Chuck Schoffner of Ankeny is the winner of the Jack North Award from the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union, the IHSGAU announced Friday.

The Jack North Award is the highest honor the Union presents to an individual. The award has been given just 14 times in the 87-year history of the IGHSAU.

Schoffner will be honored at the Iowa Girls State Basketball Tournament during halftime of the Class 5A championship game Saturday, March 8.

Schoffner covered Iowa high school sports and state championships for 34 years for the United Press International and Associated Press until his retirement in 2005. Following his retirement, he joined the IGHSAU Hall of Fame Jury in 2006 and has chaired the volleyball, basketball, track & field and softball juries since 2007.

He continues to be a familiar face along press row at the state basketball and state softball tournaments and also assists announcer Mike Jay at the state track and field meet. He also chairs the Drake Relays Committee’s high school selection panel and is an advisory committee member for the Drake Relays Hall of Fame.

Schoffner grew up in Ohio and Indiana and graduated from Drake University in 1972. In addition to his outstanding coverage of Iowa high school athletics, he was the national women’s college basketball writer for the Associated Press from 1994 to 2005. He coordinated the start of the AP women’s basketball writers poll and started the AP all-American teams in women’s basketball.

He covered women’s basketball at five Olympic games along with numerous men’s and women’s regionals and Final Fours. He continues to write on a freelance basis for newspapers and wire services. He and his wife, Pam, reside in Ankeny.