News

Lowe’s Senior CLASS Awards Announces Candidates For NCAA® Division I Men’s & Women’s Soccer

August 25, 2009

(Overland Park, KS) – Sixty NCAA® men’s and women’s soccer student-athletes who excel both on and off the field were tabbed as candidates today for the 2009 Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award in the two soccer divisions. 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. 

The 2009 candidate class of 60 includes 10 student-athletes who were named Scholar All-Americans by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America in 2008. Four of the 60 have maintained a cumulative grade point average of 4.00. Twenty-one candidates represent teams ranked in the preseason top 25 men’s and women’s polls. And 13 of the 60 candidates are on the preseason watch list for the Hermann Trophy, awarded annually by the Missouri Athletic Club to the top male and female Division I soccer players in the country at the end of the season. Lowe’s, an official Corporate Partner of the NCAA, will announce the Senior CLASS Award winners during the 2009 NCAA Men’s and Women’s College Cup championships in early December.

Each of the 30 candidate classes 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 male candidate and one female candidate who best exemplify excellence in the four Cs of classroom, character, community and competition. 

“Lowe’s is proud to be associated with the nominees for the Senior CLASS Award in soccer,” said Bob Gfeller, Lowe’s senior vice president of marketing and advertising. “Each of the student-athletes has shown tremendous commitment to their studies during their college careers. They have also demonstrated great character and a passion for community service.”

This marks the third year for the men’s and women’s soccer division of the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award, and more than 175 student-athletes were nominated this year. Wake Forest University midfielder Sam Cronin received the men’s award for the 2008 season, while Kerri Hanks from the University of Notre Dame won the women’s award. In 2007, United State Naval Academy goalkeeper Evan Barnes took home the inaugural men’s soccer award and Stephanie Lopez from the University of Portland received the women’s award.

Men’s Soccer 2009 Candidates

Women’s Soccer 2009 Candidates