Spotlight: Athlete of the Week

Daily Vanguard: Why did you come to Portland State? 
Claire Faucher: A), they offered me a scholarship, and B), it was close enough for family to come watch from Yakima, [Wash.]. It is really important for me to be around and have the support of my family absolutely loves to come watch my games, and I fell in love with the city of Portland.

DV: What is your best memory on the court?
CF: Even beyond the big wins and exciting moments, at practice when somebody does something really goofy—whether it’s the coaches or the players, everyone’s laughing. I think those are the memories I’m going to cherish the most.

DV: If you could change one of your sport’s rules, what would it be?
CF: I don’t know, I guess I’ve never really thought about it [laughing].

DV: What is your greatest strength?
CF: Is it too cliché to say my personality? I would say my personality—I think that the people that I’m around know that I care a lot about them. I’m a people person. I don’t like to be alone very much. I think that I know what they [my friends] need in a certain situation.

DV: Which is your favorite place to eat around campus?
CF: Just on campus or can I do in Portland? [DV: In Portland is fine.] The Bamboo Grove. It is a Hawaiian restaurant—Hawaiian barbecue, ridiculously good teriyaki chicken, kalua pig. It’s just amazing. All my teammates know what I’m talking about.

DV: What is your favorite thing to do around Portland?
CF: I think I’m most excited about the spring. For almost four years, I’ve been so busy with school and basketball I’m just really excited to go biking around downtown Portland.

I’m excited to learn how to snowboard. I’ve skied, but never snowboarded. I haven’t been able to for the past eight years really, because the coaches would have been really mad if I came in injured [laughing].

I’m excited to do those kinds of things. I want to mountain bike. It’s an amazing place, it’s been fun to do it on foot, but I want to challenge body to experience it in different ways.

DV: What is the first item that you would buy if you won the lottery?
CF: Right now I’d spend a huge chunk of money to [help] Haiti. Then I’d ask my parents what to do with it. They’d say put it in the bank. I’d probably buy a few puppies and a house and property to take care of them.

DV: What was your most embarrassing on-court moment?
CF: I don’t really get embarrassed, but some funny things: I’ll be back peddling and doing transition defense and go tumbling backwards and have to scramble to my feet.
One time, when I was playing with Kelsey Kahle, somebody ran behind me and caught my heel and Kelsey was actually playing on ball and was trying to run and she came sliding into me. It was really funny. I don’t really get embarrassed—I laugh it off.

DV: Do you have any nicknames?
CF: Yes, I do. Everybody on my team calls me Bear—Claire Bear. My dad calls me Cubblet, like he’s the daddy bear and I’m the baby. Even in middle school and stuff, coaches always called me Bear.

DV: What is the last thing you cooked?
CF: I made an awesome spaghetti dinner on Thursday night.

DV: If you could attend one concert or sporting event anywhere, what would it be?
CF: I would love to go and see the Olympics in Athens at some point, that would be the main one.

DV: What has been your favorite class at Portland State?
CF: For me it wasn’t really the classes—it’s been the professors that have been important. Jennifer Loney, Mellie Pullman and then Jeanne Enders—they’ve just been really helpful. With basketball, it’s hard missing a lot of class, kind of being here and there.
They’ve been really accommodating, really gone out of their way to make sure I have everything I need. They are at the games. They have really cared a lot about me as a student and a person.

DV: What’s on your iPod right now?
CF: A lot of Christian music and country.

DV: Do you have any hidden talents?
CF: I wish I could say I could yodel or something exciting. [laughs] I can juggle! I can do some little things like that. I’m horrible at the Yo-Yo, but I’m working on that.

DV: Do you read the Vanguard?
CF: I do read the Vanguard. Usually just during basketball season. Well, actually I read it kind of year round, because I like to see what kind of sports are going on.