Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award Announces 2010 Candidates for NCAA® Division I Baseball
February 17, 2010
Download in PDF format(Overland Park, KS) – Thirty NCAA® baseball student-athletes who excel both on and off the field were tabbed as candidates today for the 2010 Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award. 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 – classroom, character, community and competition. The complete list of candidates follows this release.
An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School™, the Lowe’s 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.
This year’s candidate class includes 12 student-athletes on teams ranked in Collegiate Baseball magazine’s preseason top 40 poll and seven players tabbed as preseason All-Americans by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association. Twelve of the candidates carry a cumulative grade point average of 3.5 or better, with one recording a perfect 4.0.
Lowe’s, an official Corporate Partner of the NCAA, will announce the Senior CLASS Award™ winner at the NCAA College World Series® in June.
The 30 candidates will be narrowed to 10 finalists midway through the regular season, and those 10 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 classroom, character, community and competition.
“The candidates for the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award in baseball are fulfilling a commitment to their universities and, at the same time, representing those schools in the community,” said Tom Lamb, Lowe’s senior vice president of marketing. “They have recognized the value of both a college degree and public service while taking advantage of the opportunity to play the game they love.”
This marks the fourth year for the baseball division of the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award. The University of Alabama’s Emeel Salem was the inaugural winner in 2007, Rice University’s Cole St. Clair was the recipient in 2008 and the University of Florida’s Brandon McArthur took home the award in 2009.
Baseball 2010 Candidates
Name | Position | School |
---|---|---|
DJ Belfonte | Outfield | University of Nebraska |
Daniel Bibona | Pitcher | UC Irvine |
Shane Brown | Outfield | University of Central Florida |
Stephen Cardullo | Shortstop | Florida State University |
Ian Choy | Outfield/Designated Hitter | Canisius College |
Wes Cunningham | First Base | Murray State University |
Devon Dageford | Outfield | Louisiana Tech University |
Blake Dean | First Base | Louisiana State University |
Mike Donato | Outfield | University of Massachusetts |
Michael Fabiaschi | Second Base | James Madison University |
Jeremy Gould | Pitcher/Utility | Duke University |
Clay Jones | First Base | University of Alabama |
Jim Klocke | Catcher/Pitcher | Southeast Missouri State |
Cory Kovanda | Second Base | Ohio State Univeristy |
Francis Larson | Catcher | UC Irvine |
Drew Lee | Shortstop/Second Base | Morehead State University |
Tyler Lyons | Pitcher | Oklahoma State University |
Clint McKeever | First Base | Wichita State University |
Russell Moldenhauer | Designated Hitter/Outfield | University of Texas |
Kevin Nieto | Outfield | Manhattan College |
Matt Payton | Infield | Western Kentucky University |
Eric Pettis | Pitcher | University of California, Irvine |
Tony Plagman | First Base | Georgia Tech |
Derek Poppert | Shortstop | University of San Francisco |
Kenneth Roberts | Pitcher | Middle Tennessee State University |
Kyle Roller | Designated Hitter/First Base | East Carolina University |
Mike Sodders | Infield | New Mexico State University |
Josh Spence | Pitcher | Arizona State University |
David Towarnicky | First Base | Appalachian State University |
Corey Valine | Third Base/Catcher | San Jose State University |