School Name Goes Here

Southern Oregon senior Dolores Christensen has been named the female winner of the Cascade Conference's Champions of Character Award.

The Champions of Character Awards, symbolic of the NAIA’s signature national program designed to promote character development in youth and change the culture of sport, are given annually to the male and female student-athletes in the CCC who best exemplify the core tenets of respect, responsibility, integrity, sportsmanship and servant leadership.

Christensen, a senior on the Raiders’ volleyball team, graduated summa cum laude from Southern Oregon, achieving a perfect GPA the final six terms of her academic career. She has been accepted in to University of Denver’s sports sciences master’s program.

Off the court, Christensen had extensive involvement in community outreach. She has served as a volunteer youth volleyball coach and been a leading member of SOU’s Student Athlete Advisory Committee. Christensen has also been involved in a host of community service activities, including Thanksgiving food drives, Toys for Tots, campus spring cleanups, blood drives, and food collection for Haiti, among many others.

She also has served on the steering committee for the athletic department’s three-year strategic planning process; was a dedicated an influential member of the athletics task force which made a recommendation to the SOU administration on the future of Raider athletics; and served as team captain of the volleyball team.

"Dolores Christensen is a very special student, athlete, and community member,” said SOU volleyball coach Josh Rohlfing. “I feel fortunate that I was afforded the opportunity to coach her for the past three seasons. She embodies the term ‘Champion of Character.’ Our university is a much better place from having her on campus. She set standards that will be lofty for future Raider student-athletes to attain. However, she also created a fantastic blueprint due to her ability to foster positive relationships with her teammates and student peers."

Ian Logan of Corban and Dylan Smith of Concordia shared the men's award.