OVERLAND PARK, Kan. - UNC Greensboro senior defender Lauren Lopez has been named one of the 10 national finalists for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award, advancing out of a pool of 30 candidates. The award celebrates excellence in the classroom, character, community and competition.
An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award is given in football, men's and women's soccer, men's ice hockey, men's lacrosse, baseball, softball and men's and women's basketball.
A national media committee narrowed the list of 30 candidates to 10 finalists, whose names will go on the official ballot for a nationwide vote among fans, coaches and media. Voting begins today and will take place until Nov. 13 at www.seniorclassaward.com or via text message. Fans can text GOAL to 74567 to vote for the women's finalists, or text W5 to vote for Lopez directly. Fans can votes as often as once a day. The winner will be announced during the NCAA Division I Women's College Cup, Dec. 4-6.
Lopez, a four-year starter for the Spartans, was a Preseason All-Southern Conference selection this season and has four points on a goal and an assist thus far on the year. She and the Spartans are off to a 7-5 start to the season, including a 3-1 mark in SoCon play to sit atop the league standings.
As a junior in 2008, she was named to the All-SoCon First Team, the SoCon All-Tournament Team and the All-Southeast Region Third Team by Soccer Buzz. In the classroom, the Concord, N.C., native earned a spot on the Academic All-Southern Conference team and the NSCAA/adidas Scholar All-South Region Third Team and boasts a 3.94 cumulative grade point average.
Lopez, a team captain, was a second-team all-conference pick in 2007.
In the community, she participated in UNCG's Relay for Life and volunteered with the women's soccer team at the Greensboro Youth Soccer Association's First Timers Clinic, coaching and working with children ages 4-6. She has also been involved with the Fox 8 Gift for Kids campaign, in which gifts for needy children are collected at UNCG sporting events and UNCG student-athletes donate their time at the Fox 8 Gifts for Kids warehouse assisting in the distribution of the gifts collected. Lopez, who was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes as a freshman, is also a member of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. In high school, she worked with the Special Olympics.
The other finalists were: Elizabeth Betterbed of Army; Kelsey Davis of Portland; Kristi Eveland of North Carolina; Theresa Ferraina of Loyola (Md.); Blakely Mattern of South Carolina; Lizzy Nichols of Harvard; Kelley O'Hara of Stanford; Emily Peterson of Texas A&M University; and Myra Sack of Dartmouth.
For more information on the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award, visit www.seniorclassaward.com.
- UNCG -