OVERLAND PARK, Kan. – Four America East student-athletes who excel both on and off the field were among the sixty NCAA men’s and women’s soccer student-athletes who were selected as candidates for the 2016 Senior CLASS Award® in collegiate soccer. 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: community, classroom, character and competition.
The three men's soccer student-athletes who were announced as candidates include University of Hartford's Udi Cohen, University of New Hampshire's Chris Wingate and UMass Lowell's Carlos Ruiz. University at Albany's Alexa Schneider is the lone representative on the women's side.
An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School®, the 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.
Each of the two 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 exemplifies excellence in the four Cs of community, classroom, character and competition.
The Senior CLASS Award winners will be announced during the 2016 NCAA Men’s and Women’s College Cup® championships in December.
For more information on all the candidates, visit seniorCLASSaward.com.