed a trip to nationals.
Robbie Findley of men's soccer was the recipient of the Joe Zaher Male Newcomer Award, while gymnast Chelsea Plourde earned Female Newcomer of the Year honors. Both were named the Pacific-10 Freshman of the Year for their respective sports. Findley ranked third in the Pac-10 for goals and was fourth in the league for points. Plourde set an OSU freshman all-around record three times, including a 39.650 performance that tied the second-best score in OSU history.
Basketball players Brina Chaney and David Lucas received the Female and Male Performance of the Year Bennys. Chaney scored a career-high 31 points, including a 15-of-15 performance at the free throw line, to lead OSU to a Civil War win over Oregon. Lucas was named Pac-10 Player of the Week after averaging 21.0 points and 10.5 rebounds in wins over No. 14 Arizona and Arizona State at Gill Coliseum.
Two recipients were honored with the Robert Byers Spirit Award, as OSU wrestler Curt Willener and Bob Westlund of the OSU Foundation were recognized for their efforts in the "Raising Reser - Expanding Beaver Nation" project.
Men's soccer player Kurt Ness and women's rower Kaitlyn Kernek were honored with the Glenn Klein Community Service Bennys. The two combined for more than 270 hours of community service, including work at the Albany Boys and Girls Club, the Fall Fun Run, Mortar Board and the Boys Scouts of America.
The Martin Chaves Lifetime Achievement Benny was presented to Nat Giustina. Giustina has been involved in Oregon State for nearly 70 years. He was a driving force in the development and management of Trysting Tree Golf Club and has been major contributor to many OSU athletics venue construction projects. A 1941 graduate in mechanical engineering, Giustina later worked with the OSU Foundation and Alumni Association and served on the Board of Intercollegiate Athletics.
Bennys were also awarded to six All-Americans, a Pacific-10 Conference champion, an NCAA regional champion, eight CoSIDA Academic All-District selections and eight outstanding senior scholar-athletes.
THE 2003-2004 BENNYS AWARDS
Male Athlete of the Year: Steven Jackson (football)
Female Athlete of the Year: Birte Steven (swimming)
Joe Zaher Male Newcomer of the Year: Robbie Findley (soccer)
Female Newcomer of the Year: Chelsea Plourde (gymnastics)
Male Performance of the Year: David Lucas (basketball)
Female Performance of the Year: Brina Chaney (basketball)
Male Sport Coach of the Year: Dana Taylor (soccer)
Female Sport Coach of the Year: Tanya Chaplin (gymnastics)
Male Team of the Year: Rowing
Female Teams of the Year: Gymnastics and Softball
Robert Byers Spirit Award: Curt Willener, Bob Westlund
Glenn Klein Community Service Awards: Kurt Ness (soccer), Kaitlyn Kernek (rowing)
Martin Chaves Lifetime Achievement Award: Nat Giustina
All-Americans: Brandon Browner (football, freshman), Mari Embertson (swimming), Alan Gordon (soccer), Vanessa Iapala (softball), Steven Jackson (football), Birte Steven (swimming)
Pacific-10 Champion: Matt Ellis (wrestling)
NCAA Regional Champion: Tanya Ricioli-Hebron (gymnastics)
CoSIDA Academic All-District: Matt Brock (football), Brina Chaney (basketball), Sean Deacon (golf), K.C. Frederic (volleyball), Chrissy Lamun (gymnastics), Jed Pennell (wrestling), Birte Steven (swimming), Kirk Yliniemi (football)
Scholar Athletes of the Year: Brina Chaney (basketball), Sean Deacon (golf), K.C. Frederic (volleyball), Kaitlyn Kernek (rowing), John Millar (football), Jed Pennell (wrestling), Birte Steven (swimming), Curt Willener (wrestling)
