Student Athletes Receive National and Conference Honors
Bemidji, MN – It was a year filled with excitement for the Oak Hills Christian College Athletics Department. Under its first year with new Athletic Director, Daved Lundeen, at the helm, it was a year of revamping and growing the department and all of the different teams.
During his first year at Oak Hills, the school was able to see 3 athletes named to their NCCAA (National Christian College Athletic Association) All-Region teams, 2 NCCAA Scholar Athletes, 3 NIAC (Northern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) Awards, and 1 NCCAA Student Athlete of the Week. Here is the full list of Season Awards and their winners:
NCCAA Division II Men's Soccer's Offensive Player of the week – Caleb Hower (Rapid City, SD)
NCCAA Division II North Region All-Region Men's Soccer Team – Caleb Hower (Rapid City, SD)
NCCAA Scholar Athletes – Deacon Bock (Blaine, MN) & Bryson Keepers (Sheldon, WI)
NCCAA Division II North Region All-Region Honorable Mention Men's Basketball – Alexander Gonzalez (Miami, FL) & Noah Larson (Park Rapids, MN)
NIAC Men's Basketball All-Conference Team – Alexander Gonzalez (Miami, Fl), Noah Larson (Park Rapids, MN), & Caleb Smoot (McDonough, GA)
As his first year as the Director of Athletics was coming to a close, Coach Lundeen sought to start a tradition of highlighting both student athletes and other members of the Oak Hills Athletics Community in the creation of two awards that will be given out at the end of each academic year. Here is a breakdown of these new awards:
Oak Hills Athletics is excited to announce the creation of the annual Oak Hills King Chaser Award. This award will be given annually to a student-athlete who lives out the 4 values of the NCCAA's KingChasing program. Love, Integrity, Faith, and Excellence. KingChasing is designed to keep Christ at the center of the student-athlete experience, and the nominees for this award represent that mission. Each coach will nominate one of the student-athletes from their team as their King Chaser nominee, and the winner will be selected by a rotating panel of Oak Hills staff, set up each year by the Athletic Director.
Our stated purpose as an athletic department is to help our student-athletes grow in Christlikeness and prepare them for effective service in their homes, careers, churches, and communities, as they use their God-given skills, talents, and passions for His glory. With that in mind, I can think of no higher award that we can give as an athletic department, than the King Chaser Award. The nominees and winner of this award exemplify that passion to glorify God, and exemplify growth in Christ. They are an example for their teammates and fellow students of what it looks like to Chase the King.
Each coach nominated one of their athletes for the Oak Hills King Chaser Award. Here are each of the nominees and what their coach had to say about them:
Hunter Briggs – Hunter was determined to impact the team by running or by helping others. Due to a nagging injury, he could not always run at our meets. Rather than being overly discouraged, he found other ways to contribute to the team. He asked and was able to serve as an assistant coach. In this role, he encouraged others, continued to practice as he could, adjusted his workouts, and helped with duties at each meet. He found key locations along the route at our meets and provided times for each athlete and words of encouragement for teammates. He could be seen at the finish line, ready to greet team members as they completed their race. These efforts demonstrated his character as someone who completes what he starts. Furthermore, he modeled the character of Christ by inspiring others to "finish their race."
Nordica Dodge - Nordica encouraged other runners through her positive, caring, and helpful attitude. She demonstrated and modeled integrity by consistently working hard and inviting others to join her in additional workouts. She faithfully served at the Evangelical Free Church, working alongside others in teaching children's Sunday school. On a few occasions, she stepped into the leadership role for this outreach ministry when others were absent. She also excelled academically and was on the Dean's list for the first semester while participating in a college sport. And, finally, she may not have come in first in her races, but she always finished and improved her time at every meet, exhibiting the value of "running with endurance, the race that is set before us" (Hebrews 12:1)
Isaac Korell – Isaac is a consistent shining example of a disciple of Jesus. The first value of KingChasing is Love, and Isaac exemplifies love of the Lord and love of others really well. He constantly shares the joy of the Lord with his teammates. Isaac is a good standard for what it looks like to play for Christ. The value of Faith in King Chasing is clearly important to Isaac. His commitment to making Jesus a priority is evident in how he steers conversation with his teammates and coaches towards spiritual things, as well as being able to share wisdom and his thoughts on the Word of God and on life. It has been a joy to watch him grow in Christ and help his teammates to do so as well. I appreciate his leadership and godly example very much!
Alexander Gonzalez - I am very proud to nominate Alex Gonzalez for the Oak Hills King Chaser of the year. I think the best way to describe Alex when he arrived at Oak Hills was King Chasing without direction. He knew he wanted to grow closer to Christ, but was sort of aimless in his approach. During this school year, it has been incredible to watch Alex grow spiritually. His relationship with Jesus became his number one priority, and it has completely changed him from the young man we knew when he arrived. Alex took on a big leadership role this year as the most experienced player on a very young team. As he grew closer to Christ, we saw his love for others grow exponentially as he sought to get better at respecting and encouraging others. He also learned how to lead by serving others, as Jesus did for us. As Coach Nash pointed out, Alex was always ready to give a teammate a ride, lend them an ear, or give advice (solicited or not). Alex began attending and inviting his teammates to come to church and multiple young adult bible studies, which brought teammates who were not doing so along with him. I appreciated his honesty both to me and his teammates when he made mistakes. Alex, as we all are, is a great example of Dr. Marty's mantra, progress over perfection. He knew and wasn't afraid of the fact that he isn't perfect, yet was constantly striving to get better. He also was committed to excellence, putting in a lot of work on his own game, but also constantly pushing his teammates to be better. I'm very proud of Alex, and thrilled to nominate him for this award.
The winner of the Oak Hills King Chaser Award is Alexander Gonzalez.
Oak Hills Athletics is excited to announce the creation of the annual Mark 10 Award, to be given to a member of the Oak Hills Athletics community for their exemplary servant heart. In the Gospel of Mark, chapter 10, two disciples, James and John, come to Jesus asking to "sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory." Essentially wanting to be the greatest and most important followers of Christ. Jesus then explained to them, and the other ten disciples what greatness really is. Jesus called them together and said, "You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.
–Mark 10:43-45
The Mark 10 Award recipient may be student-athlete, athletic staff member, Oak Hills staff member, volunteer, or anyone connected to Oak Hills Athletics who exemplifies Christ like leadership by serving others selflessly.
The Mark 10 Award was presented to Assistant Men's Soccer and Men's Basketball Coach Nash Chaney.
This year Oak Hills Athletics is honored to present the first annual Mark 10 Award to Nash Chaney. Nash's selflessness was evident all year as he worked as an assistant coach for Men's Soccer and Men's Basketball. His willingness to serve others extended to his teammates, coworkers, and opponents. Nash's service of others didn't come with a desire to make himself great, or draw attention to himself. Instead it was evident that it came from a heart seeking to be more like Christ each day.
No matter how small or tedious the task, or how inconvenient the circumstance, his willingness to make himself less to serve others persevered. Thank you for everything you do for Oak Hills Athletics, and for being a shining example for our student-athletes and staff of what it looks like to live out Mark 10. Congratulations to Nash Chaney.