Two MAAC Baseball Players Among Final 30 Candidates for Lowe's Senior CLASS Award
MAAC Sports
Edison, N.J. - Canisius College senior outfielder Ian Choy and Manhattan College senior outfielder Kevin Nieto were selected as two of the 30 Division I baseball candidates for the 2010 Lowe's Senior CLASS Award announced Wednesday.
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.
Choy, a preseason all-MAAC selection at the beginning of February, was an ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District selection in 2009. The two-time member of the MAAC All-Academic Team, Choy is pursuing a degree in economics with a concentration in finance. A co-captain of the Canisius baseball team, Choy is also a representative on the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee at Canisius.
Choy has participated in several community service projects, including Habitat for Humanity and Meals on Wheels. He was an all-MAAC First-Team selection in 2009 and 2007, the 2007 MAAC Rookie of the Year and a Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American in 2007. Choy has a .335 career batting average and has 173 career hits.
Nieto is a three-time All-MAAC selection, and he was selected the conference's Preseason Player of the Year for 2010. The Miami native has received several other accolades and honors over his first three years. Most notably in 2009 he was named to the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) All-America Third Team. Nieto led all of Division I last season averaging 1.57 runs per game and he set a MAAC record with 72 runs scored. He also finished in the top-5 of the conference in batting average (.396), stolen bases (25), home runs (13), triples (6), slugging percentage (.754) and on-base percentage (.480).
Off the field, Nieto has participated in several charitable activities, including volunteering this past summer to teach baseball to children during his spare time when playing for the Vermont Mountaineers of the New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL). The two year Jaspers' team captain is working towards a bachelor's degree in finance and looks forward to a career in business.
Lowe's, an official Corporate Partner of the NCAA, will announce the Senior CLASS AwardTM winner at the NCAA College World Series® in June.
The 30 candidates 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 finalist who best exemplifies excellence in the four Cs of classroom, character, community and competition.
"The candidates for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award in baseball are fulfilling a commitment to their universities and, at the same time, representing those schools in the community," said Tom Lamb, Lowe's senior vice president of marketing. "They have recognized the value of both a college degree and public service while taking advantage of the opportunity to play the game they love."
This marks the fourth year for the baseball division of the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award. The University of Alabama's Emeel Salem was the inaugural winner in 2007, Rice University's Cole St. Clair was the recipient in 2008 and the University of Florida's Brandon McArthur took home the award in 2009.
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.
ABOUT LOWE'S
With fiscal year 2008 sales of $48.2 billion, Lowe's Companies, Inc. is a FORTUNE® 50 company that serves approximately 14 million customers a week at more than 1,675 home improvement stores in the United States and Canada. Founded in 1946 and based in Mooresville, N.C., Lowe's is the second-largest home improvement retailer in the world. For more information, visit www.Lowes.com.
ABOUT THE NCAA
The NCAA is a membership-led nonprofit association of colleges and universities committed to supporting academic and athletics opportunities for more than 400,000 student-athletes at more than 1,000 member colleges and universities. Each year, more than 54,000 student-athletes compete in NCAA championships in Divisions I, II and III sports. Visit www.NCAA.org and www.NCAA.com for more details about the Association.