NAIA National Awards Day Coverage
EUGENE, Ore. – As a part of the NAIA National Awards Day, the Bushnell men’s track & field team was honored as the 2024-2025 Bruce Brown CCA Team of Character Award winner.
The Conference Commissioners Association (CCA) Champion of Character Team Award is given annually to one men’s and one women’s team for their exemplary character on the field, on campus, and in the community.
Bushnell is being honored with the award for the first time, alongside the softball team from Grand View University (Iowa).
The Beacon Men’s Track & Field team have established themselves as a team of strong character, with a great reputation on campus as men of integrity, respect, responsibility, servant leadership, and sportsmanship. Responsibility is reflected in a 3.11 Team GPA as they will earn NAIA Scholar Team designation.
Servant Leadership is a hallmark of the men’s track & field program as they go above and beyond with their volunteer work throughout the year, with the team members averaging over 20 hours of community service each. The team volunteered on campus move-in day, helping first-time collegiate students move into their dorm rooms. As part of Bushnell’s “Embrace the Community Day” in the fall, part of the team worked at Everyone Village, a dynamic transitional shelter program for people experiencing homelessness. There they did some work in their community garden and helped with weatherproofing tiny homes. The other half of the team worked at the Springfield Youth Gardens, doing general gardening work and vegetable harvesting. The team was also a key contributor to a FOOD For Lane County canned food drive, which collected over 2000 pounds of non-perishables for the most needy in our community. Additional team projects included buying Christmas presents as part of the athletic department Adopt-a-Family program and a “feed the community” day in which they spent time in Eugene’s homeless community passing out food, water, and emergency blankets. The team also volunteered at both the Eugene Marathon and the Run to Stay Warm 5k/10k race, serving as course marshals and at the finish line. Team service is a year-round affair for the Beacons as they worked last summer with a rotation of 3-4 athletes and coaches, serving at the Lane County Food Bank in July and August.
Members of the team have also served in their local churches or on campus as tutors. In addition, six men’s track & field athletes worked on the Orientation team, welcoming freshman and transfers and hosting community building activities with junior Sayer Pescosolido serving as the Orientation Coordinator.
Sportsmanship played out and was on full display at the Cascade Collegiate Conference championships, led by the efforts of Bushnell’s large contingent of jumpers. The Beacons led group prayers for the competitors before each event, led efforts to get the crowd behind all competitors, and following events were quick to go out of their way to thank meet officials and competitors.
The men’s track & field team was also honored back in May 2025 as the Cascade Collegiate Conference Team of Character and Head Coach Kyle Will was named the 2024-2025 Cascade Collegiate Conference Coach of Character.