Lauren Fowlkes

Classroom

Lauren Fowlkes owns a sparkling 3.657 cumulative GPA entering the fall 2010 semester. She was named a 2009 ESPN The Magazine Second Team Academic All-American (52nd student-athlete in Notre Dame athletics history, fourth women’s soccer player to combine academic and athletic All-America honors in same season—only 12 ND student-athletes across all sports in the 123-year history of Fighting Irish athletics have done this twice, something Fowlkes can achieve in 2010). She is a three-time BIG EAST Conference All-Academic Team selection (2007-08, 2008-09, 2009-10) and a Dean’s list honoree in the fall of 2007 (3.804 semester GPA).

Character

Fowlkes was named a “veteran leader” as part of Notre Dame’s 2009-10 Rosenthal Leadership Academy, which is operated by the ND athletic department’s office of Student Welfare & Development. Following a rash of injuries to her Notre Dame teammates early in the 2009 season, Fowlkes unselfishly agreed to move from her normal positions as a center back and holding midfielder up to the forward line, a position she had not played during her college career; the move up front paid off handsomely for the Fighting Irish who went on a 19-game unbeaten streak (18-0-1) after the move, rolling to their 11th BIG EAST title and fourth consecutive NCAA College Cup (national semifinal) appearance. Fowlkes also has been a consistent leader in the U.S. Soccer program, both with the Under-20 and Under-23 teams — in 2008, she started every game as a center back for the USA U-20 National Team that won the gold medal at the FIFA World Cup in Chile; then in 2009-10, she transitioned to the U-23 National Team, where she has been an everyday starter for Team USA, competing in such varied international locales as Germany, England and Spain.

Community

Fowlkes has been a major contributor to the Notre Dame women’s soccer team’s service projects in the South Bend community, helping the team (and the athletic department) achieve 100-percent participation from all student-athletes. These projects, which include Habitat for Humanity, Christmas in April, youth clinics, grade school Read to Achieve programs and visits to pediatric cancer wards, annually reach more than 5,000 people in the local and national communities, and assist more than 50 non-profit organizations and agencies.

Competition

On the 2010 Hermann Trophy watch list, Fowlkes was an NSCAA Third Team All-American, the BIG EAST Co-Offensive Player of the Year,  first-team All-BIG EAST, a member of the NCAA College Cup and BIG EAst All-Tournament Teams and the BIG EAST Championship Most Outstanding Offensive Player as a junior. She enjoyed her finest year at Notre Dame in 2009, capitalizing on an early-season move up to the forward line to form a dynamic scoring tandem with Melissa Henderson (pair ranked fifth in the nation with a combined 28 goals). She started 25 of 26 games, posting career highs in all categories and placed second on the team in goals (10), points (24), game-winning goals (3) and shots on goal (33). She led the team with 79 shots and tied for fourth on the squad with four assists and 2,148 minutes played.