Colorado student-athletes receive Pac-12 Sportsmanship Award

WALNUT CREEK, Calif. - The Pac-12 Conference Student-Athlete Advisory Committee has voted to award the student-athletes at the University of COLORADO with the Pac-12 Sportsmanship Award for 2013-14. The group received the award for their resiliency and humanitarian efforts during and after the flooding that hit Boulder this past September. 

Over an eight-day period in mid-September, Boulder received more than 17 inches of rain in what was eventually called the 1,000-year rain and the 100-year flood. More than 300 homes were destroyed, over 1,000 people had to be evacuated by air and damage to roads surpassed $150 million. 

The Buffs canceled, moved or rescheduled all sporting events for the weekend after the worst day of the flood and on the tail end of eight days of rain. Among those events was a football game on Saturday, which food had already been delivered to the stadium for. Since the Buffs were not playing, CU student-athletes spent that day feeding CU’s housing family members and first responders. The Colorado basketball teams also served at CU’s Center for Community dining areas. At the make-up football game against Charleston Southern on Oct. 19, 2013, CU student-athletes helped with a fundraiser for the CU-Boulder Disaster Recovery Fund. The Buffs also held a fundraiser and food drive while hosting the 2013 Pac-12 Cross Country Championships. The Coors Event Center also became a shelter for hundreds of Boulder residents for several days. 

The Sportsmanship Award is selected by members of the Pac-12 Student-Athlete Advisory Council (SAAC) and is based on good sportsmanship and ethical behavior in participation of intercollegiate athletics, as well as a demonstration of good citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting. Nominees must have demonstrated the values of respect and integrity through a specific action, ideally directed toward an opponent. The student-athlete must have consistently demonstrated the values of respect and integrity in his or her daily participation in intercollegiate athletics. Conference award winners are then nominated for the NCAA Division I Sportsmanship Award. Also nominated for this year’s Pac-12 Sportsmanship Award was Deontae Cooper of Washington. 

Previous Pac-12 Sportsmanship Award winners:
2004    Grayling Love, Arizona State
2005    Channing Frye, Arizona; Cara Chlebicki, California
2006    Eric Nygard, Washington State; Anna Key, California
2007    Mitch Canham, Oregon State; Jennifer Tangtiphaiboontana, Stanford
2008    Michael Capbarat, California; Arianna Lambie, Stanford
2009    Stenn Parton, USC; Lindsey Kelley, Arizona
2010    Ben Ashmore, Arizona State; Stanford women’s rowing team
2011    Jeff Gudaitis, Washington; Katie Matusik, Arizona
2012    Bryson Beirne, Arizona; Brittany Hart, Oregon
2013    Kylie Sharp, Washington
2014    University of Colorado Student-Athletes