Women's basketball team wins national Champions of Character award

The Jamestown College women's basketball team was awarded the Buffalo Funds Five Star Champions of Character Team Award at the NAIA National Championships in Sioux City, Iowa.

The Jimmies were recognized for their 200 hours of community service, including filling sandbags and building dikes, during the spring flood of 2009.

"Jamestown stood out for the efforts in their own community,” says Kristin Gillette, manager of championship sports for the NAIA.

"It was a great honor for our team to be involved in this,” says head coach Mark Wiest. "The team was always on call and ready to act any time.”

One team from each sport is selected to receive the national award based on how the players and coaches exhibit the five core values of the NAIA Champions of Character Initiative: integrity, respect, responsibility, sportsmanship, and servant leadership.

"This was our way of thanking the community for being so supportive of Jamestown College and Jimmie athletics,” says Kellie Schuneman, a junior from Lino Lakes, Minn. "These people come out all year and cheer us on, so we all felt like we owed them our help. This is what makes small communities so special – the willingness to help each other out at any time.”

The Jimmies won the Dakota Athletic Conference Tournament, won the first national tournament game in program history to reach the second round of the NAIA National Tournament, and set a new school record for wins in a season (26).