OVERLAND PARK, KS (February 27, 2013) – Thirty NCAA® baseball student-athletes who excel both on and off the field were selected as candidates today for the 2013 Senior CLASS Award® in collegiate baseball. 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 complete list of candidates follows this release.
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.
The 2013 candidate class includes 15 candidates who have a cumulative grade point average of 3.5 or higher. Five were named to the CoSIDA Capital One Academic All-American team and four were All-Americans.
The candidate class will be narrowed to 10 finalists midway through the regular season, and those 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 community, classroom, character and competition. The Senior CLASS Award winner will be announced during the 2013 NCAA College World Series® in Omaha June 15-26.
For more information on all the finalists, visit seniorCLASSaward.com.
# # # #
Baseball Candidates
Mark Appel, Stanford
Shane Basen, Charlotte
Blake Beemer, Ball State
Brandon Boudreaux, Tulane
Chase Brookshire, Belmont
Joe Burg, Hofstra
Chase Byerly, Butler
Nick Camastro, Manhattan
Boomer Collins, Dallas Baptist
Johnny Coy, Wichita State
LB Dantzler, South Carolina
Jordan Enos, Holy Cross
Michael Felton, Campbell
Nick Ferraresi, Columbia
Mitch Garver, New Mexico
Sean Hagan, St. John’s
Reed Harper, Austin Peay
Mike Le Bel, Rhode Island
Carlos Lopez, Cal State Fullerton
Jeff Melillo, Rutgers
Alex Mendez, South Florida
Austin Montgomery, Southern Illinois
Matt Pare, Boston College
Colton Plaia, Loyola Marymount
Raph Rhymes, LSU
Chris Rowley, Army
John Sheridan, Brown
John Straka, North Dakota State
Brandon Thomas, Georgia Tech
Greg Zebrack, Southern California