Clausen Named as a Candidate for the 2010 Lowe's Senior CLASS Award
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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Virginia men’s lacrosse player Ken Clausen has been recognized as one of 20 NCAA men’s lacrosse student-athletes who excel both on and off the field and were tabbed as candidates 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.
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 13 student-athletes on teams ranked in the Nike/Inside Lacrosse media preseason top 20 poll. In addition, nine candidates are on the preseason Inside Lacrosse Face-Off Yearbook Division I All-American list. Six candidates own cumulative grade point averages of 3.5 or better.
Clausen, a native of Downington, Pa., is a three-time All-American and has been named to the first-team the past two seasons, after helping UVa to back-to-back Final Four appearances.
Clausen initiated a new fundraiser that swept through the lacrosse nation last fall. During the month of November, he put together a contest titled Mustache Madness to generate funds for prostate cancer research and awareness. The cause helped raise almost $32,000. Clausen captained the Fans of Virginia Lacrosse who won the Mad Stache Trophy for the highest fund raising fans.
Lowe’s, an official Corporate Partner of the NCAA, will announce the 2010 Senior CLASS Award winner at the NCAA Division I Men’s Lacrosse Championship at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore May 29-31.
The 20 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 lacrosse candidates represent a diverse cross-section of universities and a wide array of academic courses of study,” said Tom Lamb, Lowe’s senior vice president of marketing. “But the common denominator is a passion for their sport and for finishing their careers as students and athletes at the top.”
This marks the fourth year for the men’s lacrosse division of the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award. Cornell University midfielder Max Seibald received the award for the 2009 season and Syracuse University attackman Mike Leveille took home the 2008 honor. In 2007, Cornell goalkeeper Matt McMonagle won the inaugural men’s lacrosse award.