The Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC) has announced OLLU women’s basketball player Zerina Shatri as the Etier Character Athlete of the Year. 

In its fifth year, the award is given annually to one male and one female RRAC student-athlete who best represent the tenets of the NAIA Champions of Character program (respect, responsibility, integrity, sportsmanship and servant leadership). To be eligible, student-athletes must have been recognized as an RRAC Character Athlete of the Week during the previous academic year.

Shatri, a senior basketball player from Istog, Kosovo, earned a 3.75 GPA in kinesiology. She donated time back home and in San Antonio to assist others in the community. Shatri volunteered for the local food bank and a partnership that served ethnic minorities. She gave time to help clean her church, and she assisted a physical therapist in treating children. Shatri also participated with her teammates in visiting local hospice care and helping with the school’s basketball camp. She even cooked for families at the Ronald McDonald House. Shatri plans to become a physical therapist.

“Zerina is a very intelligent, funny and hard-working young woman,” says former OLLU women’s basketball coach Stacy Stephens. “She graduated in May. She has been on the Dean’s List almost every semester here and is the starting center for the 2020-2021 women’s basketball team. Ze loves to sightsee and embrace different cultures. She is always willing to help others and watching her grow and mature into the amazing young woman she is has been a highlight in my coaching career.”

The Saints have been honored with this award two years in a row. OLLU softball’s Kaitlyn Salazar was named RRAC Etier Character Athlete of the Year for the 2020-2021 season.

Shatri was named RRAC Character Athlete of the Week on May 25, which can be found here.