SALEM, Ore. -- Willamette University student-athletes Colin Hakeman (Sr., Bellingham, WA/Sehome HS) and Jamie Smith (Sr., Seattle, WA/Ballard HS) have been named to the Northwest Conference Scholar-Athlete First Team for the 2019-20 athletic year.
The award goes to the top male and female student-athlete from each NWC member based on athletic success, academic accomplishments, and community service.
Smith competed on the women's cross country and women's track and field teams. Hakeman was a member of the swim team.
Willamette placed 75 athletes from women's teams on the NWC Scholar-Athlete list, including 12 two-sport athletes for 87 total awards. The Bearcat men's teams qualified 50 athletes for NWC Scholar-Athlete status, including five two-sport athletes for 55 total awards.
Colin Hakeman
A member of the men's swimming team for four seasons, Colin Hakeman was a two-time All-NWC second-team honoree, claiming fourth place in the 400-meter individual medley, and seventh and sixth in the 1,650-yard freestyle in 2018 and 2019, respectively. He holds the eighth-fasted time in program history in the 1,000-yard free with a 10:10.49 mark, advancing to the finals and earning points for his team at the NWC Championships all four years.
An Economics/English double major with a minor in History and a 3.88 GPA, Hakeman was a four-year member of the College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) Scholar All- America team. He was named the Bearcat Senior Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 2020 in addition to earning the Oliver C. Brown scholarship in Economics in 2018, and the Richard M. Gillis senior award in economics in 2020. He participated in a number of community service events including Willamette Athletics Bearcat Day, Marion County Special Olympics, Salem Rotary Triathlon, and Days of Service with his team. In addition to community service, he also served as a Campus Recreation Coordinator and participated on Willamette's 2019
Intercollegiate Business Strategy Competition team, where his team placed second.
"Colin always shows respect to his competition after his races regardless of the outcome," says Head Coach Brent Summers. "Colin understands the time and place to be competitive and desire to race but at the end of the race everyone, competitor and teammate, deserves respect and congratulations with how the race/meet went. Over these past four years, he has consistently and constantly demonstrated the right way to carry himself and how to interact with his teammates and competition."
Jamie Smith
A four-year competitor in both track & field and cross country, Jamie Smith had a number of notable accomplishments as a Bearcat, most notably being a member of the 2018 NWC Championship team. In her freshman season, Smith recorded a 41st-place finish in the NCAA West Regional, improving six spots in her junior season to claim 35th at the NWC Championship.
A Biology major with a 3.99 GPA, Smith graduates with Summa Cum Laude honors, Biology department honors, and University honors as a member of the Phi Beta Kappa National Honors Society. She was recognized for numerous All-Academic recognitions throughout her career, including All-NWC Scholar-Athlete honors in both Track & Field and Cross Country. She was also named to the 2019-20 NWC All-Sportsmanship team. Smith served as a teaching assistant in the Biology department, a student assistant for Public Health Ethics, and a member of the Advocacy and Leadership program. She was also a part of collaborative research programs in both science and liberal arts.
"Jamie was an outstanding representative of both the Cross Country and Track & Field teams. Whether it was her nearly perfect GPA in the classroom or her perseverance on the track or cross-country course, she was always willing to put the team first. You can't coach that selfless quality in a person. There were several instances where Jamie willingly tutored another student in a class or helped a struggling runner at the finish line of a race. It was the natural thing to do for her," says Head Coach Matt McGuirk.
