Oregon’s Liz Brenner Nominated for Sports Illustrated College Athlete of the Year

A four sport athlete in High school who turned four sport athlete in college, Liz Brenner has played Volleyball, Basketball and Track and Field – I even think there was some softball in there somewhere.

Brenner has been nominated for Sports Illustrated Athlete of the Year, along with nine other nominees.

The SI Article starts out with how this whole ‘four sport’ athlete story began, and of course it had to do with one team needing help when someone went down with an injury:

February 24, 2013; Stanford, CA, USA; Oregon Ducks forward Liz Brenner (15, right) shoots the ball against Stanford Cardinal forward Joslyn Tinkle (44, left) during the first half at Maples Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

Normally, Oregon volleyball coach Jim Moore would have long since left his office for home. It was just before Christmas in 2011 and right after Moore’s team wrapped up a successful season that ended with an appearance in the NCAA tournament, when Ducks women’s basketball coach Paul Westhead stood at Moore’s office door with a delicate question: Could he borrow freshman outside hitter Liz Brenner to help his injury-depleted lineup? A few months later, Moore would be sitting in the same spot when Ducks softball coach Mike White came knocking with the same request.

Westhead and White weren’t asking Moore to share some walk-on scrub, but rather his outside hitter who had ranked third on the team in kills, hitting and points. As a sophomore last fall, Brenner led the Ducks to a runner-up finish in the NCAA tournament and a school-record 30 wins, earning second-team All-America honors. Moore describes the 6-foot-1 Brenner’s serve reception as “the best of anyone I’ve ever recruited.”

You can vote for the SI Sports Man and Woman of the Year. Right now Brenner is in 2nd place behind Britney Griner from Baylor(basketball).

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