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Ellsbury finalist for sports award
Winner will be announced Feb . 12
The Oregon Sports Awards announced its 2011 finalists Jan. 30 and Jacoby Ellsbury is a finalist for the Harry Glickman Male Professional Athlete of the Year.
Ellsbury, a 2002 Madras High School graduate, finished second in voting for the American League Most Valuable Player to Detroit's Justin Verlander for his career season with the Boston Red Sox.
A statewide voting panel comprised of nearly 200 television, radio and print media and other respected sports professionals from across the state narrowed the field of nominees to nearly 80 deserving finalists. The winners will be revealed live on the Stanford Theatre stage at the Nike World Headquarters during the 60th Oregon Sports Awards Feb.12.
SportsOne and Nike, two Beaverton area-based companies rooted deeply in Oregon sports, have coproduced the Oregon Sports Awards for more than a decade. A fast-paced, entertaining stage show similar in style to ESPN's ESPY Awards, the Oregon Sports Awards features a who's-who-in-Oregon-sports attendance list plus an illustrious group of award winners and presenters.
Ellsbury is a finalist, along with Ashton Eaton, Kevin Love, Galen Rupp and Ndamukong Suh. Eaton earned a silver medal in the decathlon competition at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics. Love, of the Minnesota Timberwolves, was named the NBA Most Improved Player Award last year and was named to the NBA All-Star game for the first time. Rupp finished seventh in the 10,000 meters and ninth in the 5,000 at the World Championships. Suh earned an NFL Pro Bowl roster spot for his play with the Detroit Lions.
Ellsbury was named the AL Comeback Player of the Year and also earned Gold Glove and Silver Slugger awards. He was the first player in Red Sox history to hit at least 30 homers and steal at least 30 bases in the same season.
The event will also hand out male and female Johnny Carpenter Prep Athlete of the Year awards to the top Class 6A/5A athletes and the top Class 4A/3A/2A/1A, as well as male and female College Athletes of the Year and Amateur Athletes of the Year.
Tickets are available for $50 each. To purchase, please contact Chelsea Corrado of SportsOne at 503-721-7477.