Western Oregon MVP`s Will be Honored at Saturday`s Wolfpack Auction

The event, held at Salem’s Mission Mill, will begin at 5:00 PM.

Salem-News.com Sports

MONMOUTH - Four Western Oregon University athletes will be honored as the Athlete of the Year of their sport on Saturday night at the Wolfpack Auction.

The awards were selected by the coaching staffs of each sport. Each student-athlete`s name will be placed on a perpetual plaque that will be on display in the PE Building. Marquis Spas has sponsored an Athlete of the Year for each of Western Oregon`s 13 intercollegiate athletic teams this year.

Bridget Johnson and Anthony Marin will be honored as WOU`s track and field MVP`s, while Nick Waechter is the baseball selection and Lydia Foster is the Athlete of the Year in softball.

“We are proud of these athletes and grateful for Marquis Spas` support of our programs,“ WOU athletic director Jon Carey said. “It has been a terrific way to honor some of our deserving kids with a very gratifying award.“

Lydia Foster was a four-year starter in the Western Oregon softball program and was a first-team All-Great Northwest Athletic Conference selection at catcher the past two seasons. She boasts two of the top three batting averages in school history, hitting .425 this season and .424 as a junior. She set the WOU school mark for home runs in a year this spring with nine and also tied the program`s RBI record with 35. A two-time all-west region selection, the Elmira native is also a three-time member of the GNAC All-Academic team.

Nick Waechter fashioned a perfect 12-0 record on the pitching mound this year for the GNAC champion Wolves and sported a sparkling 2.36 ERA. He was selected as the NCAA Division II west region Pitcher of the Year by two different organizations, and was also named to the ABCA/Rawlings All-American second team. A junior from Roseburg, Waechter is Western Oregon`s all-time leader in wins with a 28-9 record, and he also smashed the school`s career strikeout mark early in the season and now has 269 K`s. The GNAC Pitcher of the Year in 2006 is expected to be selected in next week`s Major League baseball amateur draft.

Bridget Johnson earns her second Marquis Spas Athlete of the Year award this spring, after also nabbing the indoor track and field certificate. Johnson placed fourth last weekend at the NCAA Division II national championships in the heptathlon, earning All-American honors for the second straight year. She broke her own school record in the event with 5,080 points. She scored a league-best 36 points at the GNAC Championships, winning the heptathlon and 100 hurdles, while also placing third in the long jump and javelin. A senior, the Portland native leaves Western Oregon`s program this year but not before listing her name on WOU`s Top 10 list in seven different events.

Thrower Anthony Marin won the GNAC title in the hammer this spring and also placed tenth last week at the NCAA Division II national championships in Emporia, Kansas. The Salem native and McKay High School graduate had a best of 181-2 this season, tops in the conference. He also placed fifth at the GNAC meet in both the discus and the shot put. As a redshirt freshman this past fall, Marin was a starter for the Wolves football team at defensive tackle, and earned second-team All-GNAC honors.

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