GU’s Schaefer CLASS candidate

Jami Bjorklund Schaefer of Gonzaga University has been selected one of 30 women’s basketball candidates for the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award, presented annually to an NCAA Division I student-athlete in nine sports.

Schaefer, a guard from University High school and one of two seniors on the GU women’s team, is the only player from a West Coast school among the candidates.

Based on criteria focusing on classroom, character, community and competition, the field will be pared to 10 finalists in February. CLASS is an acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School.

Schaefer, whose season has been put on hold for at least six weeks with a knee injury suffered last week, was the West Coast Conference defensive player of the year a season ago. The business administration major with a 3.94 GPA has gained several scholar-athlete awards, been active in the community and is highly involved with her church and organizes and leads weekly team bible study during the academic year.

Volleyball

Margie Ray of the Spokane Area Volleyball Referees Association officiated in the NCAA Division I women’s championship match in Omaha, Neb., last weekend. She was the up official as Penn State defeated Stanford with a three-game sweep.

It marks the second straight appearance in the championship match for Ray. Last year she was the down official when the same schools played. Penn State won that one, too.