DAYTON, Ohio – University of Dayton senior defender Jack Pearson has been selected as a candidate for the 2011 Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award. He joins 29 other student-athletes as candidates for the prestigious achievement that celebrates a senior’s commitment to the community, classroom, competition and character.
Pearson is no stranger to the notoriety. He was named to the Atlantic 10’s Preseason All-Conference Team earlier this summer, and earned UD’s 2010 Coaches Achievement Award. He is the only student-athlete from the A-10 selected to the list of 30.
Pearson is not only a contributor on the field, but also in the classroom. He has served as a teaching assistant for the Sport Management department. During his junior season, Pearson was nominated for Academic All-Atlantic 10 honors. He carries a 3.1 GPA and is Sport Management major.
Pearson was part of a team initiative to visit sick children in the hospital over Christmas breaks. He met with the families of the patients and helped bring cheer and gifts to the children over the holiday. Pearson has been instrumental in coaching younger players during free clinics hosted by the team during the course of the season. In addition, he has also mentored young students of the game at specialized clinics for youth soccer players in Trotwood, Ohio, a suburb of Dayton.
Pearson is the fourth UD men’s soccer player to be named to the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Top 30. Alex Torda and Ben Murray were both named to the men’s soccer list in 2009 and Tommy Watkins in 2010. On the women’s side, Amanda Gallow was selected in 2008 and Kelly Blumenschein was named to the list last year, while Kathleen Beljan joined the Top 30.
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.
Each of the 30 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 exemplify excellence in the four Cs of community, classroom, character and competition. The winners will be announced during the 2010 NCAA Men’s and Women’s College Cup championships in early December.
Dayton opens its exhibition schedule on Thursday, Aug. 18 at 1:00 p.m. ET against the Bradley Braves at Baujan Field. Admission is free of charge to all Flyer men’s soccer preseason and regular season games.
