NDSU’s Straka Selected as Candidate for Senior CLASS Award®

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. - North Dakota State pitcher John Straka was one of 30 NCAA® baseball student-athletes selected as candidates Wednesday, Feb. 27, for the 2013 Senior CLASS Award® in collegiate baseball.

To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence - community, classroom, character and competition. The complete list of candidates follows this release.

Straka is president in his fourth year of service on the NDSU Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.  He's a member of the NDSU President's Council on Alcohol and Other Drugs, and serves on the Presidents' Panel, a committee representing NDSU's major student organizations.

His community work includes time with the Fargo-Moorhead Healthcare Equipment Recycling Organization (HERO), Salvation Army, Stocking Stuffers, TNT Kid's Fitness & Gymnastics, and the Frontier Community Service Baseball World Series in Kenai, Alaska.

Straka was an All-Summit League second team starting pitcher with a 4-3 record and 3.49 ERA as a freshman in 2009.  He missed 2010 with an arm injury and came back to make the All-Summit League first team in 2012 with a 7-4 record and 2.61 ERA.

He broke a 43-year-old school record with 92 strikeouts last year, has a school-record six shutouts in his career, and is fourth on the NDSU wins list with a 16-9 record and 2.81 career ERA.  He has been named to the Summit League All-Academic Team and Commissioner's List of Academic Excellence.

An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School®, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities. 

The 2013 candidate class includes 15 candidates who have a cumulative grade-point average of 3.5 or higher. Five were named to the CoSIDA Capital One Academic All-America® team, and four were All-Americans.

The candidate class will be narrowed to 10 finalists midway through the regular season, and those names will be placed on the official ballot. Ballots will be distributed through a nationwide voting system to media, coaches and fans, who will select one finalist who best exemplifies excellence in the four Cs of community, classroom, character and competition.

The Senior CLASS Award winner will be announced during the 2013 NCAA College World Series® in Omaha June 15-26.