Ken Clausen and Monica Wright UVa's Top Athletes

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CHARLOTTESVILLE—Ken Clausen (men’s lacrosse) and Monica Wright (women’s basketball) were honored as Virginia’s top male and female athletes for the 2009-10 academic year at UVa’s annual awards dinner on May 5 at John Paul Jones Arena. Clausen received the WINA Award as the top male athlete and Wright received the IMP Award as the top female athlete.

Clausen, a senior defenseman from Downington, Pa., is one of the captains of the 2010 Virginia men’s lacrosse team and is a finalist for the Tewaaraton Trophy. The Tewaaraton Trophy is presented to the most outstanding men’s collegiate lacrosse player in the nation.

Clausen earned first-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference honors this season and is also a finalist for the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award. He has earned first-team All-America honors each of the last two seasons. If he earns the honor again this season he would become Virginia’s first three-time first-team All-American in men’s lacrosse.

Wright, a senior guard from Woodbridge, Va., averaged 23.7 points and 6.4 rebounds a game for the UVa women’s basketball team in 2009-10. She earned first-team All-America honors from the Associated Press, the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) and the U.S. Basketball Writers Association. Wright was selected the ACC Player of the Year, the ACC Defensive Player of the Year and the WBCA Defensive Player of the Year. She is UVa’s all-time leading scorer with 2,540 points, a total that ranks third in the history of the ACC.

The Minnesota Lynx selected Wright with the second pick in the 2010 WNBA Draft. She is the highest women’s basketball draft selection in school history.

Jesse Pritchard, UVa’s sports turf manager, received the Bus Male Award for his years of service to the athletics department.

Mei Christensen (Reston, Va.) of the women’s swimming and diving team and Jerome Meyinsse (Baton Rouge, La.) of the men’s basketball team received UVa’s ACC Scholar-Athlete Awards. Meyinsse and Lauren Elstein (Fredericksburg, Va.) of the field hockey team were co-recipients of the Susan J. Grossman Memorial Award in recognition of outstanding service to student-athletes and contributions to the Student Athlete Mentor Program. Meyinsse also received the Ernest H. Ern, Jr., Award for outstanding contributions to student life at Virginia.

Lauren Dickson (Austin, Texas) of the volleyball team received the Jettie Hill Memorial Award as the senior female-student athlete with the highest scholastic average through her four years at Virginia, while Garrett Wren (Richmond, Va.) of the men’s swimming and diving team received the Gus Tebell Memorial Award as the senior male student-athlete with the highest grade point average through his four years at UVa.

Ainsley Baker (Corning, N.Y.) of the women’s lacrosse team received the Craig Fielder Memorial Award for overcoming adversity and Matt Snyder (Lewistown, Pa.) of the wrestling team was the recipient of the Ralph Sampson Scholarship Award. Shawn Harris (Cleveland, Ohio) of the wrestling team received the Virginia Athletics Department’s Distinguished Student-Athlete Scholarship Award.

Jackie Saunders (New Providence, N.J.) of the women’s basketball team was the recipient of the Bob Goodman Memorial Award for her service to Virginia athletics as a team manager and Erica Anderson (Waynesboro, Va.) received the Tim Abbott Memorial Award presented to the student assistant trainer most dedicated to and possessing empathy for the student-athletes. Katherine McDonnell (Culpeper, Va.) of the women’s swimming and diving team received the Life Skills Scholarship Award.

Virginia’s ACC Top VI Award recipients included Ken Clausen (Downington, Pa., men’s lacrosse), Lauren Elstein (Fredericksburg, Va., field hockey), Jerome Meyinsse (Baton Rouge, La., men’s basketball), Trey Miller (Winston-Salem, N.C., men’s track and field), Whitney Neuhauser (Barboursville, Va., women’s golf) and Monica Wright (Woodbridge, Va., women’s basketball).

Team Awards

Baseball – Billy Word Memorial Award – Awarded later

Basketball (m) – Sidney Young Memorial Award – Jerome Meyinsse

Basketball (w) – Coaches Award for Excellence – Monica Wright

Cross Country (m) – Coaches Award for Excellence – Graham Tribble

Cross Country (w) – Coaches Award for Excellence – Catherine White

Field Hockey – Coaches Award for Excellence – Haley Carpenter

Football – John Acree Memorial Award – Brandon Woods

Golf (m) – Dixon Brooke Memorial Award – Ben Kohles

Golf (w) – William C. Eacho Memorial Award – Whitney Neuhauser

Lacrosse (m) – Henry Gaver Memorial Award – Awarded later

Lacrosse (w) – Coaches Award for Excellence – Brittany Kalkstein

Rowing – Coaches Award for Excellence – Desiree Burns & Jennifer Cromwell

Soccer (m) – Stanley Lerner Memorial Award – Ross LaBauex

Soccer (w) – Coaches Award for Excellence – Sinead Farrelly

Softball – Coaches Award for Excellence – Nicole Koren, Abby Snyder & Sarah Tacke

Swimming (m) – Brooke Maury Memorial Award – Scot Robison

Swimming (w) – Coaches Award for Excellence – Mei Christensen

Tennis (m) – Norton Pritchett Memorial Award – Awarded later

Tennis (w) – Coaches Award for Excellence – Awarded later

Track – Z Society – The Lou Onesty Memorial Award – Meghan Briggs

Track – Henry Cummings Memorial Award – Robby Andrews

Volleyball – Coaches Award For Excellence – Brittani Rendina

Wrestling – David Senft Memorial Award – Chris Henrich