COMMUNITY ROUNDUP: Snohomish native to throw out first pitch at M’s game
Published 11:36 pm Monday, May 5, 2008
Courtney Schneider of Snohomish, the Herald’s 2007 Woman of the Year in Sports, will throw out the ceremonial first pitch Wednesday before the Seattle Mariners’ baseball game with the Texas Rangers at Safeco Field.
Schneider is a senior at Western Washington University in Bellingham. This past fall, she led the WWU volleyball team to the NCAA Division II national title game. The Vikings (26-5) lost to Concordia-St. Paul 3-1 in the championship match.
Schneider, the Vikings’ libero, earned first-team All-America honors. She led NCAA Division II in digs for the second straight year with an average of 7.74 per contest. He career average of 7.00 is the NCAA Division II record.
“I think it’s going to be a really cool experience,” said Schneider, who will be accompanied to the mound Wednesday by her Western teammates.
A former softball player, Schneider has thrown “a couple times” in preparation for her moment in the spotlight.
“I have no doubt I’ll get it there,” she said Monday. “It’s just a matter of how hard I want to throw it.”
Eastern athletes honored: Sydney Benson of Snohomish and Amber Nickelson of Lake Stevens were among 37 student-athletes from Eastern Washington University named to the Big Sky Conference All-Academic teams for the winter quarter.
Benson, a junior from Snohomish, is a member of the Eagles’ women’s basketball team. She’s majoring in French.
Nickelson, a junior from Lake Stevens, is a distance runner for the EWU women’s track team. She is a community health education major.
