The 61st Oregon Sports Awards hits the stage Sunday night.
ESPN SportsCenter anchor Neil Everett and a cast of celebrity presenters will hand out more than 30 awards in the 90-minute show at Nikes Tiger Woods Center.
The awards will go to the top performers in 2012 athletes, coaches and other contributors, from the high school and amateur ranks to the professionals and Olympians with state-of-Oregon ties.
The annual event starts at 7 p.m., with doors opening at 5:30 p.m. for a preshow reception that includes hors doeuvres and beverages.
Coffee and desserts will be served after the production.
Tickets are $50 each. To order or for more information, contact Chelsea Corrado at ccorrado@gosportsone.com or 503-869-7289.
Everett, a 1984 University of Oregon graduate, has been part of the Oregon Sports Awards before, but this will be his first time as host. Born in Portland, Everett also attended Willamette University, is the son of parents from Astoria High, had a grandfather who played on the Ducks 1920 Rose Bowl team, and began his media career in Florence.
Im very excited to represent Oregon, he says.
Scheduled presenters include Mouse Davis, Mariel Zagunis, Joey Harrington, Matthew Centrowitz, Matt Moore, Kenjon Barner and Jordan Poyer, with more to be determined.
The OSA motto, Make History. Be History., promises another memorable evening.
This years Oregon Sports Awards show will launch 19 new prep categories, celebrating the states best in each sport sponsored by the Oregon School Activities Association. Athletes from all six classifications were eligible for these new awards, which are being added to the annual Johnny Carpenter Prep Athlete of the Year Awards that go to the overall top male and female high school competitors at both the Class 6A-5A and 4A-3A-2A-1A levels.
Most of the awards will be familiar to followers of the Oregon Sports Awards, which have grown greatly since the event kicked off in 1948 as the Hayward Banquet of Champions.
The headline categories include the Bill Hayward Amateur Athletes of the Year (male and female), the Harry Glickman Pro Athletes of the Year (male and female), the Slats Gill Sportsperson of the Year and the George Pasero Teams of the Year.
The Slats Gill finalists are Oregon Tech mens basketball coach Danny Miles, whose team won the NAIA Division II national title; former Oregon Ducks football coach Chip Kelly; and Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra, whose club won the NBA title. Kelly took home the trophy in 2009 and 2010, and Miles won in 2004. The only NBA coaches to earn the Slats Gill Award were Jack Ramsay in 1977 and Rick Adelman in 1990 and 1992.
The Glickman male finalists are Olympic decathlon champion Ashton Eaton, NBA standout Kevin Love and Oregon-bred distance runner Galen Rupp, a silver medalist in the 2012 London Games.
The female Glickman Award has come down to soccers Megan Rapinoe and Christine Sinclair and distance runner Shalane Flanagan.
The Hayward male finalists are UO running back Kenjon Barner, Colgate lacrosse All-American Peter Baum from Lincoln High and Oregon State defensive back Jordan Poyer. Six Duck football players have won the Hayward quarterbacks George Shaw, Chris Miller, Bill Musgrave, Joey Harrington and Dennis Dixon and defensive back Chad Cota. OSU has had seven football players win the award, the most recent being Mike Hass in 2005. Baum is the first lacrosse player to make the final round.
The Hayward female finalists all are from the University of Oregon: volleyball national player of the year Alaina Bergsma, multi-sport star Liz Brenner and track multi-event champion Brianne Theisen, who won the award in 2010. Brenner was a three-time Carpenter Prep Athlete of the Year winner. Bergsma led the Ducks to the NCAA finals in 2012. Only one volleyball player has won the Hayward Leanne Peters from Portland State in 1993.
Also to be announced Sunday: the Ad Rutschman Small-College Athletes of the Year (male and female), the Lou Burge Special Olympics Athlete of the Year; the DNA Award, which goes to an individual or organization for extraordinary passion and dedication to sports in Oregon; and the Game Changer Award, which recognizes people who have dedicated their lives to high school sports and made a compelling difference to their schools or communities.
A statewide panel of experts voted on most of the awards, along with fans from around the state who have logged on at oregonsportsawards.com to cast their ballots.
You can still vote the Web balloting continues through Friday.
For those who cannot attend, the Oregon Sports Awards will be shown via webcast at both oregonsportsawards.com and oregonlive.com.
And 1080 AM the Fan will simulcast the show, with preshow coverage by Travis Demers and Jason Scukanec starting at 5:30 p.m.
Visit oregonsportsawards.com for more information on the show, its history and the awards and 2012 finalists.
Also, follow the event on Twitter (@ORSportsAwards) and Facebook (Oregon Sports Awards).