Conference all-sports trophy named for former CCS athletic director

Maury Ray left a mark of excellence during three-plus decades as athletic director at the Community Colleges of Spokane.

Now he’ll do the same for Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges, which last week put his name on its new all-sports trophy.

The decision was no surprise – except to Ray, who was persuaded by current CCS athletic director Ken Burrus to attend the NWAACC winter meetings in Vancouver.

“I was surprised and overwhelmed,” said Ray, whose teams had won 94 conference titles by the time he retired in 2005.

“It’s really a great honor.”

The 34-team league will award its first all-sports trophy at its spring banquet on May 30 in Bellevue. One of only two schools to compete in all 15 NWAACC-sanctioned sports, CCS has a good chance to win the inaugural cup, Burrus said.

“There are a lot of reasons for that success, and support from our administration is a big factor in that,” said Burrus, whose teams have won 37 titles during his seven years at the helm.

“We also have a big physical education program, which provides jobs for our coaches, a stable coaching staff.

“I also think they’re amazing, hard-working professionals.”

Ray said he’d considered proposing an all-sports trophy during his tenure, “but I didn’t push it that hard because I thought Spokane would win it.”