University of Washington senior forward Brent Richards was named the Pacific-12 Conference Men’s Soccer Scholar-Athlete of the Year
The Camas High School graduate leaves UW as one of the most decorated student-athletes in men’s soccer both on and off the field.
He led the Huskies in goals, assists, shots, game-winning goals and points in each of his four seasons. He ranks ninth in goals and is tied for 10th in points in program history.
A two-time team captain, he was a preseason All-America selection and was ranked by TopDrawerSoccer.com as one of the top MLS picks and seniors in 2011. He was a three-time conference All-Academic selection, a 2010 Third-Team ESPN Academic All-American, a Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award candidate, 2010 NSCAA Scholar All-American and a three-time Academic All-District selection.
“It is always a challenge selecting the Pac-12 Scholar-Athletes of the Year because there are so many remarkable student-athletes in our Conference,” conference commissioner Larry Scott said. “The Pac-12 is extremely proud of its heritage of academic and athletic excellence and this group of student-athletes is an example of achieving balance and success at the highest levels.”
Each year, the Pac-12 picks one student-athlete from each sport that is a senior to be the scholar-athlete of the year for that sport. In order to be eligible, student-athletes must be a senior (in athletics eligibility) on track to earn his or her degree, have a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or higher, participate in at least 50 percent of the scheduled contests in the sport and have a minimum of one year in residence at the institution.
Each Pac-12 institution may nominate one individual in each sport, and the winners are selected by a committee of Pac-12 staff members at the conclusion of each sport’s regular season. The athletic accomplishments of the nominees are a consideration in the voting for the award.
Scholar-Athletes of the Year in each sport will receive a commemorative award. Toyo will donate $1,000 to the scholarship funds of the institution’s athletic department of each winner in recognition of their accomplishments.
Cavaliers in semis
Concordia University of Portland advanced to the NAIA women’s soccer national semifinals with a 2-1 victory Wednesday in Decatur, Ala., over top-seeded Lindsey Wilson College of Kentucky.
Alex Thomas opened scoring for the No. 8 seed Cavaliers in the fourth minute, and Hannah Scott tallied the game-winner in the 70th minute. Concordia will play No. 5 seed Point Loma Nazarene of California in the semifinals at 11:30 a.m. Friday. The championship game is Saturday.
Columbia River High School graduate Hannah Kimsey, a sophomore midfielder, had one of CU’s six shots on goal.
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