NDSU pitcher John Straka was one of 30 NCAA baseball student-athletes selected as candidates in February 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. 

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, Salvation Army, Stocking Stuffers, TNT Kid’s Fitness and Gymnastics, and the Frontier Community Service Baseball World Series in Kenai, Alaska. 

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 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. 

NDSU is recognized as one of the nation's top 108 public and private universities by the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education.