RIVERDALE, N.Y. - Manhattan College midfielder Courtney McMahon was tabbed as one of the 30 Division I women's soccer seniors who are candidates for the 2009 Lowe's Senior CLASS Award. McMahon was labeled one of the top student-athletes in her sport because of her achievements in four areas of excellence throughout her collegiate career - classroom, character, community and competition. An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in SchoolTM, 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.
McMahon, a two year team captain from Bethel, Conn., earned All-MAAC First Team honors and was selected to ESPN The Magazine All-America Academic Team last season. She enters her final season in Riverdale as the program's career assist leader (19). Over her career, she has played in all 55 games for the Lady Jaspers and posted 35 points, which ranks ninth on the career list.
Off the field, McMahon carries a 3.8 grade point average in civil engineering, and aspires to specialize in structural engineering after graduation. She has been named to the Dean's List each semester at Manhattan, while also earning MAAC All-Academic Team and MAAC Honor Roll recognition the last two years. McMahon was inducted to Manhattan's prestigious Pen & Sword Society, to go along with her acceptance to engineering honor societies Tau Beta Pi and Chi Epsilon.
An active member in the community, McMahon has participated in several goodwill initiatives, including organizing her team's participation in the 'Tunnel to Towers Run', a charitable run dedicated to firefighters who passed away during the tragic 9/11 events. She has volunteered her effort with a program that helps revitalize New York City parks, gardens, playgrounds, community centers, and schools by planting trees in the five boroughs. Additionally McMahon has donated her time to charities that provide respite, joy, and hope to children with life-threatening illnesses and their families.
The 30 candidate class 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 candidate who best exemplify excellence in the four Cs of classroom, character, community and competition.
ABOUT THE AWARD
An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in SchoolTM, the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award honors the attributes of senior student-athletes in four areas: classroom, community, character and competition. The award program is designed exclusively for college seniors who are utilizing their complete athletic eligibility, remaining committed to their university and pursuing the many rewards that a senior season can bring. Sportscaster Dick Enberg, Honorary Chairman of the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award, first conceived the idea of an award for seniors in 2001 in response to the growing trend of men's basketball players leaving school early for the NBA. The award program has expanded the past two years to include a total of nine NCAA® Division I sports - football, men's and women's soccer, men's ice hockey, men's lacrosse, baseball and softball in addition to men's and women's basketball. The award is sponsored by Lowe's, an official Corporate Partner of the NCAA®, and managed by Premier Sports Management. For more information, visit www.seniorclassaward.com.
